Cream Horns and a Bighorn

It was Sunday morning and the cell phone buzzed with a text message from Sir Al: "Are you interested in a short ride?". Hell yeah! The weather was looking suitably H2O free, a rare occurrence these days. A quick call for a few more details ascertained Al was keen to take the mighty Bighorn out for a spin to 'decoke' it after a couple of weeks of commuting. A leisurely 10:00am departure was  decided upon and after a call to Rich we headed on around to Als place. Bruce A was already there and shortly after Bruce S arrived from Levin on his recently acquired bright yellow Ducati 996! A westward route was planned with a cafe stop at Vivs kitchen on the return part of 'the loop'.
It was an interesting gaggle of bikes that made their way over the Napier Road town boundary with Richard and Sir Al providing the usual signature cloud of Blue Haze. The alternative Manawatu Gorge route through Ashhurst was as busy as ever but our westward exit through the village had us on our way to Colyton through some typical Manawatu B roads. We then skirted around the outskirts of Feilding onto Makino road with its nice mix of open curves. Bruce was able to stretch the legs of the Ducati a little and in no time at all we arrived at first stop, Stanway Hall. It is a great stopping spot with plenty of off road parking and it is important to remember that it is these halls that not so long ago were an important part of small communities all over the country. The dances, twenty firsts, weddings and other family and community events kept these facilities going and it is pleasing to see that this one still survives.
The thought of a coffee and some food soon had us back on our bikes heading for Sanson and the now famous Vivs Kitchen. This was Sir Als Bighorns first visit to Vivs and when we arrived the car park was quite full. A couple of us had to have one of Vivs special Cream Horns to add to the calorie count for the day. It has been interesting to watch Vivs Kitchen become so well known over the years and here is a little piece with Duncan Garner promoting Media Works and Vivs Kitchen that shows how some of this happened. With our calories suitably added to and thirst satiated we all headed back into town happy with our short ride around the countryside.