Discussion re Half yearly get-together and annual Rally destination ideas

Can anybody with ideas about suitable venues for a mid year get-together and/or Feb Annual Rally please let us know your thoughts here.

Dodgy has put forward a couple of suggestions copied into the next post.

All ideas are welcome

Dodgyiti - Today 15:27

Good to see different ideas for a venue on the next one. Traumanui was chosen merely as a halfway point so as many folk could make it as possible. A mid winter meet would be cool, but how about up Norf a bit?
There is a great motor camp with nice cabins at Opononi, has a good pub at basically the end of the drive along with one of the best fish & chip shops I've ever dined at. They hosted the Guzzi degenerates so they should handle us no probs... plus if you have never done the state forrest loop up there, you are missing out on one of the north island's best riding roads.

croc and I were talking today about somewhere central for the whole NZ, like upper SI. Mapua handles bikers, had 2 Guzzi rallys there, has a good pub and eateries all walking distance from the sea side cabins and the Takaka Hill to Golden Bay is another legendary riding road, great loop with a stop for some lunch catching at the salmon farm where they cook it or smoke it for you while you wait

Opononi Looks real cool. Big ride for the HB lads though.

http://www.opononiholidaypark.co.nz/...ult.php?page=1

http://www.activehotels.com/hotel/brochure/en/43199


Mapua looks great as well and fresh salmon cooked rare is the biz. But couldn't find a campground or cabins there.

Dodgyiti - Today 17:16

http://www.hapnz.co.nz/getsupplier/s...r_ov=146_.html

Mapua Leisure Park, google map it, they have a whole seafront knob of land, 25 acres I think with a causeway to it. It seems like your in your own world there. When the Guzzi rally hit that poor town the pub stayed open all night so we could watch the moto gp at 5 in the morning, of course the chainsaws on the floor of the public bar almost drowned out the commentary and we have those too

Very relaxed and very biker friendly

Location of yearly rally is not a big concern to me, if on other side of ditch would be cool to include something like Classic Japense show that "Toycollector" was involved in back in April last year.

North Island no problem : enough warning and extra time to go to an thru

http://www.omaka.org.nz/




http://www.tanksforeverything.co.nz/

if we goin to CHCH to drive tanks how about doin something around the Burt Munro Challenge

old planes... and old bikes... 2 very cool things....

Whitianga ... still some camping grounds there

And of course we could show off the wonderful coro loop, and Kuatounu ice creams to the HBers

it's great to see so many people already excited about the next get together!

judging by the taumarunui experience most people are happy to only have a get together destination but make other plans on the spot and by themselves rather than have anything pre-arranged or agreed on (like departure/arrival times and routes, proposed rides, activities, etc). a few people though said to me they would prefer to know in advance the structure of the weekend so they could make an informed decision on whether they want to join in and how, without having to hang around at the forum a lot trying to get the information they're after. so, i guess this is something to think about if we want to welcome people who do not have time/interest to blah blah at the forum but are keen riders/mechanics.

for the next get together my limited knowledge of the national cousine hot-spots and secret campgrounds prevents me from making a contribution in that way but if auckland ends up being the half-way stop i can offer accommodation (spelling?).

i think it'd be great if other members might want to chip in in any way they feel like as old mates like croc dodgy caseye etc have been pulling most of the bftp weight for a while now and the group is getting bigger. though, they all seem keen as to keep going hard

e.g. bikemad although a new member made a welcome surprise contribution by driving all the way from/to ackl basically just to take a fantastic video of the taumaranui gathering! and the HB crew made it a real adventure getting to/from whangamomona! also, it was great to see a larger female presence as our rides so far have been predominantly male dominated (except for ocassionally mrs seedy and mrs jmk, i think).

cheers all

psyguy - Today 19:08

judging by the taumarunui experience most people are happy to only have a get together destination but make other plans on the spot and by themselves rather than have anything pre-arranged or agreed on (like departure/arrival times and routes, proposed rides, activities, etc). a few people though said to me they would prefer to know in advance the structure of the weekend so they could make an informed decision on whether they want to join in and how, without having to hang around at the forum a lot trying to get the information they're after.

Good points there Psy. I think the Traumanui activity options were fine (all of them) but they could easily have been established a lot earlier and that would have perhaps been better for the members you mentioned. Is it not that simple?

I think that it's likely that the majority of members would like to have options so that they can decide what they want to do, as is appropriate to the weather, their arrival times and their personal interests as relates to the objects/locations/events at or near the location. Some of which is subject to the/their condition on the day.

Too quote a well-worn phrase, "flexiibility is the key". If we accept that we're not going to keep everybody happy all of the time, the best we can hope to achieve is a mix of basic structure and plenty of options to keep most of us happy most of the time. The moment we attempt to introduce some rigid conditions or remove the flexibility, we'll lose some folk. Would we gain others?

The two key ingredients from where I sit appear to be campgrounds with good facilities and a network of motorcycle-friendly roads. Other considerations include camping costs, proximity of shops & fuel, and places of interest to visit.

We need to establish what level of enthusiasm there'd be if we moved the event closer to the centre of the country. If only a few South Islanders were likely to attend, then there'd be more incentive to keep the event close to the middle of the NI. Places like Wanganui and Palmerston North offer good riding roads (e.g. the Paraparas) with plenty of options for meals etc. Smaller towns like Ohakune and Feilding could also be viable.

Bear in mind that even if the next getogether was held in Auckland, I'd guarantee that not all the Aucklanders would be there simply because we all have other considerations (like family, jobs, prior commitments, other interests etc). The same would apply if it was held in the Hawkes Bay. The folk who want to be there will usually find a way regardless of where it's held, but all of us have external influences which can collide at times. We took a risk holding this event in February, considering how many other things are also held this time of year. For example, the classic bikes were racing at Hampton Downs while we were away.

The Taumaranui camping ground was a useful experience in spite of the camp clown. It ticked most of the boxes and worked quite well. As an inaugural event/prototype, it was a great success IMHO.

Very well said Nick, particularly the following points.

The two key ingredients from where I sit appear to be campgrounds with good facilities and a network of motorcycle-friendly roads. Other considerations include camping costs, proximity of shops & fuel, and places of interest to visit.

We need to establish what level of enthusiasm there'd be if we moved the event closer to the centre of the country. If only a few South Islanders were likely to attend, then there'd be more incentive to keep the event close to the middle of the NI.

As you say, Fielding & Ohakune would also be good locations, and it would have been awesome watching the post classics (and our member Peter Smith) at Hampton Downs.

Bikemad - Today 18:09

if we goin to CHCH to drive tanks how about doin something around the Burt Munro Challenge

Personally I have been wanting to go down for the Burt Munro weekend, but doubt we would get anything like the same numbers as the Traumanui Rally. Though if others are keen to go as well, I will put my hand up for it.
Not so sure that it should be one of our two 6 monthly lets get us all together type events. Happy to be proven wrong though.

At the beginning of the rally thread I suggested 3 rides of various distances from 25 mins to 3 hours, options are good. You don't know how far you want to go until you wake up from the night before