1-28-12

Headed South

Up on the far north end it must be good for growing bamboo as several of the farms have planted it as wind brakes or hedges around the fields.

A rather extensive new planting of windbreaks and trees.  I think they might be avocados.

Across the street is this older orchard. Looks like a high dollar deal.

Jeez, I like both Ginger chews and Ginger beer… but wild ginger?

It is really interesting to see how they repair the roads down here. They mix cement or lime with gravel and sand and roll it out. Then they water it well. These guys are actually mixing cement in with a shovel on the loose gravel/sand. They also use a roto-tiller type thing to mix it. One place I saw that they ripped the pavement first and then roto-tilled to break it up. There are lots of little patches on the highway up here. I think the roads are better on the south island.

wetted down.

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after it dries they spread it with oil and give it a light coat of small gravel. It can be a little ziggy on the motorcycle when it is fresh but not too bad. They always warn you with signs when they have done this.

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 Back on the ferry headed south and what a nice calm day for a ride.

I stopped in at a little library and went to the laptop area and there was this guy sitting across the table where I was going to sit. I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture of the top of his computer. Well, there were about six young Maori guys and they all got puffed up right away as they didn’t  know what I was doing. I just ignored them and finally one guy looked over and told the others that I had taken a picture of the Deep Sea stickers. They all spoke in Moari and I have no idea what they said but it seemed to finally relax them and they ignored me. Up here on the north island there are signs of Gang graffiti and I can see more low lifestyles, not among the white folk, but Maori or Pacific islanders. Some big corporation is trying to drill off shore quite a ways and deeper than the one that blew out down in the gulf. If it goes bad it would effect one of the most pristine beaches in NZ.

How about this for a front yard?

I had to stop and get a better photo of these great rock walls.

Then  I see this NEW guy that is doing a really nice job, actually looks even better work than the old stuff.

Looks like the trimmer couldn’t reach the top of this windbreak.

There were little veggie stands along side the road and by the time I figured out that I needed to stop in and get one of these Kumara’s, the stands quit. It wasn’t until later that I found out that it isn’t some sort of fruit that you just pick up and eat. It is something like a sweet potato and need to be boiled or cooked somehow.

All over these islands are little walks like this one I stopped to use the toilet in a little town. this is a walkers paradise.

It started to rain after a wonderful bright sunny morning, so I got out my little backpacker info book and found a ‘farm stay’ type backpacker place to stay. It was way out in the country and I had quite a time finding it but wow, what a nice view from my cabin of the farmlands with the river flowing through. This is mostly sheep country I the hills with dairy cows on the flat lands.

A few flowers around the place for my flower friends.

I met this couple when I pulled in. They had gotten there just before me and had booked a room. Chris is from Germany but has been in NZ for several years and is a physical trainer down in Auckland. Brenda is from Brazil and came here as a young girl with her mother who had married a Kiwi. She is in medical school and is going to be a heart surgeon. We had a really nice visit while we waited for the owners of the hostel to get home. On woman milks cows and the other works in town as a counselor for troubled youth.

Now how about this for the perfect farm stay? Two dogs and a cat that all needed pets. That little gray one is a Kelpie puppy and just a sharp as could be.

Early morning with some of the sheep grazing on the field below. There was a lot of moisture in the air from the rain the day before. I did finally get all my gear dried out. That old Aerostich just is not waterproof anymore. Hell, it never was that good even when new, but they sure do well when I have been sliding down the highway at 70 mph. I do wish they would keep me dry though.

The big news was that there were two world records set near here. Hard to imagine that a guy could shear a sheep in 30 seconds.

Nice field of potatoes in bloom.

I stopped in at a coffee shop for a cuppa joe and warm up. I was sitting outside and this guy started a conversation with me. That kiwi dog sure is a friendly bike and seems like people like it, and want to talk with the owner. His name is Walt and he works with people trying to help them through problems of life. Turns out that he is also a nurse and I guess that goes with helping people with problems. He really likes to live on the ocean but had come back here to look after his mom who is getting older. Humm, aren’t we all? He was filling me in on the Maori culture and what is important to them. Wow, what a really cool guy and just so easy to visit with. I love these Kiwi’s.