>>Akatarawa's (Waikanae Beach to Hut) is marvellous. Used to be mainly >>gravel (which MR2 may dislike due to clearance) but now mostly >>sealed. >>Literally lock to lock for 20 + km. > IIRC when the Rally of NZ used this route back in the late 1960's > Andy Cowan > started off from the Hutt Valley end about the 5th starter, in a > Mini, and > was first out the other end. He was one of my favoutites. Asked if he had indeed put his mini into reverse at 80 mph he said something like "You stand on the brakes and lock up all the wheels, then you put the car into reverse, stand on the throttle and feed in the clutch. Sooner or later it's got to start going backards." > Others I like is the highway that goes down the western side of Lake > Taupo. > didn't use to have anything like the traffic the SH1 does. Don't > know what > it is like now though. Too boring for my liking - mainly farmland, no view of lake, too fast a road. > Napier-Taupo road is a lot of fun. It's good. But Napier Taihape is MUCH better. Not recommended for caravans :-) RM -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist