When a time deadline is coming up and you decide to sneak in "one more quick job" beforehand, you almost always know that it isn't going to end well, don't you? This time, it was a weekender away with the Auckland chapter of the NZ MG Car Club, doing a winter lap of the Coromandel Peninsula. The "one quick job" was checking engine and gearbox oil levels. Engine oil was a piece of cake, over and done with in 2 minutes. Checking the gearbox level involves removing a large rubber plug situated behind the lower instrument console on top of the transmission tunnel. Using a technical phrase, it's a bugger to get at; involving bodily contortions as well forcing your hand partially through the opening to pull up the gearbox dipstick. There's also a risk of dropping it as removal and replacement has to be done by feel alone. That's why I cunningly fitted a cable tie to the dipstick last time so that I could hook a finger round it for additional security. It's impossible to photograph the hole and dipstick but follow the plastic pipe below and you'll get the drift. This was the gearbox oil change from nearly 3 years ago.
Not a task for the faint-hearted
With a finger hooked through the cable tie, I gave it a tug and found to my horror that it wasn't the cable tie I pulled but the power lead to the overdrive unit. It had separated at the spade connection which was impossible to reach without jacking up the car and grovelling underneath. Don't ask me how I know!
Doing the club run without overdrive would be a nuisance, as well as chewing through more gas so the car got jacked up, axle stands put in place and a 76 year old body squeezed underneath. It's a horrible job to reconnect it because of the limited space and last time, I ended up using a lot of bad language, thanks to severe cramp in my fingers. This time, I cunningly held one end of the connector in place with a fishing hook disgorger from the boat toolkit and slid the other end of the connector in place with the other hand. Still not easy but cramp avoided. I should add that the overdrive power supply has now been slightly re-routed so fingers crossed, no more accidental disconnections!
Looking up from the garage floor. The gap is about 2 cm wide
Another job not under a time constraint was a continuation of one that I thought I'd fixed a few weeks ago. For some unknown reason, the front disc brakes on the MG started squealing when applied, but only on the first occasion they were used during the day - weird. A quick bit of research revealed that brake squeal was relatively common on older cars due to the pads chattering slightly in the calipers. That's why more modern vehicles have spring loaded backing shims or similar. Anyway, a recommended fix was to coat the backing face of the pads with a copper-based grease to act as a damper. I did this and it worked fine for a while but the offside front rotor assembly started intermittently squealing again. It may have been that I didn't use enough grease in the first place or that heat caused the grease to thin out. In any event, I found some purpose-made high viscosity lubricant with a high melting point (see photo below). Worked an absolute treat and hopefully, brake squeal is a thing of the past. Another of life's learning experiences to file away!
Purpose-made disc pad ceramic grease
Replacing retaining clips and pins, greasing pad backplates
All done!
The tour with the MG club was a blast. A warm, sunny winter weekend with virtually no traffic on the road other than us - awesome. A great mix of MG's from 1950's T series cars through to an MG factory RV8 with the Rover 3.9 litre V8 engine. Lovely twisty roads by the ocean and over the Coromandel Range, driving them how they were meant to be driven - pure heaven. A great dinner together on our home turf of Coromandel Township and a photo shoot the next morning before the Auckland contingent headed for home. Here's some photos.
Jennie and some disreputable old geezer
Near-neighbour Denise in the family '54 TF
A good mix of MG models and years
Lots more rolling in
Immaculate LHD MGA, imported from the USA
It was Mother's Day in NZ recently and Jennie wanted to go out in the MG for a picnic. We chose a nice spot by the beach and where we parked, there was a walking/cycling track. There were a few nice comments by passers-by of "a certain age" but one encounter really cracked us up! We watched an elderly gentleman on a sporting upmarket mobility scooter approaching at an impressive rate of knots. When he was really close, he banged on the brakes and slid to a stop sideways right next to us. His first words, nodding at the car were "I had one of those a few years back". I suggested that he'd lost none of his skills which really amused him. It's chance encounters like that which makes everyone's day!
