Factoid: Webster’s Dictionary of useless data

In my travels over the last 4 weeks I've had the odd occasion to visit just about every type of loo possible (toilet to those outside NZ). Not being the connoisseur of the best of places I do have one that stands above all of them........ STRATFORD, has to be the best of best. Picture this if you can; you push a button which open a sliding door, you enter and sit in the proper form, music begins to play, you finish, you get up and move to a counter where you place your hands under a soap dispenser, you then move to the right where water is applied and finally you have hot air blown over your hands until dried (music still playing). Oh I almost forgot, you push a button while still in the proper form for toilet paper.... You leave as you arrived by pushing a button....music still playing.

Final mileage for the trip as recorded by my Garmin GPS: 8496.41 km

I want to thank everyone from the New Zealand Ulysses Motorcycle Club for their support while I was here. Especially Alan Sciascia, for getting the word out that I was touring the North Island and having people open their home's to me.

The deed is done and sad to say the trip has come to an end......... if you had asked me a while back if the trip would never end, welllll I just might of had a
different story to tell with inclement weather following me throughout the trip.


Highlights

Worst: People
1. Nick ( Northland) with Australian bush hat on trying to tell a joke.....
2. Karen (Alan's wife) giving directions (bad)
3. Kay (Clevedon) cooking egg's in the morning
4. Listening to Alan crackle/laugh while watching a British comedy called, "Bottom" (just terrible)
5. And finally Nick still trying to tell the same joke with his hat off and a stuffed bird on his shoulder.

Best: People
1. Jenny Taylor (Rotorua) explaining to me how a 5 day cricket match is played ( @#$%^&* of my understanding!)
2. All of the Ulysses members, spouses, kids, dogs, cats, ex-wife's, and outright liar's.

Worst: roads
1. Castle-hill gravel; nobody uses it and its like driving over marbles


Best: roads
1. All were good but I especially liked the secondary ones that were off the beaten path. Major routes as 1,2,3,4, I tried to stay off as much as possible but were convenient when you needed to get to a place in a hurry.
2. Gravel roads that let you into the back country.

Worst: Campsites
1. Hastings Top Ten Holiday Site: no security which led to locals coming in just drinking throughout the night.

Best: Campsites
1. Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park
2. Eketahuna Cabin with heater, did I say HEATER!! $12.00 per night

Worst/Best of Meals
1. Beer with a bag of chips at night

Weather: Do I really need to go into this but here are the statistics:
Sun: 3 days
Rain, wind, overcast, low temperatures.....29 days


And the finally, the Best of Best's: Ann Grbin's
(Northland) list of 40 year virgin's in the Ulysses club!

November 1 Opotiki to Clevedon

Off to Clevedon, stopping at Kay/John Hinds place, for a night of numerous pints at the local pub, lamb or was it chicken and oyster's......

Next morning after Kay solidified my eggs that you had to beat them with a mallet to make them edible and numerous cups of coffee. It was time to head off to Alan's for the finally leg of the journey.