Of matters at hand

Last week I escaped the bonds of the city, an eastern migration that was a trifle too short. There has been a surfeit of precipitation in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and I witnessed the effects as I drove - numerous slips, stop/go men, diggers scooping, water-logged paddocks and dirty rivers.

It wasn't all gloom though, the sun and it's warmth travelled with me.

At the top of the Maraenui Hill between Opotiki and Te Kaha was a particularly large slip dominating an already unstable piece of land. Today a decision was made by the appropriate authorities to close that piece of road indefinitely until a solution is found. It will return to single lane sometime in the near future, but will be sometime until it is fully opened. For residents of this area it is a major inconvenience, there is no other route than to go all the way around East Cape via Gisborne to get to Opotiki, approximately 440 kms. It's not a heavily travelled road, but it is a vital lifeline and the closure is a reminder of the remote nature of life in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and East Cape.

One of the pleasures, a guilty one maybe, is visiting Two Fish Cafe in Opotiki. It's always an unalloyed pleasure to visit. The coffee and food are as good as anywhere, and the service exceptional. As always I scoffed their Raspberry and Lemon slice, the perfect mix of sweetness and astringency. I also sampled their Ginger Crunch, extremely good, I'd wager that a Ginger Crunch expert would rate it highly.

Riding is challenging at best at the moment, this sodden August makes for a challenge, by my reckoning we have had 3 days in the last 30 with no rain at some stage of the day. Thankfully the instrument of terror in the garage has been getting a flogging, boring it may be, but it saves the outermost holes in my belt from getting worn.

As bad as we have had in Auckland, spare a thought for those who dwell in the Village of the Damned, Christchurch. On average both Christchurch and Auckland have a similar amount of sunshine hours in August (approx 110 hours). Auckland has had a miserable 83 hours, but the pasty thighed southerners have been cursed with 45 hours for the month, less than 2 hours per day. No wonder they relish being dour.

I'd recommend that they consider mini vibrators.