Wheel alignment

Saturday 10 April 2010

Some days are better than others!

The northern part of the north island of NZ is currently in the grip of a drought but on the positive side, it's meant calm, warm days which are perfect for outdoor activities.  Having been retired for almost exactly 2 years, we have time to use these days more or less how we want!  All days are pretty good but yesterday was a bit special!

It started with jumping on the Street Triple first thing in the morning and riding 50 kilometres over some hills and down the coast to a nearby town to pick up some electronic goodies.  Warm, sunny, virtually nothing on the road in either direction.  In short, it was one of those spiritually uplifting rides that makes you at one with the universe.  Not fizzing with excitement, just perfect harmony if you get my drift.  The first picture shows the road I travelled on so you can see why I love it so much.  The photo of me was taken by a friend last year when I still had the Blackbird but the scenery hasn't changed!

















 




In the afternoon, the tides were favourable and Jennie was keen to go fishing so we launched just down the road from our house and anchored in the commercial mussel farm just offshore.  The conditions were so magnificent that it wouldn't have mattered if we didn't catch anything but catch we did!  Both Jennie and I had our 20 lb lines broken early on in the expedition so there were clearly some big fish around!  We ended up with Jennie out-fishing me 8 snapper to 4 but at least I salvaged some honour with the heaviest fish of the day. I publicly apologise for my appalling dress sense  in the final photo but it's my lucky fishing gear!

After riding in the morning, fishing in the afternoon followed by filleting and a very pleasant dinner, sleep came easily; as it does when you've had a fulfilling and carefree day.  Days like this are good for the soul!




























10 comments:

  1. Life is good! And a good life is even better. Motorcycling AND gone fishin'... You really make the best out of it. Good for you! Cheers, SonjaM

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a great day. Lucky fishing outfit? You must keep the red shorts below the boat line so they don't scare the fish away. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Sonja. Back to earth to day with gardening and other much overlooked domestic chores!

    Irondad - you're spot on. My shorts are the main reason I wear sunglasses on the boat :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Geoff:

    Nice shorts, have you considered a pair of RED Crocs to go with that outfit ?

    when I first saw the first photo I was wondering why you were on the wrong side of the road, then I realized . . . don't try that over here.

    you are so lucky to be living where you are. You have everything. Now I'm really wondering what electronic gizmos you were retrieving. I love electronic gizmos too

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hahahaha - if I wore my shorts for anything other than fishing and kayaking, it would lead to divorce, let alone red Crocs :-)

    I was laying my hands on a 12V solar cell and some rechargeable 12V LED lamps. As we live in a country area, we quite often get power cuts a few hours long after winter storms. Getting fed up with conventional batteries going flat and moving more to sustainability for those occasions!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Geoff:

    I think I would wish something a little more substantial, seeing as this is your permanent home.

    How about . . . a bank of deep cycle batteries connected to a wind generator, assuming you get winds, and connected to some inverters.

    if no winds, then a 4000w gas generator that can be switched into your power grid for emergencies.

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'd love to be more energy independent Bob but simply couldn't justify the capital for the relatively few outages we get. Cooking is fine as we have a "bells and whistles" gas BBQ on the deck, heating isn't an issue as we don't even have frosts in our region, so temporary lighting for a few hours is all we really need. I'd sooner spend the spare cash on bike bling, haha. (Subject to permission from the Chief financial Officer)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Geoff - That made me laugh! You go to buy some 12v goodies and Bobs wants you to build a new power station!

    The view in the first photo looks stunning. Biking and fishing on the same day - marvellous! No wonder the sleep came easily.

    I could tell you are a Brit form the Reactions boxes below your posts. "Utter Bollocks". LOL!! The funny thing is, many people in different parts of the world won't have a clue what that means! You get a worthwhile from me....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Gary
    Hahahaha! Good job all bikers seem to have the same sense of humour!

    Have now lived in NZ longer than the UK but those formative years..... :-).

    Hope your US trip is blast. Let us know if you ever plan to come to NZ!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Geoff - The two places I most want to visit in the world are Australia and NZ. I haven't been to either, so one day, I might just be letting you know that I am on my way....

    Gary

    ReplyDelete

Hello! I love to hear your feedback as it often leads to other things. However, if your comments are blatant advertising, then they won't get published.