What I did on my holidays. WARNING! This goes on a bit.

Wed Mar 1st.

Trogled off to Heathrow (in a minicab - the thought of the Picc Line
with luggage didn't appeal) - checked in, few beers, boarded.

Waited two hours to have the wings de-iced. Took off.

Thu 2nd

Flew to Bangkok, got off, got on a plane to Sydney.

Fri 3rd.

Changed at Syndey for a flight to Auckland. Arrived 4 mins behind
schedule, desite the efforts of BA/CAA in London. Qantas provide a
more pleasant flying experience than BA, imle.

Cab to hotel - 22nd floor. V posh - harbour view. Showered and changed
- another cab to bike rental place. Have to show cabbie where road is
in Auckland A-Z.

Meet Dean and pick up R1200GS - red it is. Drop off empty suitcase for
collection in C'church in 3 weeks. Trundle of to see sights off
auckland, and have a coffee. First impressions - brakes will take some
getting used to, as will the indicators.

Back to hotel - pack panniers, and off out for a feed and a beer. Bed
by ten.

Sat 4th.

Meet Hunia (our guide for the weekend) after breakfast - then off over
the harbour bridge and north. Stop in Orewa for a leg stretch.

Back on SH1 to Brynderwyn for a coffee. Many roadworks. Weather just
perfect - 70+ deg F clear skies. In Warkworth see sign "Last cheese
for miles!" Odd folk, Kiwis.

From Brynderwyn we travel west along SH12 to Ruawai, then N to
Dargaville. Fuel. From Dargaville we continued on SH12, which got much
twistier as we entered the Waipoua forest. Stopped to look at Tane
Mahuta - the biggest, oldest Kauri tree in NZ. Name means "Father of
the Forest". After another drinks break in Opononi, we headed east to
Paihia in the Bay of Islands.

Checked into B&B at top of hill overlooking the bay - stunning views,
wonderful room, friendly hosts. Took ferry over bay to Russell (former
capital of NZ, for a look around), then back for nosh and beer.

Sun 5th.

Off at 9, we headed north on SH10, before turning off to Mautauri Bay
and Whangaroa. Brilliant roads - just what I needed to get in tune
with the Beemer.

Stopped at Mangonui for lunch. Freshly battered bluenose and chips.
Heaven for any fish lover.

Back on SH1, we stopped at Awanui, to visit the "Ancient Kauri
Kingdom". Workshop where old stumps of these trees are dragged from
swamps and carved into a variety of niknaks, boxed, tables, etc.
Central staircase is carved *inside* a trunk of a tree.

North once more, we refuel at Waitiki landing, before tackling the
25km of gravel to Cape Reinga - the end of the road. Take pic of
lighthouse and signpost, and ride 20km back to Te Paki, before turning
west onto the beach.

Beach is accessed via a stream-bed between the dunes, and the
technique for riding over wet sand takes some getting used to, but I
do get quicker the further we go. Once on the beach, we head south. No
sign of another human being for half an hour.

Spot a car buried up to the windscreen after a while. Stop for
gloating piccie, then carry on.

A little later, we arrive at "the bluff" - a small rocky outcrop. The
tide is in as far as the rocks, so we head inland. I get the beemer
bogeed in soft sand sufficently badly that I can get off and walk
away.

We got it going with no more than a shove, then returned to tackle the
rocks. Hunia nd I park the bikes, then walk a route thruogh. Hunia
goes first, and succeeds with some assistance from yurs truly. Then it
was my turn - piece of cake, except the very last bit, where I needed
a shove. Another 10km down we found a better looking exit, and headed
inland.

Then, from Kaitaia we took SH1 straight back to Orewa - the weather
was closing in, and it was getting dark. The bit of road that goes
through Raetea Forest must be brilliant on a dry day - but it was a
challenge in the rain and dark.

Straight to the same restauarant as the previous night, then bed.

Mon 6th.

Met Hunia again, at 9. He'd decided against going straight back to
Auckland, and offered to show us around Waitangi in the morning.

