PamandGarth

Well, it's time to wrap the account of this bike trip. It’s now two weeks since it ended, and we're about to head back to the UK after visiting our Australian friends. I wrote this entry whilst sat outside at a street-side café in Mosman, a cute suburb of Sydney, waiting for Pam and Helen to re-appear from a beauty parlour where unmentionable atrocities are being performed by undercover Vietnamese shock troops armed with wax and cuticle knives. Let me explain how I got here from the Green Dragon. We left Hobbiton (which is near Matamata incidentally) bound for Whitianga. We initially had trouble identifying this place on the map following a verbal briefing from John, since “wh” is approximately pronounced as “f” in the Maori language. It’s a seaside resort on Mercury Bay, halfway up ... read more

As everyone knows, riding pillion is an acquired and rare skill. It’s about combining your weight with that of the bike in such a way that the rider simply moves the bike and the pillion makes no difference at all. Pam is a particularly good pillion. Never flaps, weight always neutral, relaxed and confident (rightly or wrongly) in my ability to negotiate whatever the road throws at us. Up to now, the greatest accolade that I would have said that you can give a pillion rider is to say that you don’t even notice they are there. Yet something happened the other day that I believe warrants an even greater complement. After writing the last blog, Pam and I had decided to take a late afternoon ride along the crest of the hills around the Banks ... read more

One of the things to do at Fox Glacier is to have a closer look at it. The village is pretty much dedicated to walking to and looking at the glaciers and Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. There is another way, however, and I am not happy about it. Those that know me are probably aware of my increasing unease at flying. Its not something I let get in the way of a good time, you understand; if I need to fly somewhere to have a holiday, go to a party or attend a sporting event, its just something that needs to be endured and so I get on with it. Sometimes I’m fine, others in a bit of a funk – no real pattern. The concept of doing it for its own sake, however, ... read more

Tom was the only one who joined Pam and me in the hot springs. Clearly, the town of Hamner Springs thrives on them. The water is so hot, apparently, that it needs to be cooled before putting in the pools, which are at various temperatures. The sulphurous smells in the pools, however, are not a patch on those in the master bedroom at Elm Cottage at midnight on any given Friday after a visit to the Hook Tandoori. Tom is a sound fellow. Mid-sixties, tall and rangy, far away look in his eyes. He says he does “accounting” in Seattle, but he seems to have got a significant number of motorcycle trip under his belt, so I remain convinced he is a high-powered recluse of some monster .com unicorn. Keeps himself to himself, but just when ... read more

Here we are in New Zealand and things are not starting brilliantly. Yes, the dinner last night was fantastic (Harbour Lights), and the wifi works and we had a comfortable night’s sleep in the eclectic Collingwood Manor B&B here in Nelson, at the northern end of New Zealand’s South Island. And the helmets we bought online and sent to Wozz the airbrush artist have arrived safely at the B&B and look great. And all the people on the tour with us, including John Fitzwater of GoTourNZ.com, seem pleasant and colourful characters. Yet I find myself irritated by three things. Firstly, we are about to be hit by cyclone Gita that is expected to bring 200mm of rain in one day with winds of up to 150Km per hour. Secondly, I already know I can’t close my ... read more