We made it to New Zealand, arriving on Nov. 30. We left Chile with our motorcycles sitting in the warehouse and assurances that there was a 99% chance they would be on the next flight. Our motorcycles arrived the day after we did much to our relief.

First impressions of New Zealand - the air is sooo fresh and everything is so clean. The temperature is warm when the sun is out and cool when its cloudy, much like being at a high altitude. The sun is very intense, we've heard it's because of the hole in the ozone layer above.

We met a couple, Richard and Lisa, via the Horizons Unlimited motorcycle community. They rode their motorcycle from England to New Zealand (including a couple of flights of course). They live in Auckland and invited us to camp in their backyard so we did and enjoyed swapping stories about our trips.

Our first ride out of Auckland was to the west coast to see the a couple of sites recommended by Richard. It was raining but the coast was still beautiful. After that, we decided to travel north via the east coast and had marvelous weather. There are so many picturesque bays, coves and beaches that we are only traveling about 50-100 miles a day.

Tasman Coast

Pohutukawa (Christmas) tree

The hospitality of Kiwi's is outstanding. An example, one morning Dave's kickstand broke and needed to be welded. We stopped in the next town and asked a motorcyclist if he knew of a welding shop in the area. He said if we could wait until the next day, he could take care of it for us at his shop. He then invited us to ride with him and the Ulyses Motorcycle club that day. We did and they took us on a stunning ride along the coast. Another member of the club offered to let us camp in his backyard which we did.

Scenic North Island

The camping here is really great, the campgrounds have nice shared kitchen facilities, hot showers and a variety of accomodation from tent sites to simple cabins and cabins with bathrooms and kitchens included.

We were on our way to a campground at the south end of ninety mile beach when we saw smoke in the air. Dave said he saw someone running into a backyard so we stopped. A trailer was on fire in the backyard and the fire was spreading rapidly into the trees beyond the house. We joined in with a few other people, with plastic buckets dipping water from the children's pool and running to dump it on the fire. The wind was blowing in from the beach, fanning the flames and soon the fire was out of control. The local volunteer fire department arrived with two tiny firetrucks that were out of water in about two minutes. The firemen then had to use the water from the large water tank in the backyard of the house. Dave was up on the wall of the cistern with two other guys pulling a heavy pump up the 10 foot wall. They finally got the water flowing but it wasn't enough.

Deb heard "Mees, could you help me with my jackeet?" so she zipped up the fireman's jacket and off he went into the woods. Soon fire trucks from several of the surrounding communities arrived while the fire continued to spread. The pumper trucks kept shuttling back and forth from a nearby lake. Then the helicopters arrived with their monsoon buckets, We watched them collect water from the ocean and then dump it on the fire. The fireman kept moving as the fire moved but at one point, there was only one fireman standing next to Dave so he handed Dave the fire hose and told him to go into the woods while he, the fireman, manned the levers on the truck. Of course, Dave loved this.

Fire near the beach

After several hours, the owners of the house, Paul and Ruth, offered to let us spend the night there but we we're too keen on staying next to a smoldering forest so we declined. Then they said they have a big house in town about 10 miles away and we could stay there so we took them up on it. It was great to sleep in a bed for a change. Ruth even made a steak dinner for us.

Friends Ruth and Paul

The next morning we left our side cases behind at Paul and Ruth's returned to Ninety Mile beach at low tide and rode along the beach for 20 kilometers. Then we rode to the end of the cape at the north end of the island, Cape Reinga. This is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide.

Riding Ninety Mile Beach

Cape Reinga - where the Tasman and Pacific meet

We worked our way south back toward Auckland stopping to camp in the Waipoua Forest, home of giant kauri trees. It was amazing to see the huge trees at almost 2,000 years of age. Standing in front of one of them felt like being in the presence of something ancient and powerful.

Giant Kauri - Waipoua Forest