#17 - The Trike

Our last port before arriving in Auckland was Russell on the beautiful Bay of Islands on the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand.  We jumped at the opportunity to tour the area not on a bus, or a boat, or by car like most others, but on a Trike. 

I know, with our track record on excursions on this trip, I should have just stayed in bed and pulled the covers over my head for the day.  But the odds were in our favor for a good experience.  Right?

I thought it would be like a bicycle built for two with training wheels on the back.  And I thought it would be good exercise to pedal a bit.  But boy was I wrong!  The 5.7L 350 Chevrolet Edelbrock motor made this one souped up powerful motorcycle.  Only with three seats.    (Picture the driver in the front seat, and Jeff and me side by side behind him).  

Jeff and I buckled ourselves into our seats and our driver took off, slowly at first through town pointing out historic points of interest, the museum, etc.  Then we headed out of town and up to the top of Flagstaff Hill for some incredible views of the harbor and bay.  We then got back onto our Trike and continued out to Tapeka Point for yet more stunning views.

When we told him we both used to ride motorcycles, he asked if we wanted him to really “open her up” to see what she could do.  Of course, we both said “YES!”  And so the ride began.  Within seconds we were doing 110 km per hour around the winding roads.  If there were any police in this area patrolling speed limits, our driver certainly didn’t care.

The wind in our faces was exhilarating.  My hair was straight out behind me.  This would not have been a good ride for someone wearing a wig or hair extensions.  My earlobes were pressed back against my neck.  And for the first time in many years I had no wrinkles on my face as the wind blast smoothed out my skin.   But alas, that face lift only lasted about 10 minutes until he slowed the Trike and I could feel the skin on my face begin to slowly sag back to what I see in the mirror every morning. 

When we got off at the end of the ride, Jeff asked me if his forehead was bleeding.  It was not, but apparently a bug of some sort decided to commit suicide this morning by smashing into his forehead.  I hope the bug’s family doesn’t wait up for him tonight.  Reminded me of the expression “Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug”.    

We spent the rest of the morning strolling around this very quaint, clean, and scenic town.  It was a most enjoyable day - the ride and the stroll.  We finally broke our “bad excursion” streak!  

Bay of Islands about a 4 hour drive from Auckland.  So who knows, we may just head up this way again.  For only $125,000 NZ (about $88,000 US) we could buy a Trike and use it to drive around New Zealand.  Not sure how we’d like it on a rainy day and we’d have to make sure that NZ didn’t have a “love bug” season!