April 24th, Auckland

I returned the bandit to Coleman motors and am heading to the gym for a workout before my 3:00 airport departure. It certainly has been an exciting trip.

New Zealand is like a miniature Canada, with the best parts of Canadian scenery compressed into a smaller land mass. (In some cases the scenery is superior to Canada’s) Over 50 % of the land is agricultural, over 25% is forested, and 13% is alpine terrain The Marlborough region is similar to the Okanogan Valley, the Southern Alps similar to the Rockies, the coasts of the south island similar to the remote BC coast, the Cantaberry plain similar to agricultural areas in Southern Ontario and the Maritimes etc. However, due to its lower latitude, the North Island is sub tropical. Also in New Zealand, you are never far from farms or mountains or the coast, an exquisite combination.

The people are incredibly friendly and unassuming. They also are well traveled and many of earlier generations made the pilgrimage to the motherland, the United Kingdom. As a consequence they are well exposed to other cultures and tolerant. The daily newspapers have a large amount of international coverage. The Maoris are 14% of the population but their influence is extensive with over 98% of the place names non English.
The country also gets a huge exposure through international visitors. When I think about John Brittain’s motorcycle developments, he typifies the creativity that seems an inherent country trait. It likely has its’ basis from the strong farming heritage, where problems with equipment needed to be solved with minimal resources, the number 8 wire syndrome (a la McGiver)! Certainly farmers in Canada have a similar trait.

The country is sports mad, with a large % of the population very athletic. There are sports facilities in even the smallest villages. Following the All Blacks is a religion, but all sports are followed avidly. The % of over weight people is much less than in North America. People are very out door activity focused.

The tourism base in the economy is well developed and can cater to all budgets. But the unforgettable, pristine landscapes combining soaring mountains, beautiful beaches and forested valleys are its key to success. Economically the country is booming and their recent free trade agreement with China will only assist in their growth as the emerging middle class in China continues to demand more expensive food products. Their agriculture and lumber industries should all be long term sustainable as long as that wind sweeping across the Tasman Sea from Australia continues to drop precipitation on their mountain ranges and in spite of major hydro electric developments they are heavily investing in wind farms. The population definitely has bought into the green approach.

In summation, a country everyone should visit!

1. Returning Bandit to Coleman's Suzuki 2. Total Trip Mileage - 5934 kilometers

April 23rd, Wellington to Auckland – 586 kilometers

It was a pleasure to set off in sunny blue skies north along the Cook Strait with the wind gusting to 50 knots. At Waikanae I turned inland through farming country. There is a small town called Bulls where every second business uses the word bull in their advertising! (i.e. – rent a bull) I started getting small showers as I headed north toward Lake Tapo through some hilly country with great motorcycle roads. Fortunately Mount Rupapeho, which erupted as recently as 1996, was holding back a weather system advancing from the northwest so I didn’t get wet. Only occasionally could I see its’ snow capped top through the swirling clouds.

Lake Taupo and its history are amazing. In 186 AD the mountain erupted and was completely destroyed, throwing 110 cubic kilometer of earth into the air, while the more recent Krakatoa, that resulted in in summer in Canada and Europe after its explosion only moved 8 cubic kilometers. The blast was heard in China! A huge lake fills the void left by the explosion. From Taupo through Hamilton it was driving through flat agricultural land. I arrived at Auckland at rush hour and drove the last 18 kilometers at 25 kph. Thank god for the 328 meter Auckland tower; it made it easy to find the best exit to the downtown core when one doesn’t have a map!

I went out for a tour of the downtown area, and to my surprise it was very active on a Wednesday night. When I was in Auckland in 2000 and 2003 for the America’s Cup, the viaduct was bustling and I was pleased to see it is still busy. Queen Street was really active with an International Comedy Fest on.






1. Portable Coffee Shop North of Palmerston 2. Farm in Sunken Valley



3. Flying Restaurant 4. Ackland Tower

April 21st, Invercargill to Christchurch – 585 kilometers

After a quick breakfast, I started my sprint to Auckland to catch my flight while Dave and Howard will proceed along the Catlins Coast to Dunedin. For the first 40 kilometers, the countryside was flat but then it became hilly and was much more enjoyable. Unfortunately I was driving directly into the sun on a blue cloudless day until I reached
Gore and then fortunately turned a little bit to the northeast toward the coast at Balclutha.

