To Just June

A June Picture

I found this picture in my June browsings.

Robotart - Robot Art or Robo Tart?

I was inspired by Andrew Palace (Metal As Anything) who had an exhibition of his lamps in Grey Lynn. Fantastic stuff.

In-the-middle

Stuff happens all the time. It doesn't necessarily start or finish though, sometimes things are in-the-middle. A bit like June. Everything is in-the-middle.

• Dr Who is in-the-middle of the series
• An energy site I am working on is in-the-middle, with a go-live of phase 1 in early July
• An insurance site is in-the-middle of the analysis and design phase, and decisions that need to be made all seem to be in-the-middle of a decision making process
• the house re-renovations are in-the-middle as we tick rooms off - moving junk from one romm to another in a kind of merry-go-round
• the year is in-the-middle - obviously, as it is each year at this time - doh
• I wish I could say that yacht maintenance was in-the-middle but it hasn't started. But it should have...
• I am currently in-the-middle of this post ;-)
• Based on the fact that I will live to 108 years, my life is approaching the in-the-middle phase, although the amount of whisky I have yet to consume could well be greater in the second half
• Oh, I am in-the-middle of Call of Duty: Black Ops for the second time...??!!

When you use a list element you type the brackets and you start with a-lie (li), and you end with not-a-lie (/li). Whatever... Just goes to show my mood.

A Poem About String

In the middle of
A piece of string each end is
Equally distant

johnhs

Hampton Downs May Rideday

Javawocky and Evil Stig's Adventure

With the last MotoTT Taupo weekend being rained out I was certainly up for a rideday to blow out the cobwebs. Then all things aligned, and the May rideday at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park near Meremere appeared and the Metservice promised sunshine. All ducks in a row, and Javawocky (Elton) also rearing to go, I booked online in the Green (Med-Fast) group.


Eltonio (Javawocky) with his black GSXR600 and new Sharp helmet.

And what a beautiful day it was - a little cool and foggy on the way down, but the day cleared and was brilliant. A spot or two of rain in the afternoon was nothing to worry about.


Evil Stig's black Ducati 916

Tyre pressures were adjusted down to aid tyre warm-up - I ran 29 PSI front and back. Two circuits was all that was needed to get the Metzeler M5's to grip - just up to me now to relearn the track, relearn how to ride, and get down to business.

What a Ducati of a workout!

Being in the med-fast group means that you are not cruising between corners, you are totally focused and already planning the next - all day, and using/improving skills as the day progressed has left me with sore muscles - especially the legs. The Enterprise (Suzuki Boulevard C90 cruiser) does not require you to grip with your knees - whereas the Ducati requires vice-like grip - aided by the leathers against the TechSpec Gripster tank grips I have added.

Knees to the Grindstone

Its a kind of right-of-passage - no idea what all the fuss is about - except its a bit like virginity for riders. One guy is grinding his knee slider around the corner and you are right on his back wheel and not... its a funny business. However funny or not, I can say (in a slightly deeper voice than usual) that my sliders are now scuffed up.

Video Highlights

Elton had his cameras on and captured some of the later sessions on video. It gives you a good idea of the circuit and also what a GSXR600 can get up to when unleashed.
Video of Hampton Downs GSXR 600. The later sessions had some sun between turns 1 and 2, but the track has been very well thought out with regard to the afternoon sun and its affects on visibility.

Great day, had a real blast too.

cheers
johnhs

Boulevard Rally 2011 Goes North

This years rally had been split into two parts, with South Island and a North Island legs to cater for those who wanted to make a real roadtrip out of it, and those who just wanted the weekend. The Christchurch earthquake put a dampener on the South Island part and so it was largely called off - although there were a few that made the trip to Nelson to be together.


View Larger Map
The trip up and back to Whangarei on Saturday, return to Auckland Sunday.

