The 'plan' came together.... perfectly!

Kylie and I had 'arranged' for Kylie to leave a variety of clues for Shannon around the house, the night before his birthday, while he was out of the house. These 'clues' consisted of instructions (small notes) and various items of clothing that Shannon had to put on before he was allowed to go looking for the next clue. The clues included things like riding boots(old), gloves(new), goggles(old), body armour(new), etc..... the final clue leading him out to the backyard shed, to the last item.... a new helmet... This was all to be 'synchronized' with my planned arrival on his new Honda CRF450X.

So, at 7am Kylie woke Shannon and gave him the first note, eventually leading him out into the back yard....

The look on his face as I showed up was priceless.... and when i told him the bike was his, it was all a bit much for him to take... He just had to bury his face in Kylie's arms for a while. (He thought the bike was mine and that he would be allowed to ride it for a while.) Mindy turned up at about the same time and was able to congratulate him as well.

Gave Gazza a card for his Birthday with a note about the motorcycle he would be getting on Saturday. I didn't tell him what Make or model it was.... just that it would be "awesome".....

He is very excited and can't wait until Saturday.... but, he has to keep it 'quiet' because we don't want Shannon to expect anything. Shannon will be getting his new bike tomorrow.

Had some trouble sleeping last night.... Too excited about my 'new' toy... Kept thinking about the cost saving benefits of buying a second hand bike versus the questions about how well the bike had been maintained and generally treated... I had heard some bad stories about buying second hand dirt bikes.

Rang 'Snowy' at Albany motorcycles.... "Sorry, I have changed my mind. I don't want the 2nd hand CRF450X any more.... I want a new one instead!"

"No problem... we haven't got another one ready to go but we'll work something out. It'll be ready on Saturday".

Cool!

What a plan.... Early Monday morning, Mindy, Kylie and I headed off to Albany (again) to pick up Shannon's new toy. Kylie had taken a couple of days off work and told Shannon she was going shopping in Albany with her Mum. This part was true. I had asked Shannon if I could borrow his car and trailer (my cars don't have tow bars) so I could pick up an old second hand motorcycle from a friend for my son Gareb. (this part was a decoy, though partly true as I had been offered an old bike for Gazza). Shannon didn't know I was going to Albany too.

So off we went to Albany....with the trailer in tow, picked up the new CRF450X, did some shopping (as per above) and came back home, just in time to hide the bike away before Shannon had a chance to see it.

While at the shop, I negotiated a deal including the CRF405X 'test bike' I had ridden on Saturday and a new CRF230 for Gazza (also a secret). The would be ready to pick up on Saturday.