I am a huge fan of the monarchy on this particular day. I am afraid though that it’s the republic for me for the rest of the year.
My friend Neil and I took the long weekend as an opportunity to go for a trip on our motorbikes.
The target of the trip was the “KB gathering” held annually in Turangi. This entails a trip of around 350km through some great scenery and along some equally fine biking roads.
The “KB gathering” is an informal event rather than a rally and is organized by members of NZ’s premier motorcycling social website – http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/.
We headed off on Saturday. The weather on the way up was lovely, though rather cold, particularly up on the Desert Road, which is at an altitude of around 900m. Nice though the weather was, motorcycling wise we took things pretty easily. Many corners inviting though they look, can be icy or damp and slippery at this time of the year.
We arrived in Turangi just as it got dark. We met up with the other bikers there. There was real mixture of bikes and bikers, all of whom were easy going and chilled out. Neil and I probably weren’t as social as we could have been as we headed of to a “greasy spoon” to give the arteries a cholesterol work out. We did return later for a few “tinnies”.
Rather than stay till until Monday we decided to head back to Wellington on Sunday. We chose to go back via Napier along the Taupo-Napier highway. This meant adding an extra 300km to our journey, but the highway has a reputation of being a great biking road and I had never ridden it before.
It turned out to be a great choice as the weather in this part of NZ was a lot warmer, there was very little traffic and the road was an almost endless succession of wide sweeping bends. These are the kind of bends I love. Anything to tight and I get a bit nervous, particularly given the sometimes-slippery road conditions.
Another great day, though after 650km of riding I was knackered.
It was a good move coming home a day early – as I am writing this it is pouring down outside, in best Queens Birthday weekend tradition.
The bikes on the Desert Road.
Neils GT250R and my SV1000S
Me with about a dozen layers of clothing on. 
Neil and I