Whilst roaring up the West Coast towards Cape Reinga there were a few moments where I reflected on a wide range of topics.
There were my fellow Rusty Nuts, some of whom only dust off their bikes once a year for this special event. We all allocate our time as we see appropriate, some play golf, some have younger families - whilst we few spoilt hard arse Harley guys forsake most other time waste activities in favour of our bikes. There were those who said they'd come then couldn't - their loss, and those who could only come for part of the trip - well done. There was the scenery, and I'm not known as a scenery guy. Normally my attention span is extremely short (think goldfish) but when on my Harley I commit 100% to the bike., never mind the sights! A fleeting glimpse of Alan Gibbs Kaipara amazing sculptures on the Kaipara - a reminder that it is best to be wealthy if you dream on a big scale - money and passion being comfortable bedfellows. The ubiquitous 20 foot shipping container can now be found in the most remote parts of the country, a cheap storage solution for many rural people, sometimes in a back paddock, sometimes on the front lawn, but inevitably quietly rotting away in a damp corner, sometimes replacing what used to be old cars whose mechanical needs had overcome their owners ability to fix them, but typically in addition to rather than instead of... adding to the character that is rural new Zealand. I mentioned in a previous note the many abandoned houses out in the country, some lonely and forlorn in distant paddocks, some adjacent to their newer (but still old) replacement. Each of these places has a story to tell, once the pride of the family who lived there, but almost certainly ending badly or sadly as the house was abandoned many years later, hope and home abandoned together. Something I'd really never noticed before - the turkey population is obviously doing well just about everywhere we went, with families and flocks enjoying pasture shared with cattle - their presence indicating that farmers don't see them as a problem (perhaps they end up in the pot). Other birdlife also seems to be doing well with magnificently feathered pheasants in abundance, and even the odd flock of brightly coloured parakeets as we flashed by. Unlike the burnt brown so familiar in late summer, green was the predominant colour, especially in the low lying farmland between Ruawai and Dargaville. Wherever we went herds of cows were adding to Fonterra's woes. More to follow. Comments are closed.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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