Two-up to Auckland.

Motorbike trip, two-up, to Auckland

16 July

Hamilton to Auckland, a two-night stay in a Backpackers' Hostel, with little son C.

Although we'd intended to leave at midday, we were ready to go at 11am. At the last minute, I changed rucksacks, from a a computer rucksack that was bulky with lots of hyper-protected pockets that things could be slid in, to a normal rucksack that I could actually put my camera in. I mention this because, when we arrived in Auckland, I discovered I had left my mobile phone and my glasses in the computer rucksack in Hamilton.

Anyway, I filled up the two Oxford water-proof bags that came with the panniers. They are quite neat, with a long and wide velcro top. My bag was a little more full than C's, in part because I am larger and in part because I brought a pair of shoes while the lad only has one pair when he is with me. I do find myself querying where all the shoes and flip-flops I buy him end up, but that would be churlish. I was a little surprised and disappointed to find that my bag could hardly fit into the saddle bag and that the dimensions do not really correspond. It became difficult to squeeze in my camera into the panniers; this camera is turning into a problem and I will need to get a smaller one.

A little lesson from this road trip is that the two panniers and a rucksack are only just enough space. I do not know if I brought too much stuff, and really won't know until I return home on Saturday. Forgetting my glasses and my mobile phone is not really the best start.

The trip north went well. From home, I went north along Wairere drive, then on to Te Rapa and I stopped at the BP station to fill up. The little lad wanted a chocolate Primo, drank half, and left me to carry the other half. While filling up, I had a friendly comment from a car driver about the chances of rain.

Then it was on to the Waikato Expressway. It was a little chilly and there were a few drops of rain, but nothing too serious. We stopped an hour later at the Bombay Hills and went into a cafe called 'Autobahn.' It was surprisingly full, with many grey-haired clients. I bought a pork pie, which was a little dear, but pleasing. The little lad only wanted a Fanta. He finished the Primo and finished the Fanta. We continued on to the Expressway but there was quite a commotion, with police sirens and multiple police cars. One car was partially off the on-ramp to the Expressway, pointed in the wrong direction and an uninjured person was talking to one policeman with two squad cars already in attendance. New Zealand police are wonderful at taking care of people, but their default action is to close roads for hours on end as they sift through evidence. When I want to arrive somewhere, I much prefer the police of the United Arab Emirates, who would push cars, injured people still inside, off the road to get traffic flowing. So I hastened past, before the NZ Police closed the road down to investigate.

There was noticeably more traffic. I did a steady 105-110 km/h, so slightly above the speed limit, and had a number of cars, trucks and utes in front, beside and overtaking. Once we were in Auckland I pointed out the target destination, Rainbow's End theme park, New Zealand's only theme park. We continued on State Highway One till I saw the signs for “Port”. It was a little struggle to get into the right lanes but we managed. At one stage, I realised that I was going up Queen Street and the Backpackers' was on the other side, so I turned off, did a quick u-turn and reappeared, ready to turn right on to Queen Street. A motorcycle policeman pulled up alongside me, but he obviously had not seen my u-turn (or else was not bothered about it!) and we had a conversation as we waited at the red light. He asked about my bike, complimented the young lad on his jacket, and, in response, said there were 28 motorcycle policemen in New Zealand. He was on a large Honda, 350 kg he said, and I commented that I found the 220 kg V-Strom a little tricky at times. The lights changed and we moved on our separate ways. I pulled in to the Backpackers' and was able to park right outside between two large civic plant pots.

The reception was messy and there was a curious smell to the place, like a mixture of unwashed clothes, unwashed plates, cooking and close-pressed humanity. Many people seemed to be hanging out with no real purpose and I wondered if this was the effect of Covid-19.

C and I went up to our room and it was pretty basic, with two single beds, an en-suite bathroom with a shower and toilet. There was a television, but when I tried to get it going I found that one channel worked well and the others were poor. I gave up my television over a year ago, and since then the channels have not improved.

I took a quick trip out to the motorbike in order to put it into a better and more legal place. Then C and I took a walk to find some supper. He wanted a pizza, but I was not hungry. Still, we found a good place by the port to eat. It was a good day.