Here we go then!!!
5 Aussies, 2 Taswegians (YEAH,...they're different!! )
, 1 Kiwi (who the hell invited him, Christ!
)..... a cluster of XT660R’s, a lonely DR650, an even lonelier BMW F650GS single and an XT250 which stumped the crap out of everyone, what a weapon the Midget is!!
The only one missing... and we sure missed you, mate!!...was Jimbo from Oregon, who'd had to pull out for personal reasons.
2 weeks of New Zealands finest backroads, old postal routes, farming roads, power-distro service roads, dirt, rock, twisties and “shingle”... lookouts, stumping vistas, a landscape to die for, local flora and fauna, pubs in the middle of no-where.....before adding ankle-deep gravel to plough through, river-crossings, endless “brown” moments, steep inclines and drops that make you gasp at the thought of placing a wheel wrong by only a few inches, mud-bogs that look like they’ve already swallowed a few Landcruisers.
The “roof-for-the-night” spanned from grotty country pubs which had last seen a broom 20 years ago to luxury-digs with spa-tubs…while there was no real shortage in the “tucker-and-brew” department.
Come along for an absolute BLINDER of a ride!!
We have some mighty-fine pictures for you, there's some fingerlickin’ stuff in that lot, Yessir!
As for who took the shot, just check the watermarks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
With 5 days to go, the dramas are in full swing…Tassie-Dave discovers his passport is “6 months over” and had transformed to the value of dunny-paper.Shite!!
The airlines shuffle flight-times back and forth, there’s always one wary eye on the connecting flights for our 2 Tassies…and how’ll that brandnew, lil’ XT250 go, which is supposed to carry Bernard and gear the 1000km south from Auckland to Christchurch….1000k ‘s just to start a 2 week ride!!!
Awesome, aye???
“And you better be here at the office before 4pm on Sat, mate…otherwise we’ll have to sort out something else”…says Hakan, Chief-Fantastico of the bike-rental mob. Which comes down to losing a whole day in Christchurch and picking up the bikes on Monday, yikes…please, Jetstar, PLEASE!!....get that shitbox up in the air and into Christchurch, PRONTO!
Nev and Jo are already over there, sending emails about some clown at Airport Security in Melbourne, who’d kicked up some fuss about having batteries in checked luggage, rather than in the cabin bags. That’ll be right….the whole world wants to have it the other way around, while Melbourne doughnuts have to be square, arrrgghh
Ahhh…overseas travel and all its little pitfalls, never short on some sort of glitch.
The reason, Ducky is along! The Good Luck Charm which has been along on every trip and ride for the last 10 years.
And the First Aid Kit…. in case Ducky has a shitter of a day.
And duct tape….to hold together whatever still wants to come adrift after the First Aid Kit’s been raided.
Got it all covered? Good …off to Tullamarine then for a few hours of Jetstar’s Poverty Pack delights.
All the while, Bernard and the Piccolo-XT are having a cracker of a time, making the most of the fine weather after coming off the ferry in Picton, bumbling south at leisure.
The historic bridge (the one in the background with the massive timber supports) near Blenheim.
Ohhhh yes…they grow some cracker-drops up here
. The northern end of the Awatere Valley is just chockers with vineyards.
As the rest of the crew bumps across the ditch, Bernard prefers to set his own arse on fire…
Dropping the mesh drying-bag with the only other pair of underdaks he’s brought dangling in the breeze from the top of the rear pack to in-between exhaust and bike-frame (the more common furry loincloths around here are too bulky, he reckons...and would’ve reduced numbers even further
).
The lil’ XT happily welded the whole schamozzle into the indicator as well.
Gives a whole new meaning to “shithot”, aye?
5 Aussies, 2 Taswegians (YEAH,...they're different!! )
The only one missing... and we sure missed you, mate!!...was Jimbo from Oregon, who'd had to pull out for personal reasons.
2 weeks of New Zealands finest backroads, old postal routes, farming roads, power-distro service roads, dirt, rock, twisties and “shingle”... lookouts, stumping vistas, a landscape to die for, local flora and fauna, pubs in the middle of no-where.....before adding ankle-deep gravel to plough through, river-crossings, endless “brown” moments, steep inclines and drops that make you gasp at the thought of placing a wheel wrong by only a few inches, mud-bogs that look like they’ve already swallowed a few Landcruisers.
The “roof-for-the-night” spanned from grotty country pubs which had last seen a broom 20 years ago to luxury-digs with spa-tubs…while there was no real shortage in the “tucker-and-brew” department.
Come along for an absolute BLINDER of a ride!!
We have some mighty-fine pictures for you, there's some fingerlickin’ stuff in that lot, Yessir!
As for who took the shot, just check the watermarks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
With 5 days to go, the dramas are in full swing…Tassie-Dave discovers his passport is “6 months over” and had transformed to the value of dunny-paper.Shite!!
The airlines shuffle flight-times back and forth, there’s always one wary eye on the connecting flights for our 2 Tassies…and how’ll that brandnew, lil’ XT250 go, which is supposed to carry Bernard and gear the 1000km south from Auckland to Christchurch….1000k ‘s just to start a 2 week ride!!!
Awesome, aye???
“And you better be here at the office before 4pm on Sat, mate…otherwise we’ll have to sort out something else”…says Hakan, Chief-Fantastico of the bike-rental mob. Which comes down to losing a whole day in Christchurch and picking up the bikes on Monday, yikes…please, Jetstar, PLEASE!!....get that shitbox up in the air and into Christchurch, PRONTO!
Nev and Jo are already over there, sending emails about some clown at Airport Security in Melbourne, who’d kicked up some fuss about having batteries in checked luggage, rather than in the cabin bags. That’ll be right….the whole world wants to have it the other way around, while Melbourne doughnuts have to be square, arrrgghh
Ahhh…overseas travel and all its little pitfalls, never short on some sort of glitch.
The reason, Ducky is along! The Good Luck Charm which has been along on every trip and ride for the last 10 years.
And the First Aid Kit…. in case Ducky has a shitter of a day.
And duct tape….to hold together whatever still wants to come adrift after the First Aid Kit’s been raided.
Got it all covered? Good …off to Tullamarine then for a few hours of Jetstar’s Poverty Pack delights.
All the while, Bernard and the Piccolo-XT are having a cracker of a time, making the most of the fine weather after coming off the ferry in Picton, bumbling south at leisure.
The historic bridge (the one in the background with the massive timber supports) near Blenheim.
Ohhhh yes…they grow some cracker-drops up here
As the rest of the crew bumps across the ditch, Bernard prefers to set his own arse on fire…
Dropping the mesh drying-bag with the only other pair of underdaks he’s brought dangling in the breeze from the top of the rear pack to in-between exhaust and bike-frame (the more common furry loincloths around here are too bulky, he reckons...and would’ve reduced numbers even further
The lil’ XT happily welded the whole schamozzle into the indicator as well.
Gives a whole new meaning to “shithot”, aye?