Saturday morning started very early... I was at Coleman's Suzuki at 6:00AM - just me and the 'girls'. Eventually the crew turned up and 7 of us headed north to the meeting place at the Pacific Motor Group in Whangarei. I had new tyres and brakes fitted on Wednesday and had spent some time cleaning and polishing ready for the meetup. We had a good trip up, at a reasonable pace, and not much traffic, arriving at PMG gassed up and rearing to go. And there was Paul Bougher - I didn't know he rode bikes, but he was on a Boulevard cruiser. I hadn't discovered riding when I worked with him at Fletchers many years ago - we usually talked sailing.

Quite a number of the crew had come up on Friday, and the use of sunglasses for 'medicinal purposes' was apparent.

It was a fantastic day though... after a dark start (and quite cold). Coming up we hit some pockets that were foggy and cold enough to fog the mirrors and around the visor. I have a Shoei XR1000 helmet with the pin-lock anti-fogging 'skin' on the inside - it works so well - highly recommended.


The Starship Enterprise leaves Whangarei.

Once briefing was over the "Rolling Thunder" experience hit the road North. I was amazed at the numbers of people along the way that waved from bridges , who took photos and movies with their cell-phones, and who waved signs at us like "Feijoa's $2.00" and stuff like that. One even said "Dangerous Curves" - in reference to the northern and downwards side of the Mangamuka hill - held by Dayna from Suzuki.

The north road does get a bit windy at times, and its all the better for it ;-) We arrived in Kaitaia, gassed up, and regrouped at Kaitaia Motorcycles.



I was getting a bit hungry now, the effects of my 2 fried eggs on toast for breakfast had run out - but ahead lay the quick run down from Kaitaia to the Mangonui Fish Shop, at, er ... Mangonui. I headed for the front of the pack as I knew that a) parking was going to be at a premium, and b) I was hungry and reckoned I would be better near the front of the queue (of 200 people!!) I pity those who had gone their of their own volition - finding a huge queue snaking out of the fish shop. Anyway, I checked in with Foursquare and waited in line for THE BEST FISH AND CHIPS - the fish was wonderfully fresh - I imagine it had come in that morning.



The trip back to Whangarei took us to our hotel. I was staying at the Kingsgate Hotel Whangarei, across the river from the city centre. I checked in, cleaned up, and walked back into town to take part in the judging of the "Show-and-shine" competition and to get a shuttle ride to the golf course, where out dinner was being held. There was a bit of under-estimating when it came to organising the shuttles - quite a few people taking up on the offer, and leaving their bikes at the Hotel or locked up at PMG.

I went with a van-load of BOP people who reckoned that the next one should be in Tauranga, and we set about planning where the reception would be. The night at the golf club was great - good company, good food, cold beer! However I was very tired, saying that "yesterday when we came up... oh no that was this morning wasn't it..." it had certainly been a long day.


Looking at the Kingsgate from across the marina.

Sunday up and breakfasted, we hit the road back to Auckland headed for the Puhoi pub (which I by-passed). I was going to meet up with Kev and Cathy and the crew but I was at Warkworth at 11:15AM and figured they would be along in a hour or so - so carried on.

So, home for lunch, and enough time to trim the hedge, have a beer, and eat some excellent fresh pasta before crashing. 650KM roadtrip weekend - thanks Suzuki for putting on a great Boulevard Rally 2011.

cheers
johnhs [windingroad]

Richmond Yacht Club Summer Series 2010-2011

For the second year Kerkira has raced on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland with the Richmond Yacht Club in the Wednesday night Summer Series races.



Kerkira contested the 12 races this year, and we certainly have improved from our first season - in confidence, focus and in our knowledge of sailing. And I would add, the crew are working very well together too, able to sense what the next thing that needs doing is, before its too late, or the skippers barks out his orders ;-) No barking... only purring this year.


And we stood on the top of the podium 3 times!

In the first season we were triumphant in the clubhouse on more than one occassion however this year we were able to exercise that prowess on the water as well, picking up 3 wins and coming a respectable 4th in the series.

