A bit of variety

There's been plenty going on in our neck of the woods over the last fortnight.  With national school holidays, pretty nice weather and no lockdowns, families have been flocking into our area which is a popular tourist region.  Good for the economy, even if the number of stupid people on the road also increases.  There have been a couple of events too.  One was the annual Illume festival where the village is lit up at night, as indeed are the locals together with a lovely firework display.  Pretty darned good for a static population of around 1600.  The photos are ones I took a couple of years ago as I didn't bother this year.  The fireworks were taken from our deck, about 1km away from the action.

Family fun with an umbrella

Local H-D's festooned with LED's

Shane, the local butcher on his bike

Village shopfronts

Trees in the village

Awwww.... pretty!

It was also the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the visit of the Royal Navy ship HMS Coromandel, after which the village was named.  Naval vessels visited Coromandel and other northern locations on a regular basis to harvest Kauri trees which were knot-free and made wonderful spars for their sailing vessels.  You could call it rape and pillage of natural resources but we won't go there!

Kauri trees near our place

Anyway, to mark the occasion, there was an unveiling of a seriously cool commemorative sculpture.  A young local artist made a representation of HMS Coromandel with a ceramic hull and stainless steel sails.  It was housed in a glass case made to look like a ship in a bottle and the timber surround was made from floorboards from the 1800's local settlers hall when it was recently refurbished.  Pretty darned nice!

HMS Coromandel representation

 

A really nice commemorative work of art

The climate in Coromandel is benign and the number of (slight) frosts we get in winter can easily be counted on one hand.  It's a perfect climate for growing semi-tropical Bromeliads in the garden.  Two large examples which we planted 5 years ago as just small plants have just developed flower spikes for the first time.  They haven't opened yet but I'm worried that they might turn out to be killer Triffids as per John Wyndham's 1950's post-apocalyptic horror story!  That aside, they're looking pretty cool.

Flower spike 1.5 metres tall

Flower spike 1 metre tall

Motorcycles haven't been forgotten though.  Just over a week ago, I took out a serving Highway Patrol Officer for his Advanced Roadcraft Test.  Trevor drives a patrol car in NZ but in the UK, he was a Class1 motorcycle cop - the best of the best and it showed!  It was a near-flawless ride with a running commentary to match and boy, could he make his ST1300 shift down twisty, narrow country lanes.  Made it look easy, which it wasn't of course.  A really nice chap and a joy to spend the the day out with him - it's a tough life!  He just rides in his spare time here and owns several modern "classic" cars and bikes.

Trevor and his ST1300

Saving the best until last, yesterday was supposed to be an IAM monthly meeting where we do some coaching or go for a spirited social ride in the back blocks.  I should have smelt a rat when Jennie asked me a couple of times during the week whether I intended to go!  

Rocked up at the meeting point cafe some 100 km away and not only were there members from our local group there but a bunch of them from Auckland too.  The common thread was that over the past few years, I'd either coached them directly or had a hand in coaching them to pass their advanced qualifications.  STILL DIDN'T CATCH ON!  It wasn't until my good mate Tony stood up and said that we were all going to have a social ride together on the 200 km Coromandel Loop as recognition of our long association.  Apparently, my face was a sight to behold!  I felt pretty humbled and we had a wonderful time riding one of the great north island motorcycle routes together.  We even stopped at the Coroglen Tavern for lunch.  Not for a beer, but so that I could enjoy my all-time favourite scallop burger!  The ride finished on Coromandel Town wharf, only a few hundred metres from home which was just perfect.  What an incredible day and I'm really privileged to have mates who would do something like that.  Must have a bit of dust in my eye or something..... 

Memorial to Sir Keith Park, a Kiwi who played a major role in the WW2 Battle of Britain

Arriving at the Coroglen Tavern

Some of the team next to a mussel boat - Coromandel Town wharf

Great variety of machinery on Coromandel Town wharf

Some old geezer front and centre with great mates

 

A nice winter outing and other stuff

Yesterday was the first get-together for the Central North Island region of the Institute of Advanced Motorists since life returned to pretty much normal after lockdown ended a few weeks back.  It's mid-winter in NZ so we're always at the mercy of the elements.  The forecast said heavy showers with bright patches in between and single digit temperatures on the Celsius scale.  I live over 2 hours away from where we were due to meet and the prospect of leaving home before dawn in the cold and dark on wet roads wasn't too appealing!

