biking – gobriantravel

Australia-New-Zealand 8,

Oct. 21, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

’Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.’ I repacked my already stuffed to the brim, suitcases. again. i had to find a place for my new medal and had to really push to close the bag. I called an Uber to take me to my motorcycle rental place across the bridge in a suburb of Auckland. I am getting rather good at ubering and can summon up one all by myself. I arrived at the motorcycle shop and met the man in charge. He explained the workings of the bike to me and gave me some advice of windy roads to take for my next leg of my journey. I rented a Honda 500 Rebel CMX which is rather small and easy to manoeuvre on the hilly narrow roads that I will travel on. The bike came with 2 saddle bags and an over the wheel trunk. I repacked taking only what I would need for the trip. All bikes are geared the same, one down and 4 up. For one second I forgot and started the bike, ready to go in 1 up, second gear. The fellow looked at me and I could see by his face that he was wondering if this was my first time on a bike and should he be really renting it to me.

When ever I get on my bike, I always say to myself, ‘this could be my last ride.’ So far I have been wrong. The bike although small, was not really small. Riding a new bike with the gears on the opposite side as my triumph is always a challenge. They drive on the left side of the road here. My TomTom motorcycle GPS allows me to choose primary, secondary or tertiary roads, hilly, very hilly and very hilly roads, curvy, very curvy and very very curvy roads II had chosen to ride on the latter of all three choices. I started up the engine and wondered to myself if I had not bitten more than I can chew, as usual. 1 hour into the ride, I had gained back my usual over confidence and knew that I could easily master the low cut Honda.

The drive out of Auckland was rather boring as I had to go back over the bridge and through the entire city. The city has small towns, attached to each other and go on for 1 hour, not very interesting. Finally, I arrived in the country side. I drove on for several hours through rolling hills and small farms. I arrived at the turning point where I had to decide whether or not to continue on to Tauranga or head north up the peninsula and follow the ‘spectacular road’ that the motor-shop man had described to me. I chose the latter and headed up the peninsula. This was supposed to add 3 hours to my journey. It added another 5 hours but it was really worth while.

The road was narrow, windy, hilly, and curvy to the extreme, perfect for my first day on a new motorcycle in a new country. A real baptism by fire. The road wound along the sea with the mountains often coming right down to the water, The road was often cut out of the mountain. Finally, I arrived at the top of the peninsula and road across to the other side. Here the road cut through the mountain with hair pin turns and switch backs. I road in 2nd or 3rd gear for the most part doing 30-50 k/hr. Many turns were marked 25 k/hr and it was impossible to go faster. Later on the roads were marked at 100 k/hr. I never dared to go over 80.

I arrived in Tauranga, 10 hours later, having stopped only once for lunch and many times to take photos. I usually don’t like to ride a bike after dark or in the rain. I finished my journey in the dark and with a light drizzle. My GPS lady got lost and I drove around Tauranga for 1 hour before finding my hotel. I was ready for a beer.

Love,

Brian

All the photos below were taken on my motor cycle journey, from Auckland up the peninsula and then back down to Tauranga.

Spain 8,

Oct. 22, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

The spring and summer of 2024 passed so quickly and now we are in the autumn. Although I accomplished many tasks, I failed to do others which turned out to be important as well. I left for Israel in mid March and returned 2 months later in mid May. It was an experience that I will never forget but it put me 2 months behind for my sailing season. This was a small price to pay. I have been an arm chair Zionist for my entire life except for the 3 months that I worked on a kibbutz in 1970. The ‘war’ as unfortunate as it could be, gave me the chance to offer my services to Israel. My contribution however small it was, was not negligible.

I sanded and stained our deck which took the greater part of 1 week. It was a beautiful job and should last at least 5 years.

My usual boat preparation of the J24 for racing season takes 1 week. This time it took 1 month. I sanded off the old bottom paint, a filthy job that was accomplished with the help of my crew friends. I then applied 5 coats of intratect 2000E, sanding in between each coat. This paint is like the original paint which goes onto the hull of the boat when it is first built. It lasted 40 years and needed to be redone. It should last another 40 years which hopefully will be longer than me. The job follows the usual time and cost estimate. A good job takes 4 times as long and costs 4 time as much. I was not far off in my estimate.

I also took 4 weeks to renovate my Laser and 29er that have not been sailed in many years. Many of the young sailors who sail 29ers complimented me on the job and helped me to set up the boat. When I told them that I would be sailing it next year, they cautioned me that no one over 25 ever sails a 29er. We’ll see next year. I finally started racing my J24 in mid July.

I trained for the triathlon enough to get me onto next years Canadian National Team for the Worlds in Australia, but not enough to do well in this years race. I took the swimming part of the race for granted which explains my results.

My motorcycle lay dormant all summer. After the triathlon, I rented a motorcycle to tour Andalusia. I picked up the Triumph 400 yesterday and rode from Malaga to Gibraltar. I planned out the route completely on my computer in Montreal, and then transferred the data to my TomTom motorcycle unit. A motorcycle GPS costs 4 times as much as a regular GPS but it is designed for use specifically for a bike. Vibrations do not affect its use. I ruined an i-phone by using it on my bike and destroyed the camera. The GPS also allows you to choose between primary, secondary and tertiary routes. When choosing a route you can choose between hilly, very hilly and very very hilly roads. You can also choose between windy, very windy and very very windy routes.

I forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike. I choose tertiary routes, very very hilly and very very windy roads. Well….I was not disappointed. For much of the route, I drove in 1st or 2nd gear, occasionally making it up to 3rd gear. There were miles and miles of hills and curves. I could only take many of the hair pin turns at 20-30k. I started off on the wrong route at the beginning , an error that cost me 3 hours in time. I didn’t mind as I really loved the ride and the scenery. I rode for 7 hours stopping for a cappuccino break in a beautiful small town called Ronda.

The scenery was spectacular. I passed through dry, rocky mountains that resemble a desert except for the sand. Small villages, impossible for me to reach due to the steep incline dotted the landscape and appeared to hang off the mountains. They are obviously very ancient and were built for protection.

I arrived in Gibraltar 8 hours later. It’s funny, that after travelling in Spain all day, I find myself in Gibraltar, an English part of continental Europe. In Spain the food was excellent. In many countries if you cannot find a good restaurant, look for an Italian one. last night I had supper in an Argentinian restaurant and the food was great. In Torremolinos I stayed at the Fénix Hotel. The buffet breakfast had 105 different items to choose from. The cappuccino machine had 12 settings. I am at the Bristol Hotel in Gibraltar. It is a 4* hotel, with 4* prices and 1* accommodations. The ‘continental’ breakfast had 9 items to choose from including ‘fresh’ croissants wrapped in cellophane. I don’t understand the phrase ‘continental breakfast’ . On the European continent I have always been served huge, fantastic s. The term ‘continental’ should be replaced with ‘small and cheap’.

Brian