American wandering New Zealand

**the vet** · 3rd December 2008, 17:12

Aww crap, I'll study that link (how to embed photos) on the plane....may take me 17 hours to figure out.....any Clif notes for that? do you have Clif notes in NZ?

**Lucy** · 3rd December 2008, 17:50

Originally Posted by the vet

Ah the dog...Murphy...I will miss him more than anything else I'm leaving behind, with the FJR a close second. But he is in good hands. Gets to live in the same house with close friends who are retired and also have a dog...Murphy's best friend Woody. He is in excellent hands. The trip and the quarantine (at least a month) would be hard on him, and I only want to do it once....so if I decide I want to try to make NZ a permanent move, I'll come back to the US to settle some other affairs and take him back to NZ with me....and he is just a bit too big for me to tour with on motorcycle.

Phew, ok then, as you were.....

**munterk6** · 3rd December 2008, 22:53

Isnt Telluride where Tom Cruiser lives? I saw a show on tele with Oprah at his mansion in Telluride....what a joint that place is, man, its BBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGG!

**the vet** · 4th December 2008, 14:26

yea, I can rant about that for a good long time. Cruise, Oprah and a bunch of other multi-billionaires own loads of land with huge homes in some of the most beautiful places in this country. They buy up the land, post it no trespassing, and spend a couple weeks a year there......the revolution is coming...

**klingon** · 4th December 2008, 14:55

Hiya, Mr Vet and welcome to NZ! (are you on the plane yet?)

For those who didn't notice, Mr Vet is a Veterinarian, not a Veteran. Much more useful IMO.
You -->

<-- Mr Vet

Mr Vet, did you notice Kiwibiker has a blog area? It's not as active as the forums, but if you don't want people interrupting your narrative with the kind of commentary you've been getting so far, the blog is the place to be. Anything you post in the forums will soon deteriorate into a free-for-all.

**munterk6** · 4th December 2008, 16:52

Yeah, you tell em Klingon! we cant have deterioration now can we....
its called CONVERSATION ok?

**klingon** · 5th December 2008, 08:34

Originally Posted by munterk6

Yeah, you tell em Klingon! we cant have deterioration now can we....
its called CONVERSATION ok?

Oh so THAT'S what's going on! All this time I've been wondering why people insist on interrupting my witty soliloquy.

**the vet** · 5th December 2008, 14:27

Originally Posted by klingon

Hiya, Mr Vet and welcome to NZ! (are you on the plane yet?)

For those who didn't notice, Mr Vet is a Veterinarian, not a Veteran. Much more useful IMO.
You -->

<-- Mr Vet

Mr Vet, did you notice Kiwibiker has a blog area? It's not as active as the forums, but if you don't want people interrupting your narrative with the kind of commentary you've been getting so far, the blog is the place to be. Anything you post in the forums will soon deteriorate into a free-for-all.

Thanks for the tip. I was unaware, I may take it up there.....the trip really begins tomorrow for me. The adventure begins........after a bit more stress, a sleepless night cramming my last belongings into small spaces...and a mad scramble for the airport with overweight luggage.

**chanceyy** · 5th December 2008, 14:40

Good luck with your trip over & safe travels ..

**hondav2** · 7th December 2008, 08:19

[QUOTE=the vet;1816348]Put my stuff in storage in Colorado. Visited a friend for a few days in a little ski town called Telluride....one of the most beautiful little canyon towns in Colorado. Met a guy there who lived in NZ as a ski instructor for a year. He said, "if you like this place, you will love NZ".....I love Colorado.

I stayd in Ouray for a week and rode the Ophir, Imogene (13,114 ft ) Cinnamon 12,640ft , Engineer 12,800ft, California 12,930ft, Hurricane and Corkscrew Passes. I was told not to take my DR650 over the Black Bear , arsed up twice on the steps , no fun picking up a heavy bike at that altitude on a steep rocky face but made it. Next time I will hav better gearing and tyres. I rode 75,000km around Nth America. Contact me when u r down the south Is and we can hav a beer. Hav a look at www.toddy.smugmug.com lots of south Is and Nth America pics Cheers Toddy

**Hitcher** · 7th December 2008, 18:22

The run from (hip hip) Ouray to Durango was a particular highlight for me. We'd stopped there for ice cream on our way out from Telluride. There was roadworks just through the tunnel at the top of the switchback above town. Despite the presence of rednecks with big guns, we moseyed up towards the head of the queue. We must have waited for nearly an hour for the Go flag to drop. After passing a couple of trucks, we had no traffic in front of us until we reached Silverton. The whole road had just been resealed with really nice black top. Big Yam loved it. I want to go back.

**the vet** · 10th December 2008, 06:15

arrived Sunday (7/12) morning where I was met bright and early by my Auckland area hosts. They whisked me off to their home in the Auckland area. It was a gorgeous clear sunny day and looking out over the water from their back deck, listening to the birds, I thought, "this is like waking up in paradise every day". I got a nap and then went with them for a 14K tramp on the section of motorway being built meant to reroute traffic from 1 for folks traveling north to Whangarei and such; a good stretch for my legs after sitting more or less for 12 hours. Since then, they have been feeding me well and helping me get situated. I hopped on as pillion yesterday and we rode down to Hamilton----my first experience with NZ rain and Auckland traffic. The good news is that my host is an excellent pilot and my wet weather gear works; all but the gloves which were soaked through. No hassles picking up my 05 DL 650 V Strom from a super nice fella in Hamilton, and then back up to Auckland in more rain. My expectations are met with the bike....very happy. The rest of the afternoon spent trying to afix luggage racks to the bike (Jesse bags and a Givi topcase), used, which I acquired in the States and then checked as luggage on the plane. After a bit of modification, it all should work out fine. Today, we will go for a tour of more of the regions north to see the sights and test the bike on a bit of metal/gravel. Tomorrow I will take the ferry to Auckland for a bit of tourism in the city and to meet up with my future employer on whom I will unload some of the things I brought with me for work in February (which will be in Wellington---they will shuttle this down to Wellington for me---it will be a relief to unload that stuff).

In all, although I feel like I am still getting settled, I feel very happy, content, and....well.....liberated by being here. I can't thank my hosts enough for their generosity in making me feel at home and for helping me in this initial transition. The plan will be to set out this weekend for the Coromandel area and then some East Coast Beaches for some sun and surf. Then rather quickly down to the South Island after some brief stops in Hamilton (need to give proper thanks to the KBers who helped inspect my bike for me) and Wellington (to check out where I'll be working). I may try to hook up with a group traveling down south during the holidays. If anyone has more specifics on the itinerary of that group (and wouldn't mind an additional rider for parts), post here or email/pm me. I think it would be nice to join for the crossing----should I reserve now for that, or will I be OK last minute?

Happy in NZ,
the vet