Kicking her bike to life felt good and brought Kelly a sense of peace. She’d ridden since she was old enough to get her license. As a little girl, her father would sit her on his Triumph Bonneville telling her he’d teach her to ride once she was old enough. That was until he was knocked off his motorcycle by a careless driver and her mum declared she was too young to be a widow.

A week later, the Triumph was never seen again. However, Kelly’s desire to ride didn’t disappear along with her father’s beloved bike.

Memories of her dad always filled Kelly with immense joy, or sadness, today it was the latter. Her mother had no way of knowing fate had other ideas for him. Sadly, selling the bike hadn’t been enough to save him from an early grave.

Before Kelly could depress herself any further, she did up her helmet, kicked the bike into gear, revved the throttle, and gunned it for Highway 56.

The stretches of road between Palmerston North and Himatangi Beach were so familiar, Kelly travelled them with ease, always mindful to keep an eye out for motorists who paid little attention to motorcyclists.

It was a beautiful summer day and plenty of Sunday drivers were heading in the same direction as her.

Half an hour after leaving home, Kelly coasted into the parking area at the beach. After shutting off the engine, she flicked down the kickstand, hung her helmet on the handle bars, and turned sideways on the leather seat.

A light breeze drifted in from the ocean bringing with it the familiar scent of seawater.

Kelly inhaled deeply, tension leaving her body. She shrugged out of her leather jacket and draped it over the seat, then placed her elbows on her knees and admired the scenery.

Sand dunes stretched for as far as the eye could see, cars were parked along the beach, teens collected driftwood, kids built sandcastles, and a woman on her horse galloped along the shoreline, its hooves kicking up water.

Eventually, Kelly’s gaze settled on a family sitting on a large blanket, eating fish and chips directly off the paper they came wrapped in. No plates required.

Warmth spread through Kelly as her mind flicked back to many Sundays spent doing the same with her parents and little sister, Joanne. Jo who was now all grown up and attending Victoria University in Wellington.

Watching the father talking to the kids, and pointing to the massive field of sand dunes, Kelly’s mind drifted to her childhood. Her father’s voice came to her as clear as if he was standing behind her.

“That there sand dune field spreads for over twenty kilometres, said to be the largest in New Zealand.”

At the time, Kelly hadn’t paid much attention, but with age she’d learned to appreciate the bits and pieces of information her father had shared about their beautiful country.