Tackling the Monkey A winter’s tale
WORD GOT OUT THAT NEW ZEALAND’S iconic Brass Monkey winter rally would reach its final 40th run this year. One could call this event the equivalent of the famous German Elephant Rally, but based in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite this, declining attendance numbers, high compliance costs and the original founders not getting any younger saw the organisers calling it quits. The first rally attracted 350 faithful patrons, with attendance peaking to 5000 in 1990 and levelling to 1050 in 2018. I always thought about one day doing the Monkey and 2021 would be the year, for its final swansong.
I set off from the South Island’s city of Christchurch on Friday, June 4 for the first 300km (186 miles), heading south. The sun was shining for about the first 10 miles but then I set
