Well the long awaited ride report...
It was an interesting few days really. The idea of taking an 11 yr old on the back of the bike to Auckland and back was one I was really tentative of in the first place. He was good on the back. Commuting round Palmerston North wasn't a problem. But then, it was never far from home.
So Wednesday come and we packed the bike up and headed north. I wasn't entirely sure on the route I was going to take. I thought I would just make it up as we went. I knew it was too big a trip to have a nervous pillion so keeping the speeds down to legal was the order of the day. The sun was out and it was a nice gentle pootle up to the top of Vinegar Hill. All fine so far, took some photos before carrying on to taihape. We tried on the gumboot that didn't fit either of us and had a bit of a rest. 1 hour down. And all was good.
Carried on through waioru and decided to take the desert road. I was surprised at the lack of traffic and we got through nice and quietly. Its a bit refreshing that every time you see a cop you know your not doing anything wrong! Turangi for a bit of lunch and quite a long rest and then we went up western access. Quick stop again for photos of the lake and we carried on round towards Mangakino.
This was about 2.5-3 hours riding time on the bike and this is when the poor fellas arse gave up. He stopped me in the middle of nowhere to have a walk around. About half way to Mangakino. Then again at the dam where we had quite a rest. Only 60km to Te awamutu now and we got through that pretty quick. The boy was real keen to see a service station and get off the bike again. Did a visit friends thing and that gave a couple of hours rest and then we headed up to Waingaro, which I thought was about 30 mins away. Turns out its a lot further. It was getting dark and I was keen to get there as I didn't exactly know where there was! We stopped in whatawhata for a quick break then ngaruawahia to get final directions. The road to waignaro was a real challenge in the dark, with a pillion who by now really didn't want to be sitting still. He was all but over it and the promise of 'being there soon' was getting further and further away. It didn't help that I had no idea how far it was to go. Cellphone coverage went and I really was getting that isolation feeling. On my own it wouldst have been a problem but with an increasingly nervous pillion, I was starting to concern. Plodding on through endless 45k corners my mind wandered to earlier in the day with the sun beating down and thinking if only we were here 3 hours earlier. But we weren't so taking it in its stride we pressed on till we found what we were looking for.
Greeted by Rex at the gate it was good to be off the bike. A mere 400k day that felt as challenging as any of the 1000k days I have done. Time for a well deserved drink, bit of dinner and a catch up.
Its different sleeping in a strange place and more different sleeping in the country. I had a peaceful night to wake to find the boy had abandoned me and gone to sleep on the couch. Apparently, I snore too much.
Got out to feed the animals and for a daylight tour before heading off up SH22 to Auckland. Plenty of warning about this road so wits on but really... I have ridden goat tracks and this anit it! Had a magic ride all the way up stopping just shy of pukekoe for a walk around before hitting the motorway and getting to Auckland. Im going to redo SH22 on the 4 points when I up there latter in the year. I loved every moment of it.
Auckland.. well sucks.
Found a parking building asap and found a really nice hotel clerk who took all our stuff and stored it for the day so we just had what we had on us to walk around Auckland. That was real handy!
Walked about looking at the hustle and bustle. Its a different world in the city. And really.. We played spot the Nzder till we realised we were only there for 1 day and we wouldnt find a winner. Im not a fan of Auckland but the Sky Tower was good. I was going to go do other stuff but finding our way around was a problem and the boy really wanted to go up the tower. By the time we did that and got our way back it was already nearly time for the show. Which was incredible. Loved every moment of it and boy did too.
Getting back on the bike at 5.15pm and trying to get out of Auckland. Well that is a stressful mission.
I couldnt lane split because I could guarentee boy be sitting still and really didnt want to freak him out so it was make like a car but we were always in the wrong lane. And I didnt know where we were going! So this was the getting lost part of the trip that I always manage to incorperate. Took over an hour and 2 lots of instructions to make it to the southern motorway which was just a joke. 3 lanes of traffic doing 60k/hr with the odd car doing 120k. I kept out of trouble and made it down to bombay for a rest.
Huntly for dinner. It was apparent now that boy was lasting less and less distances on the bike. And now the show was over, it was home time. Kinda the downer part of the trip.
The road from Huntly back to Waingaro was magic too. Again in the dark! But this time at least I had an idea of where we were going and got through it a lot quicker than the previous night.
We got back at 8.30 and by 8.40 boy was out to it. Completely shattered. I wondered then if I should make a plan for a bus back to Palmerston North on Friday.
I thought Friday can be all about stopping and taking our time. I made it clear that any time he felt he needed to rest then we would pull over. This made for a really long day!
11 stops on the way home and at every one I could just see the hope in his eyes that we were getting closer to our destination. I set a timer and we started off getting 30 mins on the bike. By the time we got to National Park, it was down to 10.
We had dinner in Taihape and I had a word about him not getting any sorer. I figured, he got this far another hour and we would be home. So he agreed and we had a good run down to bottom of vinegar hill where he really needed to stop. 10 mins and for the first time in 3 days I wound the 10 up to get home. I think he was just really over being on the bike so whatever speed really didnt phase him by now. But arriving home and that thing happens, that happens every single trip I have been on.
Coming up our street at 50km/hr I could imagine how sore he was. Hes neck hurts, hes shoulders are sore. His back is aching, he cant feel his arse anymore and the back of his legs feel like they are going to fall off, He is in so much pain and uncomfortable that he is trying everything he can not to be in a foul mood and just wants to be off the bike and not have to climb back perched on it again. Then 2 mins later.. that magic step happens.. That step off the bike where he touched ground that was home and realising that he had just completed his first multi day tour the first thing that come out of his mouth was.. THAT WAS AWESOME! The pain and aches disappear for that moment... but dont worry.. they return soon!
It really was a fantastic trip. It wont be the last.
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Loved the 10min part the most. You did say whenever he wanted 
Originally Posted by Jane Omorogbe from UK MSN on the KTM990SM
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