Day 2

Saturday 19 November

Here link to Families Commissions South Island White Ribbon Ride pictures: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/media/set/?set=a.10150416655819921.380208.145588134920&type=1

The birds woke me up at 5am. But that was OK as the concrete had by then lost it's nice warmth. And as the sun was just below the horizon it was probably time to get up.

Slowly all riders started to dribble out of their cabins and I met some familiar faces. The start was to be 9.30am and our next stop would be Kaikoura.

I went to get some brekkie from the petrol station: Pie, bread and a can (or two...) of V. And the paper. Front page news about old people in Christchurch loosing their $300K home in the retirement villages as the village was now in the red zone. And as retirement villages are businesses there is no government payment for the owners. Sad.

As I was sitting in the kitchen I had a chat with Paul, originally from England. I explained to him what the White Ribbon Ride was about. And he told me about his childhood where his parents had screaming matches most days. He was now 55 and a single man. Never had a lengthy relationship. And his sister was the same. Neither had children. It was clear to Paul why this was: they both hated what a relationship, to them, was all about. And they did not want to be there. Their parents had shaped their lives by their actions.

We rode to the War Memorial in Blenheim where we took some pictures and then to do some mingling.
Some local riders had joined us and we were now approx 20 bikes.

The handsom bunch!

We then split up and half of us stayed in Blenheim for the event and half of us rode to Kaikoura for the event there. When we arrived and parked up a two man band played "Born to be wild". And they sounded pretty good! (Peter Fonda would have approved!)

If you closed your eyes it was like you were there...

The local children did their welcome for us and then a group of ladies marched around our bikes blowing their red whistles. (Whistles are a important part when working with abused females. If you have someone who is abusing you one things you should do is blow the whistle. If this is in public it is a sure way to get attention, if it is at home, the neighbours will know what is happening. I was honestly thinking they tried to get rid of some bad spirits...)

I was told that Kaikoura does not have a womens refuge or a organisation focusing on the issue, but it is a combined effort in town where many of the organisations work together.

The children loved the opportunity to sit on the bikes and there was a bunch of photos taken with big smiles on their faces.

Wazzup!!

Chris from Rolling Thunder turned up, and his 2010 winner of the Sporty competition for the HD shops in Australia and New Zealand, "The Bomber", was also there (now owned by Sandy). After first been told that all the sheet metal on the bike was genuine steel from an old war plane, it turned out that the closest to that was that the rivets are genuine ones used on planes. The guards had the rivets through the metal, but the tank had the sheets glued on as the chance of the holes for the rivets causing leaks was too big.

The Bomber

After filling up we headed for Christchurch and a visit to Rolling Thunder in town. The ride was without events, apart from half of the riders getting lost after a red light stop. But eventually they all found the place. This was the first visit for me to Christchurch after the earthquakes. You see it all on TV and in the papers. But nothing can prepare you for the real devastation. Where there once was homes and shops is now empty spots, there is closed roads, fencing all over to stop you from going in to dangerous places, the roads are a mess with cones, holes and detours, sidewalks have big cracks in them and there is an eerie quietness in town. I have no idea how they are ever gong to get this city to get back on its feet.

Two ladies from Christchurch Women’s Refuge came to meet us at the bike shop. I had a good chat with them, and they told me that the violence against women had gone up heaps after the earthquake. Also the severity of the violence. Their take on it was that the males struggled to cope with the change, the loss of work, loss of income and loss of homes. Add more alcohol use to the picture and the outcome is a sad one.

First bike repair done: A HD with floorboards (Colins) and toe/heal shifter had stripped its shaft for the shifter. After some trial and error the gap in the clamp was made wider by hacksawing and so the leaver could be tightened up properly and we were back on the road. (Crappy metal! The teeth just peeled off!).

Then it was picture time and all HD's were put in front of the shop...

The three outcast sports bikes... ;-)

After getting lost twice we found the accommodation and got sorted for the night.

Travel today: 300km’s