2-27-11

Chilly Dog

I wrote in the last email that I had recovered the Kiwi dog. Well it is a complicated story….

We were staying at a really nice hostel just south of Nelson on the south island. I got up in the middle of the night to pee and happened to look out the second story window to check on how much dew had been deposited on the bike. Hell, it was GONE !!! I got up the owner of the hostel and they called the police and we gave a report over the phone. That next day was spent seemingly wandering around in a blue funk. The hostel owner gave us a free nights stay that night and we packed our bags and headed to the bus the next day for a ride to Picton where we had a ferry reservation for the next day (with the bike too). It is a rather nice ride over on the bus across a twisty highway and we got there about six in the evening. I took a shower and opened up my little laptop and checked my email. Yipee ! I got an email from the police that they had recoved the Kiwi dog and they said it looks like it was not damaged. I quickly dressed and asked the hostel owner if he would give me a ride back down to the bus station and see if I could catch the bus back to Nelson. We got there and the bus had not left yet. I tracked down the bus driver and told him that they had found the bike and would he please wait until I purchased a ticket before he left. He told me to just get on the bus and he would give me a ride back.

We got back just a little before dark and I took a cab to the hostel and there it was. It was covered with finger print dust that the cops had applied to try to find the bad guys. I don’t know if they will but I am sure it was good practice using the finger print kit. I got on the bike and put in the key. Who ever took the bike had not found the key that was in the tool box under the seat. It was hard to start as these bikes seem to flood when turned on their side as I am sure this one was as it was found pushed in the bushes not too far from the hostel. I ran the battery down trying to get it to start. It tried but needed a little push to get it running again. It sounded good and I was not concerned as they had not been able to get it running so I felt sure it was ok. I got my riding gear on and took off for Picton. I made it about two hundred yards when the top broke off the rear shock allowing the rear fender to come crashing down on the rear tire. I came to a dead stop….I got it turned around and slipping the clutch and walking beside it, was able to get it back to the hostel.

I spent another night at that hostel and took the bus in the early morning back over to Nelson where Sheila was waiting for me. I had been able to get a message to her that I would be staying the night.

We took the ferry over to Wellington and left poor little Kiwi dog, hurt and lonely, behind.

I have real mixed feelings about the Kiwi dog being stolen. I am pissed that anyone would do such a thing, but I am really glad that it broke when I was going slow and didn’t get hurt out on the highway at speed. That could easily have been fatal. I am sure glad that I had not sold the bike to the guy that I had lined up to buy it, and have it broken on him and had him to have an accident. In a way I guess it was fortunate that it was stolen…….

While we were waiting for the ferry to load up I took Sheila down to meet Roger that I had met before. He takes tourists on rides in his steam powered boat.

The copper clad boiler.

The steam engine.

That is the ferry back behind.

The sheep chute for getting on the ferry.

We stayed in Wellington at some friends home that Sheila had made on her way down on the ferry to meet me. They are really nice folks and we sure do appreciate their hospitality. I was taken down to the train station in the morning to catch the ride to Auckland. This is the baggage car where my two bags that I carry on the bike were loaded.

The train station handles a lot of trains that cover the surrounding community. I think most of the local trains use the electric overhead lines for power.

It was a nice big clean coach and I was seated next to that BIG guy down there in the blue shirt. He is a Polynesian and had almost all his schooling done to get his law degree. He sure was a nice guy but the two of us on adjoining seats was a little tight, so I moved to the back of the car which had nice bench seats and glass all around. I spent most of the ride back there as I could see more of the country. It is interesting how everything in New Zealand is just so darn clean and ‘Tidy’ as they say, but when you ride the train, you get to see the ‘back yards’. It isn’t that messy but not the front face that you see from the road. I actually even saw a wrecking yard full of cars. I was so excited in seeing that with my nose pressed against the glass I forgot to take a picture. It must have been 30-40 acres of junkers. That is the only wrecking yard I saw in the three months I was there. Oh, I saw I a few wrecked cars but those were next to body shops (panel beaters as they call them down there).

We were a diesel power train but electric lines were always overhead.

There is a little open air place where you can stand and I stood there for a while and smelled the exhaust from the engine and took this photo.

I guess it was half way there when we stopped and the train coming the other way stopped too. The drivers (engineers?) got out and exchanged trains for their ride home.

I made it into Auckland and finally found a cab driver that knew where the hostel that I had reservations was located. Dicon was staying there. Dicon was the guy that I had met in Arizona and had planted the seed of coming to New Zealand. He was shipping his bike out on his way home too. Some of the flowers around that area of town.

I liked this guys banana trees in his front yard, just like my friend Scotty in his solar home in Montana.

It has been a wonderful trip to New Zealand and i got to travel several different way.... walking, riding my motorcycle, ferry, shuttle, bus and even a train. 
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Ah, back home in Montana. I made it back to Billings really late and spent the night in a hotel. Amigo Bob picked me up the next morning and we spent the day visiting and catching up on what has been going on in the shop. I have three bikes in the shop and he has not had a chance to work on them yet this winter. He has been having trouble getting machine work done, parts delivered as promised, and bikes that looked just fine, turning out to need major work. Bob took me back to Bilings the next day and I caught the bus over to Miles City where Tucker picked me up and let me stay in his closet overnight. It was nice and warm and I am truly thankful for good friends that help an old motorcycle bum in need. It turns out it was –28F in the morning…. WELCOME HOME …..
I got Charlie to give me a ride out to the dog house but the snow was so deep that we ended up getting stuck and had to shovel and scrape to get it out and back on the highway. I just packed my gear up and was pleased to find the doghouse in good shape. After a –28 night it was +40 inside which is not bad for something with no heat on all winter. I got the power switched back on and fired up my little propane heater. It didn’t take long to get the temp up to comfortable. The next day (today) it was nice and sunny and I did have the electric heater on in the early morning but turned it off as it got up to +78 in the afternoon. Ah, nothing like a little solar gain eh?

Fred looks a little chilly as well as Alice the tractor.

Nice load of snow in the pickup.

The pod is wanting to go back to Arizona for the rest of the winter and maybe hang out for the spring down there. Hummmm, sound good, but need a little time to melt a path out. I am snowed in, but it isn’t that far down to the highway, and I could hitch hike in if I need supplies. My buddy Roger came out last night and brought fixings for a pizza and I am in good shape for grub for a few more days now. It actually is nice being snowed in, and it is my first time, as I have been going south for the winters since I have lived up here on the hill.