Page 8 - Sounds Rides Jan 2023

Chris & Dianna in New Zealand.

Riding in New Zealand can be challenging at times. On
some 100kph roads, advisory signs recommend 15kph
through the hairpin bends. Add to that landslides or
boulders on the road, constant roadworks with loose
stones and the occasional wandering goat means you
must be on the alert constantly.
Then there is the weather. We were very lucky most
days, but one day between Westport and Murchison, we
were hit by a horrific thunderstorm. Torrential rain,
thunder, lightning, and hairpin bends all made riding at
any more than 25kph dangerous.
Another landslide

If you ever travel to the South Island,
try to get to E Hayes and Sons
hardware store in Invercargill. Here
you will find the original “World’s
Fastest Indian” on display, with other
mementos from Burt Munro’s amazing
speed record attempts. If you are
lucky enough to talk to one of the
staff members, you will get an insight
into this incredible man, with stories
about the kid next door in the movie
(who was the hardware owner’s son)
& information about Burt’s “other
bike” a 138 MPH Velocette (more
about Burt next month).

One of the highlights of our trip was a day cruise down
Milford Sound with its steep volcanic mountains either side
with waterfalls every few hundred meters and trees
seemingly growing straight out of the rocks. The mean
annual rainfall in Milford Sound is 6,813mm, and it rains
there on average 182 days a year. Over the course of 24
hours, 250mm of rain can fall in the area.

In Queenstown we took the Southern
hemisphere’s steepest chairlift to Bob’s
Peak, where there were amazing views of
people hang-gliding the 450 metres to the
town below.

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