KIWI RIDER 05 2018 VOL.2 | Page 17

KIWI IN BC I ’m a Kiwi living in Kamloops, B.C. Canada and moved here with my wife in 2014 where we have since expanded our family and become permanent residents. To me, Canada is a great lifestyle opportunity which has a great mix of outdoor activities and all four seasons. British Columbia, the province we’re located in, is a lot like home back in New Zealand with dense forests and mountains in every direction. We’ve found Canada has more advantages for a young family like us to live a more comfortable lifestyle. Living costs are less and wages are very good, which means that I can afford to race at a competitive level again and still have funds for important things like family holidays. Since being in Canada we do miss our friends, family and especially Tairyn Whata. It’s also weird the small things you miss from home, like pies, L&P, doing bombs off the wharf with all the boys, and fish and chips on the beach. Where we live in Kamloops there are endless amounts of riding trails and the best bit is you Expatriate Kiwi Jeremy Whata wrote to tell us what life is like riding dirt bikes in British Columbia, Canada. ride for free on the Crown Land. I do put in my fair share of trail maintenance with Quintin Raasch, who is the off road coordinator for the GKMA motorcycle club. The trails are a lot more technical than what I was used to riding back home. There are a lot of single track and tight trails, these Canadians like the more extreme style of riding along the lines of hard enduro. The dirt is a range from Tar Hill, Riverhead to Woodhill and then huge open fields. If you like hopping logs and riding some of the best trails BC has to offer then you’d love riding in Kamloops. The race season here is about to start, its called the PNWMA series which will take me all around British Columbia and I even get to ride two races Photo: Jason Hamborg KIWI RIDER 17