In 2007 Dave and I set off for a tour of the South Island took 3 months and covered 4,300 kilometers. We biked through high country stations, on 4wd roads across ranges, followed pylons tracks into the mountains and flew along sealed roads with the winds on our backs.
We had a solar panel to power batteries for a radio, mobile and my camera. We could carry enough for 6 days if necessary, which maybe due to a serious lack shops on some of our routes and unknown conditions to be encountered.
We battled wind and mosquitoes, traffic in the towns and enjoyed the friendly locals we encountered in towns and on remote roads. We thank the land owners for letting us ride through their properties as these routes offered some spectacular scenery.
Bike packing wasn’t a term back then, possibly more apt for this type of adventure, we described it as off road cycle touring.
The Portaits: taken weekly with some protest.