Whilst waiting to go in, we tagged on the back of an escorted group,
and got the benifit of a one hour guided tour of the treaty grounds,
with all the historical details - most interesting.

Then it was south again, via the Russell ferry, then the coast road
through Oakura, before rejoining SH1 at Whakapara. It was on this run,
that the beemer's only fault showed up for the first time. After
while, the speedo stopped working. First it would read low, then
lower, before finally falling to rest at zero. After a rest break it
would work fine. We suspected some beach contamination on the sensor,
and expected it to be okay after jetwash.

We lunched at Whangarei harbour (my only really disappointing meal of
the whole trip), and then it was on to Orewa for the night. After
dropping the luggage, I folowed Hunia into Auckland to find a jetwash.
With both bikes gleaming, we parted company, and Linda nd I were on
our own. Superb meal in evening. If you're ever in Orewa, give "Joust"
a try. Recommended.

Tue 7th.

Popped into Auckland to swap over the topbox (the cushion was a little
intrusive) and drop off Linda's new Daytonas. With Givi boxes on,
there's insufficient room on the pillion pegs for her to get on and
off with any degree of comfort in boots. Trainers are just about okay.

From Auckland we followed our explicit instruction for leaving the
"motorway" and taking the Pacific Coast Highway to the Coromandel
Peninsula. The bridge over the Waihou River is a single lane affair,
with train track running down the middle for good measure. As we
passed through Thames, it started to rain. Then it poured. Apparently,
the Coromandel is very scenic. We couldn't tell through the spray.
Lots of sea birds rossting on offshore rocks. We arrived in Whitianga
like a couple of drowned rats.

Wed 8th.

Still raining. Set off south, after visiting Hot Water Beach. Here,
you can dig a hole in the sand, at low tide, and luxuriate in the warm
waters seeping up from below. The tide was in, it was still raining,
and we didn't bother. Lunched at Waihi, the south again to Tauranga.
We stopped for a while at Mt Maunganui, then turned inland on SH33 to
Rotorua. This is one of NZ's thermal areas, and the air is definitiely
a bit pongy with sulphurous fumes. Checked into motel, then
receptionist kindly gave us a lift into town for our evening meal.

Thu 9th.

Decided to visit Wai-O-Tapu thermal area today. Lots of different
coloured bubbling pools, and a geyser that goes "off" every moring at
11. After a park ranger's put a handful of soap flakes down the hole.
Quite spectacular, all the same.

From there it was back to the coast, down some wonderfully twisty
roads (The N island doesn't really have any straight roads) to
Opotiki, before heading inland via the Waioeka gorge. What a beautiful
road. Except for the recnt spates of resurfacing, that is. Kiwi roads
are resurfaced in the French rural style - spray on some bitumen, dump
on three times as much gravel as necessary, then bugger off. Can cause
a few heart stopping moments, even on 1200GS.

Stayed in Gisborne for the evening, in a brand new hotel. View from
the room overlooked a run down industrial estate. Walked over disused
railway bridge to reach restaurant. Walked back over proper bridge.
With lights.

Fri 10th.

Took backroads out of Gisborne, to visit Te Reinga waterfalls. Very
scenic. Road was *very* twisty. Rejoind SH2 at Wairoa, then turned SW
to Napier. Very pretty town - all rebuilt in Art Deco style after
earthquake in 30's.

Doubled back on SH2, before turning inland on SH5 - the "Thermal
Explorer Highway" to Taupo. Stopped at summit for coffee. Very windy.

Very nice motel, with lake view.

Sat 11th.

South once more, on SH1 to Turangi, then off onto the more interesting
SH47 to National Park. Low cloud obscured the three main volcanoes
(Mts Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and Ruapehu) for most of the way, but we got
a good view of Mt Ngauruhoe from Whakapapa village. This mountain
starred as Mt Doom in some obscure NZ film trilogy, apparently.

At National Park, we turned left onto SH4, and lunched at Waitihi.
Home-made steak and cheese pie. NZ$4. Bargain.

From there we followed the Mangawhero valley down to the coast, at
Wanganui - another Art Deco town. Lovely old hotel, too.

