Why can't our early-stage HER2+ women get the treatment they need?

We're On The Road!!!

We set off from Wellington being waved off from TePapa, and huge thanks go to them for their welcome and assistance in getting back out again.

Visit TePapa, people! Its awesome!

Imagine Max's surprise and delight when Gary and Ann from We Do Websites popped up to wave us all off too! That was very cool! Totally accidental, but cool nonetheless.

We made it to Palmerston North after an awesome ride, with some escorts to keep us company, and were hosted for lunch by the Taranaki Breast cancer support team! HUGE thanks go to Sue Fuller and her team for hosting us so very nicely, and it was a real privilege for us to meet with some of the breast cancer survivors who were on hand to welcome us and provide a very yummy lunch.

After lunch, we set off again and made it to New Plymouth in good time, in spite of one rider with bike problems. We all convened at Morrieson's cafe in Hawera before heading off to the motel, so big thanks to Shazz for arranging that for us. Unfortunately we were behind schedule and missed the reporter, but Shazz interviewed Max anyway and will pass the notes along...
After our arrival in New Plymouth at the Saddle and Sulky Motor Inn, we all ended up going out together for dinner to the Stumble Inn, which was wonderful but most of us were pretty tired so it was an early one for most.

We hit the road again in just under an hour for Waitomo, for lunch, then onto Auckland. We are still meeting at Sky City as there is apparently a big contingent of people there who its too late to cancel so we'll go anyway, even though the jump can't go ahead, and we MAY still get onto the telly anyway, in spite of the blow-out of the jump.

We can get past this, its a minor hiccup, its not our fault, and we'll just carry on.

Looking forward to another exciting day. We've been lucky with the weather so far, the clouds have been kind.

See you on the road, maybe! Give us a toot!

Day Two

Today we left New Plymouth later than expected owing to one of our riders having to buy a new bike in the morning. His bike died yesterday (day 1!) so the quickest solution was a newby. So we got to Waitomo a little late and then had problems with the back-up vehicle overheating. That sorted, we rolled into Auckland in time to get to Sky City, where we had a lovely welcome from the girls from the Breast Cancer Aotea Coalition, a few KB'ers, and from Sky City themselves, who were absolutely lovely (they have nothing to do with SkyJump, who, remember, have let us down hugely). The Sky City people allowed us to congregate right near their front doors, and they gave us free hot chocolate and free passes up to the very top level of Sky Tower. Max was interviewed by TV1 who then decided that the twister story took precedence over breast cancer, and the interview wasn't shown. Max was a bit relieved, as helmet hair doesn't look so great on National television, but it was a damn shame, and pretty hard to work out the prioritising of whichever clown it was at TV1 that decided that the breast cancer issue should take a back seat to an off-shore tornado. I guess it had to have been a man. Maybe one that doesn't like breasts. Is there such a man? Well, maybe...

So it was another blow for the cause, which we are all trying so hard to promote, but we are all in very good spirits, and tomorrow we head to Tauranga. The weather is meant to be nice, so we're all looking forward to the ride.

Day Three

A large contingent of suppoerters met us at the All Seasons Ellerslie, and we set off for Tauranga, after gassing up at the nearby Caltex. While the more experienced riders were all very keen to do it, some less experienced team members expressed deep reservations about the Coromandel stretch. A tactical decision was made, in the interests of keeping the group together and not having any riders nervous or uncomfortable, and we took the inland route to Whangamata instead. It was, after all, supposed to be about fun, and not an ordeal! The burger shop on the main street corner in Whangamata served the nicest chicken burgers on the planet.

It was a fantastic ride, the scenery was awesome, we had great weather, not much in the way of road works, and we got to Tauranga in time to jump in the motel pool while the sun was still on it. We had a good splash around, and it was totally charming to see grown men (who shall remain nameless) reverting to behaving like adolescents let loose in swimming pool heaven! We all had a poolside barbecue, with some of the supporters who'd ridden relay with us deciding to stay the night before heading back to Auckland in the morning. Everyone chipped in for food and drink, and it was a really great way to spend Saturday night.

The Where's Rupert Challenge has been handed out, everyone looks thoroughly mystified as to the whereabouts of the intrepid tartan trousered traveller, and it will be interesting to see how the team members do...

