Oh what a loverly day
As it had been several weeks since my last decent ride,work owed me time off & the weather forecast looked shit hot for Thursday, it was time to ride. Emailed mate @ his work place Tuesday to see if he was keen for a little ride in our backyard.
All sorted set off mid morning after been issued with a new warrant from the testing station in NP by a too chatty inspector, love to chat mate but it's my day off & I'm off for a ride.Gas up, swing by my mates place & we are off. Agreed that today was all about getting there & back with the least amount of stress.
Route for the Day was out to Taumaranui & back via SH43, the Forgoten World Highway, it would have to be the slowest I've ever done to Whanga but probably one of the most enjoyable ( recent arrival of my first born must have mellowed me, oh well better late than never) If you've ever been this way you'll understand that this is an awesome stretch of road with everything motorcyling has to offer thrown in. Keeping the pace down certainly gives you the chance to observe & absorb your surroundings.
We would've come accross just about everything on the road that you could've imagined, stray cattle beasts,horses,wild goats appearing from just there, Cockies utes parked in the middle of the road rounding a blind corner, railworkers righting a rolled wagon, Diggers on the back of transporters,road works with still wet cement,mobile stoats,a milk tanker,even a Lotus Ellice (sp) in the middle of the Tangaraku Gorge.
Speaking of the Tangaraku Gorge, doing this piece of road @ the right time of the year is magic, I had to keep reminding myself that the gravel was not sealed, it wasn't until you approached a corner that it all came back to you.
Stopped @ Joshua Morgans grave in the middle of the Gorge for a light refreshment & a stretch of the legs,thought this is what it's like to be alive, it's a rather reflective spot just to chil & take in the surroundings. As we head off from here we come accross a roading outfit potholing with some rather horrible looking metal,made picking your line alot more interesting.
Out to Taumaranui for Gas & a feed, whilst sitting there eating and sipping, said to mate which way does he want to go home, reponse, the way we've just come, the main roads are filled with filth & rought with danger !
One more stop @ Morgans grave on the way home (this is when the Lotus went passed), the metal that looked horrible on the way out was hit with pace on the way home & all was fine.
Only one moment really over the whole day & that was in the Tangarakau Gorge on the way home when hitiing the inside of a corner on the metal section that was all mud & not the hard packed metal like the rest of it.
So 400km's return on some of the most outstanding piece of local road New Zealand has to offer, man it's great to be alive.
Now lets hope Saturday's
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Originally Posted by Hitcher
loved the Joshua piece. You think your little Italian sounds luverly, you ought to hear the Austrian sisters in full chorus 
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