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The Muster- Mo Topham: Rural Riders · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: But you know I seen her in.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Her uptown world.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the muster.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: The Southland Rural Support Trust, they're doing some events this
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: week to coincide with the SBS Bank Tour of Southland.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: Their coffee shouts happening tomorrow at Groper's Bush, then again
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: on Friday at Woodland School. But as well, Rural Riders
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: is back underway for 2026 Wednesday evenings. Mo Topham's on
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: the line to give us a rundown on Rural Riders
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: and what to expect.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: G'day Mo, good to chat.
• 0:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks for having me Andy. Um, Yeah, a bit
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: different to the old tour of Southland, but your Rural
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: Riders is on again in Southland.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: This is our third season, which is pretty cool.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Did you think your last three seasons with the initiative?
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: I really like the initiative. It's been such a cool
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: thing to be involved with, getting farmers off farm and
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: talking farming but not on a farm, and also meeting
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: some people with some like-minded interests.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: It's been good. We've been seeing some of our rural
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: riders off at races further north, which has been really cool.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: This isn't just a Southland initiative, though. Is this nationwide?
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there are 13 groups throughout the country, but we've
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: got two groups in Southland.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: So we've got a group that.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Alternates every Wednesday night between the Oat Perry Hall and
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: Sandy Point. And then there's also a group that's meeting
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: monthly up at Waikāia and doing those new tracks in
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: the Waikāia forestry up there. It's a beautiful track. It's
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: definitely worth getting up there.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: So what can people expect when they turn up to
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Rural Riders?
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: So the event is free. We ask people to register
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: before they come along, just from a health and safety perspective.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: and to make sure we've got enough food for the
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: barbecue at the end. But once people get there, we
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: divide up into groups depending on how far.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: People want to go and what sort of speed.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: They want to do. And then we go off and
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: have a bike ride out at Otapiri. That's a gravel ride,
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: and it's absolutely stunning out there. And then down at
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: Sandy Point, we're out on the mountain bike tracks and
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: just go and have a bit of fun for an
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: hour or so and then come back for a barbecue
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: and a catch-up.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: And what time do you start?
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: 6.30 on a Wednesday night.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: And there's been good numbers?
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, excellent numbers.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: So anywhere from 15 to 25, and within that we
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: have a lot of people who are coming back each week.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: It's part of their social calendar now.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: And that's the important thing about these events, I suppose, Mo,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: is encouraging farmers to get off farm. It's been a
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: grind over the spring. We don't need to go back
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: over that, but this is just an outlet for people
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: if they want it.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Oh, definitely.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: It was absolutely fantastic to get back into it this year,
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: particularly after that wonderful spring we all endured. And everyone said,
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: you know, it's just so good to be back out
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: on a bike, chatting away to friends that we've made
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: through the rural riders and being able to reconnect again.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: So this will happen through the summer, I'd imagine?
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we'll take a break for Christmas and New Year's,
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: but we'll be back into it in about mid-January.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: And as one of those events as well, like you say,
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: it's a great chance for people to go and do
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: something different. Have you thought about doing mountain biking to
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: go along? Obviously, taking your own bike, I suppose, is
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: a prerequisite.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, everyone has brought their own bike, but there are
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: a lot of people within the group who have multiple bikes.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: So if someone wants to come along and they don't
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: have a bike of their own, get in touch with
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: us and we'll see what we can do.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so good. So what are the details for tonight
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: that people need to know?
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: So tonight we're out at Sandy Point.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: So it starts at.
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: 6.30 from the main car park that's out there. To
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: register and for any other information, I recommend people.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Go to the website, which is forfarmers.co.nz. And you'll see at.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: The top there, there's a Rural Riders tab, and just
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: click into there, and it's got the information for our group,
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: the Otopiri Sandy Point One, but it also has the
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: information for the Waikāia group, along with all the phone
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: numbers of the organisers. So if anyone has any questions
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: or queries, just get in touch with us.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Yourself, Mo, you do quite a bit of bike riding?
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, never enough, Andy, and certainly not at the Tour
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: of South One type level. But I enjoy getting out
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: for an adventure and seeing some new countryside. And if
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: you can do that in good company, then you're on
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: to a winner, aren't you?
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Hey, good on you, Mo.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: It's always great to hear of these things that are
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: continuing and that aren't just one season wonders as such.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: So like you say, get on board there. Go and
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: turn up at Sandy Point tonight. Good to catch up.
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: Awesome. Thank you, Andy.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: Mo Topham, on behalf of Rural Riders, of course, Southland
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Rural Support Trust, 0800 787 254. There is always somebody
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: at the other end of the phone if you need
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: to have a conversation. Remembering as well, tomorrow, Groper's Bush
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: for the SBS Bank Tour of Southland Coffee Shout and
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: 6th of November, which is Friday, funnily enough, at Woodlands School.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Up next, before we wrap up, Jaden Henderson.