Results Division E No Extras
============================
Race 01: PROTEST [We withdrew after missing Rough Rock Buoy]
Race 02: Handicap: 0.625 Place: 16/16
Race 03: Handicap: 0.627 Place: 10/14
Race 04: Handicap: 0.625 Place: 7/16
Race 05: Handicap: 0.622 Place: 1/14
Race 06: Handicap: 0.623 Place: 1/14
Race 07: Handicap: 0.626 Place: 7/10
Race 08: Handicap: 0.632 Place: 5/12
Race 09: DNF [Arrived 3 minutes after 9:00 closing]
Race 10: Handicap: 0.634 Place: 4/12
Race 11: Handicap: 0.638 Place: 1/11
Race 12: Handicap: 0.639 Place: 5/10

Sailing on Wednesday nights after work is just amazing really (if you can get through the traffic in time!) and I appreciate the support I have had with crew always onhand to make the night great.

Read our sailing blog called Kerkira Racing where I have chronicled each race, our course, crew, start, progress and result throughout the series, adding the Quote of the Day where appropriate - I admit we have had alot of fun - but our sailing skills have grown also - and we are proud of our achievement of 4th place overall.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

After all our stable weather it seemed the right time to be thinking about doing the Tongariro Crossing, one of New Zealand's best one-day walks - definitely on the "things to do before you die" list. That's a cheery thought... The walk is 18.5 km and is scheduled to take 7-9 hours depending on the brochure you read.


I decided that the track highlight should be 'visited-link" colour.

The Chateau on Mt Ruapehu

The plan was to drive down on the Friday night after work, and stay at the Chateau, on Mt Ruapehu, then up early for the 7:00AM pickup to the Mangetepopo end of the trail. After a very slow exit from the city with peak hour traffic adding an hour to the trip, we were underway, with friends Peter and Claire an hour ahead of us. Its a good road down through the back roads to Otorohanga, through Te Kuiti (where we had takeaways - but not again) and through to Hwy 4 down to the mountains.


We stayed at the Chateau 2 nights - it was great - I recommend it (booked via Wotif.com), whatever you are doing in the National Park region.

The weather had ideas of its own however. The Saturday walk was cancelled due to gale force winds and rain. Not so bad as we could therefore afford a sleep-in ;-) There are a couple of walks available from quite close to the Chateau, so we decided to 'road-test' our gear on a couple of them - The Silica Rapids walk and the Taranaki Falls walk - both around the 5km / 2hours and family friendly. Boy did we get soaked - Viv had on her new North Face wet weather overpants and she was dry - I had a nylon coat and spray pants and was saturated. That's why you need to spend more money and get good gear. Great walks through varied terrain which we survived - at what would be about half the distance of the Tongariro Crossing, without any damage.

The Tongariro Crossing

By late Saturday afternoon the Crossing was scheduled open for Sunday, with the winds and rain dying out overnight. And so they did, with an overcast day with little wind greeting us at 5:45AM Sunday morning.


Looking South: Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe, and Mt Ruapehu from the edge of the Blue Lake.

The overcast weather was very welcome - I can imagine that a clear hot summer day would be hell-on-earth - truly walking in Mordor! Of course Mt Ngauruhoe IS Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and alot of the landscape is reminiscent of the movie.

The bus took us to the Mangetepopo carpark where the trail starts for most people - this is the preferred starting direction. The driver said there would be approx 400 people on the trail that day. The first part of the journey is quite flat, and includes a board walk to the bottom of the Devil's Staircase. You ascend the stairs for nearly an hour, with great views to the West towards Mt Taranaki in the distance, which we could see quite clearly. At the top you can choose to go up Ngauruhoe for another 2 hours to the summit - which we didn't do, but which I will do on another trip. 2 hours up, half an hour down - it looks impossibly steep.

Then across the Tongariro South Crater and up to the top to overlook the Red Crater, where we stopped for morning tea. Truly majestic scenery - and quite harsh - and yet as we sat there we noticed lady-birds on the rocks eating moss - very unexpected.

