We headed south to Taranaki on friday to muscle in on the National Classic Motorcycle Rally - we didn't want to pay the money for a 3 day rally,we just wanted to check out the bikes.Four of us headed out from my town of Huntly,my R65,R90S,a Darma and a MkI Le Mans by various back road routes to meet up with a couple of others from Napier at Taumaranui...and we arrived 30 mins late and they were gone.
Looks like John would like to swap his Darma for a BMW.You might notice it doesn't say Ducati on his tank...but FUCACC,part of a protest we did last year about taxes on bikes.ACC is our insurance cover for motor vehicles.
After our expansive lunch stop,we headed down SH43 - the Forgotten World Highway.This is 145km through a remote area,through a gorge and over several saddles and a tunnel.The country is so difficult here,people just walked off the land and let it revert to bush.A rail line goes through with many tunnels.I went though here in the '70's when it really was the lost highway,just a single lane gravel road,very,very rugged country.The gorge is still 18km of gravel,and hard work for the Le Mans.The famous stop is the Whangamomona Hotel,a refreshing brew and compulsory photo.We met up with the GS850's here.The R90S having peeled off west to Ohura and Ahititi on the west coast.
The others stayed in Stratford,and I went 40km south to Opunake to stay with a friend.Next day we set off to find the rally,having a former 'Naki boy to guide us - he got totally lost and they were gone when we got there.We spent hours with a map getting lost and back tracking forever,fun for us as there was no pressure to get anywhere on time...or even arrive.We finally found the bikes coming the opposite way and then met up with them at the lunch stop.
We repeated this many times.You can see Mt Taranaki in the background....can't get lost with something like staying where you put it.
Heading north from Opunake,through the ''flyscreen''