Sun 12th.

Onto SH3 this time, for the run across the south of the North Island.
Just after Bulls we visited the Ohakea RNZAF museum. An interesting
diversion, but its not Hendon Down Under.

Through Palmerston North, Woodville, to Mount Bruce Wildlife Reserve.

Saw our first Kiwi!

From Mt Bruce to Masterton, then via the back roads to Martinborough.
Glorious old hotel, on the town square.

Best meal of the trip so far, and our first taste of the local wine.

Also, the scene of our first unfortunate incident.

For some reason, I locked the Beemer up for the first time since
picking it up. Having done so, the receptionist appeared at a side
gate, and suggested I park in the courtyard. So I jumped back on,
fired it up, and rode off. With a combination cable lock through the
rear wheel. Well, not for long it wasn't - it fell apart like a cheap
watch.

I picked up the sorry remains, and wondered how much it was going to
cost me when we got to Christchurch.

Woke up at 4am to watch England v Ireland - only to discover the telly
didn't have SKy Sports 2, after all. Glad I missed it, really.

Mon 13th.

Rode over the Rimatuka Range to Upper Hutt, then descended via Lower
Hutt to the ferry terminal at Wellington. Odd ferries, these - you
enter and leave via the front of the ship, so you get to see huge
semi-trailers performing U-turns at the back othe vehicle deck. Most
odd. Have to tie down the bike yourself. With rope.

Crossing was like a millpond, in glorious sunshine. The last hour is
spent navigating through the Marlborough Sounds - wonderful scenery.

Much, much more pleasant than Dover-Calais.

At Picton, I picked up a copy of Peter Mitchell's NZ motorcycle atlas
- highly recommended reading for anyone contemplating riding out here.
In the cafe next door I bumped into a work colleague. Small world.

From Pcton it was west on SH6 to Nelson. Luckily pulled into Havelock
service station just before he closed - there was no more fuel on the
64km to Nelson.

Dined on "lamb shanks" - NZ's name for the back half of a full grown
sheep on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Tue 14th.

We were booked into Nelson for 2 nights, so had to sort out our own
itinerary for the day. Decided on riding to Golden bay, to the west.

After Motueka, we saw a sign Ngarua Caves, so stopped for a look.
After donning blue hard hats, our guide led us through the caves for
40 mins, with many interesting sights, stalactites, stalagmites, cave
corral, and the bones of poor old Moa birds which had fallen the one
of the many sinkholes inthe area. Very interesting.

From there we proceeded to Waikoropupu Springs - a sacred Maori site,
with natural springs, where they are letting the forest regenerate
naturaly after the depradations caused by gold prospectors.

Then onto Collingwood, for fuel, before heading out to Port Puponga,
at the base of Farewell Spit. Very isolated, very peaceful.

Back to Nelson in time for a more sensible meal, and a full load of
laundry.

Wed. 15th.

A big riding day today - over to the other side of the island, via
Lewis Pass.

We headed south down SH6 to Murchison, the took SH65 up the Maruia
valley to Springs Junction. On the way, we stopped at Kawatiri
Junction, an abandoned station on the now dismantled Nelson Railway.

From Springs Junction we climbed through spectacular scenery to the
pass, then descened via the Waiau river valley to, oddly, Waiau. Bike
and selves refuelled, we took the "inland Road" via Mt Lyford to
Kaikoura. Very, very twisty. Quite uppy-downy, too. I was glad we
hadn't hired a GoldWing.

Early night tonight, as we need to be up at the crack of sparrer's
tomorrow. Enough time for a nice bit of crayfish, though. Be rude not
to, really, as Kaikoura is "eat crayfish" in Maori.

Thu 16th.

Whale-watching. Simply wonderful. We saw two Sperm whales, a whole
load of dolphins, and a Thresher Shark. I could have stayed there all
day.

