Not quite a waste of two weeks!

Spring has sprung in NZ, lots of sunshine, temperatures in the mid-20's C and as the saying goes, a young man's thoughts turn to love. For ummm... more "mature" gentlemen such as me, such thoughts are not entirely consigned to history but the beautiful weather also promotes thoughts about motorcycle riding and taking the boat out with Jennie to go fishing.  The last outing 3 weeks ago ended up with her having bragging rights (again) for catching more than me but at least I get to share in the bounty, even though less than subtle mickey-taking has to be endured.  

Thankfully keeping the smug grin off her face

After fishing, the plan was to get in plenty of riding but that turned to custard big time. There's an area of our garden that's a bit of a jungle.  It's on a slope and the clay soil can be extremely slippery .  We got stuck in and cut back masses of foliage.  The next stage was to get one of the many local tradespeople in to build about 10 metres of steps in the sloping area to make it safer and more accessible, and then replant it with all sorts of sub-tropical shrubbery.

Now I don't know how the rest of the world goes about getting hold of a tradesperson but in our area, it's bloody nigh-on impossible, despite their numerous advertisements in the local newspaper and community website.  This is how it goes on the phone.  Me:  Hi, are you interested in building me a 10 metre run of steps in our garden?  Tradie:  Yep, a bit busy right now but how about I pop round in a couple of days to see what's involved?  Me:  Fantastic, see you then.   You probably know what's coming next, don't you?  A complete no-show, repeated multiple times.  Lots of rude words said.

In fairness, the tradies round this way have excellent trade skills but their customer relationship building is shit (a technical term).  Their liaison skills are sadly lacking, probably because they have so much work that they've never had to get their act together.  We desperately wanted to get the job done to tidy up the place before Christmas so the only alternative was to forego all the fun stuff and do it myself.  I've never built steps before and terrain angle changes were an additional complication.  However, I'm good at maths and some calculations aided by building guides on an NZ website (Thanks, Mitre 10) saw me make a start on the project.

Area cleared of shrubbery and string lines laid out

I should add at this point that humping heavy lengths of timber around in hot conditions isn't kind to a 73 year old body.  Every evening saw me sprawled on the couch watching TV or more accurately, drifting in and out of conciousness and completely missing what was being shown on the goggle-box.  The other problem was mosquitoes.  It's not normally an issue but in that area, they were really keen to make life a misery.  I swear that the first repellent found in the bathroom cupboard was an attractant and it did no good at all.  Another brand was discovered after several days and I must say that it worked well.  Lord knows what it does to the human body though as it smelt like effluent from a chemical plant.

Lots of careful measuring and the use of string lines and a builder's level saw the steps starting to take shape and the result was rather pleasing.

Emerging from the undergrowth

Not bad if I do say so!

Fatigue put a dent in my organisational skills on a daily basis.  Lost count of the number of times that a critical tool or even a humble pencil was at the top of the steps when it was needed at the bottom or vice versa.  The percentage of time traversing the steps as opposed to doing something productive wouldn't have looked good if it had been charted, especially as productivity improvement is how I earned a crust for many years, sigh....  After getting into the swing of things and fixing the bearers in place, I could reckon on about an hour per step, what with all the measuring, cutting and nailing in place.  There were LOTS of steps - paid not to think about them.

I did have a supervisor for much of the time though - Sam, our rescue cat.  Every day, he was there squeaking encouragement or more likely telling me to pull finger.  He also enjoyed chasing the local lizard population when I disturbed them from under fallen leaves.

Sam, the civil engineering supervisor.  Not looking happy with the lack of progress

Every time there was a change in the slope or slight change in direction to miss treasured tree ferns, it meant more geometry to ensure that the steps remained horizontal.  I'm sure that tradies don't do it this way but it seemed to work ok for me.

Steps, steps and even more steps, plus the beginnings of a path

Starting to look quite professional

Finished the job two days ago and was agreeably surprised at how good the steps look.  There's still a path among the greenery to put in but we haven't yet decided whether it's going to be pre-cast slabs, natural stone or gravel.  No great urgency to make a decision on that.  Next step is to fill the cleared areas with exotic plants before the heat and drier weather really sets in.  We've already planted two bright pink hybridised versions of the NZ Cabbage Tree, Cordyline Australis; as per the photo below.  They should look great as they grow.

