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Matariki is our new public holiday, derived from Maori tradition for the new year, the end of winter, Karnival and all that in other places I guess.

Mid winter for us, so I figure it should include mulled wine. Gluh Wein!

So yes!.

Today I have been out doing a gravel riding course.

Started in the car park of the Tuakau moto-x track

Then to Tuakau for lunch.

Really nice corn fritters at the cafe just along there.

Then of around the same route I rode last week really.

On the way to Port Waikato my gear lever came off though. Took a bolt from the carrier to put it back on.

Better check the brakes bolt.

Then out on the gravel roads with 2 instructors, 4 young russian guys and an englishman I think.

It’s supposed to be dirty!

A couple more pix from Passmasters

Went to Port Waikato, then to Waikaretu, and then riding the high ridges to Onewhero.

Some dark road where the surface is moss in there.

Love the North Waikato Limestone country though.

Some exciting times in clay and mud, gravity almost got me.

I should take more pix, but I don’t want to be stopping all the time.

Went off on a bike trip back to the old home.

At some stage my bag came off the bike, the cameras in it survived fine, so I took some pics there.

It was at the Waikorea stream, water goes out, black sand comes in

And a BW one.

On the way there we stopped for coffee and cake at the Nikau Cafe, feijoa and almond, and chocolate and zucchini.

A couple of weeks ago went out to Whatipu

There seems to be a lot of cabbage trees in my world. They are looking healthy too.

Saw the bros for the first time in a long Covid time back in January

Checked out Feifeis friend Jinhuas Garden, just up the road, she grows a lot!

We have had some spectacular sunsets

And we went out to Waiheke to see Sculpture on the Gulf

The Alan Forde work below was my fave.

And Waiheke is such a beautiful place, and so close.

The below is the graph from my home environment monitoring system showing the hit of the pressure wave from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption.

That is at least 1900km from here

I hope things don’t go too bad out there in the Pacific.

Thanks Brett for the beers.

Went out to Piha a couple of weeks ago

Walking around the block, they are building on the eastern side now.

While getting something done to my car, look at this that Bill is working on for someone. He had 2 of them in a month ago.

It was a big place 2,500 sq feet, mostly in one room. Though there was a bedroom sized room, a big kitchen, a bathroom with 2 toilets, which we installed a bath in.

When I went in there it was a bit scary, signing up to an 18 month commercial lease. The Real Estate guy that I dealt with was pretty cool though.

When I moved in I was working at the water slide at the Parnell Baths, when I moved out I was a computer operator 400m away at NZI in Shortland St.

The building was owned by a couple of guys from up north I think, they weren’t all that keen on us having a dog there. Gavin had a dog, and Lisa had one that was there a little of the time too.

We got interviewed for a current affairs TV program at some stage, there were so few people living in the CBD that we were a novelty. At night there were just street kids around the city, and not much in the way of supermarkets.

It did take a while to get used to the noisy diesel buses working their way up Anzac Ave early in the morning. The place was generally not too hot and not too cold though.

It was a great time.