The villa at Timaru was almost my last night in New Zealand but this is not the last blog, well after getting, Blog of the day two days running, I tought you deserved more. The Villa overlooked the Pacific Ocean that I will be traversing tomorrow as work beckons back home. The views may look great but unlike Australia it is not soft white sands that greets the feet but either rocks or grey sands. We were not in hurry with only some 120kms to travel so we decid...

Duntrron is well known in Scotland and also in Australia as the home to Duntroon Military College. However less well known id Duntroon on the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand but indeed it holds the key to Duntrron in Australia. We had finished our visit to the historic Anglican church in Duntrron and were proceeding back towards the coast or so we thought. In downtown Duntroon the local hotel had stood vacant for many years. However today the car park was ful...

Moments after this photo of Darryl Kitto was taken with the Rakaia River in the background Darryl was dead. The last few days have had their ups and downs in a number of different ways. Their has been high speed document runs, ice skating on newly laid road surfaces interlaced with scenery that stll defies the written word and rides that challenge both man and machine so much so that a rerun was called for. our journey saw us leaving Motueka and travelling int...

Yesterday saaw our arrivial at Greymouth and some idea of the natural problems that have beset Greymouth over the years. In order to gain a better understanding I walked the main Street until a local approached me and wanted to ask "Äre you the motorcycle riders who parked at the end of the street." Greg was also a rider (BMW R60/5) who had been at the Burt Munroe Challenge. So as he has lived all his life in Greymouth who better to ask. He left High School a...

The day was leak and cold infact watching the TV news tonight Hanmer Springs recorded the coldest temperature in the whole of New Zealand. As this was not a riding day the question posed was what should we do? The answer was simple well for two of us as Hanmer Springs is named for the hot water pools found over a century ago. The now modern complex of some 40 different pools that range from a coolish 28oC to the Hexongal pools that range from 40-42oC was our ch...