Mother's Day picnic, Buffalo Beach, Whitianga
The knee rehab following surgery is coming along nicely. There's more movement to come but we're now at the stage where I can venture off-road again without too much risk as long as I'm sensible. We're fortunate through the generosity of a local landowner to have the Medlock Trail within 10 minutes of home. It has substantial altitude changes and runs through both bush (forest) and open areas with stunning views. Here's a panoramic taken at one of the high points, looking down over Coromandel Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. The beauty is that you can pick 'n mix the route length and difficulty to some extent but spending up to an hour or thereabouts most days doesn't interfere with other commitments too much.
Coromandel Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf
A clay climb - slippery when wet!
Hill country riding
Open country on the Medlock Trail
At my age, it would be nigh on impossible to ride the trail without e-assist for the steep bits but there's no shame in that. It gives access to places I'd never otherwise see and keeps me fairly fit as long as I don't hit the deck too hard in the tricky stuff. Some parts of the trail are best avoided when riding solo in marginal conditions as calling for help after an "off" could be a bit hit and miss with phone reception. However, having local access plus an adjoining bike skills park with a number of severity grades right on our doorstep is what I'd call a win-win. Hopefully, keeping mentally and physically in reasonable nick means that we can still behave disgracefully for a few years yet!
It's been anything but a routine existence in the James household since my knee replacement at the end of last August. The surgery itself was pretty much painless and testament to the wonderful surgical team lead by surgeon Melissa Rossaak at Ormiston private hospital in Auckland. Rehab has been anything but painless. Getting started with a proper rehab programme was delayed due to a shortage of public health service physios in our region so I went privately after losing patience. The rehab pain was due to the exercises to regain flexibility. It's unavoidable that these will hurt when you're pushing hard. Being grumpy and a little depressed was inevitable and massive kudos to Jennie for taking it in her stride and only telling me to pull my head in on far fewer occasions than I deserved.
After several months of flexibility exercises, it was time to graduate to cycling again. Stage one was mounting my ancient road bike in a simple resistance frame and doing lots of static pedalling in a lean-to shed attached to the house. The biggest hurdle was getting my rebuilt knee over top dead centre because of the degree of bend required but we got there with much sweat and bad language.
Pedalling fast and going nowhere
Muscle strength was markedly improving and knee stability was outstanding compared with the previous few years. In the new year, it was time to try out the e-mountain bike, albeit sticking to sealed roads for a while to gain confidence. Sitting on the e-bike in the shed for the first time revealed some ergonomic problems as the configuration was markedly different to my old road bike. Some adjustments saw a very careful first ride without too many anxious moments. Yippee!
Three or four more shortish rides and things were going well, so I booked an appointment with Bryan, my village GP for a progress chat. Bryan is a great guy and like most GP's in a rural environment with proper hospitals few and far between, he has an amazing array of skills but he's really down to earth with no pretentions. This is where the "one step backwards" in the title comes in. After expressing pleasure at the progress made, he points at the side of my knee and says, "What's that?" "It's a mole", I say - had it for at least 2 decades. Bryan was uneasy about it, made an appointment for the next day so that he could remove it and arrange a biopsy. Duly removed the next day in about 10 minutes and sent away. Result came back that it was a low grade melanoma. Heck of a shock, even though it was low grade. Bryan didn't see any point in organising a specialist hospital consultation due to potential delays through the national health service so offered to do the larger excision the following day to make sure that it was all removed. Absolutely brilliant as it stopped me brooding about it and letting the mind run wild.
The surgery session itself was a surprisingly social affair. I guess that's what happens in a village of 1600-odd people where everyone knows each other. Whilst Bryan performed the surgery, a nurse practitioner was there for routine surgical support duties and a final year med student was there to observe and suture the incision under Bryan's guidance. While this was going on, we were all chatting about wine, classic cars and fishing; accompanied by much laughter. What an incredible atmosphere to take one's mind off proceedings and an hour later, it was all done. My knee surgeon isn't going to be happy though. Her once arrow-straight incision is now crooked where the skin had to be stretched to close the latest battle scar. Just call me Frankenstein's Monster!