Down to Ketetahi

As we started our descent the sun came out and it started to get very hot - just as well we were going downhill! Even so, we were all shedding layers as we approached the Ketetahi DOC hut - and starting to think about lunch. I was thinking - "Why did I carry all this food up the mountain?"


We stopped for an hour, took boots off, and had lunch. What a fantastic vista North across Lake Rotoaira to Lake Taupo in the distance.

Then the last leg of the walk - down over the tussock to the bush, and the Ketetahi carpark. As we entered the bush the air cooled and it was at first very pleasant. After a while though it was muggy and close and a bit of breeze would have been most welcome. We arrived at 10 minutes to 3:00 - and the buses were all there waiting to take us back to the Chateau - or wherever you might be staying. I noted that a few people with cars and campervans had parked at the Base Camp and bused from there - a safer alternative to leaving a car in the end-of-trail carparks.

This walk is just fantastic and you have to do it. Given that we started early and completed by 3:00PM - and only moderately fit - I think that it is within the grasp of alot of people.

JohnHS

Ride Carefully: Coromandel Loop

Thunder Beach

The long awaited morning dawns and promises a beautiful day for a ride to Whitianga. Up reasonably early and off to Colemans Suzuki, our meeting place for the ride over to Thunder Beach - which this year is Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Caltex Bombay

Travelling in a convoy is always a bit of a treat however it can be difficult to stay together, especially around the city where there are traffic lights and traffic to contend with. First stop at the Caltex Bombay, we met up with some southern riders and consolidated back into a group. Kev and Cathy were the ride captains and Grey the Tail-end Charlie - the ride was very orderly, with mostly cruisers and about 20 sports or touring bikes. We took Hwy 2 and headed for the next stop/mustering point at Kopu. There were in the vicinity of 80 bikes in total that went over the hill to Whitianga. The roadworks only got us once, just at the start of the Kopu-Hikuwai road where all our polishing and preening got covered in fine dust ;-)

Face Off: Sporties one side Cruisers the other.

A great gathering at Whitianga with BBQ and drinks. Fantastic organisation by Troy Hardy and Colemans own Alistair. I have the tee-shirt to prove it!

Driving on the Wrong Side

I left Whitianga because I had a day at Hampton Downs planned on Sunday and I was going to complete the Coromandel Loop, and stay in Ngatea the night before going on to the trackday early Sunday. It was such a wonderful day, clear and dry and possibly a bit hot... but in the wind created by riding it was very comfortable - I was wearing full leathers in preparation for the Hampton Downs rideday. I stopped in at the smokehouse in Coromandel (a must) and proceeding down the coast. Then I met this:

This Sunny Vanette is on MY SIDE OF THE ROAD... what to do?

I braked of course, but consciously did not go into the right lane, for fear of the driver suddenly 'waking up' and swerving to their left - thereby sending me over the cliff to my far right.

I stood on.

He kept coming...

Now what... of course this is all happening in about 1 second - then I swerved to the right - slightly too late - there was a bang and I was thrown over on my right side - the indicator, mirror and (unfortunately) the clutch lever taking the initial impact with the van. Evil Stig found himself sliding face-first up the road. I got up and the van had come to a stop still in the wrong lane - a trap for the next rider or driver to find. I got myself up and picked up the bike with the help of my new acquaintance - a French guy - who (I guess) had a brain-fade, started driving on the right and when I appeared just froze at the wheel.

If I had of been in a car it would have been a head-on, and we may not have walked away.

Riding home my main concern was getting across Kopu bridge, which currently has a traffic light and is only one way - I managed to crawl along and grab the lights as they went green.

No way to get a new clutch lever before the trackday - damn luck.

Prolog: Hampton Downs Screaming

Well as it turns out Darren and the team at the Hampton Downs Ridedays have hire bikes available - Suzuki GSXR 600's - so maybe I could do the trackday... hello Christmas present.

