Motorcycle Touring

DAY 13 WELLINGTON TO THE DE LAUTOUR FARM

We fill our days with side trips, note Moonshine Hill Road, a goat path that is paved for a minimum number of vehicles.  Our bikes can fit but it is tight when a car comes from the other direction.     We return to the main road and continue to farm country where we take another detour on very scenic and sweeper turn style roads.  We always time the farm visits to arrive after 5:00 PM as these are working farms and the people need some time to shift from their daily toil to hospitality.  Our hosts are Bay and Shona De Lautour, a gracious couple with deep routes in New Zealand and Europe.  They have a genealogy book showing their family back to 1099 and the crusades.  The first member of the family arrived in NZ about 1863.  The family has been involved in politics, farming and good will.  A large family gathering could bring in as many as 200.  This farm is a retirement farm of only 350 acres.  The original farm was several thousand acres on both islands.  Bay would fly his plane between the different locations to supervise his enterprise.  He continues to ply his skills on shearing sheep, tending the deer heard, processing velvet and many other daily activities of the farm.  At this stage he hires very little help but enjoys the life of the agri business.   The following morning we are treated to a delightful breakfast, some more great conversation and I showed them our website where they will be forevermore captured in our memory.  Just as I was pulling out of the driveway, Bay showed me a quicker way to get to our destination but my Harvey and Masa were unstoppable and went by the suggested route.  I beat them by 20 minutes as Bay said I would.  If you want the complete story on Deer Velvet, go to www.velvet.org.nz

De Lautour family w/Dick

Thomas w/tie.

RV NZ Style