It started , as most motorcycle trips do , with a plan . For decades I have pricked ears at the edges of conversation about the roads of the deep south , the Catlins , Lake Hauroko , and the Homer Tunnel to Doubtful Sound and Mitre Peak . Places glimpsed on maps , passed over at 10,000ft or skirted by five offshore . Don ’ t get me wrong , I ’ m grateful to have seen the places I have , but I ’ m aware that there are big gaps in my ‘ been there ’ knowledge . This plan was to remedy all that , over the extended Christmas period of ‘ 24 and into ‘ 25 . I turned down auditions for work , in case I got the gig - I wanted to keep this period free . Like all very good plans , I kept it loose , loose as hell . No bookings for motels or cabins , and no tent . Like all very good plans , people wanted to know where I would be and when , so they could maybe liaise , and I didn ’ t want to be an arsehole , so I explained that I really had no itinerary – except the locales above – sometime . This did not suit various parties , fair enough too ( some like to plan everything weeks in advance ) but it slowly dawned on me that our ferries were more than usually ‘ Willised ’, i . e . breaking down , and cancelling , so I ’ d better at least book a departure date ... December 19 on the good ship Kaitaki . Senior , Motorcycle , flexible , 240 bloody dollars , one way . See ? A plan .