From Kaikoura, we headed down SH1 to Amberley, before heading inland
on SH72 to Sheffield. From there it was uphill in low grey cloud to
Lake Lyndon, where the clouds parted, and we rode the rest of the way
to Arthur's Pass in gloriously warm sunshine. A coffee stop at
Arthur's Pass village preceded the crossing of the Otira viaduct, then
it was a twisty, roller-coater descent all the way to Jacksons. From
there we took the "tourist route" via Lake Brunner to Greymouth.

As it was getting late, we decided not to refuel in Greymouth, but to
sort it out when we arrived at Punakaiki. Except Punakaiki doesn't
have a service station.

Fri 17th.

Went to see the "Pancake Rocks" in the morning - oddly layered rocks
being made to look even more odd by the actions of the sea. Then it
was a gentle trundle back to Greymouth for fuel. The warning thingy on
the dash said "14km" when we pulled in. Plenty.

From Greymouth it was down the coast road to "Shantytown" - a themed
"historic" goldmining village. Quite interesting for an hour or so. We
both panned for gold. I got more than the wife. About a dollar's
worth, apparently.

Stopped to photograph "Duzgo" car at roadside. Only ten made
apparently.

South once more, on the depressingly stright coast road, through Ross,
Harihari and Whataroa, whereupon the road became interesting agin.

Almost immediately, we arrived at our destination for the night, Franz
Josef Glacier.

After checking in, we took the gravel road up to glacier, and set off
on foot to the viewing area. Very, erm, glaciery, it was, too.
Couldn't see the peaks of anything because of the clouds.

Sat 18th.

Clouds had, if anything, descended during the night, so I wasn't
confident as we checked in at the helicopter office. Still, got kitted
up, and Linda had just found a pair of boots to fit, when the pilot
called it off. Ho hum. Still, it saved a few bob.

Off we went, through the drizzle, on very twisty roads to Fox Glacier.
Still too cloudy to see anything, so we plodded on.

At Paringa River, we stopped at a Salmon Farm, as the rain got
heavier. Luckily, they had a cafeteria, with a log fire.

Warmed, we set off uder improving skies to Haast before turning inland
and uphill. The higher we went, the wetter it got. The pictures of the
bridge over Haast River are barely recognisable through the raindrops
on the lens. Once over the top, to the eastern side, the clouds
parted, and the sun came out.

It was a bemused cafe owner who looked up from her magazine in
Makarora to see two soggy bikers dripping all over her freshly mopped
floor.

Slightly drier, we headed south past Lake Wanaka, then crossed to Lake
Hawea. Doesn't scenery look so much nicer in sunshine?

From the town of Wanak, we took the Crown range road to Queenstown.
This is more like it - not a straight worthy of the name, and barley
any flat stretches, either. Great fun, and what a view as you descend
to Arrow junction. Marvellous. Two picture stops: the obligatory
piccie of the Cardrona hotel, and another to snap a wire fence adorned
with dozens of discarded brassieres. Odd.

Checked into pleasant hotel, then sorted out the route for the
morning's entertainment.

Sun 19th. Bungy!

Set off by bike to the Kawarau bridge for our initiation into world of
strapping a big elastic band to your ankles, and leaping into the
void. After weighing in, Linda went first, as they'd need to use a
special rope for me.

I was so proud of her: a perfect swallow dive into fresh air - she
looked like she'd done it dozens of times before.

Me, I fell off the platform like a bundle of washing - but what a
thrill! 43m of sheer terror, then joy when the towel grips your
ankles, and you bounce back up.

Having collected our piccies and DVD, it was back to the hotel, before
going into Queenstown for the next instalment of fun.

Arriving at the "station", we boarded our bus for the trip up the
Shotover River. There, we donned our kagoules and lifejackets, before
boarding our jetboat. Two V6 Buick engines power these boats, through
as little as 6" or so of water, at speeds up to 50mph. Thrilling, but
quite tame after the bungy. Still, damned good fun.

Back into Queenstown, I was beginning to get hungry. I'd weighed in at
131kg at 10am, and there is a 130kg limit on the Ledge bungy, which
was booked for 6 o'clock. Lunch, and tea, consisted of an espresso
coffee each time. In sympathy, Linda restricted herself to a
cappuccino. And a bag of crisps.

