Why do people want to get to the top of things?
Whether it is trees, mountains, the Earth, classes, companies, etc... There seems to be something about human beings that drives a need to get to the top. For me it is silly things like countries. Can I get to the most northern part and if yes then I go for it. In the scale of things like those done by a multitude of explorers with drive and determination and machete's and ice axes my ambitions are a bit on the limp side as it must have a good road to it. But still I do it and there is no other reason for doing it other than to say that I have done it. Whether Scotland and places like Cape Wrath or as on this trip to Cape Reinga on North Island. Now I do not know if it is truly the most northerly point on mainland New Zealand but it is as far as the road goes....
And that is good enough for me. So here I now have the vid of the run up and back down again. See : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEGOdazyUB8 .
It was a lovely day, a long day in the saddle. I now have callouses on the soft parts of my bum (the seat on a Ten12 is a bit on the firm side; a park bench rather than an armchair methinks). But thank God I'm not doing this on a Harley Davidson as I would have given up and bailed out even before leaving Kaitaia for the round trip to the cape. Just the thought of serious back ache and stretched hamstrings a la California is enough to put that idea away forever (see earlier Harley blog for why).
Yesterday was a wet day but the good news no motorcycling! Yay! However, said my farewells to John and Barbara today after 2 nights at their rather splendid house overlooking Lake Taupo. The penthouse room was truly spectacular and sorry Barbara that I could not find a cable for you to help with the video editing. But it is also likely that you will need a new PC as whilst a 10 year old model might have the connectivity, it probably will not have the disk space as video consumes gigs faster than I consume muffins!
Today though was back on the bike and away south finishing the day in Wanganui. Long day riding again. In fact all rides will be long in the saddle to cover all that I want to do. But today included a run along the Forgotten World Highway. And yes Randal, your predictions are right in that the riding and scenery is only improving as I get the miles in. Had a late lunch at Whangamomona Hotel. The town has declared itself a republic as a protest to council boundary changes in the 60's, see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whangamomona
Video for today's ride is under construction. I'm not quite as quick as I would like to be but the vid will get uploaded as soon as is ready. With a few tunes too as watching a bike vid can be as interesting as watching paint dry unless supported by an appropriate ambient track.
Tonight I am in the Grand Hotel in Wanganui. For sure feels and looks like it has frozen in time since the 1950's. A characterful place... and with WIFI. Yay! So good for blogs and YouTube stuff which is now in underway....
Tomorrow is a ride on the Gentle Annie road. I'm aiming to reach the coastal town of Napier by 19:30 tomorrow evening as it is likely that I will meet John in the bar at the Mason's Hotel post his painting duties in Napier (or was that code for fishing John?). He's the only guy I know that trailers a speedboat with him when he goes decorating. Hmmm.
Hope Annie is gentle with me tomorrow Baby
Speak soon
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