Ngaruawahia, Glen Massey and Glen Afton.

 Today was a fine spring day. It was freezing in the morning, and I mean that in the sense of the temperature being below 0 degrees C, not just the hyperbole expression 'it was a little nippy'. The temperature rose during the day so when I took my little son back to his mother's, I was able to enjoy 14 degrees C. 

I dropped off a book at the Central Library and then rode out north to Auckland. The big city is in a lockdown so there was little traffic heading north. Normally, thousands of vehicles return to Auckland on Sunday afternoon from little weekend away breaks in Rotorua, Coromandel, Taupo, Cambridge or Hamilton. I was kidding about Hamilton. It is not really a 'weekend away' type place. I turned off the State Highway at Taupiri and rode through Huntly. Only a year ago, this was a hectic road, but with the expressway by-passing Huntly and Covid-19 shutting down entrance to Auckland, the old state highway was forlorn and neglected as I rode along. I crossed the Waikato River and headed off to Glen Afton, Glen Massey and my intermediate landmark, Ngaruawahia. The roads were lovely, with climbs and then vistas of paddocks, sheep, beef cattle and the occasional dairy shed. 

For those unfamiliar with New Zealand agriculture, the most lucrative livestock is dairy cows as milk powder brings in a lot of export yuan from China. Next, beef is a good earner, but lamb is not so great. Wool is worthless. I have explained the latter point to teenage students by asking them how many woolen garments they have, and frequently they look at me with puzzlement as they have none. What a strange idea, to wear wool from a sheep! I need hardly explain that, globally, mutton is hardly possible to buy, even though it is far tastier than lamb. So the poorer mountainous areas of New Zealand are populated with sheep, the medium with beef cattle, and the rich lowland valley bottoms are populated with Friesian cows. As I rode along, I admired the sheep. 

In my bid to get the V-Strom to full touring specifications, I put on protectors for the hand grips. These provide very little protection in the event of an accident, but do keep the wind and insects off the hands. 

I gave these a wipe before taking the photographs as I was sure that the sight of multiple dead insects would be unattractive. 

I also took a photo of the heated grips control. 

As I returned through the steep gorges approaching Ngaruawahia, I put the heated grips on to the lowest setting, 30%. Twenty minutes later, as I approached Hamilton's Central Business District, I switched them off, as they were no longer necessary. 

It was a very pleasing ride. Some beautiful and scenic roads, hardly any traffic, I rode smoothly and well, and was able to return home to left-over Shepherd's Pie. Please note that no actual shepherds were harmed in the making of the pie.