Cordyline Australis  Pink Passion

Part of the "jungle" now reclaimed as a shade garden and planted with bromeliads, hosta and other stuff, plus a good layer of bark mulch.  Should look good in a couple of years.

Looking a lot better than it previously did!

As the title of the post says, not quite a waste of two weeks but there are things which would have given a lot more pleasure.  However, the end result was satisfying and it did save on labour costs.  Not sure that I'd be keen to repeat the exercise though.

A final bit about motorcycling....

I took a half day break just before project completion to have a haircut.  The cut doesn't take that long you understand but I get it cut in a neighbouring town with 50 km of dream twisty motorcycling coast road in between.  Having not ridden for over 3 weeks, it was a traffic-free relaxed, chilled ride in both directions, or so I thought until noticing the back tyre.

Oops!  Michelin Road 5 put to good use

I'm sure that everyone who's ridden a motorcycle has set out to have a brisk ride and has ended up riding like a completely uncoordinated muppet.  Then there are the occasions when the rider is relaxed and has an absolute blinder without putting in any apparent effort.  This ride was in the latter category.  It's all in the top 3 inches!

 

Summer has come early!

Thanks to our Australian cousins pushing some of their second-hand weather to us across the Ditch, we've had a week of hot dry weather ranging from the high 20's C to mid 30's in some parts.  A great opportunity for getting out and doing stuff before it turns to custard this weekend.

It started with a bit of gardening, then as Jennie and I happened to have a clear calendar at the same time, a spot of fishing one afternoon.  Didn't start off well though.  We launch at a ramp at the end of our street.  Whilst getting the boat ready, I neglected to lock the trailer jockey wheel (shown in the photo below) in the "up" position.  This had the wheel bouncing up and down onto the road and as it only had a plastic hub, it had destroyed itself and disappeared before we got to the ramp, also yanking out the trailer electrical plug,  That dragged on the road and was a sorry sight - bugger!

Intact jockey wheel before setting off

The wheel is only used for positioning the boat in the garden so not a big deal other than coughing up $50 for a new wheel and an electrical plug.  Jennie didn't even call me a complete plonker so the ego didn't take too much of a battering.

Fishing was a bit slow but we didn't worry too much as the weather was so stunning.  As usual, Madame caught more than me.  I'm sure it must be due to the amount of time I spend cutting up bait for her out on the water, sigh.....

A beautiful day offshore

The cats woke me up early this morning demanding a feed so it was a good opportunity to have a quick breakfast, jump on the bike and test my new Revit Tornado 2 mesh jacket (see previous post) with the liner removed.  Setting off in 19 degrees C, it was a little cool on the arms as I only had a T shirt underneath, but certainly not unpleasant.  As the temperature climbed into the mid-20's it was absolutely superb - a great buy.

As I got to Whitianga, I noticed an old DC3 flying low over the water.  As they're few and far between, I guessed that it was a scenic flight from the home base at Ardmore, just south of Auckland where the Warbirds are based.  A quick diversion to the grass strip at Whitianga and it had just landed, disgorging its passengers.  What a great sight.  (This is the link to the DC3 website: Fly Back In Time .

Passengers disembarking for a look round Whitianga

Security is just a gate with a "Restricted" notice on it!

After that excellent interlude, it was on to Cooks Beach, a really scenic location on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula, not far from the famous Hot Water Beach.  In the background of the photo below, sea fog was present although it burned off pretty quickly.

Just spectacular - Cooks Beach and Mercury Bay

Mercury Bay was so-named after English explorer and master mariner Captain James Cook landed on the shores here to observe the transit of Mercury in November 1769.  The observation point was apparently pretty close to where the bike was parked in the photo!

Sea fog burning off - eastern end of Cooks Beach

Whitianga waterfront on the way home

Time to head home for lunch, a very pleasant round trip of about 170 km.  On arriving home,  I noticed that my front T31 tyre was a bit chewed towards the edges.  The shoulder is a softer compound and clearly, the high road temperatures combined with the twisty route and coarse chip (not to mention enthusiastic countersteering!) had taken its toll.  Apart from this, they are proving to be pretty durable.  4000 km so far on this set with little wear and they grip well in all conditions.  They were fitted in early winter when the OEM pure sport tyres were found wanting.  It will be interesting to see how they wear with the higher summer road temperatures.

