KIWI RIDER JANUARY 2021 VOL1 | Page 37

I t ’ s 2:45pm on a Wednesday , two middle aged men of surprising stature have finished their coffees . The regular crowd have long since departed and the cafe is closed , but being held open for us by an old friend . I ’ d been off , ogling drumkits , and was late , and irritated as I slalomed round Auckland ’ s orange eruptions of road cones . We were meeting to finalise a desire to ride to Cape Reinga on Vespas . Vespisti Cavalcado Nord or the VCN . The crew is to be a mere three ; Cameron Bennett , a well known journalist and TV reporter , as well as an excellent musician and delightful raconteur , rides a satin Black Vespa 2011 300 Super Sport , and Wayne Gillies , ex Ad-man , now designer , photographer , art director and musician and bon vivant , boards a 2017 Vespa 300 GTS Super , in Shiny Black , also with screen and top box . Smart . And I was to be on the new 2020 300 HPE .

Route planning , itineraries , accommodation , gas , food and points of interest , are pretty easy territory , and a plan for three of us is fairly straightforward ... each in a single room ( snoring ) and spare beds , should others decide to join later . I ’ m late , yes , but I ’ ve scanned the maps and pre-figured ride times point to point ; we have decisions made in seconds . The VCN was on , barring a return to Covid lockdown . We got excited , and decided to expand the trip by one night . The job of the other two is to figure out how to include music . Carrying guitars on scooters is a problem . My job is to write it up . It ’ s still a month out . What could go wrong ? 2020 has been an unpredictable bastard of a year , so I don ’ t cross my fingers . Across town , my ride , the new Vespa 300 HPE Racing Sixties is being readied , and I ’ m looking forward to running it in before heading north on a serious run .