At 4:30 we took the gondola to the the top of the hill, and had a go
on the "luge" - a sort of sledge with handlebars - such good fun, I
had two goes.

At 5:30 we made our way the "Launch Centre", and muggins weighed in at
129.10kg. Damn. Another excuse gone.

Linda once again went first, despite being more nervous than htis
morning. Same textbook dive off the platform too.

Yours truly copied the morning's style almost perfectly, and yet
another fear had been conquered. Looking back, it was great fun,
though I'm still not sure if I want to do it again.

Back down in the gondola, and staight into a restaurant for a well
earned dinner.

Mon 20th.

A nice sedate start today - the TSS Earnslaw. A 100 year-old stemaer
that gently plies the waters of Lake Wakitipu. Access is permitted to
engine room, where you can see the two triple expansion steam engines
at work, while the two stokers shovel coal into the boiler atthe rate
of a ton an hour. Hot work.

After a relaxing hour and a half, it was back on the bike, heading
south once again.

The ride down SH6 alongside the lake was less than fun, due to the
raised repair down the centre of the lane after some pipe laying
exercise.

Lunch was taken at Athol, where we met the cafe owner - a GL1200
owner, who's only bought the business two weeks before. His chicken
and bacon pie will live in my memory.

At Five Rivers we took the short cut to SH94, before continuing
through rugged scenery to Te Anau.

In the evening we took a boat to the other side of the lake to see the
Glow Worm Caves. Deep in the cave, via two boat trips, and a
considerable climb, you arrive in a large chamber, where the roof is
covered with light emitting insect larvae. It really looks most odd,
pitch blackness, except for these little pinpoints of blue light up
above.

Tue 21st.

With a freshly fuelled Beemer we set off north along the lakeside
towards Milford Sound. On the way we stopped at Mirror Lakes for a
photo stop, where we met a Belgian who'd ridden all the way there on
his Honda XL600. Stickers for Laos, Nepal, Australia and many other
places covered the bike. I felt a bit of a fraud, having only ridden
2000 miles to get to the same spot.

The trip on the Sound was very relaxing. Massive mountains on either
side; tumbling waterfalls; the odd fur seal basking in the sunshine.

Wonderful.

Wed 22nd.

South on SH95, we went through Manapouri, before following the Waiau
River valley south. Not the same Waiau river as before - a different
one. At Clifden we stopped to see the oldest suspension bridge in NZ,
before lunching in Tuatepere. A little later, we hit the south coast,
and followed the coast via Riverton to Invercargill. In a cafe there,
we met the folk who did the coffee for Sir Anthony Hopkins, inter
alia, whilst filming "the Fastest Indian" at nearby Oreti Beach. Well,
they seemed quite chuffed about it, anyway.

From Invercargill, it was still south, to Bluff - the other "end of
the road". On the way, we passed the smelter that processes Jamaica's
bauxite, as mentioned by our own Mr Auvache, some time previously.

The hotel at Bluff was our lodging for the night.
Next land due south - Antartica.

Thu 23rd.

From Invercargill, we took the Southern Scenic Highway (SH92), before
turning off at Fortrose to go to Waipapa point. The last 4km were down
a well-worn gravel track, but was worth the effort - a dozen sealions
basking on the beach, not twenty yards away. On the way back, we took
the Otara-Haldane road, which also became gravel after a few miles.

After Haldane it said "Curio Bay 13km Gravel Road" on the sign. "No
problem" thought I. I wasa vetran, after all.

Wrong.

After a couple of km, the gravel had been freshly laid - we'd seen a
couple of articulated tipper trucks going in the opposite direction.

It was aroung 4-5" deep, and rutted where traffic had been past. It
was all I could do to stop the front end washing out at every minor
direction change. In the end Linda suggested that she get off and
walk, after all, it couldn't be like this all the way, could it?

Wrong.

Luckily, a kind soul in a minibus picked her up, and took her to the
end of the road. A journey of just about one kilometre. I reckon she
must have walked five, at least. Poor thing. I'm not sure who was most
exhausted, though.

