Thanks Danny, Uncle and Abby for the MB advice. I followed and the ole bum has improved. I parked the bike for a day and did a hike to some volcanoes.
Rocket Man, the gravel at Forgotten Highway is 12.2 km long and its all good (as of a couple of days ago). Nice ride too!
Saturday, February 12 . I slept in until 7am and Kenny cooked breakfast. We rode back into Wellington with Chloe riding pillion on Kenny's Katana 750. We went looking for a spare battery for the Hero cam but it was not to be found but I did find out where one was at further north. So we took off riding around Wellington (Mirimar Loop, Kiaro to Makara and took in the Te Papa museum in town. A very nice museum that needs plenty of time to enjoy it all. We were standing in a park with windsurfers all around when I noticed a plaque mounted up on a pedestal. I read the plaque which was in memory of US Marines who camped there during World War II and later fought and died on the South Pacific Islands. I told Kenny and Chloe that my dad and brother were both US Marines and my day had served in the South Pacific, my brother in Vietnam. This plaque was on Pauatahanui Inlet. (for all you current and former Marines). I know there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the Marines. Kenny Johnston (a Geordie from Newcastle) and Chloe have been great hosts and I hope he will come the US someday so I can return his hospitality.
Sunday, February 13. Hawkeye took good care of me but you have to be careful not to wear out your welcome. Kenny and Chloe led me out of Whitby and I rode to Palmerston North and found a shop open that had a battery for my helmet cam. Sweet, I grabbed the battery and headed for Whanganui where I checked in to a BBH hostel and it was good. I had a three bunk room and one roommate from Tennessee who was glad to see someone from his neck of the woods. He was hiking, (yes, no wheels) and enjoying it. After I ate dinner that I cooked in their kitchen, I walked across the street to look at the Whanganui rivier. There was a group of young boys jumping off a concrete wall into the river. I ran and got the Hero cam and took some video of the them, diving, flipping and having fun in the water. They must have ranged in age from 10 to 16 years and they made me want to be that age again. One of them asked me if I was a millionaire and I told him, "I was just a poor coal miner traveling on a motorcycle", which is, for the most part, true. I know they were having a good time with my accent........
Whanganui looked like a nice and interesting town but I had a ride on the "Forgotten Highway" on my mind.
Monday, February 14. I rode toward Strattford and got on the Forgotten Highway. It was a nice day and a great ride. I stopped at the Whangamomona? hotel for lunch and asked for a room. They were booked so I had to settle for the tee shirt so I could tell the world I had been there. The ride to Taumarunui was good and there are 12.2 km of gravel, good gravel and not a big deal for the Orient Express (ST1300). When I got to Taumarunui I stopped at the shop where I picked up the bike and made arrangements to drop it off before I leave the country. I rode to Turangi and found a room. As soon as I checked in the operator asked if I wanted to hike up to the volcanoes. I said yes and it was booked.
Tuesday, February 15. I got up at 6am had breakfast and got ready for the bus ride. The hike was called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and measured at 19.4 km. I kinda figured it would be a tough one for myself anyway. It was worth the effort. We (not sure how many, but many) had to climb about 800 meters to get to the easiest summit. The die hard hikers had to climb to the top of a tall volcanic pile of barren rubble for the best view (if the clouds lifted). I knew I would do good to finish the easy track. The views were great and we hiked thru a couple of volcanoes, the dry ones anyway. One crater was a deep burgundy color, still smoldering in places and you could smell the sulfur compounds as they rose up over the top. Below the big red crater was a couple of emerald green pools that no one cared to get into. Descending the red crater was steep and the footing was not good. I saw two women sliding down on their bottoms to avoid the risk of falling. One woman fell and broke her arm and finished the track in an arm sling. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the pickup area for the bus. My right knee had me whining and felt like a bearing was going down. ......But I'm glad I made the trip. It seems like every time I take a long ride I manage to get myself into some kind of self-imposed torture.
Wednesday, February 16. I left Turangi headed for Taupo on the lake and then decided to ride to Napier on the east cost. The ride down was beautiful and it seems there are no bad roads to ride here in Kiwiland. Napier seemed like a nice enough place but it was busy and there were a lot of people coming in for a festival this weekend. I wanted to get more out in the country to spend the night so I took in a few lookout sites and made my way north toward Gisborne along the coast. I had a blinking fuel gauge so I stopped before leaving town to fill up. I put the Orient Express up on the center stand to check the oil. The oil was OK and I just started looking at the front tire for wear issues. I then moved to the back of the bike to look at the rear. Now I don't do this as a habit, it's really not a routine with me every time I fill up. So I start rotating the wheel and find a nice shiny rivet sticking out of the middle of the tire. A little spit on the rivet and sure enough, it was leaking, slowly. I must have just picked it up!! Holy Mother of Honda, now is that some good luck or not?? (finding it before it found me) I was directed to (another stroke of luck) a Honda shop less than a kilometer away. They were not cheap but they were fast and had it off the bike and TWO patches in about an hour. I got the lecture about not using the slimy worm plugs (the kind I use on my bike at home) and I nodded my head in agreement (ashamed to mention my own sins). The tire already had one plug in it before I managed the rivet. The motorcycle gods were looking after me today and I was feeling very good.
After the delay, I decided it was too late to proceed north and found a nice campground beside the beach. I broke out the tent for only the fourth time. It was damp and musty smelling from some old Milford Sound rain.
