From Red Dirt to South Island Roads

November has arrived, and this time we're writing from New Zealand.

We've swapped the red dirt of Western Australia for South Island roads, flying into Queenstown to reunite with the KTM and begin NZ TwoUp 2026. Before we hit the road, there are the familiar last-minute jobs — a little maintenance, checking everything over and one final repack of the bags.

After months of talking about the next adventure, today we're finally riding it.

Finishing October in Manjimup

Before leaving Australia, we had one more event on the calendar — the Manjimup Muster.

Following the Manjimup Trail Bike Hub grand opening earlier in October, it gave us another reason to head south and spend some time around the riding community before turning our attention towards New Zealand.

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  Camp set up at Fonty's Pool

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  Camp kitchen

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  Saturday at the Manji Muster

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  Fonty's Pool

Manjimup has featured heavily in our riding this year, from exploring and filming the Trail Bike Hub routes to supporting events and getting involved with the Hub itself.

The Muster was a fitting way to round out that part of the year before swapping our WA roads for something very different. Instead of riding, we spent the day supporting the Trail Bike Hub on site. It was great to meet & chat with so many riders, while providing a bit of tech support or trail chat.

The WA Outback story is complete

October also brought another chapter to a close.

The final episodes of our WA Outback TwoUp series are now live, which means the complete adventure can finally be watched from beginning to end.

What started in August as two people, one bike and two weeks exploring Western Australia became a journey through the wheatbelt, remote Outback roads, historic towns, red dirt and plenty of changing plans along the way.

We've gradually shared that story over the past few months, and it feels good to finally have the complete series together.

If you've been following each episode as it was released, thanks for coming along for the ride. The full WA Outback TwoUp playlist is now ready to watch from Day One.

With one adventure now completely told, the timing couldn't be better for another to begin.

NZ TwoUp 2026 Starts Today

We've flown into Queenstown and reunited with the KTM, which means the familiar pre-trip routine has been underway.

There are always a few jobs waiting when we arrive. A little maintenance & a permanent fix for the temporary patch on the kickstand sensor, checking everything over and, of course, the inevitable last-minute repack.

We've spent plenty of time travelling TwoUp on the KTM, so we know the bike and we know what works for us. It's simply a matter of getting everything back where it belongs and settling into travelling mode again.

Once that's done, there comes a point when the lists disappear and the preparation is finished.

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  Departure time

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  Air New Zealand plane at Perth airport

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  Hello South Island

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  Permanent fix after a temporary patch

Back on the South Island Roads

Today, we ride. There is something about those first kilometres of a new trip that never gets old. For weeks beforehand there are bookings, maps, packing, lists and all the small jobs that need to come together. Then the helmets go on, the intercoms connect and the focus becomes much simpler.

What's around the next corner? For NZ TwoUp 2026, we're heading out to explore more of the South Island roads we've come back to New Zealand to ride — two people, one KTM and another route waiting to unfold.

We have a plan. The weather might have different ideas.

Sometimes the roads you hadn't planned to ride, the places you hadn't expected to stop and the changes you make along the way become some of the best parts of the trip.

We'll see where this one takes us. NZ TwoUp 2026 starts here.