On with the Gore-Tex and merino under layers plus heated gloves and away we went.  I put the Duke 790 traction control in rain mode and didn't have a single worrying moment in the dark.  The Michelin Road 5's behaved impeccably and I'm glad that I gave them a second chance after the string of punctures on my GSX-S 1000.  I'm now convinced that it was pure bad luck as opposed any tyre design weakness.  The soft compound out towards the edges of the tyre really work and even in the wet, a good pace and decent angles of lean could be safely maintained.  The photo below clearly shows the soft compound bands.

Darker soft compound on Road 5

I've had heated gloves for about 4 winters now and they really have added another dimension to my winter riding.  Heated grips on previous unfaired bikes still left me with cold fingers which were a distraction and the whole hand warmth from heated gloves leads to much better control and confidence in cold conditions. 

A few hardy souls met at a cafe in Hamilton and as is the normal way of things, a lot of the more local members elected to stay in bed!  Prize for biggest distance travelled to take part in the ride was Bruce on his Triumph Explorer 1200.  He left the family holiday home at 0600 and travelled over 3 hours to join everyone - that's dedication!  Can't really blame anyone for skipping the ride though but getting out in a mix of heavy showers, patches of sunshine and variable road conditions was good for keeping the skills tidy.

A nice mix of bikes

As only one trainee turned up, we turned it into a social outing with a mix of city, open highway and twisty country road riding to knock off any rust from lockdown and had a most enjoyable time.

 At the lunch stop - yours truly second from left

The biggest surprise was yet to come.  I retired as Chair of the Central North Island branch of IAM in February to help long-term continuity and let me concentrate on my other role as an Examiner.  The team presented me with a lovely KTM Race Team fleece and a snow dome with a photo of me and the KTM inside it.  It was an overwhelming moment but we've all built up strong friendships over the last few years and I've mentored most of them or taken them for their advanced riding and Observer (instructor) tests.  A wonderful conclusion to the ride and thanks a million guys, it says an awful lot about the bond we all have .

Seriously nice (and warm) KTM Race Team fleece

Trapped inside a snow dome!

Onto other stuff,  I'm still working my way through digitizing all our old slides, negatives and photos.  I came across a negative which I had no memory of but exceedingly pleased as it's the only photo I have of my Yamaha IT 175 Enduro bike taken in the early 1990's.  Our eldest son Lyndon wanted to learn to ride bikes and we thought the safest way was for him to initially learn on dirt away from traffic.  The company I worked for owned huge plantation forests near home and riding in the forests and fire breaks was perfect.

We bought him a Suzuki TS100 from a friend, the bike having a rather colourful history!  For a drunken bet, it had been ridden Evel Knievel-style by the previous owner at full tilt off a jetty into a harbour on the coast, then unceremoniously dumped in his shed.  I bought it for $50 with no great expectations but it only required a relatively small amount of tender loving care.  It was a lovely bike to ride with a surprisingly wide power band for a 2 stroke.  Perfect for riding in the forest or climbing steep banks etc.

The IT175 on the other hand was a complete bastard (a technical term) and tried to kill me on numerous occasions.  A motorcycle version of Stephen King's Christine!  I bought it from a company apprentice  and its real environment is where the throttle is pinned to the stop - a whole world away from pootling along in a forest environment.  With its narrow powerband, it would highside me if I was too ham-fisted with the throttle.  Lot's of eye-rolling from the CEO when I'd arrive home covered in crap and walking like an old man.  Nonetheless, it was also a lot of fun and I had it for about 3 years before deciding that middle-aged bodies didn't bounce too well.

The early 90's: off-roading with a Suzuki TS100 and a Yamaha IT175 Enduro

The final piece is really a shout-out to fellow blogger Warren Mallett of Motorcycle Paradise fame.  In a reply to a past post on scanning photos etc, Warren mentioned a piece of software called Gigapixel AI which he uses.  Essentially, it's used to enlarge photos without the normal blurring or pixellation you get from conventional optical enlarging.  There are a couple of algorithms in the program which allow you to choose whether to enhance the human form/nature or man-made objects with straight lines or predictable curves.  I like to crop irrelevant material from photos and enlarge the main subject matter so thought that Gigapixel might be of help.  Delighted to find that the website offered a 30 day free trial which was perfect to try it out on a few photos.  I was so impressed that I ended up buying it.  Thanks so much for the heads-up Warren!

