I have been away from WordPress for far too long! We have been working in Wanaka, me at cleaning at Elmslie House and Rob working for Civil Construction. Has been a bit of a plod but we are nearly finished and we have now paid for our USA trip.
Windy Wanaka has proved itself to be just that and the last 6 weeks have been very average. However the weather here is 100 times better than that which we encountered in Invercargill this last weekend. Our last big but one ‘tick on the bucket list for 2016’ was the Burt Munro Challenge. Held every year in Invercargill this is a must do for all bikers. Bikes and riders of every size and description attend from 80 year olds (and that’s just the bikes!) to the very new; vespas to the biggest, meanest road bikes and Hardleys you can imagine. Oreti Park was awash with campers hoping the weather gods would stay with them.
Friday evening and the it was the classic Burt Munro beach race. To appreciate this fully you have to know the story of Burt Munro and the Fastest Indian. The noise was terrific, the skill level and sheer madness of the riders, extreme. All in all a great afternoon sitting in the sand dunes with a few thousand others. The weather held too. Onto Saturday and I did the Toy Run, a ride of about 150kms and we raised a few thousand for the Salvation Army. Have to say Rob did not pull his bike out of the back at all for the whole weekend…… but I was out there holding my own with a bunch of about 150 riders. Rob watched the raceway boys at Teretonga Park.
Burt is celebrated all around Invercargill and the bronze sculpture of him in the photo below can be found just outside the Salvation Army building somewhere in central Invercargill. Police escort through the streets to get to it was a bit of a chortle.
Photos all taken with my cell phone with gloves on and no glasses to see how set up the shot was so apologies for cutting bits off and the lack of focus. Anyway did most of the ride in fair weather. Otatatau, Riverton area was the circuit for this. Thought I was in for a win with the poker run aspect but alas, my prowess with cards went unrewarded yet again.
Saturday evening saw us walking from the camping ground where we were staying (about 1km down the road from the main camp)to the speedway. The weather was on the turn and it was cold! Rain tends to be horizontal and accompanied by hail more often than not in Invercargill. The speedway guys are lunacy on gas. I don’t know how they do it and the side car passengers are even more maniacal. It was a very entertaining few hours and a good experience.
Saturday night and the truck was rocking like a boat on the waves. There was so much wind it was unbelievable. And then the rain started in earnest. We were amazed to find the Sunday street races going ahead. It was freezing and the wind was still at its height. Overhead the Air New Zealand pilots were struggling to keep their planes straight as they landed in Invercargill. And still, the racers were going as fast as cut cats. Rob and I sheltered as much as we could from the wind between races and moved out to get closer as we heard the bikes approaching our part of the track. Side cars, classic bikes, everyone had a go. Unfortunately the last hour of the races had to be cancelled. All the tents in the pit lane were destroyed by wind and it was simply too dangerous to continue. We trudged back to our home on wheels feeling very smug every time we saw a poor rider on their bike trying to get somewhere dry. Back to Wannas on Monday and guess what, blue sky and sunshine!! Was it all just a dream?
hartsintheredgoldcirrus 