Canscoot Show Weekend Ride 14-16 Nov - by Nicki Trevathan of Dunedin

L-R: Paul, Valerie, Nicki and Terry- a pre-Oamaru pause and coffee

By Nicki Trevathan 9am Thursday 11 November saw four hardy scooterists leaving Dunedin Botanical Gardens to take part in the annual Canscoot Rally. Paul and Valerie Dyer on their 300cc Vespa, Terry Clapham on his GTS 250cc, and Nicki Trevathan on her GTS 250.

By the time we arrived in Oamaru it was to shed all the thermal linings in our biking gear- and then try to find somewhere to store it! Our packs looked remarkably small really with Paul and Valerie going to stay with family on the way and Terry and I with our tents,sleeping bags and air beds!! Opihi river for a lunch stop and on to Christchurch where we split up - Terry

9 and I were staying in Lincoln Road, Paul and Valerie going to a motor camp for the night. It was great to meet with familiar faces at Toby's for the Pre Rally BBQ. Paul and Valerie arrived too so it was great for them to meet some of the people I had talked about. (I was the only one from Dunedin who had been on one of these Rallies before, and after showing the Dvd's to the others and talking hard we made a good team.) Prunes arrived just before we left and was able to give us the new T shirts.

It was off to bed early as we had to leave at 8am the next morning. It was still very warm (27°C) and the first time I ever heard the fan start on the Vespa was as we were driving into Christchurch.

We were the first to arrive at the restaurant in Rangiora and had almost finished eating when we heard the magical tones of different motors coming in to town! I was watching the other's faces and it was great to see the excitement in their eyes when it all just happened! All shapes and sizes of bikes and one even with a coffee machine "bungeed "onto the back carrier. Amazingly, there was an Nzeta (complete with new motor and large orange cushion as extra padding for the seat.) There was much talking and admiring of bikes. Then we were off in bunches according to cc'age of scoots. Lunch in Culverden, then on to Springs Junction. The scenery was amazing with snow still on the mountains and also with rain clouds appearing but magically vanishing with no dampness at all. So different from last years rally. There was a slight mishap with a disconnected water hose, but someone was able to back track to Culverden for a hose clip. Then it was Earls' turn when his drive belt snapped. He was gutted to see his bike loaded onto the trailer.

Paul and Valerie slipped away to stay with a relative and we hoped to meet up the next morning. We pitched tents at the camp at Murchison We were offered 50c towards a shower at the camp so I am not sure if that was standard practise or we were a bit stinky. Then back into town for a meal with the others. First time for this tent for me and I was really happy with it. An enjoyable meal, and then a text to Paul to let him know which way we planned to come through the next day. There were several choices! And Paul missed us by about 3 minutes at Belgrove. However he carried on to Blenheim after a great lunch in Nelson at Lambrettas.

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A great nights sleep with the trees rustling - I wasn't sure if it was rain or just wind. After packing up and zooming into town there was quite a bit of talk about which way to go. In the end we zapped to St Arnaud but after this we took a wrong turning and missed the road to Motueka that we really wanted to go on. We had to turn back when apparently we were almost in Richmond! I had to do frantic texts to my son and family who were meeting with us at Lambretta Cafe for lunch. We weren't the only ones to take a wrong turning either. By the time we arrived at the cafe most had gone on! But lunch was great. Paul at this stage had left his wife with family in Nelson and carried on to Blenheim.

We stopped briefly in Havelock where we met up with most of the others. A fantastic drive round Queen Charlotte Drive - a bit of a challenge with some very tight corners. Terry and Ginni had waited for me in Picton as all the others had gone on. Ginni left us to stay with friends at Spring Creek. Arriving at camp, it was a bit of a challenge to get the tents up in the wind. Paul was ready to go for a meal with us at a Thai cafe. It was still very warm - just t shirt and shorts. We had a prizegiving which was fun. We said our goodbyes as the others were heading off fairly early back to Christchurch or North Island. Terry and I backtracked to Richmond where

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