I passed through Dunedin, a major university town and then on to Palmerston. I had worried Route 1 (the major road heading to the North Island and heading along the east coast) would be boring to drive but that is not the case. The land is quite hilly with lots of sweeping curves and traveling through pristine green fields (there are at least 10 sheep for every New Zealander). There are stretches where the highway has a glimpse of endless sand beaches stretching along the coast. I stopped to see the Moeriki Rocks, round boulders on the beach that are about three feet in diameter. They are formed in mudstone in a manner similar to a pearl where the rock is grown through calcification around a small piece of shell over thousands of years! After Oamaru and Timaru it was inland again towards Christchurch.

I always wondered what range my bandit had and since I got 240 kilometers using 4 of the 5 bands on the fuel gauge, I assumed it would go 300 kilometers. Wrong!!! I ran out of gas with only 270 kilometers traveled and 30 kilometers from the nearest service station. I started to try and hitch hike and a guy stopped with a truck with a cherry picker and I explained the problem. He offered to load the bike on his truck and take me down the road to the service station. How cool would that have been? He then remembered he had a two gallon gas can for a chain saw that he hadn’t added oil to yet so he gave it to me, refused payment and wished me a great trip!

I arrived in Christchurch just at 5.00 and went to the centennial pool for a mile swim.



1. Coast Above Shag Harbour 2. Moeriki Beach



3. Moeriki Rocks 4. My Gas Emergency "Savior"

April 20th, 2008, Milford Sound to Invercargill – 317 kilometers

We were up for breakfast before sunrise, and then went for a tour of the Sound and a sail to the open ocean. Captain Cook sailed by the opening without notice, since the narrowness of the opening and the vertical height of Dale Point makes the opening almost impossible to see from more than two miles away. The reason it was called a Sound was when it was named the word fjord had not been introduced to the English language. A Fjord is a glacier formed valley with steep sides that is filled with salt water after the glacier retreats.

There were dolphins and tuna spotted on the cruise. We stopped at Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. The Milford Sound receives between 6 and 8 meters of rainfall per year! At times there can be 12 feet of fresh water floating on top of the salt water and logs float at the salt fresh water boundary and are a hazard to propellers. We are quite lucky that it is a day with clear blue skies. At 9:30 we are retracing the road to Te Anau, arguably one of the finest motorcycle rides in the world. We stopped at the Homer Tunnel and Mirror Lakes. The road winds between the Livingston and Earl mountain ranges and the view of the snow topped peaks was spectacular. The only problem was it was cold, just above zero.

After lunch at Te Anau, we followed the Southern Scenic Route which combines fast straight sections, with sweeping corners and incredible scenery. Fiorland National Park has snow covered peaks to the right while Tamitumu Mountains are on the left with shee0p grazing in green fields on each side of the road. The temperature has warmed so we don’t have cold hands anymore.

Past Tuatapere we reach the south coast where the wind is blowing a gale from the south. We stopped at Riverton for a coffee and idiot me left the bike lights on and we had to have AA come to the rescue (they are in New Zealand!) We stopped at Invercargill for the night




1. Bow 30 Feet from Waterfall 2. Homer Tunnel Entrance Near Milford Sound




3. Mirror Lake Reflection 4. Eglington Valley



5. Sheep Grazing in Front of Tamitumu Mountains

April 19th, Queenstown to Milford Sound – 294 kilometers

What an incredible adventure! We left Queenstown at 9:00 and you could see the frost line on the mountains 100 meters above road level. It was very cold with a small amount of rain in the air. When we passed Kingston heading down to Te Aneu we were driving above the frost line and the rain turned into snow. We went back to Kingston to decide what to do, and perhaps head back to Queenstown. Fortunately we asked a fellow who stopped at the café who had driven up from Invercargill how the road was and he said they were bare. We decided to press on. We passed through Kingston where we saw the Kingston Flyer with a full head of steam about to depart. About 40 kilometers from Te Aneu the hills and fields were completely covered with snow and we felt it would not be possible to get to Milford Sound by 4:10 when the vessel we had booked accommodation on, the “Milford Wanderer” was due to sail. We continued toward Te Aneu through a mild blizzard with snow freezing on my visor. However, after 15 kilometers we dropped in altitude and the road started to clear up.

