East is best

Recently Roscoe from work has picked himself up a nice little GSX650F and is enjoying getting back into riding.  During the week we'd been hatching plans for a group of us to go for a ride on Saturday.  We kept a close eye on the weather and kept a few options up our sleeves depending on the weather forecast.

In the end Saturday was forecasted to be pretty average here with wind and rain on the cards.  Two of our possible destinations were quickly discarded and we set our sights on a trip up to Hawkes Bay.

Patient Connie waiting at the Rendezvous

After leaving home I made my way up to a local cafe to meet the others.  Roscoe had planned to have his brekkie here but was denied due to us being a bit early for the cafe...As he pulled in also gave me the news that were on our own as Daniel had also decided to give the ride a miss.

With a disappointed Roscoe in tow I made my way up and over the track to Pahiatua.  The morning was still a little cool (especially the brisk and sometimes blustery wind) but the sun was definitely out even if it was a bit low in the sky at times.

From Pahiatua I took Roscoe through to Oringi via Jacksons and straight into that low sun.  It was still a nice little ride and Roscoe must have felt a bit more relieved when I pulled up outside a cafe in Danniverke - and the cafe was open...

Worms fed, we carried on up SH2 to Matamau where we turned off to take the back roads through to Ormonville and Takapau.  In Ormonville I waved Roscoe through on me and settled into pootle mode behind him.

Eventually we made our way back out onto SH2 just South of Waipuk and cruised through to Waipawa where we made our next turn-off.  I led through to River Road and then waved Roscoe through again to take us through to Patangata and then up Middle Road to Havelock North.  By now the day had really sorted itself out and was turning into a beaut of a winter's day.  There was also some excitement to be had at times on Middle Road...

In Havelock North nature called and while stopped we couldn't help but notice someone's nice little toy for getting to Saturday brunch:

It's red - shocker!

From Havelock we cruised onto Napier via Clive and the waterfront and then stopped in at Ma and Pa's where Dad whipped us up a quick bite and we managed to twist his arm a bit and get him to join us for a bit out trip back home.  Before you could say "Bayerische Motoren Werke", his bike was out of the shed and he was ready to go.

The trip down SH50 was a lot of fun but at Ongaonga Dad pulled over to say goodbye before he took off towards Waipawa and Roscoe and I continued South.  In Danniverke the predicted weather had arrived and by the time we hit the gorge we had absolutely said goodbye to the sunny HB skies.

We did however beat the really heavy rain and it was good to hear that arrive through roofing iron rather than my helmet.

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