The Angel Tandem – Adventures on the wrong side of 60

Life's little detours

Bob’s Blog

About Me

Me & my Whanau are Angel Bears from The Bald Angels & our job is to provide comfort to traumatised Tamariki. We ride with first responders in their cool vehicles (they have sirens!) and give kids who are having a tough time bear hugs to make them feel a bit better. 

Angel Mama asked me if I would look after Cliff & Ruth Mail during their 7,500km ride around Aotearoa on the Angel Tandem. They are riding to raise money to give vulnerable kids hope. That sounded furry exciting to me & not being one to look a ‘gift bear in the mouth’ I had my paw in the air quicker than I can consume a jar of honey!  On reflection I may have been a little hasty. They will only let me take the bear essentials so I have secretly hidden some honey jars in secret places on the tandem.

We leave from the Kerikeri Domain on 12 October and won’t get back until late March. We are riding right around Aotearoa. I will be so excited that I’ll be waving all four paws. Hope I don’t fall off!

PS – You can’t miss me – I am the cool young bear on bike (aka Bob). The other two aren’t bears but ancient humans. I expect that I will end up doing all the pedalling. Unbearable!!!

Hot off the paws

My beary best selfies

Me at Rawene
On the way to Cape Reinga
Chaperoning the old guys at Cape Reinga
Getting attacked by a one legged seagull (gulp) – Tauranga Bay
Even I have to sleep
Getting kitted out for the big ride
I am getting famous! They are naming cafes after me. Whangarei
Having a picnic at Elliot Bay beach. I liked the muesli bar but not the sand – made my fur all gritty.
That human is the GOTF – he thinks he is important because he steers the bike. I am the powerhouse of the bike though. This was my very first boat ride between Opua and Okiato in The Bay of Islands. Not far from where I live.
I would love to be a surf lifesaver like these people painted on the wall at Waipu Cove. Only problem is that I can’t swim.
This is Billy my mate from Whananaki. He was the coolest goat. Had a buddy called Lucy the Lamb – she thought she was a goat.
I got soooo excited when I saw this sign but the oldies were meanies and didn’t take me to the Honey Centre near Warkworth.
We made it to Orewa, another beach but this time close to some place called Auckland.
Yup – that’s me in the biggest city in Aotearoa – a place with a funny name – Auckland – I wonder who the Aucks were?
In Auckland I stayed with Hazel (and some other adults – Alisha & Joel her parents and Anna (who named me😍).Hazel showed me her fairy.
Me at Orewa beach
Me zooming along the Waitemara harbour on a really fast ferry. It was soooo rad. Much better than the bike. That is a volcano called Rangitoto (cool name) in the background.
This goat I called Big Billy. He had a beard and I met him at Matatoki.
This is called cherry blossom and I loved it because it smelled like honey.
This was the scariest day of my life. We rode on such a bumpy track that my legs began to fall off. Luckily, the Rear Admiral is a nurse and she had to operate on me to fix my legs up. She put me to sleep and covered my eyes just in case I woke up. I am all better now. Thanks Ruth🥰
I see all sorts of cool thing as we ride along. This was a sculpture of a cyclist near Matamata.
I got to make more friends near Lake Karapiro. Juno and Kedis had won prizes at their school calf club for raising two really good calves, Snowflake, Juno’s calf and Thunder which was Kedis’s calf.
YESSSSSSSSSS😍😍😍😍. Juno and Kedis mum and dad own Black Shepherd Apiaries and they gave me a jar of their honey. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I want to stay here.
I am a grizzly bear in the scary big forest called Kaingaroa
I saw this bridge from the movie and I could imagine all sorts of things just like Rocky, I was a big scary grizzly bear
Even expedition leaders have to relax.
Wow what a long jetty here at Tolaga Bay
Apparently this is Tiniroto but all I know is that there were LOTS of really big hills and the RA was complaining about them. She said that “I am really over these hills”.
I shouldn’t put this photo up. I found my true love in Wainui.
Try saying this without taking a breath
When the oldies said we were going to Wimbledon I got really excited. I might meet some famous tennis players. I said “show me the tennis courts” and they did.