| Christmas morning was bright and sunny,
Russell decided to cut the grass & weeds with his new super hydraulic
power mower. Now the hillsides on the property were very steep, so much
so that he was completely out of control going down which resulted in
the tires loosing most of their pressure. When it came to my turn, one
tire came off the rim and everything came to a halt. The only solution was to remove both wheels and have tubes fitted. Needless to say we were still doing this when we should have been ready to leave for Christmas Lunch. What a change, to be able to sit in the warm sun, sip beer and have a cold spread for Christmas lunch. This is where we were introduced to the whole family, spending the rest of the afternoon chatting and finally going for a brisk walk to settle things down. Boxing day Russell took me to visit a Barbecue Emporium, I had never dreamt of the varieties and gadgets that were available, but then neither had I seen a "Mini Cooper S" barbecue before. Russell drove us around in a 1929 Dodge that he had fully restored and we visited with many of their friends and relations. Included in our stay was a Champagne Breakfast, followed by a visit to the Australian Zoo, a Kayaking trip with an ex Canadian Graham who was building an enormous Catamaran in his oversize garage. On New Years Eve Russell christened his new Mini Cooper Barbecue which he had fashioned from the front end of a real Mini, it even had polished alloy wheels. We finished with a visit to the Woodford "(Hippie)" Festival on New Years Day where we got the occasional whiff of "second hand smoke", part of the Festival of Fire was broadcast worldwide.We said our final good byes on the first Sunday morning of the Millennium and started on our journey back, fully loaded, this time going inland over the mountains and only taking 3˝ days down the Newall Highway to the Great Coastal road which brought us back into Melbourne Back in Victoria we had 2 days to get packed up again ready for the visit to New Zealand. Tiny Chris had grown quite a bit during our time in Queensland. I cleaned the Bike and we returned it, spending a pleasant evening with Peter, Gudrun and Peter's Mother. Even taking 5 weeks, the time had flown by and now we had one week to go. At last we said goodbye to Frank as Beth drove us to the airport, and soon we were on our way to NZ. The flight took 4 hours and we landed at about 5pm. Peter Atkinson and his wife Heather met us at the airport in Auckland and drove us around to see the city, which is built around a number of extinct volcanoes. It was a real treat to see the vista from "One Tree Hill" the highest point in the city. Then they took us home and gave us a meal before checking and then driving us to the closest train station. We met them through another (bicycling) friend and the Internet. I discovered that my camera was missing and most likely I'd left it in Beth's car. Having confirmed this we arranged to have it shipped to Peter's office for retrieval on our return. The overnight train journey was not uneventful, the train was full and a fellow sitting across from me was requested time and again by the Conductor, to take his allocated seat. He moved several times but always came back. At about 2.30am the conductor asked him for the last time then called and asked the driver to stop the train. The passenger was escorted to the door and put out into the darkness. An hour or so later when a new conductor told me I could stretch out in the vacant seat, I said no thanks the last guy who sat there was ejected. Murray met us at the station in Levin at 6.30 Sunday morning and drove us to his home on 400 acres of meadows and forest. This time there were two bikes waiting for us together with a hearty breakfast and a warm welcome from Renate and the rest of the family. As our New Zealand BikeShare hosts they had made the train and ferry bookings for us all we had to do was enjoy. We had a quick tour of the estate and Stables and noted the hard work that went in to keeping it looking so neat and tidy. After lunch we set out for Wellington and the ferry to the South Island. Murray had taken the time to write out a six page epistle on where to go and what to see etc. The weather was cooler with a hint of drizzle as we neared Wellington. Once on the ferry 3˝ hours the sun reappeared and we marveled at the mountainous islands as we passed through the Queen Charlotte Sound.
Once ashore at Picton we followed the line of vehicles slowly through the twisty mountainous roads out to the coast. The traffic thinned out past Blenheim and we spotted the seal colony at Halfmoon Bay, ending our day at Kaikoura. The next day we took a mountain road on the way to visit Murray's aunt. Almost the whole day was spent on mountain roads as we went over Arthur's Pass from the wet side to the dry side of the island Murray met us at the station in Levin at 6.30 Sunday morning and drove us to his home on 400 acres of meadows and forest. This time there were two bikes waiting for us together with a hearty breakfast and a warm welcome from Renate and the rest of the family. As our New Zealand BikeShare hosts they had made the train and ferry bookings for us all we had to do was enjoy. We had a quick tour of the estate and Stables and noted the hard work that went in to keeping it looking so neat and tidy. After lunch we set out for Wellington and the ferry to the South Island. Murray had taken the time to write out a six page epistle on where to go and what to see etc. The weather was cooler with a hint of drizzle as we neared Wellington. Once on the ferry 3˝ hours the sun reappeared and we marveled at the mountainous islands as we passed through the Queen Charlotte Sound. Once ashore at Picton we followed the line of vehicles slowly through the twisty mountainous roads out to the coast. The traffic thinned out past Blenheim and we spotted the seal colony at Halfmoon Bay, ending our day at Kaikoura. The next day we took a mountain road on the way to visit Murray's aunt. Almost the whole day was spent on mountain roads as we went over Arthur's Pass from the wet side to the dry side of the island Starting next morning from Greymouth we went north to Punakaiki to view the Pancake Rocks and "Blow holes". The coastal road was wild and twisty with a speed limit of 100km/h which would have been impossible, though some of the NZ drivers attempted it. Gas stations were few and far between so we had to pay attention especially as we were not yet familiar with these bikes. Murray's instructions directed us to Hwy 6 and the Berlins Hotel, a spot frequented by NZ bikers, so we stopped for lunch. We followed the river valley inland then turned south through the mountains then back up 65 to Murchison all the time feeling that we could have been in the interior of BC. After looking for lodgings in Nelson we kept on going, only to find the road went back up into some of the wildest twisties we had yet seen with no sign of accommodations or gas. After cruising on fumes, finally we had to ask the station owner to reopen so we could fill up. That night we had a superb "fish and chips" supper in a little bar at the Trout Inn Canvastown where we got a room for $30.00NZ. Our final day on the South Island took us along some twisty coastal roads back to Picton where we caught the "Cat Ferry" almost like an aeroplane as we cruised along at 47Knots, this time taking only 1˝ hours to return to the North Island. Thursday was a day of rest, apart from cleaning the bikes, ending with a trail ride, horses this time, through the forest, through a big pond and finally along the beach with a large volcano way north in the distant background. Truly this was a magical visit and to top it off Murray decided to drive us back to Auckland about 650 Kms. He wanted to show us all the sights along the way, especially in Taupo with the snow capped mountain in the background as we sat in McDonalds for breakfast. We ran short of time to retrieve my camera, however Murray dropped us at the airport, raced over to Peters office, got the camera and it was delivered to me as we sat on the plane waiting for take off. We arrived back in Toronto around 6.00pm the next day having had the trip of a lifetime |
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