There's a great prize up for grabs for the team player with the most correct answers. Vacant stares into space and shakings of heads aside, I'm hopeful we will have a winner at the end.

Day Four

This morning a few bleary eyed riders emerged, courtesy of a few too many glasses/bottles/nips of various evil poisons imbibed the previous night, and we all loaded up again for our foray into Tauranga's Bravo Restaurant, where the local Breast Cancer Support Team was hosting us for brunch. Having Sunday brunch in a nice restaurant is ALWAYS a great thing to do, and today was no exception. We rode in with plenty of noise, turning plenty of heads as we parked up in the walkway outside the restaurant, to a very warm welcome from the Tauranga crew.

The people were awesome, the food was great, the coffee was even better, and lots of local people rocked up to ask us who we were and what we were doing, admire our machines, talk about their own bike-related dreams and memories, buy t-shirts and donate to our "Dollars For Susan" buckets.

It was just great to meet the Tauranga Support people and some of the breast cancer survivors who live in the area.

After brunch was over, we said our farewells and all set off in different directions, with different ideas of how we were going to spend our free day. The plan was to all just turn up at our motel in Opotiki by nightfall. Some of us did a cafe trail, meandering our way thru Te Puke etc, at our leisure. Most of us also stopped off at various times at Thumpers, a fab biker cafe in Whakatane, for bike tweaking and lunch, and some of the riders we met there rode a ways with us to Opotiki.

It was another great day weather-wise, and some of us were in Opotiki by mid-afternoon. A couple of the riders went to Taupo and Rotorua, Huka Falls etc, and had a great day putting their bikes through their paces.

The motel has a spa pool and a regular pool, so some of us have dipped in there. A few have gone to the Irish Bar in the town for some food, but some were craving something a little more healthy and bought cooked chickens, salad etc from the local supermarket and made meals at the motel.

A couple of the bikes needed a bit of TLC, but it was nothing too major, and was soon sorted out. We're all looking forward to heading down the East Cape tomorrow, and we're praying for sunshine. So far we've been incredibly lucky with the weather. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Day Five

This was the big ride around the East Cape, which we had all been really, really looking forward to doing. Most of us hadn't done that Pacific Highway, and everyone had heard that it was one of the top twenty roads in the world for scenery. Some of the riders were a little nervous, as there was a big gap between towns, and the road wasn't exactly straight, but all of us wanted to see that wonderful part of the country, so we set off bright and early after a big top up at the last Caltex station for over a hundred miles. We filled the fuel containers too, just in case! and set off on turned out to be a fantastic day weather-wise. So far we have been amazingly lucky with the weather.

Hicks Bay was very much a one-horse town, and much smaller than we expected. We kinda thought we'd stop there for lunch but, as charming as the place was, it didn't have much to offer foodwise, so we pressed on, and had a bit o' lunch at the next town down, Te Araroa, which wasn't much bigger but provided good parking and a good store to purchase goodies. It was right on the beach. We were all impressed by how friendly everyone was along the way. From there we rode on down to Tokomaru Bay, through stunning scenery, through winding roads that gave us the most stunning views of the coast imaginable, and we hugged the coastline for much of the way. It was an amazing ride.

We pulled into the sleepy, beautiful, coastal town of Tokomaru Bay to be greeted by Mavis Wylie (a HER2+ breast cancer survivior who had re-mortgaged her home to pay for her treatment). Mavis and a group of other extraordinary women had hung pink balloons on the fence, and had put together the most magnificent afternoon tea for us in the local village hall. Theey were so incredibly welcoming to us, it was a very humbling experience. Mavis had also arranged a journalist and photographer from the Gisborne Herald to interview some of us and take some photos for the following day's edition.

After leaving Tokomaru Bay, we headed for Gisborne, our destination for the day. We arrived there pretty much on schedule and hauled in to the motel, which was easy to find. Some of us went for a wander around to get our local bearings, find out where the Caltex service stations were, and generally relax. After a recce by Max and Kerry, who found a lovely restaurant down by the pier, most of us ended up going out to dinner together. It was a fun, relaxing evening, and everyone agreed that as motorcycle rides go, it had been a day we'll never forget. And, as far as meeting incredible people goes, it was simply the best!