The photo below is a screen shot of Gigapixel with the left hand photo being an optical enlargement of the original.  In real terms, it represents an area of about 3.5 cm square on the original photo.  On the right is the same area after it has been processed.  Look how much sharper the engine detail is, meaning it can be enlarged or printed even bigger.

Fantastic clarity on the right hand photo

It also does a remarkable job on the human form.  I used it to enlarge one of those school photos where all the students are photographed at the same time and every head is about 5mm square.  I was able to enlarge it to the point where everyone was instantly recognisable without any effort at all - tremendous.  Obviously, the better quality of photo, the better the result but the face recognition algorithm does a pretty good job.  Some black and white photos from the late 1800's belonging to the local mining museum came up a treat.  For anyone who is interested, this is the link to the vendor's website: https://topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai/ .  There are lots of examples on the site and it is exceedingly easy to use.

Maintenance time, a new jacket and other stuff

Ready for another adventure 

I've had the KTM for around 7 months and have covered about 7000 km.  A lower monthly tally than usual but an overseas trip, crap winter weather and other distractions have all conspired against a bigger distance.  However, with spring having arrived, some decent distances beckon.

KTM's have a reputation for "edgy" performance and a few reliability issues.  I was well aware of this when making the choice but the emotional and fun appeal, not to mention blistering performance; over-rode these considerations.

I'm happy to report that although a few issues have been reported on the KTM 790 forum, I haven't experienced any significant problems and I love it to bits.  The ultimate accolade is that it gets patted when I walk past it in the shed.  That didn't happen with the GSX-S 1000. The Gixxer was a very competent bike but it just didn't light my fire.

As reported a few posts ago, the OEM pure sport tyres were fine before winter set in but were lethal in colder, wetter conditions. Just couldn't get them hot enough to work properly. They were ditched with 3500 km on the clock.  The Bridgestone T31 sport/touring replacements have been excellent in all conditions and should have a useful life.

Another minor issue was not the fault of KTM.  I purchased a French-made Acerbis flyscreen, principally for looks.  It works surprisingly well aerodynamically but has one serious downside.  The way it's mounted allows light from the headlight assembly to be reflected up the inside of the screen.  It's not really noticeable in daylight but riding at night, the reflected light is a serious and dangerous distraction.  Presumably, the French designers never ride in the dark!  I solved this by spraying the inner face of the screen matte black and also added some tape to the top of the headlight assembly which is covered by the bottom of the screen.

Matte is the new black

Another non-serious but irritating issue has arisen in the last few weeks which may partially be due to the way I ride and partially due to the materials which KTM uses.  I began to notice that when slowing towards a stop from slow speeds, e.g approaching a stop sign in town, the front brakes were slightly "juddery" when constant light pressure was applied.  It was as if they were braking and then releasing fractionally for every part rotation of the wheel.  The first thing I checked was for rotor runout or warping and there was none.  Closer inspection showed that the disc surfaces had a partially glazed uneven appearance, something I hadn't experienced on previous bikes.  This can just about be seen on the next photo - darker uneven strips.

Disc glazing - darker strips in places

I tend to be very light on the brakes during normal road riding, using a combination of throttle and gear selection to moderate my speed in combination with reading the vanishing point in corners.  I wondered whether the light use of brakes had a polishing effect but as mentioned earlier, it wasn't something I'd previously experienced.

I mentioned it on the international Duke 790 forum and bless his heart, another Kiwi from Taranaki mentioned that he had experienced similar problems on the Ducati Multistrada which he once owned.  His take on the issue was that it could be cheaper materials (or perhaps mismatched disk and brake pad materials) and the componentry needed some sustained heat in them right from the start to avoid the problem.  He solved the matter by breaking the glaze with 400 wet and dry paper on both the disc faces and the pads, then getting some sustained heat into the assembly.

I did exactly the same, wet-sanding the disc faces with 400 paper on a block and dry sanding the pad faces in a figure of 8 pattern on a flat surface.  All surfaces were then thoroughly cleaned with brake cleaner.  Total time to complete the job was a shade over 2 hours.

