Motorcycle Adventure - New Zealand

Goldmine. There's not too many places in Australia where one moment you can be riding through a rocky riverbed and then take on a 1700m hill climb and be rewarded with a view like this. Aussie dirt and adventure riders tend to see a Simpson Crossing or Cape York adventure as compulsory items to put on their bucket lists. But after riding 1200km over 6 days in central Otago, I'm convinced you've got to add this trip to the list. But New Zealand is full of contrasts and let's just say this will be a working holiday. We're heading to the South Island of New Zealand for this trip. A quick 3 hour flight by jet from Sydney to Christchurch before jumping on a slower form of air transport for the flight from Christchurch to Queenstown. Being close to the ground gives me a chance to watch the geography drift by. Below me are the Canterbury Plains but the transition to the rugged central Otago region is rapid. I didn't know it at the time but in a couple of days I would be riding round that stunning lake just 10,000 feet below me. I caught a glimpse of one track in these rugged mountains and that was my first hint that this was going to be a ride to remember. In Queenstown I was picked up by Robbie and Dave Mack from High Country Trail for the hours drive to Alexandra where the ride would begin in a couple of days time. High Country Trail headquarters 2 days before the ride and there is a heap of preparation to do before the others arrive. Robbie's High Country Trail rides are well known in New Zealand and riders from all over the country are coming for this bash. The skill level for this ride is pretty high with 2 international 6 day riders, a couple of well seasoned New Zealand enduro champions and club riders as well as farmers who practically live on their bikes and can tackle anything. Later in the afternoon my long term Kiwi riding partner Sean turned up with his mighty KTM 625. Now you would think that if you were going to ride 1200 tough dirt kilometres over 6 days that you would have put a little effort into bike preparation. Well Sean hadn't and I couldn't help but focus a little attention on his slackness. Hey Sean let me get this right, we've planned this trip for 3 months? Robbie did we put our deposits down? I thought it was more like 4 months. 4 months and aren't we riding tomorrow? Yeah we are, yeah we are Dave. What's the go? Where's the preparation? Knowing how you Aussies are so unprepared and likely to change your minds, you're a white woman. Well we'll leave that just there because Sean will have a little bit of explaining to do when he gets home. In the meantime riders from Taranaki in the North Island arrive and unload their bikes. Have they come up to scratch state or what? No they're all registered so we've checked that out, we've just got to check the exhausts.