Turn 5 at Hampton Downs track.

There is a race meeting coming up next weekend, so there were lots of racers there practising, along with us who were there for the enjoyment. And it was again a beautiful day - although getting up to over 30degC later in the day - very hot for leathers, unless you are going around the track! The GSXR600 is a real screamer (well I am a V-twin rider) and all fun with it. I got the steer for gearing suggestions from Darren and proceeded to have a great day, learning the track again and experiencing the different ride of the Gixer. It went very well - although they had taped up the speedo - what is 14K in 4th? The Suzuki handled nicely - seemed to 'waggle' a bit on the front straight while the throttle was pinned, and I was told maybe that was caused by the starting grid marking... don't know.

Nice bike alright, but does it have the soul of a Ducati 916.

cheers

Road Trip North Island

An email arrived from Nick..."Hey John, Are you interested in doing a 3 day motorcycle trip around Northland starting thurs 4 November?" Um, just give me 1.5 seconds to think about it... YES!


Looking towards Cape Maria Van Diemen.

Three Day Ride To the Cape and Back

I left work on Thursday night to meet up with the guys at Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours where the hire bikes were being picked up. There I met Nick, Ian, Chris, Ralph, and Heina. Ian was on his own bike, a Honda VFR 800 and the others on the hire bikes BMW GS650, Suzuki SV650, Yamaha FZ6, and Suzuki DL650.

Thursday Night, Matakana

Gassed up and ready to go - we charged off to Matakana where our accommodation had been booked at the Omaha River Retreat, which was a lovely spot overlooking Omaha. Then dinner at Matakana which was very nice - and at the end of the meal, Brian turns up on the Kawasaki ZG1400 Concours, having ridden continuously from Christchurch - legend. We had escaped the rain so far, but we found that outside the restaurant was a wet, dark and somewhat dismal night which saw us getting lost again trying to find the Retreat. A good chat over a beer or two and bed.

Friday Clearing and the Coast Roads

First things first - BREAKFAST. Well we had breakfast arranged at Graeme's place in Warkworth, and that is where we stopped next, guided by the smell of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee, and with Graeme's excellent guide-book which covered the trip in every detail. Fed up and agreeably drunk we headed off on the next leg of the trip, with Graeme leading the way on his DL650.

Turning off the main highway we headed up the Wayby Valley and onto the coast road through Mangawhai, Langs Beach and Waipu Cove before getting back on SH1. A welcome coffee and scone at Marsden Point and we continued up through Whangarei heading back to the coast at Ngunguru. The roads by this time were dry and the day had cleared considerably from the light misty rain we experienced earlier.

We stopped at Matapouri and walked down to the beach - just beautiful... I was thinking "Where's my fishing rod"? the Bay looked so inviting. It wasn't the last time I thought that either, as we went up the coast, the bays got more beautiful with clear water and clean sand - they oozed calm and relaxation. It seemed the further we went North the lighter the load - the stress was left behind.

Miles of Smiles

After Matapouri we were meant to stop at Helena Bay for lunch - but something happened to the twisting hand... and 4 of us found ourselves in Russell - what a blast - that road from Matapouri to Russell definitely scored a row of smileys as far as we were concerned... it is one of the best roads I have ridden. I can sympathise with families in cars though, it would be a real "are we there yet" nightmare for the same reason we loved it - winding roads ;-)


Waitangi Carpark, with minder John looking after the bikes.

The ferry at Opua followed by a quick look around Waitangi, including our honorary NZer Heina, it was on to the motor camp at Kerikeri and the hunt for dinner and cold beer. We found an Italian restaurant near the camp which was really good - and we somehow managed to drink their beer and consume the wonderful Italian meals. In fact we finished all their Peroni (Italian beer), and they had to send out for more wine when we took a liking to a particular merlot - oh well, someone has to do it...

