Today it will be the capital of New Zealand, the capital of moviemaking of the world (in my opinion), the home of Weta and Peter who created the Middle Earth. Sometimes I wonder what is the reason that sometimes the smallest of the countries take the cake in some fields – Japan in Electronics and motorcycle, New Zealand in movies. While some countries like Australia, who are huge in area and economy can’t hold a candle to either of these two countries in certain aspects. Why?
Continuing my journey in this compact bombshell of a country I started off from Gisborne and headed down to Napier and hit Dannevirke where I was passing by the main street when a signboard kept on the right sidewalk struck me. It said: “You just passed 8000 scale models”. I kept on riding for a hundred metres processing what I read and then turned back to see what it was all about. On the next corner there was this ordinary looking house with a board saying “Dave’s Models”. I was greeted by a weathered but enthusiastic man in his mid seventies. He led me into a room, a big room. I was astounded and speechless – all around me were thousands and thousands of scale models of all sorts of descriptions and sizes. Many of them were original Matchboxes, dating from 50’s right down to 90s. The approximate value of the models should be around a 100k NZD. I myself have a tad over 100 motorcycle models, so IU could only imagine how much time and money it must have taken. Time: 30 years, money : indeterminate. There were hardly any motorcycles, but there were lots of cars, buses, firetrucks, tractors and what not. I mentioned that I could have got him an three wheeler auto rickshaw model that runs in Delhi for his collection had I known…
He also told me that he didn’t like collecting the newer models for some reason. This was a treasure house of a whole life’s worth of effort and dedicated love towards scale models; I could see his love and affection for his collection. This is really something to look forward in one’s old age. I was touched and inspired myself to start a collection of something. I strongly suggest you pay a visit to him if you are passing through anywhere near this town.
I entered Lower Hutt via the Rimutaka ranges. The ranges are a fantastic place to ride for the Wellingtonians but one has to remember that Wellington is the windiest city in NZ, and that means something. In my last trip here the Concours 14 almost got knocked off parked by a wind gust, no kidding!
As I approached the Rimutakas there was a LED signboard cautioning the drivers of caravans (what about motorcyclists!) to take care because of high winds. How fast, I didn’t know until I actually caught in it! I was doing 20-30kmph in 2nd gear and holding on to my dear life taking turns in the ranges as I was hit by gales well over 100kph! It was one of the scariest rides of my life, an enemy which is invisible and which can be so strong! And enemy which is your life force too (you breath it in!) I could only imagine what must hurricanes be like.
So I did finally crossed over the Rimutakas and descending on earth at the Hutt Park.
The 2009 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th place in the world on its list. Of cities with English as the primary language, Wellington ranked fourth in 2007.[10] Of cities in the Asia Pacific region, Wellington ranked third (2009) behind Auckland and Sydney, Australia. Wellington is New Zealand’s political centre, housing Parliament and the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments, plus the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions that are based in New Zealand.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred more minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. The inhabitants, particularly those in high-rise buildings, typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings constructed in Wellington were made entirely from wood. (Source: Wikipedia)
In 1865, Wellington became the capital of New Zealand, replacing Auckland, but many people still think Auckland is the capital of NZ.
The next day I went to meetup with some KiwiRider members who were heading off to Martinborough via the Rimutakas for a Monday morning ride. I said Hi and took a customary photos and then returned back to update some blogs and meetup with The Dominion newspaper reporters who wanted to do an article on my roadtrip. (Here is the article which came out). You can also read my thread on the ride at KiwiRider here.
Photos:
It is hard to concentrate on the road when the scenery looks like this!
To Napier
This is a common sight in NZ (it is hay I suppose?)
And now Daves Den with 8000 models!:
The Rimutakas, see you cant see the 100kmph winds in photos!
Perhaps for good luck?
The Hutt Park Top 10 lodge post rains
A few of my own pics, thats not a paunch!
Owhiro Bay, Wellington:
With KiwiBikers in wellington