We stopped for gas at Te Aneu, bordering the Fiord National Park and a fellow customer told us he just came from Milford Sound and weather was better there. We continued on and the scenery was superb. Initially it is rolling farmland atop a terminal moraine and then through alpine meadows and beautiful forests on the lower slopes of jagged snow covered mountains. Near here we passed through the 45th parallel, the same latitude as Milford between Truro and Halifax in the northern hemisphere. The vegetation changes at the Divide, the lowest east/ west pass in the Southern Alps. From here you enter a beach forest where the road rises to the Homer tunnel, where the approaches are surrounded by high walled, iced covered mountains. The Homer tunnel is 1306 meters long with a slope to the west. It was started in 1935 and was not completed in 1953. The Homer town site used during construction never saw sunshine from May to September. You emerge in the Cleddau Canyon where there is a tremendous series of switchbacks down to the ocean. Milford Sound only has a population of 170 and is located in a unique wilderness area with seals, dolphins, and pristine wilderness generated with a copious annual rainfall, complete with ever present waterfalls and mists.

We are staying on the Milford Wander, a 1992 build based on a 1900 flat bottomed design used for the costal trade in New Zealand waters.. It is a gorgeous vessel, and we sailed through the Milford Fjord and then anchored in a cove where kayaking, swimming were available (but the water is only 45 degrees F). This is one of 14 fjords in New Zealand and the scenery is absolutely pristine. We had a great meal and will stay on board overnight in Ferguson’s Cove.


1. Frost Line on Mountains Near Queensport 2. Snow Before Te Aneu




3. Nearing Homer Tunnel 4. Milford Wanderer, Our Home for Tonight




5. Dave and Howard in Lounge with Stewart Tartan

April 18th B, Queenstown

In the afternoon I opted to go on the Shotover Canyon Swing. There were 10 of us jumping from a platform high on the canyon wall down into the gorge carved by the Shotover River. You go through a 60 meter free fall and drop an 49 meters while
swinging through at 200 meter arc at a peak speed of 150 kilometers per hour. The staff is extremely professional and they have a perfect safety record but it still requires a trip outside your comfort zone to hurl yourself off that platform. I opted for a back dive since they claimed it was one of the scariest take offs to do. IT WAS A RUSH.

Just before it was my turn it started to rain and the there was a little freezing rain. My biggest concern was over the jerk you would receive as you reached bottom, but it was minimal as the swing motion translated vertical motion into a horizontal and vertical component. The interesting thing was I was not nervous at all being hoisted back up to the platform 360 feet overhead, in large part because my mind was still dealing with the decent and that I ad come through OK! An incredible experience!!!






1. Jumping Platform 2. Pre Jump Instruction


3. Just After Point of No Return 4. Near End of 60 Meter Free Fall



5. The Smile of a Survivor

April 18th, Queenstown

Today is adrenalin day! We were off by 8:15 to go jet boating with Skippers Canyon Jet in Skippers Canyon. Two shepherds found gold in Skippers Canyon in 1862 and within two months there were 4000 gold miners there. There has been more gold discovered there than in any other canyon in the world.

We traveled by bus on a road carved by the gold miners in the 1880’s. It is a one lane, twisting and curving dirt road over the mountains and into Skippers Canyon with no guard rails and with near vertical drops of up to 3000 feet! At times the bus wheels must be less than one foot from the edge. The driver told us he has driven this route in snow with chains. It is without a doubt the scariest ride I’ve ever taken as a passenger. The scenery is fantastic with grass covered mountains but few trees and the Shotover River winding between the steep rock walls of the canyon. The same company also owns a bungee jump bridge there.