Decent battle scar
The subsequent biopsy result was completely clear - a massive relief. I owe Bryan big time for spotting it in the first place as I wouldn't have noticed anything. Also for all his additional experience and skills when they were needed. Whilst not a big deal in the scale of things, with the skin in the area of the incision being quite tight, I wasn't immediately able to cycle or do anything else strenuous and risk popping the sutures - another time-related setback. I've only been on the e-bike again for a relatively short time but everything is going well. Hopefully, I'll be back on the dirt trails before long. NZ and Australia have some of the highest UV levels on the planet and whilst I've always taken precautions, I'll be extra vigilant from now on, including regular mole mapping.
Out for a nice 25 km training ride - Te Kouma launch ramps
These delays have stopped progress on other jobs too. The garden is in dire need of a tidy-up for starters. We used a mowing contractor during rehab but the rest hasn't had much attention since last August. Autumn pruning, thinning out our bromeliad collection and other gardening chores are all work in progress. We had a massive crop of Luisa plums but we were able to pick the lot and bag them for the freezer.
Impressive Luisa plum crop
Garden in dire need of tidying
Driving the MG has generally been limited to local trips but it's been a good time for routine maintenance - changing hoses that have gone hard etc. However, we have a day trip with the classic car club from the next town coming up shortly and next month, a 2 day weekend trip with the MG Owners Club. All great people with no egos or marque snobbery.
New hoses ready for fitting
Unfortunately, there's one more cloud on the horizon. I had a call from my surgeon asking when I wanted the other knee replaced, with a strong recommendation that it should be done by the end of the year. It's something I've deliberately avoided thinking about but the replacement has been so good that having another like it will be amazing. I guess having it done next spring should be the goal and rehab should be faster this time. However, something to look forward to beforehand is our 52nd wedding anniversary trip to Australia to an area we haven't visited previously. Starting in Adelaide, South Australia; we're going through the Outback in a 4WD truck north to Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) via some of the famous landmarks. That should help take my mind off things. Perhaps we can get back to normal in 2025 - I'll be 77 by then but still trying to live life to the fullest.
Tropical cyclones and lesser storms, a change in government, significant surgery, spending more time out and about in our classic car, a major time-consuming project of Jennie's and a host of other things made for an unusual year in New Zealand. However, there was still much to be thankful for. In this review, I've used photos wherever possible which haven't been previously posted.
January
Our region got hit by a series of tropical storms which caused widespread flooding and landslides, including a major arterial route which has only just reopened. This caused significant economic damage to the Coromandel Peninsula because of access difficulties for visitors. Fortunately, the direct impact on us was relatively small as we don't often need to use the roads with the biggest damage. Here's an excellent video of the area since it reopened in December, courtesy of Deano's Motorcycle Rides:
The crappy weather actually offered a serendipitous opportunity for a black and white photo early one Sunday morning. We get very little in the way of fog where we live but the wet, warm conditions had created a fog bank across the harbour. I thought that a photo with the fog behind one of the locally moored yachts would make a good composition so I walked down the road and blazed off a few shots. It wasn't until I got home that it was apparent that I'd also captured a gull flying past which added to the interest.
Long Bay Road, Coromandel
February and March
Jennie's sister Sue arrived from the UK for a couple of months. That's quite a bit of time to have someone else under the same roof but Sue is so easy to get along with that the time just flew by. Mind you, it didn't get off to a good start with Cyclone Gabrielle making landfall just a few days after her arrival. We were all booked to attend a British classic car festival on the other side of our peninsula, which was really touch and go. The first couple of days were in perfect conditions but we decided to cut and run at the end of day 2. Just as well as the roads we needed to get home became impassable not long after we got back. Mercifully, no damage to our property apart from broken branches but a lot of local infrastructure damage.
Jennie and Sue, overlooking Coromandel Harbour where we live
Fortunately, the rest of Sue's stay was in pretty good weather so we were able to act as tourist guides around the upper north island. During a trip to the Rotorua area, we visited Wingspan, the national bird of prey centre where they are rehabilitated and also bred to release back into the wild. Watching birds being taught to hunt is quite an experience and having a NZ native falcon (Karearea) perch on your arm is surprisingly emotional.