We've heard some incredible stories of courage and loss as we've made our way around the North Island, and it has been a real privilege to meet some of the brave people who have shared their stories with us.

Day Six

The ride to Masterton today has been fraught with challenges. After a barbecue bacon and egg brekkie at the motel we set off in good spirits, but later than planned, owing to a rider having to get a new tyre for her bike before we could depart. Max's bike then mysteriously died on the way to Napier (which Kerry assured her was temporary), but then the truck died, spectacularly, in the middle of nowhere, with a cracked head - with Max's bike in the trailer. Max called ahead for help in an area where there was no mobile phone coverage, so she had to leave messages and wait for someone to come back. She rode pillion, first with Kerry, then with Mike, as far as the outskirts of Masterton at a lay-by festooned with pink ribblons and balloons, where the fragmented team finally had chance to regroup. Then Max was transferred to riding pillion with Mayor Gary McPhee, and we all rode into the town with an accompanying entourage of around thirty motorcycles, to the champagne reception being held for us all at the Solway Copthorne. The Cancer Society tent was there, and so were the local press, the Hotel staff were there to greet us, and after a long day battling stong winds through Danniverk, at high speeds to get there in time after all the delays,it was the best welcome anyone could wish for. We were only half an hour late! There was champagne, food, speeches, support, and a generally happy atmosphere. All the riders were exhausted, as the pressure created by the events of the day had taken their toll. But everyone enjoyed the reception, and the only shadow was the fact that the truck was stranded in Napier, with the driver, who sadly didn't make it to the party. God bless that lovely man, he rolled into Masterton, dead on his feet, in a hired van, amid no fanfare at all, at 1.30 the following morning.

All thanks go to the Solway Copthorne, who really pushed the boat out for us, gave us all free accommodation, the best party we could have hoped for and, with the help of the Wairarapa Cancer Society and the local motorcycling community, they showed us just how community spirited the Masterton people really are.

Day Seven - D Day!!!

We said goodbye to the amazing team at the Solway Copthorne in Masterton after breakfast and after the Riders' poker hand draw, and after Kerry had got Max's bike going... YAY! We left town in an impressive convoy of around 40 bikes, and headed for Wellington. The ride over the Rimutakas was scary for some, fun for others and challenging for all, with those little wind gusts that kept snatching at us as we made our way around the tight bends. The feared rain didn't show itself, and at the other side, with no mishaps to report, we regrouped and headed for the Old Hutt Road Caltex station, the site of our first step forward with our first tank of diesel for the back-up truck donated for free from our fabulous sponsors. We're sold on Caltex, people!

We marked time for a few minutes there, as we'd had such a good run that we were well ahead of schedule, then we set off for Parliament. After a loud lap through town, to get people noticing us, we rode into the grounds of Parliament, and what a thrill that was for us all! TV and press cameras were everywhere, peaceful protestors with placards waved from behind the barriers, politicians came scuttling out of their offices to see what all the noise was about, and we got off our bikes to the warmest welcome imaginable, from all those Wellington people who had come out in support of us.

It was fantastic. Chris Walsh, the Spokesperson for the Herceptin Heroines, acted as MC and speeches were given by long-time Herceptin campaigner Anne Hayden, Nicola Russell (who lost her child to cancer at the same time as she was trying to finance her own Herceptin treatment), Associate Health Minister Stevie Chadwick, Herceptin Riders Organiser Maxine Cook (our leader), and her partner Kerry Purvis. We delivered our petition, and made our mark.

We did what we set out to do. We had a fantastic week away, riding through some of the best scenery in the whole country, and we made the politicians take notice of the voice of the New Zealand people.

After the fuss had all died down, and after we'd had our fifteen minutes of fame, we all piled across to the Back Bencher to have some lunch, and to reflect on how successful the whole event had been. After that, we said our goodbyes and all headed off in different directions, towards home.

What a week! What a fantastic, successful venture. We like to think that we did the New Zealand community proud in standing up, as best we could, and telling this government that New Zealand does not want or deserve to be among the third-world countries that refuse to provide realistic access to cancer drugs.

Was it worth doing? Absolutely definitely, for more reasons that can be listed here. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Will we? If we have to, yeah. You betcha!!!