Looking south along
Whangapoua Bay, Okiwi,
Great Barrier Island
o, there I was on Great Barrier Island
(GBI), New Zealand, surrounded by
lovely farmland, gorgeous beaches
and lots of bush – all connected to one
another by tight, windy, tar sealed roads.
Oh what I would have done for a motorcycle
to ride... Then I got a message that Britton
Adventures is coming to GBI and would I like
to join them (seeing how I’m here and all).
Mike Britton and Angela Bruce (the owner/
operators of Britton Adventures) and I are
connected by a mutual friend in California.
We’ve heard all the stories about each other
and were finally going to meet.
Britton Adventure’s was heading over to the
island with 35 customers for an adventure
ride exploration. They had a local lead rider,
Wayne (a sixth generation Barrier resident)
who d sorted out some off road riding, and
of course he knew all the tar sealed and
metal roads to be found there.
Upon arrival at Tryphena via the Sealink
ferry everyone gathered at Tipi and Bob’s,
where the ride was based. It was here I got
to try on my borrowed gear and feisty XT250
kindly loaned from Yamaha Motor New
Zealand via Angela and Mike.
Riding on GBI is a treat as there are few
cars/trucks to share the narrow roads with
but our mantra was to be “Stay Left” as the
blind corners would not be forgiving. Many
of the riders had been here before, but not
all and I didn’t hear any complaints. The
bikes ranged from a 125cc dual purpose dirt
bike to 1200cc Adventure bikes and many
in between. Of course, I felt the XT250 to be
the perfect bike for the conditions.
he itinerary was comfortable once off
the ferry on Friday afternoon everyone had
time to settle into their rooms, sort out their
equipment, get to meet the other riders and
be ready to ride after breakfast the next day.
KIWI RIDER 93