After a few days of inclement weather I was desperate to get Beyoncé out on the road again, so with the forecast for Waitangi Day being all clear, texts were sent and a 6:30am meeting at BP North was agreed. I was up at 4:10am, perhaps a little excited anticipating the hours ahead, a cup of coffee, dealing with Work emails then half an hour of History Channel before creeping as quietly as possible out of the garage - as much as we try, Beyoncé only does a certain amount of quiet, but soon we were gone, disappearing into the darkness that would be with us for the next hour. Motorway was quiet too, perfect, and within 40 minutes I had another coffee in hand, with time to kill before Jeff was due to arrive. This was no hardship, watching the ebb and flow through this very busy gas station, punters predominantly enjoying muffins and pies with their coffee, with not a person walking the extra 15 metres to Burger King. I was intrigued to see a small “Freedom Camper” arrive, 1 young guy and 3 very attractive and scantily dressed young ladies - wow, I wonder how that works...? Soon we were off, Dairy Flat, Kaukapakapa, then Wellsford , Jeff setting a cracking pace, even stupid Pukakos smart enough to recognise the roar of oncoming Harley’s as a good time to get out of our way. The only cop of the day appeared when we were conveniently tucked behind a Porsche Cayenne, and apparently not of sufficient interest to warrant turning around. Periodically Jeff would thrust a foot left or right, usually indicating that the corpse of a freshly biffed possum lay ahead, ready to act as a fairly solid judder bar to the unwary if clobbered at speed. With the rising of the sun, the landscape changed, and with it the smells of cows having purged pre or post milking, the smell of something dead suffering from a day or too in a ditch with too much sun, mist shrouding gullies, occasionally and briefly presenting as fog along our route. As always, the huge and magnificent sculptures from Alan Gibbs Kaipara sanctuary presented from afar, the crest of a hill providing the wonder and a reminder that where passion and money meet, spectacular things can happen. Arriving in Wellsford, our path changed, having progressed from north to west then north again, we now turned eastward, and directly into the early rising sun, the chill of darkness becoming blinding sunshine at the most inappropriate moments, (usually on tight and fast blind corners) but only for a short time before our breakfast stop at The Black Dog Cafe in Matakana appeared. So, fed, and with more coffee aboard we headed for Warkworth followed by the delights of Woodcocks Road, 25 kms of road that is a real treat, at least when little other traffic is about, road that takes in both pasture and bush, enough tight corners and short straights to test riders of all skills. A bellyful of gas at Riverhead, then more little known country roads, narrow and windy between Coatsville and Albany, then waving farewell as Jeff headed off, a bathroom to tile awaiting his skills, and I headed home, thinking of Templar, and as I write, from the deck I see a procession of launches departing Half Moon Bay for a day on the water. Apparently Wade and Nikita have gone to buy a life jacket for puppy Luna, so I suspect we’ll also shortly be on the water... The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is asking questions about ATEED’s sponsorship of Pride Festival events like KIWIFIST 2018. The R16 event is part of Pride’s February 2-18 festival. It is described on the ATEED-sponsored website as ‘New Zealand’s biggest arse-play event’, and advises attendees to ‘BYO toys and lubes’ for ‘a full-on, five-hour-plus, gathering of gay and bi men into fisting and arse-play big-time’. Not all ratepayers will be happy that their money is being used to promote KIWIFIST. The Ratepayers’ Alliance does not believe ratepayers should be subsiding sex parties, regardless of the sexual orientation of those involved. Our spokesperson, Jo Holmes, told media: "I'm certainly not someone who would have concern with Pride, however I have concerns personally as a member of the gay community with the direction Pride is going with its events, and as a spokesperson for ratepayers, I can see no justification at all for ATEED to be sponsoring an event like KIWIFIST." "Sex parties do not benefit the general ratepayer." When we approached ATEED, they refused to say how much money Pride has received for the Festival and the promotion of its events. They instead insisted we go through the slow and bureaucratic LGOIMA process. We think this is an appalling disregard for transparency, clearly motivated by concern from ATEED’s PR team How can ATEED defend this spending, when they claim poverty, and even introduced a hotel tax last year, apparently for the very event promotion budget this money was allocated from? Phil Goff pledged he’d stop the Council wasting money on non-core Council business. Sex parties are not core Council business. If you are outraged by Phil Goff’s use of your money on KIWIFIST – please chip in so we can hold the Council to account. |
Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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