Post script

NZL04 is "home" to stay. There will be no more adventures so the old Dakar is officially retired. So any new adventures will be aboard NZL07 or a new machine. I was going to ride her off the wharf at Bluff when the Top to Bottom ride was over. Truth was I couldn't bring myself to do it after carrying me round the world without serious incident I felt she deserved better. So she will eventually hang in the shed. Its hardly a McLaren or a Formula 1 but it served me pretty well and took me to places that I hadn't even dreamed of. One of the pictures on my screen saver is the Tomb of Cyrus the Great. He rests in a largish stone edifice ( or so we are told) in the middle of an empty paddock at Pasargad. The town that was supposed to surround him moved down the road and was Persepolis, until Alexander the Great came along and it was burned down. I am lead to believe the "whorehouse" was saved but I suspect it was rebuilt ! (Thats the story anyway). The part of the story that I was leading to was despite our friend Cyrus being the ruler and richest man in the world at the time he still ended up under a pile of stones on his own in a paddock. So the lesson is its a short life so better enjoy it while you can. Now what, well watch NZL07. She is about to head off on an adventure through Europe to Morocco. That should happen in September. See you then and stay upright.

Rainbow and Molesworth Stations

Had the opportunity to mount the Dakar again. Interesting. After 100,000 km it still takes some tiome to adjust to.
So with Chris a competent rider unlike myself we set off from Havelock toward Rainbow Station. It started to rain as we approached St Arnaud so on with the wet gear which stayed on all day as it was cold the whole day.
Anyway down the farm road to the Rainbow Gate. Paid our $15 and off we went on a recently opened road after the flood damage. Great. Rivers, and high country and just plain beauty in the remoteness.
Made it to Hanmer for Lunch.
Back over Jacks Pass to Molesworth again for a really ebjoyable ride up the river valley.
New Zealand at its best. Just fantastic.
The ride from Molesworth down the Awatere is a long drag, but part of the pleasure, over the Jackson Pass to Blenhiem and so back to Havelock.
About 500km on every sort of terrain imaginable for about 10 hours of magical riding.
Even if you are slightly tempted, go do it.
It is pretty manageable, but some experience of off road biking is essential. There were a bunch of rev rev "Dusty Bum" riders on the Rainbow as well, but it accepts all skill levels and if in doubt go slow.
What a pleasure. Can't wait to do it again.

Robbie Crickett High Country Tours

Had a great three days in the South.
High Country Tours in Alexandra arranged a ride. Included a day with Chris Birch.
Had a great time scrambling round the hills (everyone else just calmly rode, but I am learnming), up tracks, over farmland, powerline tracks, farm tracks, Hobbit Country, huge views, lakes, mountains, back country hotels, rivers,(quite a few of them !) but huge fun, lots of learning, and all the time with a great bunch of people. Not all of them were old like me, in fact none of them, but what a great bunch of good helpful supportive people.
If you ever get the urge to go ride a bike off road, see these guys first.

Chris Birch

Had the benefit of attending a KTM riding class arranged by Robbie Crickett at High Country Tours.
It is a priveledge to be in the company of guys like Chris Birch. A man on top of his game. World famous in his trade Enduro Bike riding and "unknown" pretty much everywhere else.
He shared with our group a whole lot of real wisdom on how to survive on a motorcycle, particulrly off road. Should be compulsory.
I have ridden round the world as anyone that has read this blog would know. Wish I had met Chris before I went ! Now I will have to go again, bugger !

AA Carnet du Passage ; post script

The Carnet process is invaluable. In NZ it is administered by the AA, by a delightful fellow that has been with the AA for longer than I have been riding bikes I expect.

I would not have mentioned this but it needs to be said. If you are going to need a Carnet and will use the offices of the Auckland AA ( the only place you can get one), be prepared to get frustrated.

I was. I attempted to communicate my concern to the management of the AA and frankly felt from the reaction as if I had accused the AA of sinking the Rainbow Worrier. I had attempted to tell the hierarchy that the guy doing the Carnet job might do with some help.

The things that concerned me were poor advice; a lack of understanding of the process; lack of appreciation of risk; that the AA is there to assist members.....and so on.

Then I met another biker and he told me a similar story. The overstated risk and the need to ante up huge amounts of cash as security, delays, lacking understanding, and generally a frustrating experience.

Its a pity. The AA needs to lift its game. Sadly there is no one else, so if you are a member tell them their game is substandard. If you are going to need a Carnet, then be prepared for an unusual experience.

Biker

Where next

I have survived a year at "home". Well nearly survived. I experienced my first "spill".  I have had an off or two but this was a beauty.  Have no idea how it happened and no recollection of it at all. Not even any pictures. I just did a beaut crash. Broke a bone or two, but thankfully they heal, although slowly I now find. Happily NZL04 is mostly unscathed. Fortunately I have a friend that works magic with bikes.

So now my plans are up in the air.

I still want to ride from the top of the US to the bottom of South America.......sometime.  This is a nature ride because it has some of the best remote riding I have ever seen.

And I still want to ride round the Mediterranean.  Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Italy, etc to Frankfurt.  And this is an historical ride. I started off on these ventures to try to get some understanding of the world and the people. It has been fantastic. So now I have one more place. The Mid East. It has more human history than the rest of the earth I believe. So I want to go.

I will keep you posted.

NZL04

1 April. New Zealand.

This is just an short entry to record I have made New Zealand.
The shiping experience was satisfactory. Delivered the bike to a depot in Brisbane and it obviously got to the boat.
Went to retrieve it and got the usual red tape bulldust, however found a helpful guy after a day sitting in their office and on Wednesday the 1st ( yeah April Fools day !) collected the bike and headed south. Great ride down to Taupo. Stayed the night and the next day to the ferry to the South Island. Spent a night with family, and then on to a small village in the centre of the South Island after a stuning ride through the Buller Gorge to the West Coast then over the Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps. I had forgotton how beautiful it was.
The next day it was a ride to Bluff. Made it at dusk as the sun set. Oysters and beer as I had promised then I just crashed.
Sadly the weather was poor for photography so I will cobble something together, but the beauty of the little country is so great that I will have to ride south again to get some good pics to show.
So the journey is over.
Sad that it is complete and also great joy.
I will write an epilogue but for now a big thanks to all those that have been in touch during the ride. It was great to have your company.
nzl04