highway one to ak
One of the great rites of passage for all Hamiltonians growing up in this fair town is to navigate the illustrious highway one to Auckland. Forget the train through the swiss alps…. The tarseal near the mighty waikato is the shizzel even in drizzle..
Sadly, Many travelers don’t come back once having made this trip. Many never return. Many wash their hands of the waikato basin, they come down the bombays, weaseled by the sky tower, they strap into the promised land like jewish people before the bulldozers turned up to tell them they were mistaken and it was just the gaza strip and not the promised land.
Honest dave has made3 trips to Auckland this week. A sense of nostalgic arousal even overcomes me when I get past the burger king gatekeeper of terapa, search the hakamarata horizon and wind down the window and ride the clutch all the way to greenlane roundabout, maybe get off at symonds st, though others prefer fort st for that……or sometimes I even go further. Sometimes I go all the way, take it to the bridge and make it to the north shore….
The best part is always the embarrassment of the stinkin horotu meat works. ….. I always find it uncomfortable when you have a backpacker from germany in the front seat, sniff a little, assumes you have passed wind, becomes restless as he seeks fresh air whislt in the corner of my eye I see my passenger looking in that my- grandfather- served- for-the-third reich- in-the- second- world- war- and- did- you- just- drop-your-guts- you-svine-hoont-right -here –right- now-look… as you sail past the affco factory of farm animal dismemberment…
There’s so many fabulous tourist photo opportunities along the way…
The prime ministers motorcade of incredible speed just could not have happened on this road. Helen would have to have snatched the Polaroid for sure…
No.1 … the ngarwahia township shop roller door murals. It’s an underated work that really deserves to be recognized. I guess after the artists death we will celebrate the work preserving them as nz icons, graphic symbols of the social cost of the 1984 labour government. People will bid for them on trade me and be so gagging for the ‘buy now’ option that new Zealand art collectors will break the keys on their laptops.
No 2. Tuaragawaewae, the crown marae of the taunui people, the palace of the queen…. A stones throw of the main track and still king george’s rail cart with shiny knives and forks could not stop for a hangi with the maori queen on the way to Wellington …
No. 3 The Taupiri maunga in all its spiritual richness reaches out of the fog of an august morning, the mountain of the tainui. In the 1800’s the colonial roading dept made such a sensitive attempt to embrace maori kaupapa that they put the main road, and the national railway right slap bang beneath it. I suspect Maori collectively felt like Mrs Shane Warne.
But then none of this cultural empathy was part of my psyche as a kid riding in the golden calf… the gold holden station wagon on lpg with cranking 20 watts of alpine per channel which strode out on a Friday night to take in the sights sounds and songs of the rocky horror show at the Avondale picture theatre…..
No. 4 no road trip is worthy without refreshments, the oasis of pokeno looms Hokey pokeno! I miss pokeno…amd all its licking icecream ation. even if you didn’t stop for a double cone or one of the 7 death wish pedestrians stalled on the centre line, pokeno had a vibe. It’s a shame..to see it just a motor way exit…
And then it’s to the big lights and carbon dioxide of queen st after midnight…
Nice place to visit, but the magic is always in the ride…
You’ve been listening to honest dave’r rant sponsored by transit new zeland. On the generator…
Sadly, Many travelers don’t come back once having made this trip. Many never return. Many wash their hands of the waikato basin, they come down the bombays, weaseled by the sky tower, they strap into the promised land like jewish people before the bulldozers turned up to tell them they were mistaken and it was just the gaza strip and not the promised land.
Honest dave has made3 trips to Auckland this week. A sense of nostalgic arousal even overcomes me when I get past the burger king gatekeeper of terapa, search the hakamarata horizon and wind down the window and ride the clutch all the way to greenlane roundabout, maybe get off at symonds st, though others prefer fort st for that……or sometimes I even go further. Sometimes I go all the way, take it to the bridge and make it to the north shore….
The best part is always the embarrassment of the stinkin horotu meat works. ….. I always find it uncomfortable when you have a backpacker from germany in the front seat, sniff a little, assumes you have passed wind, becomes restless as he seeks fresh air whislt in the corner of my eye I see my passenger looking in that my- grandfather- served- for-the-third reich- in-the- second- world- war- and- did- you- just- drop-your-guts- you-svine-hoont-right -here –right- now-look… as you sail past the affco factory of farm animal dismemberment…
There’s so many fabulous tourist photo opportunities along the way…
The prime ministers motorcade of incredible speed just could not have happened on this road. Helen would have to have snatched the Polaroid for sure…
No.1 … the ngarwahia township shop roller door murals. It’s an underated work that really deserves to be recognized. I guess after the artists death we will celebrate the work preserving them as nz icons, graphic symbols of the social cost of the 1984 labour government. People will bid for them on trade me and be so gagging for the ‘buy now’ option that new Zealand art collectors will break the keys on their laptops.
No 2. Tuaragawaewae, the crown marae of the taunui people, the palace of the queen…. A stones throw of the main track and still king george’s rail cart with shiny knives and forks could not stop for a hangi with the maori queen on the way to Wellington …
No. 3 The Taupiri maunga in all its spiritual richness reaches out of the fog of an august morning, the mountain of the tainui. In the 1800’s the colonial roading dept made such a sensitive attempt to embrace maori kaupapa that they put the main road, and the national railway right slap bang beneath it. I suspect Maori collectively felt like Mrs Shane Warne.
But then none of this cultural empathy was part of my psyche as a kid riding in the golden calf… the gold holden station wagon on lpg with cranking 20 watts of alpine per channel which strode out on a Friday night to take in the sights sounds and songs of the rocky horror show at the Avondale picture theatre…..
No. 4 no road trip is worthy without refreshments, the oasis of pokeno looms Hokey pokeno! I miss pokeno…amd all its licking icecream ation. even if you didn’t stop for a double cone or one of the 7 death wish pedestrians stalled on the centre line, pokeno had a vibe. It’s a shame..to see it just a motor way exit…
And then it’s to the big lights and carbon dioxide of queen st after midnight…
Nice place to visit, but the magic is always in the ride…
You’ve been listening to honest dave’r rant sponsored by transit new zeland. On the generator…
posted by Honest Dave at 6:28 pm
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