the lineup - Mags and Norman Ma-
gowan who are better known in the
moto travel world as Adventures in
Yellow
(www.adventuresinyellow.
com). This inspiring pair and their
bright yellow sticker encrusted steeds
have touched all the major continents
traversing 150,000km of the world
from Chile to Alaska, England to New
Zealand, between two trips totaling
five years on the road. A short time
spent talking with them face to face
gave me a wonderful boost to my long
term travel plans, helping me realise
that traveling the world over multi-
ple years is entirely possible, in a way
that talking to other adventure riders
online was never able to do. Thank
you guys!
Over the hill creeping up onto Fare-
well Spit it felt like I had been trans-
ported to another planet. Lush green
landscapes fell away, jagged coastline
disappeared, golden sandy beaches
evaporated to be replaced by a com-
bination of the Sahara desert, and the
moon. Walking up the inside of the
Spit on the Golden Bay side was a typ-
ical beach at home; hard packed sand
scattered with shells or rocks and var-
ious birds and crustaceans bouncing
in and out of sight. Then you make the
turn to cross to the outside coast, and
in 20 steps find yourself in the middle
of sand dunes as far as the eye can see,
until you cross another dune and are
instantly in a marshy oasis. Hiking up
and out of the tropics, you cross a last
dune and find yourself in a desolate
moonscape with the only signs of life
being dead trees scattering the beach
as wind whips the sand across your
skin. While not the most comfort-
able experience moving from hot and
sticky to extremely exfoliated, the en-
tire experience was truly unique and a
highlight of the area.
Next up on my lap of the island
was winding down the West Coast to
Punakaiki, where the hostel was a
fantastic change from waking up to a
frosty tent. Right on the ocean Chris-
TRAVERSE 96
tine offered a spectacular array of
mouth-watering baking and a wealth
of friendly advice and knowledge of
the area. Following her suggestion,
and tide tables, I headed off through
the beachfront national park which
may have been the inspiration for Ju-
rassic Park.
I was originally intending a few
days enjoying the beach and the coast
before running off towards the moun-
tains and Franz Josef glacier, but a
quick glance at the weather forecast
showed winter was arriving to the
passes and I needed to get moving.
Within the first half hour of riding
down the coast the weather decided
to change from summer to fall as the
skies went black and opened up trying
to drown me as I rode. Miserable and
rolling through Greymouth I remem-
bered some advice that the Monteiths
Brewery was a nice stop, so I took a
small break and hid from the rain with
a tour, a red ale, and a snack. Realising
the weather wasn’t improving quickly,