There were eight of us plus a driver in the aluminum jet boat. The engine produces 450 HP driving a water jet pumping 25,000 liters per minute. The boat blasts up the shallow curving river through tight canyon walls at over 80 kilometers per hour through rapids and over rock beds just inches below the surface. We were often less than two feet from vertical rock faces. Skipper Canyon is the narrowest canyon that allows a jet boat operation. In addition the boats can do 360 degree turns in just over their own length.
A fantastic adventure!

1. Narrow Road in Skippers Canyon 2. Jet Boat Launch Site

3. Shotover River in Skippers Canyon Gorge 4. Bungee Bridge in Skippers Canyon

Film Clip of Jet Boat In Gorge

April 17th, Franz Joseph Glacier to Queenstown – 382 kilometers

We awoke to clear blue skies and started heading south towards Haast. We drove up a dirt road for 5 kilometers to view the fox glacier and then went over a twisty mountain and down the coast. The Hast region has wetlands alongside large stands of rain forest flanked by beautiful beaches and is labeled a World Heritage site in large part due to the variety of birds and marine life living in a pristine native state.

At Haast we headed inland up the Haast Valley which was carved out by an ancient glacier we are traveling between completely forested hills but as you get nearer the pass where golden brown grass becomes much more predominant. There are many waterfalls along this section of road. This route is a major entryway to Aspiring National Park and Mount Aspiring is the highest peak outside the Mount Cook region of New Zealand.

Eventually we are traveling along the shores of Lake Wanaka . This is a fairly arid area and it is very reminiscent of Lake Okanogan in the B.C. interior with a long mountain lake about a kilometer and a half flanked by grass covered hills rising steeply on each side. We then crossed over a range of hills to travel along the shores of Lake Hawea until just shortly before we arrived at Wanaka, a pleasant laid back town that many New Zealanders prefer to Queenstown.

We then headed over the Crown Range Road via Cardrona, a magnificent stretch of road that crosses the Crown Mountains and has a dizzying decent into Arrowtown, a half hour drive to Queenstown.

Queenstown is known as the Aspen of New Zealand with its’ skiing and outdoor orientation, a former mining town from the 1860’s, its’ 8600 population and huge tourism business. It certainly is very upscale but it also has something that Aspen doesn’t, water frontage with Lake Wakatigu. It also is New Zealand’s adrenalin capital, with sky diving, bungee jumping, jet boats, whitewater rafting, skiing, hand gliding etc. It also has excellent shopping, top rate accommodation and restaurants and an active party scene.




1. Fox Glacier 2. Knights Point


3. Lake Hawea 4. TSS Earnslaw on Queenstown Waterfront


5. Dave and Howard on Queenstown Waterfront

April 16th, Franz Joseph Glacier

The Franz Joseph glacier and the neighbouring Fox glacier are formed due to winds from the west picking up moisture across the Tasman sea and then when this air rises over the mountains it falls as rain and snow on a very continuous basis. The snow compresses in the glaciers broad accumulation zones and then grinds down the valleys towards the sea. These are two of the five glaciers that pass through temperate forest. The glacier advances on average 1 meter per day. One of the guides told us that in one 24 hour period they had 1 meter of rain!

We were at the guide office by 8:00 to be fitted out with boots, crampons, socks, toque, water proof pants and jacket. We were then bused for ten minutes where we had a 4 kilometer walk to the face of the glacier. Then we put on crampons and started up the rock of the moraine and finally onto ice. The guides cut steps in the ice and on some near vertical slopes ropes and pinions were used. There is a continuous flow of water out the glacier. One of the hazards to be avoided are the numerous crevasse. The roughness of the ice terrain is unbelievable with steep slopes, drops, tunnels, ravines and crevasses in all directions. We climbed upward for about three hours and then had lunch.

We were incredibly fortunate, there was no rain. In addition, instead of 60 people on tour, there were only two groups of 10 people.We scaled near vertical faces, crawled through tight ice tunnels, saw the “blue ice” up close, experienced incredible views and had a marvelous day of adventure. By the time we finished our decent at 4:00 knee joints needed ib profin and all muscles throbbed. It was a fantastic experience!