De-glazed discs before riding 

I then went out to a largely deserted straight bit of road near home and did a series of high speed stops to get the brakes really hot.  I then rode home and tried some low speed gentle stops - yippee, no more symptoms!  The following photo shows a nice, even discolouration across the disc face - quite different from the previous markings. 

Nice even discolouration

There's always something new to learn and the internet is especially good for great ideas and great people when there's a problem.  If it ever happens again, I know how to tackle it!  In a wee while, I'll be replacing the OEM pads with my favourite EBC HH type.  It will be interesting to see how these work.  I've had them on my last 3 bikes and they've been far superior to the OEM ones in terms of stopping power and feel.

I've also just celebrated my 72nd birthday - pretty pleased to still be indulging in the lifelong passion of riding a motorcycle.  All the upskilling over the past 8 or 9 years appears to have paid off - still feel safe riding at a reasonable clip.

Hot chick taking me out for a birthday dinner!

Two summers ago on a particularly hot day whilst dressed in full leathers,  I suffered a bout of heat exhaustion.  It was an extremely unpleasant and debilitating experience.  By the time I got home, I had a blinding headache and was feeling extremely nauseous.

I have no wish for a repeat and when Jennie asked me what I wanted for my birthday, a mesh jacket to allow better cooling sprang to mind.  Many brands offers jackets without a liner.  Fine for guaranteed hot days but less so for changeable conditions or early morning starts and late evening finishes. Some with liners are just windproof and others waterproof.  The other thing to consider is the grade of armour that jackets come equipped with.

After much poring over specifications I decided on the black Rev’it Tornado 2. Tough construction (1000 and 750D shell), CE level 2 armour (shoulders and elbows) and a detachable thermal liner and membrane.  Back armour is not supplied as standard on the jacket to allow for choice and I went for a CE level 2 Seesoft protector. The jacket will also take a Rev’it cooler vest.

Revit Tornado 2 mesh jacket

The Hydratex thermal liner and membrane is fine for those cooler spring mornings.  I haven’t tried it in the rain but assume it’s “showerproof” as opposed to continuous heavy rain.  Not critical as I have a lightweight Spidi nylon jacket to slip over the top in adverse conditions. 

A further selling point for me is that the detachable liner is styled to wear as a casual “bomber” jacket.  Perfect for end of day wear when on tour and travelling light.

Tornado 2 liner 

The Tornado 2 will set you back around NZ$500 depending on supplier, plus another NZ$70-odd for Seesoft level 2 back armour.  Maybe some matching pants for Christmas……..

Yesterday saw some of the members from our region of the Institute of Advanced Motorists get together for a social ride.  Our region covers close to 40,000 sq km so we tend to hold our social runs in different parts of the region to give everyone the opportunity to socialise.  Yesterday, I was responsible for leading the ride on the southern part of the Coromandel Peninsula (my own backyard, near enough), so only covered about 400 km door to door.  Actually, I hate group rides with people I don't know as there are invariably some clowns who disrupt the ride and put everyone on edge. However, when everyone is trained to the same standard, it's a rather different proposition.

The weather was perfect at around 20 degrees C and traffic was light, being the weekend before a public holiday long weekend when it will turn to custard.  Rides like this are genuinely good for one's mental state, or soul if you prefer.

Assembling in the town of Paeroa

Stopping in Whitianga to pick up lunch - a nice mix of bikes

Not a bad spot to eat lunch - Whitianga Harbour

Finally, nothing to do with motorcycling. A couple of decades ago, I used to sail at national championship level and have retained an interest in sailing.  Interestingly enough, motorcycling, sailing and flying all require much the same skill set.  Anyway, New Zealand are the current holders of the Americas Cup, the world's oldest sporting trophy.  They last won it in foiling catamarans which were an outrageous design and could sail at over 40 knots.  For the next Cup in 2021, NZ have specified a 75 ft monohull, but one which foils and will supposedly reach 50 knots - even more outrageous!

The USA, Britain, Italy and NZ have all recently launched their prototypes and have begun testing them.  The NZ yacht Te Aihe (The Dolphin in translation from Maori) has been testing on Auckland harbour and looks absolutely spectacular, if not somewhat bizarre.  My favourite photo below.

Te Aihe in full flight

2018 in pictures

2018 was a crazily busy year, even by our standards and went in the blink of an eye.  The following photos represent various happenings in each month with a few comments and thoughts to go with them.