Curio Bay has the remains of a petrified forest on the beach, so at
least we hade something to look at while we recovered our composure.

From Waikawa, where wlunched, it was tarmac all the way to Maclennan,
then 4km of easy gravel to Purakanui Falls. Linda likes waterfalls,
and it's difficult to pass a sign for one without being directed down
some side turning to have a look at it. Still, they were quite nice -
if you like that sort of thing.

Back on tarmac again - hooray! - to Ahuriri Flat, then Gravel - boo! -
to Nugget Point. The gravel it self wasn't difficult - more the fact
that it was half way up a cliff face with two-way traffic. Still -
when we got there we did see a couple of yellow-eyed penguins.

From there it was back onto tarmac, the SH1 into Dunedin for the
night.

Fri 24th
Took two hours to leave this morning, after chating to hosts - who
plan to ride around the world on a GL1800 trike. Well, he plans to
ride the world - she rather fancies the "civilised" bits. Rural China,
Russia, and Africa don't strike me as ideal GoldWing trike territory,
either, tbh.

On leaving Dunedin, we popped into Baldwin Street - the steepest
street in the world - and naturally, I had to take the GS to the top
and back. It's damned steep, I can assure you.

The old north road is very scenic - ovelooking the harbour, and quite
a conrast to what follows - mile after mile of dead straight monotony.

A stop at Moeraki to see the boulders, a fruitless visit to the
penguin colony in Oamaru, then inland up the Waitaki Valley towards
Mount Cook. As we climbed it cold colder, and windier. We refuelled at
Omarama, the turned north to Twizel, then onto SH80 along the shore of
Lake Pukaki to Mount Cook village.

We checked in, cold and tired, to find the room had all the windows
left open to air it through, and no bath. No sign of the mountains,
due to low cloud. Not a good end to the day.

Sat 25th.

Dawned grey and cloudy. Woken by two enormous ducks on the balcony.
Popped back into Twizel on the way down. In the visitor centre Linda
met an Orc. He'd been in all three films, and directed us to where
they filmed the bit with Bernard Hill banging swords before the
battle. A big empty field.

We then wended our way down to Lake Tekapo, took a picture of the
collie dog statue next to the church, then carried on down SH79
through Fairlie to Geraldine. Last fuel stop of the holiday.

At Rakaia I called the hire shop to see when we could drop the bike
off, and they said anytime up to 5:30. I'd got 4:00 in my mind from
somewhere, and had been giving the GS some welly up SH1. The limit on
NZ main roads is 100kph, and no-one, but no-one, seems to exceed it.

Apparently in, NZ speeding's right up there with kiddie-fiddling and
smoking as one of the three great evils of society.

After corossing the longest bridge in NZ over the Rakaia we trundled
sedatley on towards Christchurch. There we met Matt, a cyclist at some
traffic lights, and he directed us to our hotel.

We checked in, emptied the bags, and popped the bike round the corner
to the hire shop. They seemed mystified by the speedo's erratic
behaviour, but not the least bit concerned about the demise of the
lock. Which was nice. 6650km in 22 days - not bad. Certainly I
wouldn't have wanted to do more.

We went back to the hotel, showered, and met Matt in the pub over the
road. Several beers later, we ambled back tothe Hotel, and promptly
slpet the sleep of the dead.

Sun 26th.

Rose late, leisurely breakfast - did laundry, wandered around
Chritchurch. Generally relaxed.

Mon 27th.

Flight to Auckland. Checked back into original hotel. Beers with Big
Tony in evening.

Tue 28th.

Linda's big day.

Walked up to Sky Tower. It looks a lot taller close up.

Linda went in, and although we weren't booked to jump until 2pm, they
hada space, so she could go straight away. I couldn't, obviously, beig
a fat lump. 120kg limit - with all the harness, etc. NZ food had been
too good to een get close to that.

Anyway, all togged up in her yellow and blue jump suit, Linda gets led
off to the lift - I get led outside to the landing platform. At this
point she's 192m directly above me, and I'm falling to bit, just
watching.