Sue with a NZ native falcon
April
The more settled weather meant I could get out more on the e-mountain bike to maintain fitness in readiness for a knee replacement, whenever that may be. I'd covered about 2500 km on the bike, mainly on the off-road trails in our area and as a bonus; had shed just over 10kg. Good for overall health and less load on my dodgy knees!
Some local off-roading fun without face plants
April also signalled 12 months since retiring from riding - an opportune time for reflection as to whether I'd retired in a timely fashion or pulled the trigger too early. Not too much reflection required - still love bikes but preparation for eventual riding retirement over several years means that my fall-back interests offer new and interesting pathways. I think I got it right!
The start of the very last ride - April 2022
One of the fall-backs was joining the Whitianga Classic Car Club. I'm quite happy just driving with Jennie on our own but the members of WCCC are a delight to travel with to a lunch destination somewhere round the Peninsula. A great mix of vehicles from Ferrari through to Morris Minor Countryman but there are absolutely no egos on display with everyone down to earth. There must be some deep pockets though. The Ferrari 355 shown below requires regular cam belt changes - every handful of years. To replace it, the engine has to come out. How about something in the region of $10,000 for the job? In a similar vein, 10 year old XK Jaguars and similar are really going to hit you in the wallet when things go wrong, hence the very modest purchase price thanks to massive depreciation. I'm happy to have chosen an MGB GT!
MGB GT, Ferrari 355 and Daimler Sovereign at a lunch stop
May
May saw the first "proper" maintenance on the MGB GT with a complete flush of the cooling system. The previous owner was meticulous with record-keeping of the restoration but there was almost no information on what routine maintenance had been carried out. Flushing the system and adding a long-life coolant was surprisingly easy and something I shouldn't have to do again for a few years. The purchase of an infra red heat gun to check the temperature of various components triggered a bit of eye-rolling in certain quarters but eye-rolling is a common occurrence in our household anyway!
Yet another toy, sigh.....
I also became involved in the design and construction of a school science experiment chosen by our granddaughter Georgia. She wanted to build a power-generating waterwheel and test power output against a number of variables. It was all a bit of a panic due to time constraints but raiding the local transfer station and working with Georgia on building it was an absolute privilege. Her work ethic couldn't be faulted and we had a huge amount of fun together. Her experiments all worked and she achieved an "exceeded expectations" grade in her accelerated learning class. Her work was also submitted to a regional science fair and was awarded a silver rosette. Enormously proud of that young lady and the future is in good hands with young people like her.
Waterwheel spin test
June
The winter month of June sees a lot of bird life in the garden, both drinking nectar from some of our flowering plants, plus seeds we put out. Here are some photos I took.
Native pigeon (kereru) in a palm tree
A flock of California Quail waiting for a feed
July
A quiet month apart from it being our 51st wedding anniversary. Hopped on my MTB for an off-road ride and was no more than 10 minutes from home when I realised the significance of the date. Jennie hadn't said a word about our anniversary which I took to mean that I was in deep poo. Turned the bike straight round, rode home and planted a big kiss on Jennie. "What was that for?", she said. Both of us had forgotten the date - a lucky escape! In our defence, we had already organised a trip to Rarotonga to celebrate a couple of months beforehand but that wasn't due to actually happen for another couple of weeks. We did go out to a local restaurant that evening!
July 1972, Kent, England
There was a bit of domestic activity having commissioned a stained glass window for one of our bedrooms which was based on a photo I took in the garden of a nectar-eating Tui on one of our succulents. Perched on a ladder whilst lifting the window into position wasn't for the faint-hearted and I was glad to complete the job without incident.
A nice bit of stained glass work
August and September
The long-awaited surgery to replace a knee suddenly got serious with it being scheduled for the last day of August. We'd already booked a vacation on the Pacific Island of Rarotonga which only left a few days to get organised when we got back.
The surgery took place at a private hospital in Auckland and the all-female surgical team were outstanding. I'd elected to just have a spinal block to avoid the downsides of a general anaesthetic and it worked out well. I was able to have running banter with the team throughout the procedure and also listened to music through my earbuds and phone. The surgery was completely pain-free but rehabilitation has been hard going. Jennie enjoyed making me walk up to 1 km a day on crutches as soon as we got home from hospital, the slave driver!
