Page 28 - NZ Ulyssian December

BRANCH NEWS

home with a smile from ear to ear. Yes,
sir, a great 4 days.
Our dinner evenings we had to curtail
a little because of the Covid restrictions.
However, they are back underway again
now and seem to be getting more and
more popular. These are spread around
our area and are always posted on our
Facebook page. If visiting, you would be
made most welcome.
Sunday runs and meetings still happen
the second Sunday of the month. Our
last ride ayne our ran h oordinator
organised, and I had a great ride pleased
to be sitting at the back as tail-end Charlie
both in NZ and overseas. I know all of us who own ro ider whi h was boo ed for a change. The meeting and lunch
come away wanting something out of his out fairly quickly. So, yes, we have had afterwards had a record number attend,
collection. He now tells me if we come quite a variety of rides, be they long or with a third o our e bershi en oyin
ba there is ore to see. ell a loo - short. the fellowship our branch offers.
ing forward to it. In September, I organised 4 day trip Finally, I had to cancel Twist and Turns
As normally on a Thursday, we go to a away to Taranaki. Only six of us decided due to the Covid restrictions both because
venue most weeks that other Branches to o howe er it ade it a ery ood 2 of the instructors who were coming to
are oin to so don t ha e to thin u h group with all getting on with each other help were in lockdown in Auckland and
ust lan a route. s ai ato e bers ery well. ur first day ridin down was because several people who advised they
and Norm Foster, in particular, organises let s ust say ery interestin . thin wanted to o e and oin are ro the
the lunch venue each week and have enough has been said about it without me ai ato area who were also in lo down.
been in lockdown, I kept trying to think of writing more. This was to also be a fundraising event
different things to do. A Thursday most of The really big highlight of our trip, or o en s e u e ha es. e will try
the members seem to appreciate included though, was thanks to 3 gentlemen from and reschedule a third time in February. I
a visit to an outdoor Art Gallery, so yes, Ulysses Taranaki who showed us around will keep you all posted soon as I can.
lysses e bers are ust hu an and all some of the many interesting sites they
have different tastes. There were twelve ha e. uy s we an t than you enou h Trevor Birchall Ulysses member
bikes on this run and four Tin Tops. Not and hope we can return the hospitality # 4060 WTV Scribe amongst other
bad for a small branch. you three gave us one day. Our third day things.
Our largest group of members for a was to visit a private collection of a mem-
Thursday run was a ride around the ber who li es there but ust about s ends WAIRARAPA WHISPERINGS
Southern Coro loop, where we picked up as much time in our area. John, we all i all ro the airara a.
members along the way. 17 bikes in total en oyed seein your toys es e ially what Spring is sprung, grass is growing, lambs
at the har in auanui. you use to sweep up the leaves. and calves aplenty, wind is variable to
One Thursday ride also included a gold Fourth day was our ride home, and ani and it s a bit old as write this.
course ride put on by Karel and Howard, although it rained off and on, we all came As a branch we have seen a lot of our
planned activities curtailed due to COVID.
Our committee made the decision not to
hold branch meetings until alert levels
drop. Our hope is that as we reach
vaccination targets around the country,
the lassifi ations and restri tions will
change and will be more favourable to
group events.
It certainly seems an age ago that a
nu ber o us went to the e e bran e
un in au o. ery lad to ha e
attended y first one e en thou h the
COVID situation got a bit out of control
immediately thereafter.
So many planned rides and get togethers
have been cancelled or postponed since
then. Our planned shooting competition
with Taranaki Branch was one of
the notable cancellations. The rides

28 | Ulyssian DECEMBER 2021