Last-minute repairs while meeting the locals

Friday April 30, 2010

The last light danced on the ice floes in the harbour. A solitary rowing crew made frosty work out on the water as we finished our glasses at the diplomatic function for the New Zealand Ambassador to Russia.

The Russian dignitaries had long since left and only New Zealanders remained. The conversation turned to my blog, which some of the diplomatic staff had read.

"Make sure you use your blog to promote New Zealand investment opportunities in Vladivostok. Give it a good hard push," I was told.

Russian soil beneath our wheels

Saturday April 24, 2010

I expected my entrance to Russia to be a grand affair. Not that I imagined we would receive an official welcome, or that the townsfolk would crowd around to shower us with gifts, but I guess I assumed I would expertly disembark from the Dong Chun ferry at full speed, perhaps on one wheel, bravely riding into a howling blizzard, Russian border guards in awe of this mysterious figure on a motorbike.

So when I finally wheeled my bike off the ferry, sweaty and tired from pushing it over the corrugated metal surface, I felt a little embarrassed.

My bike wouldn't start.

When Plan B kicks in...

Friday April 16, 2010

I realised Plan A was out of the picture at exactly the same moment I realised I was going to collide with the car in front of me.

I didn't have much time to reflect on this, as I was travelling at 70km/h on a busy Auckland motorway. The inevitable clunk of metal on metal rang in my ears. I was propelled over my handlebars in an arching somersault and thrown down with a thud onto the hard tarmac.

Somehow, though, in the few seconds it took to go from placid riding position to prone lying position,

Incredible journey

By Joanna Hunkin (NZ HERALD)

It's an easy mistake to make. Anyone who has learnt to ride a motorbike will tell you, hill starts are not an easy business. You just need to twist the accelerator a little too hard and ... Vroom. You're up on one wheel.

Fortunately, when Rob Gray learned this lesson, he was just out of sight of the Suzuki dealership where, just moments before, he had picked up his shiny new, sponsored motorbike.

Still, the dealership staff must have suspected something was amiss when Gray and his friends, also collecting their new bikes, couldn't work out how to start them.