Mike Maddox died on February 27. Photo / George Novak
Kerrie Maddox would give anything to have her husband tap her on the shoulder or pull her hair again.
It was that cheekiness and sense of humour Kerrie fell in love with the moment she met Mike "Maddog" Maddox.
She's still waiting for him to walk through the door after work.
Tragically, Mike died in a head-on crash in north Waikato on Saturday, February 27. His motorbike collided with a ute on Kaiaua Rd, Mangatangi, near Miranda.
He was meant to start his "perfect job" on the Monday after the fatal accident.
Mike's life was celebrated at Elliotts Funeral Services on Ninth Ave this week.
The roar of dozens of motorbikes, hot rods and classic cars could be heard down the main streets of Tauranga as the procession made its way towards Pyes Pā cemetery in honour of Mike. It was led by one of Mike's restored pick-up trucks.
His casket - black with red and yellow flames - was another nod to his love for hot rods.
Mike, 58, had left Tauranga about 9.30am on February 27. He and about 20 other riders met at BP Tauriko on route to a swap meet car show in Paeroa.
There, he bought a couple of Indian motorcycle race flags.
"He was really stoked about that," Kerrie said. "He's been looking for Indian flags for months and we couldn't find them anywhere."
The bikers stopped somewhere for lunch - fish and chips and scallops.
"Mike loves seafood."
Most of the riders were out the front, with Kerrie's brother in front of Mike and one other rider behind.
No one knows exactly what happened, Kerrie said, but she has been told it looked like Mike hit a bump in the road that made his bike stand up.
"When a bike stands up like that going around a corner it will just go straight ahead and he hit a ute head-on coming the other way.
"My brother saw it in his rear-view mirror, turned around and came back.
"From what I've been told, he just held him."
Kerrie said the bikers tried to give her husband CPR.
Police, St John Ambulance and a rescue helicopter were called to the accident but Mike died at the scene.
Kerrie was at home when she heard the news.
She heard the bell on their gate ring and spotted her sister-in-law and neighbours standing there.
"As soon as she walked in I just knew that something was wrong ... It's been a bit of a blur from there.
"It was a total shock and to be honest I still can't really get my head around it.
"Between four and six o'clock in the evenings are the worst. Because I'm just expecting him to walk in the door from work.
"We always cooked dinner and took the dogs for a walk. That's the hardest time of the day for me."
How Mike and Kerrie met
Kerrie met Mike in Auckland in 1993.
She was a courier driver and he was a truck driver for New Zealand Post.
"We just met at work."
Mike was a truck driver for most of his life and had landed a job in Tauranga for Transfreight about three months ago.
"It was a really good job, he really loved it."
Kerrie said Mike had just been promoted.
"He was going to run the store like a storeman and get off the road. That was his perfect job."
He was supposed to start his new job on Monday after the accident.
In 1994, they bought their first house together where they tied the knot in 1996.
"Our wedding day was very special."
About eight years ago, the couple moved to Tauranga.
While they had no children, the pair shared a love for their two dogs - a seven-and-a-half-year-old English bulldog staffy-cross named Floyd and an eight-month-old "little Frenchie" named Indie.
A love for hot rods and motorbikes
Along with his dogs, Mike also loved his hot rods and motorbikes.
"We got into hot rods not long after we met," Kerrie said.
The pair had just completed a South Island trip, zig-zagging from the bottom to the top together about a week before Mike died.
The pair have travelled the east and west coasts with their hot rod club friends and rode Route 66 in the USA together in 2014.
Mike took his last journey in a restored purple pick-up truck that he and Kerrie had driven all over the North Island.
At the Whangamata Beach Hop in the early 2000s, a bystander had commented on how rusty the bottom of the doors were, Kerrie said.
So Mike enlisted the help of a panel beater and mechanic friend to restore it.
"He took the truck off the road for what he said was a freshen up but it turned out to be a total rebuild over about two-and-a-half years," Kerrie said.
"Maddog"
Kerri said Mike was "a bit mad".
"But when I say that, I say it in a nice way. He was just a real too-too, he never sat still, he always had to be doing something.
"He joked around and teased people constantly, but it was nice teasing. Honestly, I would give anything to have him tapping me on the shoulder or pulling my hair now."
Kerrie said she fell for Mike's sense of humour and cheekiness.
"He was pretty cheeky, pretty smart to most people."
She loved Mike's craziness and love for life, as well as his work ethic.
"He was a hard worker. He was so pedantic about keeping the cars clean, doing the lawns, having the edges perfect.
"It had to be right. If you park a car, like a hot rod, the wheels had to be straight and parked perfectly in the parking spaces.
"All those things would send people crazy. But that was just Mike."
Kerrie said Mike touched so many people and she thanked everyone who helped to celebrate his life this week.
"Wherever he is he'd be thinking: 'Oh my God, I didn't know I was that special.'
"He was just that kind of person."
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.