Part of rehab by walking up and down our road!
Four months after surgery and diligently doing flexibility exercises on a daily basis, I've regained about 90% of my original movement and it's wonderful to have a stable and pain-free knee. The pain comes from doing the exercises but that's only a short term inconvenience. I'm spending up to an hour a day on my old mountain bike in a resistance frame and I should be good to get out on the off-road trails on my e-MTB in early 2024. A little way to go yet before being 100% but it's nice to feel reasonably active again.
October
Although I could drive our modern automatic cars within 2 weeks of surgery, it was October before I could drive the MGB with its manual shift, but mainly due to it being difficult to get in and out of! It was also a busy month supporting Jennie. She's president of our local School of Mines Museum and was project managing the installation of a mid-1800's building on the site - a substantial job. A date was set for the district mayor to formally open the building, along with invited guests. The pressure was on to complete various renovations so yours truly volunteered for that and it was completed in the nick of time.
The opening was an outstanding success with plenty of great feedback. I was enormously proud of Jennie's tenacity over the many months of planning and execution. It involved dealing with government departments controlling heritage building rules, the local council, applying for grants, coordinating tradespeople (shudder) and a zillion other things. She got plenty of positive coverage in our regional news magazine and even made the cover along with the mayor!
Cover Girl Jennie!
With spring well underway, it was a good time for more bird life photography. I was particularly pleased with the photo of a Tui in our kowhai tree, which is the national flower of NZ.
Tui getting nectar from a kowhai tree
I also turned 76 but that's irrelevant as I stopped counting years ago. Jennie maintains that it's like living with a 5 year old which is further proof that chronological age means absolutely nothing!
October also saw a change of government. The major parties in NZ don't tend to have the huge ideological gap which is often seen overseas and quite a few policies overlap. I try to avoid politics and concentrate on the things which I can have a degree of control or influence over, apart from voting of course. However, it's really disappointing to see the shortage of politicians who behave in a statesmanlike manner and with integrity among any of the parties. Much the same throughout the world, I suspect. Sigh......
November
We had another outing with the Whitianga Classic Car Club to sample lunch at a newly-opened cafe on the peninsula. A great turn-out and we weren't disappointed with the venue and food quality either.
Some of the assembled classic cars
In the photo above, the nearest car is a Triumph TR4A. The owner and his wife were really nice people and we chatted about cars for some time before going our separate ways. He wore a club name badge and on the way home, I said to Jennie that his name, Keith Skilling; sounded familiar but I didn't know why. A few days later, I Googled the name and there it was! Aviation enthusiasts will know that a NZ company has restored a number of WW2 Mosquito fighter bombers to flying condition. It turns out that Keith was the test pilot for the very first one!
He's also a senior Warbirds pilot and has flown a Hurricane
Also a Corsair
It was a privilege to meet someone so exalted in aviation circles, particularly so humble and ego-free in real life.
The major blog post in November was to catalogue all the bikes I'd owned since starting motorcycling in 1964, together with the memories which each of them still stir up. Looking back, it's not hard to figure out that retirement from riding wasn't that hard after the sheer variety of 2-wheeled adventures. It's simply not possible to find a single photo which sums up motorcycling spanning 58 years but perhaps the following one comes close.
It was taken in late May 2003 in the Central North Island with the active volcanoes of the Tongariro National Park dusted in snow. I'd got up early for a day ride and there was virtually nothing else on the route I'd chosen. Solitude, me and my thoughts, the Blackbird and majestic scenery. Says it all really about why we ride.
Tongariro National Park, NZ
December
The good weather is here and all the pohutukawa trees in our region have come into bloom. Great weather, Christmas reunions and BBQ's with the extended family and friends are all genuinely good for the soul. Celebrations with our kids and grandkids are only a day away and we'll catch up with our Melbourne-based daughter and husband in January when they return for a flying visit. We even managed to take the boat out fishing again for the first time in 2023. Uncharacteristically, I also caught the biggest fish!
Here's wishing all readers of this blog a spectacular 2024, lots of happiness and good health. May the world be a better place than it has been in 2023.
Wicker picnic hamper and tartan rug - how very British!
