Orewa, July 24th 2017
Well, the weather took a nasty turn this last week. There was considerable flooding across the country but luckily we were spared in Auckland of any major deluges. Nevertheless, there wasn’t any chance of a road trip this weekend. I did see some friends of mine in Auckland central for an afternoon of board games. Following the weather report it was supposed to be moderately dry so decided to suit up and ride the motorbike into town. As luck would have it though, by 8pm the weather turned again with a nasty drizzle that pretty much reduced my visibility. It started me thinking, why in all these years has no one ever come up with a suitable visor wiper for helmets? There are probably safety reasons for that, but surely there must be something.
My clothing gear keeps me very dry and warm though. It’s quite impressive how the clothing manages to keep the wind and rain out when you’re riding down the highway at speeds of 100km/h and more.
To be honest though, I do appreciate the experience. You don’t learn good biking skills by being the proverbial Sunday rider. Experiencing extreme conditions is what will give you the opportunity to hone your skill.
For this blog I’m going to post a couple of pictures from the archive of Orewa beach. I love the area, it’s a nice litle suburbian township about 40km North of Auckland. I moved here just over a year ago after living for more than 2 years on the West side of Auckland in the beach township of Muriwai (more on that in another post).
The township has grown substantially, with Auckland city getting cramped for space more and more people are opting to live outside of town. Orewa used to be a major holiday destination in the 70’s and 80’s for Aucklanders wanting to eacape the city. There are a few camping sites around the area. Funnily enough, the 2 lane highway wasn’t extended to Orewa till around 2005, with the traveller having to take the scenic coastal highway. Recently some major subdivision construction projects have started up to meet the housing demand.
I like Orewa, even though there’s a commute to work I prefer living outside of the city. It’s got a fantastic beach and bush for walking, plus … I’m just a quick ride away from Northland destinations or boat rides away from fishing around the bay of islands. I’m 10min away from the beach and live going for early morning walks followed by a coffee at my favourite cafe Oliver’s.
I will finish this posts with some of my Orewa beach shots.
The Wanderer 