The Kiwi marathon

---

...hits the ground running, buys some football boots, gets buried by jetlag, zaps to the south, a zoom to the north...
Yep, it's the obligatory tripbackforamateswedding. Almost an essential part of any self-respecting OE, this involves a return to the land of one's fathers for a manic 2 to 3 weeks of frantically seeing everyone followed by a wedding. I, however, chose to avoid all this and go on a 15 day meditation session, which has saved me a lot of rushing.

I am, of course, not being serious. The trip has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I haven't seen everyone I would have liked (apologies for any folk who I haven't had the decency to ketchup with). An itinerary would be no use - it sounds like too much effort, something I'm not into. Selected highlights include three long sessions of riding the most powerful bike I've ever used - this mini-retrospective took in the curvy grey stuff of Hunua, Huia and South Kaipara head, all old haunts with roads that just keep on giving. The motorcycle in question is a CB 900, which is 50%!g(MISSING)runtier than my previous ride, and it shows - this bike effortlessly enters the fourth dimension of travel through the universe - I just had to think 'I'd like to overtake this car/truck/planet and VROOAAR, I was in front of it. Brilliant. I dubbed it the Barack Obama of motorbikes - Yes We Can!

Anyway I was in Auckland for about a week, and managed to get down to Wellington then Nelson. Wellington featured a 6-hour walk through a varied, iconic stretch Rimutakas with a friend, which featured a sum total of 2 (two) interruptions by other trampers. All this an hour from the nation's capital. Why did we leave again?

Nelson followed with blazing sunshine and the appealing prospect of complete nothingness, since I don't know anyone but my auntie and uncle down there. I spent a superb afternoon lying in sunshine reading old copies of the Listener and North and South, both of which are suitably easy fodder for a tired jetsetter.
We walked through the quaintly-named Aniseed Valley to Whispering Falls. Once again, no-one around...

I touched down at Auckland and immediately got the limo up to Whangarei... More or less. Hung out with my in-laws to be. It rained constantly.

We are now into the full swing of wedding preparation, involving such fascinating details as printing off individual timetables for important people etc.

And I'm running out of steam. I will honestly put some photos on this, because I took some, but just not right now.

Love to all
Chris

---