Courier job

Another nice day in the Manawatu and a little chore to do - I'd bought some Osram +90 bulbs for my old man (from Powerbulbs UK) and had to get them to him somehow. So out came the little red Honda and off I went.

Before leaving I had heard that it might be a bit foggy over Woodville/Danniverke way but as I didn't get on the road until just before 11 I thought that I'd be ok. Wrong! Deciding to make a ride of it by trying to avoid the main roads, I first took the Saddle and hit the fog right by the entrance to the Windmill lookout. It wasn't too bad but as I descended down towards Woodville it started getting a bit thicker.

I nearly decided to pop back out onto the main road in the hope of less fog but in the end stuck to my plan and took in Topgrass road to Danniverke. It was a bit of a mission at times as the fog was reasonably thick in places and I still had to avoid cow muck, mud from tractor tyres and even a large hare. Turning back onto SH2 just South of Danniverke the fog vanished and I was riding in sunshine again.

A quick top off in Danniverke and I was on the road again. Just a quiet pootle up SH2 and then a turn-off onto SH50 to take me on to Napier. The little slippery patch I discovered on the last trip over SH50 was still there but I managed to avoid it this time. I did however have to give a one-fingered wave to a car overtaking in a stupid place and coming straight at me - moron!

In Napier I stopped off at the olds to drop off the bulbs only to discover they were not at home so I popped down into town to grab some lunch and catch up with a mate for a bit before the ride home.

Leaving Napier I flagged a fuel stop in Hastings and decided to see if I could make Danniverke with what I had. Unfortunately I was on a VTR and by the time I went through Tiko I was on the last bar of my fuel gauge with about 50-60km to go. I probably would have made it but chickened out (didn't feel like pushing the bike too far) and stopped in Onga.

With a full tank again there were no more fuel worries so I set off in a different direction towards Waipuk just to add a bit more interest to the ride. I ended up on a road I hadn't been on but soon popped out on SH2 again and turned towards home again.

Determined to stay off the main road I took the back roads through Takapau, Ormonville and Makotuku and then back onto SH2 for the rest of the trip home. Another nice but chilly ride - where to next weekend?

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