FOUR CAPES
The plan... visit the four capes of the North Island in one continuous ride over the course of seven days.
On an overcast, damp, New Plymouth morning four keen motorcyclists left town towards Mt Messenger on the start of a 4000km ride that would see them circumnavigate the North Island of New Zealand on sealed roads, taking in the four capes: Cape Reinga, East Cape, Cape Palliser & Cape Egmont. All in a week. Trying to cover the distance in only 49 hours of riding time, the ambitious plan was to avoid State Highway 1 as much as possible, stick to the lesser back country roads and smaller state highways, and take pleasure in two ferry crossings. The idea for the trip had been in the back of the organiser Bill Cameron’ s mind for many years, loosely based on two other distance rides; the
Top Paddock run by the NZ Distance Riders and the Southern Cross run by the Rusty Nuts M / C club( which hasn’ t run since the early 2000s), but Bill didn’ t want to head to the South Island with the hassle of Interislander Ferries still fresh in his mind after a near disastrous couple of summers with ferry cancellations. Initially happy to embark on this adventure by himself, Bill was delighted when three other riders, Theo, Dion and Andrew, wanted to join him on the trek. Andrew had to pull out, but another rider, Ian, jumped at the chance and the four-man team was complete again. Over the course of a few months an ambitious, but achievable, route was locked in, leaving from the New Plymouth start line.
KIWI RIDER 25