• Another old vid, not really bike related other than the fact that I got there on my bike.

    "A meander around the top of Godley head. There's quite a few walks around here, around the barracks, down to the gun emplacements, caves etc. didn't venture that far as I had all my bike gear on and it was quite warm.

    I didn't get the bit about the prison quite right. here's some blurb from a website I found:

    "Ripapa Island was used as a quarantine station for new immigrants from 1873 to 1885. In 1880 the Island was used temporarily as a prison for 150 of Te Whitis followers, transported from Taranaki. The quarantine buildings were dismantled when the Island was incorporated into the coastal defence scheme.

    Ripapa Island was one of four sites used for the Lyttleton Harbour defences, part of the nationwide system of coastal defences, built in response to the perceived "Russian scare". The walled fort, dating from 1886, survives today and is the most complete "Russian scare" fort in New Zealand. Of particular significance are two large disappearing guns, still virtually complete, which very rare examples of their kind. The fort was occupied by the army until the end of World War I and re-occupied again during World War II. The Island has been managed by the Department of Conservation since 1990.""
  • English