Congratulations on your new ST1300. What year is it? Also I am curious how far away you may be from Invercargill, as I am not familiar with New Zealand geography. The only reason I ask is that I really enjoyed the movie about Burt Munro, The World's Fastest Indian. That story really impressed me, enough so that I have to watch the DVD periodically. I am only mentioning this because every time I see some reference to New Zealand, I'm reminded of this.
Hi Don, for those unfamiliar with NZ here's a quick geography background....
New Zealand is in the South Pacific about 3.5 hours flying south east from Australia.
There are two main islands, called the North Island & the South Island.
The North is a hotter climate & the South is colder in the winter but hot as in the summer.
Auckland is the largest city in the upper North Island with a population of near 1.4 million.
Christchurch is on the east coast towards the middle of the South Island. It is New Zealand's 2nd largest City with only 366,000 population. Prior to the 2010-2011 earthquakes CHCH was described as the most English city outside of England, but now not so quaint as we have lost so many heritage buildings.
A stunning beautiful country with truly breathtaking scenery from top to toe, passing down through lush green Auckland, past desert like central plateau into a slightly mountainous region mixed with lovely plains which extends across Cook Strait & on down the South Island. This island is punctuated by the Southern Alps. On one side is the fairly wet/semi tropical beautiful West Coast & on the other is the lovely Canterbury planes on the eastern side. There is much unspoiled native bush & lots of green. Amazing Mountains, lakes, glaciers OMG more than I can mention.
Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Golden Bay, Milford Sound, Northland, Auckland, Christchurch are all must see's in my book. Nothing like anything I have seen overseas unless you put several countries scenery together.
Now to answer your question about Burt Munro. Burt lived in Invercargill as you know. It is at the very South of the South Island. It is about a 6.5 hour road journey from CHCH of 566 kilometers. It is a large town really of about 30,000 people. Cold in the winter nice in the summer. Burt was a very well known local celebrity in his day. A truly amazing story of a man driven to achieve a goal against any odds.
New Zealand is a beautiful country for a tour of epic proportions. It has good roads but some spectacular & challenging sections. Well worth the trip to one of the most beautiful places on the earth, which we call "Gods Own".
Leeanne & I have a spare room & anyone who ever ventures this way are more than welcome.
Kiwi's are great hosts.
Please look us up if ever you're down this way.
Email is
pauls64@hotmail.com
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