Top / bottom : Stunning views along the awesome Turakina Valley Road
good time . Some beers and bourbon and cokes , fullyloaded fries and a burger from the excellent catering van , followed by catching up around the brazier ( with enough provided firewood to keep everyone warm all night , which can ’ t have been cheap to do ) signed off the first night .
RALLY CAMARADERIE It got pretty breezy in the night . Breezy enough that the 75km / h winds forecast for Saturday next night pushed us to de-camp and make our way into the relative shelter of the valley . That turned out to be the making of our rally . We pitched up behind the Brown Brothers trailer and went to say hello . That was it , the rest of the weekend ‘ Charlie ’ and Glen welcomed us into their tight group , lent us their dirt bikes , roped us into the Tug of War and drank bourbons with us in the marquee until late . And that seemed to be a common story . Asking around , there were a surprising number of first time rally-goers like us , also saying how they ’ d been welcomed into a group next to them at the campsite . Peer pressure is a funny thing . I had no intention of entering the dirt hill climb on my old GS , but … it sure did look like fun . From ‘ Charlie ’ making the three increasing difficulty
38 KIWI RIDER