Next thing I know, she's beside me, and I've nerfed up the
photography. Oops.

Adam, my saviour, tells us that as they've no bookings right now, she
can have another go, for free.

I've never seen her move so fast, I barely had time to get the camera
ready.

So, two for the price of one. Not bad. Frankly, I'm glad I was too
heavy, as I don't think I could have done it - given my performance on
the observation deck, later in the afternoon.

A celebration tea down by the harbour - where you cook your own choice
of meat on a hot stone - I had ostrich fillet very nice, too, then off
to bed early. six thirty cab in the morning.

Wed 29th.

Cab to airport, flight to Sydney, four hours in Syndey, flight to HK.
Check in @ 11:30 pm.

Shattered.

Thu 30th.

Run gauntlet of Nathan Road street hawkers. Take ferry to island, tram
to top, best S&S pork I've ever eaten for lunch. Lots of quiet gardens
in HK. Little oases of calm in a teeming madhouse.

Fri 31st.

Avoid street hawkers by taking MTR to Jade market - Linda buys
earrings. Wander down veg market - take brunch in tumbledown makret
restaurant - all tarpaulins and corrugated iron. Food even better than
yesterday. All waiters are smokers. Very "ethnic".

MTR to temple complex, very peaceful, then back to hotel to collect
bags. Cab to airport. BA boarding its usual delayed self.

Take off 11:30pm.

Sat 1st.

Arrive home 6am. Shattered.



Things I noticed:

NZ - not many artics - prefer 8x4 rigids with four axle drawbar
trailers. Especially loggers. Occasional artic road train with 5th
wheel on tail of first artic trailer.
NZ - roadkill central - possum corpses everywhere.
NZ - top food - really good quality, but portions too big. Cheap.
NZ - cars - more Skylines than I've seen in my life. Apparently,
insurance is "optional" - due to their ACC scheme.
HK - an asylum. Hawkers amusing at first, but I was tending towards
homicide after the twnetieth invitiatin to have a suit made.
HK - Food. Stunning - and dirt cheap, too.
HK - traffic. Loads - and constantly moving. Buses everywhere.

Photos to follow. Once I've sorted through them all.

Digital cameras make you less choosy about when to take a snap, ime.
(1482 images)

It cost a fortune, but was worth every penny. NZMR did a great job -
bike worked, the routes were great, and the accomodation first class.

If you fancy doing it yourself - get that atlas first. It has 100
rides in it, covering both islands. isbn 1-877302-32-5

 

I knew it was sparsely populated, but still......

 

http://www.salad.dodger.dsl.pipex.com/index.html

 

Nice pics - I'm impressed with the jumping, I really wouldn't be able to do
that.

 

I know what you mean. I very nearly thumped one bloke who was extremely
persistent *and* insulting. I've just about perfected the surveillance
and avoidance technique - after 7 or 8 trips to the place.

Yep. You're braver than me eating in that place you took the picture of.

I have to say the scenery looks stunning on several of your photographs.

Not sure I could rack up quite your mileage or slither a GS across wet
rock pools!

And you're both mad for doing all those jumps. I could never do that -
far too scary.

 

I'm quite sure I wouldn't want to do it the first time. Hats off to
both of you.

 

BTDT

Lost my T-shirt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raden/122124799/

 

Where was that taken; it looks vaguely familiar; gorges du tarn?

 

Its the same bridge - the first commercial Hackett site at Kawarau
Bridge just outside Queenstown

 

SD wrote:

Sounds fabulous

 

Great read, sounds like you enjoyed it too. Thank you very much Mr.
Dodger.

 

You were lucky. I nearly burned my arse off there.

 

SD wrote:

<snip>

One of my colleagues is from Gisborne, will be moving back there later this
year.

Nice write up, sounds like the trip of a lifetime.


--
Dan L (Oldbloke)

My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
Space in shed where NSR125 used to be
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Patio Ornament)
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6), X-FOT#000, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow), OMF#11

 

TVM for the report. This is on our list of places to visit.