Sunday 29th Nov.
Set off for the coast road and the most southern point of the south island, the sun was shinning but there was still a cold wind. The roads were empty and twisty as usual and most of the south coast road was unpaved. The bike seemed to be handling worse than usual especially on the gravel. It turned out that one of the pannier frames had snapped and the pannier was swinging around. I strapped it up as best I could and rode on. As I headed north the road became straighter and colder but before I knew it I was in Oamaru. Once I had found somewhere to stay I phoned up John Munro who was still in Invercargill and asked him if he knew where I could get it welded and he pointed me to Apex engineering not far from where I was staying. I got the frame off and ready to take in the morning hoping they would be able to do it while I waited.

Monday 30th Nov.
I went straight to Apex Engineering and met Mark who was more than happy to get my frame welded and also made me some extra brackets to stop the panniers from swaying about and breaking again. He would also take no payment and invited me to dinner with him and his wife. Later I took a walk around The Steampunk HQ. Some cool stuff but not a patch on Dr Evermor and his Foevertron. 
When I got to Mark and Niki's there were also two of their friends there as well Craig and Blanch, they have both been on some exciting adventures to places I would not be so keen on traveling through. Places Like Iran, Afghanistan and many others. They were traveling on 2 bikes until Blanches blew the motor and they had to carry on on the one bike. A very interesting and enjoyable evening. Good food good people what more could you get out of a simple breakdown.