Three mates, small motorbikes and a 3400km road trip up and down the country — it may be crazy, but has the hallmarks of a very Kiwi adventure.
For father and son duo Shane and Jared Laurence, and friend Geoff Haywood, riding their ‘‘postie bikes’’ from Ruakaka, about 30km south of Whangārei in Northland, to Millers Flat is their kind of fun.
It was the third time the trio had made the journey to take part in the annual Central Otago Postie Bike Rally.
The rally, a fundraiser for the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust (OGHT), saw 60 ‘‘postie bikes’’ and other motorcycle and scooter models with engine sizes between 50cc and 150cc travel at a not-so-fast pace along a 300km circuit.
After a hearty breakfast in Millers Flat at the weekend, riders made their way up to Lake Onslow then headed to Patearoa and Naseby, before returning to Millers Flat via Serpentine.
‘‘I guess the Postie Bike challenge is something we’ve always been interested in . . . in Australia and New Zealand . . . and having one here is really cool,’’ Jared said.
‘‘Coming down here and seeing some pretty awesome country we don’t usually get to experience, and it’s all about motorbikes and . . . the people that come along with these little motorcycles really make it all worthwhile.’’
The trip across the country was as much of the appeal as the rally itself, he said.
‘‘It’s always an adventure travelling with these guys . . . trying to get on the ferry — we don’t plan any of this — there’s no plan that goes with it, a lot of it is just winging it.’’
There was nothing like the Postie Bike Rally in Northland, so the journey south was a great adventure for the trio, Shane said.
‘‘This is our third year, so we’re getting good at it,’’ he said.
‘‘Postie bike’’ is the name given to the Honda CT110 due to its long time use by New Zealand Post and Australia Post as a delivery vehicle.
While Honda discontinued the CT110 in 2013, and the model is no longer used by New Zealand and Australian posties, the bike has developed a cult following throughout pockets of the world.
OGHT treasurer Odette Hopgood said the first Postie Bike Rally was held three years ago and the trust tweaked it to work around the Cavalcade host town each year.
‘‘What we do as the OGHT is when we go to a town for the Cavalcade we like to do some heritage work and the Postie Bike Rally, so then we invest ourselves for the whole 12 months [in that area].’’
A heritage site review and the trust’s annual meeting were also held in the town, with the rally being the final event, she said.
