Day 3: Waipoua Forest to Parekai Springs, 120km. Headwind and Rain take over from Tailwind and Blue Sky.

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Day 3: Waipoua Forest to Parekai Springs, 120km. Headwind and Rain take over from Tailwind and Blue Sky.

When the Donkey woke the next morning and he looked out of the window of his cabin he could not believe his luck as he saw Blue Sky and Tailwind waiting for them once again.

'Hello Blue Sky and Tailwind' said the Donkey, 'how nice to see you again'

'Bugger off the Donkey' Tailwind answered, 'we are here for Showpony, is he there?'

'He is still asleep but I will wake him up for you'

But Showpony did not want to wake up

'What’s wrong' asked the Donkey

'I had a terrible sleep and don’t feel at all well'

The Donkey never slept well, and never felt well either a lot of the time but he would still get up in the morning and go to work.He gave Showpony a shove so he fell out of bed and had to get up. The Donkey was afraid that if the Showpony and he were not on their way soon Blue Sky and Tailwind would disappear to other places.

So soon they were on their bikes. first of all they had to climb a big hill and Showpony started to feel better after they had done that and Tailwind and Blue sky also cheered him up while they once again rode up and down big hills towards Kaipara Harbour where they were supposed to take a ferry across. They had a nice lunch in Dargaville. Showpony ate a big sausage and the Donkey put away two tasty custard squares.

But when they got back on their bikers the weather changed and the wind became a headwind and the rain, called Rain, arrived.

'Hello Headwind, hello Rain' said the Donkey, haven’t seen you for a while.

'You are right' answered Rain, also on behalf of Headwind, who never spoke much, 'We got sick of watching you benefit from Showpony’s good luck so I pushed Blue Sky and Tailwind out of the way, so here we are'

Then Showpony and the Donkey got the news that the ferry had broken down and that a bus would bring them to the other side of the harbour. First the Donkey was puzzled as he thought buses could not swim, but someone explained to the Donkey that the bus would drive around the harbour. The Donkey thought to himself 'but if that is the case why can't we bike that stretch as well' but did not say it out loud as a bus ride sounded more attractive than doing a whole lot more biking with Headwind and Rain as company. Then the only cafe between Dargaville and the pick up point, where Showpony and the Donkey were going to seek shelter from Rain and Headwind and graze for a bit, was closed. As if that was not enough the Donkey’s front carrier collapsed onto the front wheel of Spot. The carrier was just too heavily loaded. Spot screamed in pain. The Donkey made some running repairs and put a band aid on Spot’s sore front tire and they arrived at the bus stop just in time. A little bit of luck was obviously still with them. A man who looked suspiciously like Father Christmas rode the bus to Parekai Springs. Perhaps he is Father Christmas the Donkey contemplated but he put that thought away as it freaked him out. Showpony had coped remarkably well with Headwind and Rain, the cafe being closed and the hold-up caused by the Donkey's bike problems, probably because it was a novelty for him to have bad luck. He rode strong and was enjoying himself. The Donkey hoped that Blue Sky and Tailwind had not witnessed Showponies happiness as that could mean that they would not come back.

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Comments

[Naireen Bass]

Loving it John
Thoroughly enjoying your blog John. Keep it up.

[John and Lyne Docherty]

Donkey's fan club
We didn't realise that donkeys were so good at writing, a much maligned species. The whole family is enjoying your journey, has us laughing out loud. Take your time, we don't want it to end.