Front T31 - a bit rough around the shoulders

Finally, a shot of Sam and Annie this afternoon vying for a comfortable spot on our bed.  Annie has pretty much accepted Sam now (see Sam's arrival a few months ago HERE).  She's half his size but still bosses him about from time to time to keep him in his place!  Sam's about a year old and Annie is 8.

Sam and Annie vying for a comfortable spot

All in all, a pretty good week and roll on summer!

Still busy times.......

After the huge variety of activities listed in the last post, the level of commitments haven't really slackened off at all.  The weekend before last was spent in Auckland teaching Roadcraft Observer theory and behavioural requirements to a new bunch of IAM Trainee Observers.  Most trainees feel overwhelmed by not only having to ride to a high standard but whilst doing so, observing a new Associate for improvement opportunities, what they do well and remembering everything in order to discuss how their ride went at the debrief!  In practice, a fully-qualified Observer is always present on the training rides to hand-hold so it's not (quite) as traumatic as first thought.  When asked what makes a good Observer,  the answers always focus on technical competence and prompting is needed to draw out the interpersonal stuff.  We all know from our personal experience in business that technical aspects of a job are usually fairly straightforward.  However, if anything is going to cause work to turn to custard, it's almost always people-related problems and their behaviours.  Fair comment?

A mix of people and technical skills make a good Observer

In an informal moment, one of the presenting Observers made an interesting comment about the bikes which were ridden to the course (see the photos below).  It's a bit of a generalisation but further south in NZ, IAM members seem to favour adventure-oriented bikes, even if they do spend most of their time on tar seal.  The words "Bavarian Tractors" were only bandied about in a light-hearted manner, honestly!   The further north you go, there seems to be a wider mix of bike types and certainly more with a sport-oriented bent.  We drew no conclusions from this, principally because we northern types didn't want to be labelled a bunch of Rossi wannabes!

A good mix of bike types on the course

Not an adventure bike in sight in this photo!

A few days later, we collected our new boat from the dealer.  Really impressed with the quality of both the boat and trailer but a few days were needed to fit it out with odds and ends ready for fishing and towing the grandkids on a biscuit in due course.  Along with the new boat came a marine VHF radio which meant that I had to sit a marine radio operator examination.  Sudden panic as I'd been pretty lax about studying and had worries about my 70 year old brain retaining anything.  A bit of solid cramming for a couple of days, sat the exam and mercifully achieved the 100% needed to pass - PHEW!

With that out of the way and with the tides and weather looking favourable, it was time to get serious about putting it in the tide for the first time - not for fishing but simply to get used to everything and how it handled.  Still waiting for the computer-cut radio-call sign lettering and boat name to arrive, but that can wait.  Meet "So-fish-ticated", the name chosen by our daughter!

Stabicraft 1410 Fisher, ready to hook up to the 4x4

Christening it at the end of our street

Jennie skippering it round some of the many islands just off the coast, in flat conditions

Very impressed with the 3 cylinder, 4 stroke injected Yamaha engine. Extremely quiet and bags of torque.  With the light alloy construction, the boat leaps onto the plane almost instantly and can apparently reach 50 km/hr, not that we were interested in trying it out first time up.  Got to watch the deceleration though.  It stops equally quickly if one is a bit quick off the throttle and could lead to bodies and gear flying about!

Leaving one of the island bays and not a soul in sight

Taken by a mate who was fishing in one of the mussel farms

Naming now done!

Next outing will be fishing for real.......... at least from one side of the boat :-) .

Back to motorcycling, it was mentioned in the previous post that at the recent IAM conference, an ex-military paramedic with a passion for motorcycles gave a talk and demo about accident management with an emphasis on motorcycles.  Apart from all the other great aspects of his talk, he mentioned a product called Celox which is hemostatic, i.e. stops bleeding fast. Extensively used by the military in conflict situations, granules can be poured into an open wound or there's a range of dressings and pads which have been impregnated with the special granules and can stop bleeding from an open wound.

I always carry a modest first aid kit on the bike and it has now been supplemented with Celox gauze pads which are easy to use and very effective.  It's the sort of item you hope never to use but in a situation where there is significant blood loss, it might just save someone's life.  Got it in the car too.  Here's the item we bought and Celox products are available pretty much everywhere in the world:

Celox gauze pads

No rest for the wicked - being invaded by the kids and grandkids for Easter weekend, a 1400 km round trip to Wellington the following weekend in the car to visit old friends, then hopefully back to adventures on 2 wheels.

A HAPPY AND SAFE EASTER EVERYONE!