January
This is peak summer holiday season in NZ.  Living in a region which everyone  wants to visit in the vacations, we tend to hang around at home as the roads are busy with feral drivers who leave their brains wherever they come from.  The garden is a riot of colour at this time of year so that's what the photos are of.

 Bee on a dwarf bottlebrush plant, using the camera macro function

Tree loaded with colourful Luisa plums

February
The Institute of Advanced Motorists annual conference and get-together was held over a weekend at the scenic Taupo township.  For those who arrived on the Friday, there was the opportunity to take part in a trackday at the Bruce McLaren international circuit.  What a fantastic experience in great company.  Pulling 230 km/hr down the back straight then hard on the brakes, hoping I would make the tight left-hander at the end of the straight!

The first photo was taken just after dawn on the way to the circuit.  IAM Chief Motorcycle Examiner Philip on his Fireblade,  Lee on his MV Augusta 675 and my GSX-S 1000.  The second photo was taken by the track photographer of me flying round the left-hander at the end of the back straight.

The three musketeers at dawn en route to the track

Some old geezer trying to recapture his youth

March

A long weekend in NZ's capital to visit old friends also saw me mountain biking on the cycleway on the Kapiti Coast.  As part of the new motorway development, the government department responsible for building a new section of motorway also built adjacent wetlands to attract birds and other creatures plus the scenic cycleway.  Excellent work!

Trying to regain lost youth!

We also purchased a new boat for sea fishing.  Jennie's hip problem meant that the old boat was no longer comfortable.  Delighted to say that the new one does the business.

So-fish-ticated (named by our daughter)

An "arty" shot using the macro function of a plant in our garden after a rainstorm.  Showing off, it's called Dasylirion Wheeleri - a vicious but attractive spiky ball over a metre across which is good for drawing blood from the unwary, especially grandchildren!

Dasylirion Wheeleri from Mexico

The vicious plant in question

Word has also got around the local bird population that I'm a soft touch when it comes to giving them a feed.  If they see me working at the computer and I haven't put food out, they'll tap on the window if the ranchslider is closed or if it's open, they'll come inside and remonstrate with me!  In this case, it's some representatives from the local flock of Californian Quail.

C'mon human, pull finger and get out here pronto!

April

I was hugely proud to be appointed as an IAM Examiner.  Many Examiners are serving police officers with specialist riding and driving roles within the force and it was a genuine honour and humbling to be in their company and the massively competent civilian Examiners.  The photo below is the first rider I took for his Advanced Roadcraft Test and delighted to say that he passed the stringent theory and practical examination.

Chris and his GSX-S1000

We also took our grandchildren out fishing among the commercial mussel beds outside Coromandel Harbour and their parents also came out on their kayak.  Everyone caught fish and a great day was had by all.

Family fun

May

It's not only riders with sporty bikes who join IAM - everyone can benefit.  In the photo below, Trainee Observer (mentor) Tony is coaching cruiser rider Henry. I was mentoring Tony in observing skills and a couple of months later, he passed his Observer Test with flying colours.

Tony and Henry acting the goat

The Coromandel Peninsula is a haven for artisans of all sorts - potters, weavers, painters..... you name it and they're here.  We needed a new bookcase for a guest bedroom and commissioned a local furniture craftsman to make a rustic one for us in solid macrocarpa.  He's also made furniture for our deck and a large bookcase for our lounge and we have a great relationship.  We drop him off fish that we've caught and he gives us organic vegetables from his garden!

Picking up the bookcase from Greg - smells divine

June

Well into winter, although not that cold.  A great social run with fellow IAM members in the Central North Island.  Along twisty, largely empty back roads with freshly made wood-fired pizza for lunch.  Takes a lot of beating!  Also gathering near us for club runs were the local Ford Mustang and Mazda MX5 Miata car clubs.  Everyone mixed in waiting for their respective start times, creating a great atmosphere.

Assembling in the town of Te Aroha

July

Various plants flower all the year round in our garden and all though this succulent has been planted for a few years, it's the first time that it's flowered.  The conical flower spike is about 30 cm long and lasted for about 3 months.  Hope it does it again next year.

Flowering succulent, or maybe a Triffid!

It was also our 46th wedding anniversary, clearly demonstrating how tolerant Jennie is in putting up with me!  Didn't take any photos so it's appropriate to post one from our honeymoon in Croatia and Venice in 1972.