1. Approaching the Glacier 2. Howard in a cravasse



3. Dave in an Ice Tunnel


4. Ian Climbing the Face 5. Lunch Break on the Glacier

April 15th, Greymouth to Franz Joseph – 192 kilometers

There was thunder and lightening, and torrential downpours all night. In the morning it was still raining but we headed down the coast. One of the interesting things they have in rural New Zealand is one way bridges. There is a sign at both ends of the bridge that indicates who has right of way. Most of the time you can just drive across, since there is no traffic coming the other way. Below Greymouth we came across a bridge type I’ve never seen before. It was one lane and also had a train track down the middle. On the second one we came to, I stopped since there were two bikes stopped after crossing. There were two Germans and one had dumped his bike when he hit a rail entering the bridge. Dave came driving up, went to cross the rail line at an angle and down he went! There was a turn signal and mirror broken off and scratches in the faring and on the
motor casing, and Dave only sprained and cut a finger, so minimal damage.

We stopped at Hokitika for lunch and Dave located a shop where they could weld his mirror bracket. At the shop, apparently the previous week, three guys traveling together all went down on the same bridge. Apparently it has been happening for years but there are no warning signs. From then on the sky started clear up and we arrived in Franz Joseph in sunshine. We immediately signed up for a full tour on the glacier tomorrow so
we hope the weather stays clear!


1. Leaving Greymouth in the Rain 2. Jade Capital of New Zealand


3. Daves Injured Thumb 4. First Glimse of Franz Joseph Glacier

April 14th, Nelson to Greymouth April 14th – 318 kilometers

While I went to the gym and had a haircut, and Howard was doing banking, Dave was off getting his tire repaired. It was another beautiful sunny day as we headed off at 10:00 towards Murchison and even though we had driven this road before it was still a fantastic. After the obligatory latte in Murchison, we charged down the Lower Buller highway.

Rain clouds loomed off the coast and as we pulled into Westport, it started to spit. Howard put on his rain gear and we headed down the coast. We had intervals of rain, mist and fog and we couldn’t push it through the corners. There was a swell in the ocean, but despite endless miles of beaches, no surfers were taking advantage of the breaks. The west coast of New Zealand is known for a lot of rain, but as a consequence it is incredibly green. Little of the vegetation looks similar to Canada however, other than the occasional pine.
By the time we got to Greymouth it was raining quite hard. Our accommodation had kitchen facilities and off we went shopping. Howard, a former chef and restaurant owner, cooked the meal and it was a delight to watch him prepare food. He cleans all utensils as he finishes with then and he is constantly bobbing and weaving as he is preparing the food. When I get back to Cattales 2, I will try the same body language in the galley!



1. Rock Overhang on Buller Highway 2. Howard Filming Bike on Buller


3. Surf Break Below Westport 4. Howard Performing in Kitchen



5. A Fantastic Meal

April 13th, Nelson to Picton Return - 240 kilometers

We were at the gym early and then it was off to Picton. It is another beautiful day for driving, sunny with blue skies and a temperature approaching 20 C. The lady at the gym was originally from Zimbabwe and when they first immigrated here, she and her husband were terrified the winters would be too cold for them. Fortunately they located in Nelson, the warmest and sunniest location on the South Island, a micro environment that they quite enjoy!

Dave unfortunately had a rear tire with only 7 psi so he has a slow leak. After filling the tire we headed off but after half an hour it was leaking air so he headed back to Nelson, to arrange repair first thing in the morning, since nothing is open today. I headed on to meet Howard, who is arriving on the 4:30 ferry. At Havlock, I took the Queen Charlotte Islands Drive to Picton; 34 kilometers of twisty road along the coast where you cannot go faster than 55 kph and successfully negotiate the bends!

I met Howard outside the ferry dock and his first question was “Feel like a cappuccino mate?” We headed off through the twisties of Queen Charlotte Drive and got fuel in Havlock. A tanker truck driver warned us about a speed trap 25 kilometers up the road and it saved us a ticket! We arrived at Nelson at dusk.


1. Queen Charlotte Sound 2. Howards Ferry Landing

3. Havlock, Green Mussel Capital of World 4. Bandit on Queen Charlotte Drive