my 4 months in New Zealand

so some of you may have noticed i haven't been around much these last few months, those of you on my Facebook will know that i went back to new zealand to work at the shop that i worked at the previous winter (their summer).

i took a lot of photos while i was there so i thought i'd share a bunch of them, i'll try and load them up chronologically and if you're really paying attention then you'll notice a full on king of cycling from the early days towards the end of the pictures i'll spread this over a few posts though.

first things first! butter chicken pie, it's sort of like a chicken tikka mossala in a pie
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

the inside of the shop Burkes Cycles, Wellington
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is Mark, enjoying one of the above pies! working on his own S Works Enduro
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

half of the clothing area in the shop
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

more of the clothing area
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this was my first job, building the shop demo bikes
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

finished!
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is the workshop beer fridge, we were upset as it was quite empty, although we had drunk through it to make it empty! and that's Tom by the way
NZ by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

blue sky summer!
IMG_4548 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

first offload ride, this is on the trail called Clinical, it's a climb up Aro Valley
IMG_4549 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this was the view from the deck of the first place i lived at, it's looking straight over Wellington, you can just see the sea in the centre of the picture and over to the right in the distance is Mount Victoria
IMG_4550 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

first day complete! beers were drunk! Bill 1/2 in shot, Jeremy, Mark, Tom on the right and Pete (the owner) behind him.
IMG_4552 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

nice one buddy, hope youve had just as much fun as the first trip

Build?? More like assembly!! :facepalm: Sounds like a good time was had by all.


I m not jealous at all, much prefer it to be sub zero and extremely muddy. :roll:

Re:

more pics!

so i took my Orange 5 again, same as last year, there were a few changes, the fork was replaced under warranty due to a creaky crown, and luckily they upgraded it! i fitted a thomson dropper post, the wheels were rebuilt with Stainless double butted spokes and brass nipples as the alloy nipples were dying after 6 months in Wellington last year, i also hate black spokes! also new chain/cassette and rings and tyres as i wore them all out last time i was there!
IMG_4557 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

beers at the top of Miramar before the downhill, not sure if that was a good idea but i didn't crash!
IMG_4559 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is the view between Miramar (on the right) and Hataitai on the left, Wellington airport is behind me
IMG_4573 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is the start of Jail brake, so called because the trail starts near an old unused prison in Miramar, there is also another trail called Solitary
IMG_4574 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

shop ride, looking towards the airport from Mount Victoria, riders are Dr Wong (yes he is a doctor), Pete, Jeremy, Elliot, Tom, Trev
IMG_4575 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is looking over Wellington from Aro Valley
IMG_4579 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

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this is Bill, he's the main shop "frontie" as in he works out front, he also plays and manages a couple of bands where he is the lead, this was at the Rogue and Vagabond in central Wellington, he's very good!
IMG_4603 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is Makara Peak, it was one of my favourite places to ride
IMG_4609 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is at the top of Makara Peak
IMG_4611 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

jeremy had a little buddy, a hedgehog!
IMG_4621 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

the shop demo Giant Trance
IMG_4627 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

i built the demo bikes so it was only fair that i got to ride them! i like the Trance, my only complaint is that i feel it's under forked because the back end feels really good so you hit stuff harder than you probably should for what the bike is aimed at.
IMG_4635 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is the War Memorial in the centre of Wellington
IMG_4661 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

back up at Makara Peak
IMG_4664 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

again at Makara Peak
IMG_4665 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

same place the next day from a different angle with another demo bike! again, really good bike, obviously it goes down well but i didn't find it a problem going up either, although as it turns out, i was still quicker on the same route on my Orange 5 against the Trance and the Reign for a route that has one massive climb and one big descent that takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes all in.
IMG_4680 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Nice! What do the Kiwis think of your Five?

Re:

Marks truck was the way to get us to riding spots!
IMG_4682 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

spotted an older Orange at the top of Makara Peak
IMG_4688 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is Tom and Jeremy (yes i know!) just starting the descent of "North Face" from the top of Makara Peak
IMG_4695 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

had to go see Star Wars while i was there, we went to the Roxy, which is owned by Peter Jackson, they had some Star Wars stuff on display
IMG_4755 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

jabba the hut
IMG_4756 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

yoda
IMG_4758 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this was actually my Christmas day ride with Shane from the shop, he's the IT guy! pretty handy on a bike aswel
IMG_4771 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Trail Fund NZ
IMG_4772 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Mark took me to the local Speed way, it was full of "Bogans" but was a really good night of seeing cars batter each other!
IMG_4780 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this was gift from a customer for sorting out his bike! i actually imported a part from the UK that wasn't available in NZ so he could keep riding his 20 year old Trek, it's about a $30 bottle of wine, which in NZ terms is a massive tip
IMG_4813 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Bollox64":3rnev1z0 said:

Nice! What do the Kiwis think of your Five?

Click to expand...

they take the piss a bit, mainly because it's single pivot and all the guys i worked with rode Specialised Enduro's or Stumpjumpers, that said they soon shut up when most of the time i'm first to the top of the climb! although usually they beat me down the hills as frankly everyone i ride with out there are very good technical riders.

they do like it though, it's more tongue in cheek piss take than anything else!

Re:

this is Mark on the climb up to Makara Peak, the tyre says "Butcher", it's how mark rides!
IMG_4821 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

my favourite riding place again, Makara
IMG_4823 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Roadtrip at New Year up to Taupo, this is Lake Taupo, it's a massive lake with a circumference of about 160km and it's warm due to being volcanic!
IMG_4852 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

the next day it pissed down though and we were supposed to be doing a big ride, we went out and still did about 35km up and down but it was hard going, this is Pete on his S works Enduro 29er, he loves that thing!
IMG_4869 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

again this is at Lake Taupo
IMG_4907 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

IMG_4908 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

on the way back we stopped at the military museum on the Desert road
IMG_4914 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is taken on my only road ride while i was there, a borrowed Cannondale, it's taken from Miramar looking back at Hataitai
IMG_4918 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

back on the "Clinical" climb
IMG_4938 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

riding is a Revelation
IMG_4943 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is fast becoming my motto
IMG_5024 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

back up at Miramar, notice the plane, it has just taken off from Wellington airport
IMG_5031 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

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pint with Elliot and Jeremy after work, this was also the same day that Elliot got attacked by a lawn mower
IMG_5049 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

me, Pete, Tom, Jeremy
IMG_5055 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

riding Aro valley with Bill (in red) and Daniel aka "bluebars"
IMG_5062 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

this is Bullys point at Lake Taupo, on the way to ride Rotorua with the guys from Specialized NZ with a special guest rider
IMG_5067 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

for this ride we stole the shop van to drive 6 hours north to Rotorua although this pic is taken on the way at Taupo at a riding spot called "craters of the moon" butit's shortened to just "Craters" by most people, i was riding a Stumpjumper 6fattie and Dan (aka Blubars) who is a good customer and friend was riding the Enduro, both were shop demo bikes and going to ride with the guys from Specialized i felt it was right to ride their brand, also this was my first ride on a 6fattie. frankly i liked it, not sure whether it was the FSR rear end or the tyres or a combination of both but i really liked the bike, not enough to give up my Orange though!
IMG_5068 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

IMG_5071 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

ok, so look really closely at the guy in the centre of this picture
IMG_5072 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Dan on the left, someone in the middle and me on the right, if you don't know who this is you should't be on this website!!
IMG_5075 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

on the way home, Lake Taupo at sunset
IMG_5079 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr