Lock up your grandmothers

[Mark_S]

we wait all this time and only get 2 pictures.....

the natives are getting restless....

[McCardigan]

Yur a bunch of hard taskmasters

Spent the best part of the day sorting and uploading over 300 photo's, in groups of 3 at several mins a time.

So after a nano nap, shower I'm heading downstairs for dinner, then to listen to an Irish folk band, I had better start the story.

Once appond a time, in a land far far away there was this intrepid traveller......................................... ......................................
.................................................. ........................................

Am I doing good so far?

[Kokopelli]

Originally Posted by McCardigan

Yur a bunch of hard taskmasters

Spent the best part of the day sorting and uploading over 300 photo's, in groups of 3 at several mins a time.

So after a nano nap, shower I'm heading downstairs for dinner, then to listen to an Irish folk band, I had better start the story.

Once appond a time, in a land far far away there was this intrepid traveller......................................... ......................................
.................................................. ........................................

Am I doing good so far?

Sounds like a fairy tale to me, we want the truth.....

[Box'a'bits]

And the next line better not be 'You can't handle the truth...'

[McCardigan]

Originally Posted by Box'a'bits

And the next line better not be 'You can't handle the truth...'

You took the words right out of my mouth Um meatloaf I like, but its an Irish pub, so I'll probably go with something like Guiness stew.

I got my wires crossed up, the folk band is not to night, but Boxing day, their 2nd biggest day of the year after St Pats day, so good news, I'll fire up after dinner. there wont be much done Wednesday.
I like the music theme. As my former sig line summed it up "Adventurers so hard to come by, if you ever come back, just drop by, One Perfect Day" psst anyone care to name the band

[McCardigan]

Sorry folks, but the ADVRider site crashed early this evening world wide.

I thought it was me, but when I began to skype O/S friends who are also ADV inmates, they were having the same problems, no conection.

So I have just spent a very enjoyable few hours getting in merry Xmass's as we here in NZ are some of the first to experince it.

Good night, good riding, and God bless, who ever your god is.

Hopefully I can get the RR up and running.
Fingers Crossed

[McCardigan]

Good suggestion Clint

Have been looking at my AA maps, and have come to the conclusion, as I learnt in Europe last year, at very busy, tourist times, find a pub you like and prop. Book in for 1 or 2 weeks whatever.

That way, you can unload the bike, go do loops every day, dosent matter what time you return, there is always a bed and a beer waiting

If the weather turns to shit, so what, roll over and go back to bed, then head down to the lounge/bar.

So, I will be staying at the Grand till the New Year.

It ticks all box's.

As a somewhat experinced traveller, You know when you find such a place, and you grab the moment, because it may well change.

Enjoy Xmas and see you on the road.

Originally Posted by clintnz

Good have fun mate, it was a pleasure having you stay. Once you have the report up to date, have a look on the map east of hwy 4. A good loop out of whanganui is the whangaehu and turakina valley roads

Cheers
Clint


fumblethumbed off a tiny screen

[McCardigan]

So much for a happy Christmas.

Here I am being a good boy, not a taste of liquor has passed my lips, and I have diligently sat in my room this afternoon writing up my somewhat delayed RR. First up was my report about the famous Motu track. Have just spent a couple of hours putting it together, and about to hit the submit button, when poof! I loose connection,(using the pubs Wifi) and the 1st segment disappears in to the ether

Enough to drive a man to drink. Bingo! its 5.00pm, its Beer O'clock, the pub has opened for dinner New Zealand are still in the backwoods when it comes to certain things. Everything is closed up for bloody Christmas, but what if I'm Hindu, Muslim, Jewish? The pub is only allowed to open so long as you have a meal. WTF? A plate of cooked chips consitutes a meal, Eh?. Go figure.

Enough ranting, it wont get me down. I'm determined to beat the bloody bastards.

So in the words of Doc Neeson lead singer of one of Oz's greatest rock bands the Angels,"This is it folks, over the top" the intro for one of their songs "Take a long line"

So early on a Friday morning a group of GS riders on variuos GS's assemble at the local BMW dealer at Mount Maunganui in less then ideal riding conditions


Off we go down Hwy 2 to Opotiki to fuel the bikes and riders. Ian (Postie) is keen on a 650 Cross Challenge so swaps his old R100GSPD for one.


The lead rider is Darryl, sales manger on the shops 2013 F800GS, his mate is on Ians R100GSPD. These 2 are seriuosly fast riders on either dirt or tar.
I drop in behind them for a bit of fun on the tar, but once the dirt starts, they are gone. Even thouht I have a 2010 F800G, I have not seen one ridden so aggressively, he blew pass me so fast, snaketailing down the track spitting out a shower of stones, it was very easy to see where he had gone,a deep gourge in the dirt pointed the way


Me, I just dont have gonards as big, or the reaction times if I get it wrong. It is a very narrow twisty track with heaps of blind corners, and B double timber jinkers amongst other traffic using it. In some parts there is zero space and twice I had to drop into the gutter to let a timber truck go by, he was that close I could have easily reached over and patted him.
I half expected to come around a corner to find some soul had become a bullbar attachment
The start


1st couple of k's are tar


I'm going to get caggy and split the report up, so as I don't lose the lot. And besides another beer Oclock

[Ducatijim]

Thats bloody frustrating Chris, all that work to see it disappear into the ether!! Nowdays, I type such things up on a word program, when finished I can copy n paste part or all as and when I wish without ever loseing it.

Just a thort.

Oh, merry xmas chum.

[Kokopelli]

Yep, use Word, I had to learn that the hard way, too. Now, I've just finished my beer and you should have, too.......

[McCardigan]

Originally Posted by Ducatijim

Thats bloody frustrating Chris, all that work to see it disappear into the ether!! Nowdays, I type such things up on a word program, when finished I can copy n paste part or all as and when I wish without ever loseing it.

Just a thort.

Oh, merry xmas chum.

And you too Cobber


I understand everything you say right up to "word program", but I don't see why I need to have to program my words, they come naturally, all thanks to my primary school English teacher.

[warewolf]

Just use notepad. Word and similar more advanced programs can introduce formatting characters that can screw things up. It's simplest to save the formatting for when you finally dump it in to advrider.

There are ways around that but it'll take way less time to show you than to type - you know how to get hold of me

[McCardigan]

Part 2 The Moto

We regrouped abou half way along, some went left on a dead end road to check out a river/falls others including me chatted and made our own seperate way to Motu, giving me the chance to take photo's,







Arrived at Motu cemetery to find repairing his bike, a corrodded positive battery terminal was the culpit. While repairig the bike others arrived to inform us that 2 bikes had come to grief. one a 1200GS had broken its screen, which the owner had just fitted. The other was more serious, the rider had decked the bike, a brand new 2 day old F700 bike was ridable, but the owner had tried to pick the bike up unaided, having just recovered from a dislocatd shoulder, and yes he redislocated it. He is now looking at avery long recovery time, it took me 18 months to fully recover 1 shoulder So Ian was pillioned back to collect the bike and take it to Matawri. I stayed and looked after the bike, when Ian returned we had a brisk ride to the pub to find it closed, so we had a drink at the cafe, while the ambo took the rider to hospital







to be continued

[dirty dennis]

The good news chris is i'm on my seventyeleventhy beer! Greetings from the colony!!
And to Clint, rosie, Postie & anyone else we met a couple of years ago, cheers

[Steve in NZ]

someone got some jumpers leads. This thread needs a jump start.