Sigh..... when we were young....

August

Regular readers will remember the 17th August blog post of collecting a Porsche Carerra 4S Turbo and delivering it to Auckland.  That is.... remembering that I made a complete fool of myself adjusting the seat, trying to start it, looking for the parking brake and a whole load of other embarrassing incidents.  Apart from the humiliation, it was a surprisingly underwhelming experience.  The electronics package meant that it didn't require much driver input at sane highway speeds combined with poor rearward visibility.  Over $200,000 in NZ plus an equally frightening operating cost.   Has totally put me off supercars  - give me a 70's muscle car every time, or even something like a Lotus 7.

Not exactly an understated colour scheme

September

Two more central north island Trainee Observers passed their Full Observer theory and practical tests in the past few weeks.  Chris, the middle of the three below had just passed.  Neil on the left ran the test.  Pete, on the right, is the new IAM member who Chris was putting through his paces as part of the test.  Now here's a surprise..... Pete is actually in charge of the Highway Patrol road policing team for our province!  Mainly driving cars in his day job but also a keen motorcyclist, he saw joining IAM as a means of regularly maintaining his skills to a high level.  Great guy and a real pleasure to have in our region.

Neil, Chris and Pete

One evening, Jennie and I were heading into our village to take part in a charity fundraising quiz bang on sunset.  I took the following photo by sheer good fortune on my mobile phone a few hundred metres from home which is on the ridge at the rear of the image.  Often, the best photos come about by blind chance!

Sunset over Coromandel Harbour

October

A busy month.  Turned 71, fitted a new Nitron custom shock to the bike (Jennie's birthday present to me!) and had a brisk social ride with some of the fellow IAM Observers from our region.  The first photo was taken in a town called Paeroa.  The Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) bottle signifies NZ's nearest equivalent to Coke.  Originally made in Paeroa in 1907 from local carbonated spring water and lemons.  Now made in Auckland and almost certainly bears no relationship to the original product!

From left: Lloyd, Rob, Neil and me

October also saw the second of 3 punctures in 4 months, one of which necessitated the replacement of my Michelin Road 5 rear tyre.  All of them happened in out of the way places and I'm glad that I always carry an electric pump and 3 different options for repairing a puncture.  Overkill?  Not when you live out in the boondocks!  The next picture shows me fixing a puncture with "dog turds" during a training ride.  Hopefully, the run of bad luck has finished.

The smile is more relief than amusement!

November
Long-term readers might remember that an adorable, tiny stray kitten just a few weeks old turned up at our place in 2011 and never left.  We called her Annie (as in Little Orphan Annie).  A few weeks after she turned up, my old cat passed on and since then, Annie made it her business to supervise everything I do.  She's rarely far from my side when I'm at home.  Here she is making sure that my computer work is up to scratch and it looks like I've been found wanting by her expression! 

Must try harder, human!

December

Jennie's birthday and took her completely by surprise with a wooden skeleton clock which I'd commissioned a friend to make for her.  All sorts of tricks were pulled and white lies told to throw her off the scent.  The details are mentioned in a recent post but to say that she loves it is an understatement.  Had to laugh when she told me that she'd been monitoring our joint account to see what I'd spent in the run-up to her birthday.  Thought she might so had a crafty way to get round that!

One happy lady....

Whilst in Auckland helping to run a motorcycle course, I stayed with our daughter Victoria and son in law Luke.  Luke is a landscape architect and his design for public seating was chosen as part of the Auckland waterfront upgrade in time for the America's Cup defence in 2021.   The first one has just been installed.  Consisting of computer-cut slats with internal lighting for nighttime, it looks spectacular.  Very proud of what Luke is achieving so early in his career.

Cool public seating at the Viaduct Basin, Auckland

December sees millions of pohutukawa trees in full bloom in NZ.  The photo below was taken from our son's house on Christmas Eve.  The crimson blooms have formed a carpet of red "needles" in the road.  A whole lot better than snow!

Colour me red.....

Looking forward to what 2019 might hold.  The "knowns" are a hip replacement for Jennie which will see her out of pain at last, a visit from old friends from the UK, a trip to China and replacing my Suzuki (Official Permission, no less!) .  I'm sure that there will be many more surprises along the way!

Here's wishing all fellow bloggers and readers a fabulous and safe 2019!