Saturday Dawns, the Cape Awaits

I believe that all slept soundly, and woke to a beautiful morning which was made for riding - to the Cape, no less. Of course our first job for the day was locating an excellent breakfast, which we did at Mangonui, which was quickly followed by a piece of fish from the Mangonui Fish Shop. Breakfast could have been found at Whangaroa, but the only thing we saw being served was cold beer and a pie - um, no thanks.


Cape Reinga, New Zealand.

Funny I have been twice before to Cape Reinga and I remember a dull long uneventful road that goes on forever. But on a bike... what a great road! I really enjoyed the sweeping road with different scenery available as you climb up to the ridges and look out towards the coast and the sand dunes, or dive down into the farmland valleys.

And there were a few bikes on that road... 300 odd. A local group were having a poker run and had attracted 300 registrations, and then there were other groups like the 8 of us doing the trip North or riders just enjoying the great weekend weather.


At the Cape Reinga carpark.

The Nine Riders

The trip up the Cape is about 200kms round trip from Awanui and that isn't too far off the fuel capacity for the cruiser. On the way back the guys headed off to 90 Mile Beach, but I reckoned that the extra 20km might put me on an empty tank, so I carried on to Awanui - fuel light flashing. Once gassed up I turned the key and... nothing... no power, no go. It was that sudden no-go that I had experienced before with the car when the battery dies - so I reasoned that was the problem.

Eventually everyone arrived at the BP and gassed up and then Lou our ninth rider casually strolled over and said hi. He had ridden up from Auckland taking every long-way on the route up to Kaitaia on a DL650 that he picked up at Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours in Takapuna.

We tried push starting the beast. Well 2 x 750cc cylinders take quite a lot of momentum to start, and even in 3rd gear we couldn't get the bike going. The jump starter from the garage only got us to the Warehouse at Kaitaia, and then a fruitless purchase of a small portable jump-starter (which was not charged up). We disconnected the headlight and got a jump start from some very helpful policemen who suddenly appeared on the scene. Not sure if they noticed me drinking beer in the the Warehouse carpark - probably not the right thing to do - but we were running again. With the load from the headlight now off the battery, we had enough power to get a spark and we made our way to Ahipara, where we had a house booked for the night.

I should have taken a picture there - it was a lovely beach with a couple of rows of breakers rolling in from the Tasman. We had a good night there, eating at the local Motel - and a fine meal it was too - with big bottles of Lion Red and Speights. Old school. An early start awaited the riders with Greame and I heading into Kaitaia to the Repco which opened at 9:00AM to buy a battery - and they had almost the right one. Back in Ahipara, battery fitted, and the Starship Enterprise roared into life.


The Kauri Museum, at Matakohe, near Dargaville.

We wasted no time getting on the road and heading for the meeting point in Dargaville. The others had gone via the Rawene ferry and the Waipoua Forest, paying their respects to Tane Mahuta a giant Kauri tree.

Graeme and I took a different route through Kaikohe and down the Twin Bridge road. That was well worth it too, another great riding road find. When we arrived in Dargaville, we pulled over and Graeme said "I'm just going to txt the others" I said "Don't bother here they are". Our timing and positioning had again fallen precisely into place - Brian finding us at the restaurant in Matakana on Thursday night, Lou at the BP in Awanui on Saturday, and then all of us reuniting at Dargaville. Lunch in Ruawai and off to Auckland so the rental bikes can be handed back by 5:00PM, we had time to take Hwy 16 from Wellsford, another great road, closer to home. Actually with all the times I've ridden that road I had never done it going South - its different - but still a great road. We stopped in Kaukapakapa for an icecream - well I didn't - I just stopped, dead.

Now it was time to abandon me in Kaukapakapa while I waited for a ride back to the city to pick up a trailer and then come back to pick up the bike. Thanks Nick and Tim for helping with that. Dropped off at Coleman's on Monday - I found that the problem was the stator, which seems to be the most expensive part on the motor :-(



Had an awesome time guys, really had a blast, with the discovery of new roads to ride, and having fun times with some really great guys.

Bring on Next Year!