Shane Batchelor (Page 10)

We spent seven days at Motueka and enjoyed the MTB tracks at Kaiteriteri. Good to see Jude hammering her bike around the tracks, overall running up Over 100kms on the bikes…. and the only downside was a damaged wing mirror indicator… small story!🤨 But now it’s time to climb over the Tākaka hills Golden Bay where we will spend a week or so in the Golden Bay Area. For the next three days we will stay at Port Tarakohe. We arrived at Port Tarakohe NZMCA setup camp, the weather is amazing, sunny, warm and the lightest of breeze. After we had brunch it was offRead More →

One of our favourite places to stop over for a night or two is the Canvastown Hotel, an old establishment on SH6 10km west of Havelock. With plenty of room to park a 8m motorhome for the night we find it a perfect location to park over and time and weather if favourable a good place to explore the area, especially up the Wakamarina River Road to Butchers Flat Camp. Once parked and set for the night I went in to the hotel to notify the owner we were there, The warm welcome I got from the on duty staff, I enticed myself to haveRead More →

Arrived in Blenheim Racecourse (NZMCA) on Sunday 8th June at about 1500hrs. The weather was semi overcast and cool, however it didn’t stop us catching up with good friends Phil & Julia. By the time we left early evening it was actually getting a lot colder so was nice getting back to a nice warm home, at one stage Jude looked and spotted the Starlink Satellites all lined up. (Feature image) Monday was bike ride day where we enjoyed riding to Taylor’s Dam. When we arrived at the Dam there is a steep loose and rocky climb of about 20m and proud to see JudeRead More →

5th June we headed to Kaikoura stopping for brunch along the coastline to watch a 5-6m swell crashing into the coastline, the photo doesn’t do the reality any credit. Once arriving at Kaikoura NZMCA we mount up and did a ride to Point Kean a round trip of 19km. Started off a cool afternoon however as soon as that sun dropped down it got really cold, I was fortunate to have full gloves on but my ears stung a little from the cold. Jude was lucky to have long enough hair to cover her ears but she felt the sting in her hands. A hotRead More →

We have been on the road again for two weeks now. Our first stop was Queenstown for Jude to have a Tight Five weekend which is a bi-annual get together for five close friends that have made it a must do for some years now. While Jude was there I headed to Cromwell for a couple of days riding my MTB. After Judes weekend we headed to Tekapo for the evening, a lovely walk into the village rounded the day off nicely. The next day we headed Geraldine to purchase some more immunity shots and sauces from Barkers as well as brunch before winding upRead More →

Late post but better late than never aye! Wow! The Australian National Rugby League Magic Round… What a tournament to go to. The trip had been planned four months ago and it’s amazing how time flys. Jude and I were really please to be included in the group that her son Tom and daughter in-law affectionately called Kimbo by us. Others joining us were Dave, Jude’s oldest son and wife Ruth, Dave Lyndsay and partner Nik, dear friends of Tom’s Jake and partner and Adam whom all reside in Aussie. Wednesday afternoon we all headed to Frankton for the night as had an early riseRead More →