Mark Fincher offers V-8 trike tours in New Zealand for a one-of-a-kind experience of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Photos by the author.

What do novelist Zane Grey, a Chevy V-8-powered trike, and the South Pacific nation of New Zealand have to do with each other" More than you might expect. 

Zane Grey, author of Riders of the Purple Sage and other American westerns, was also an avid angler. In 1925, he was invited by the New Zealand government to visit, in the hope that he would enjoy and promote the country?s fishing industry. The following year, Grey arrived with his entourage to the Bay of Islands, off the northeastern coast of New Zealand?s North Island. 

Author Zane Grey had a major impact on tourism in New Zealand.
Grey was blown away by the natural beauty and culture of New Zealand and chose Urupukapuka Island as a base, which put New Zealand?s game fishing on the global map, an influence that still resonates in the region?s tourist industry today. 

In Grey?s novels, the horse or the horse-drawn carriage was the main means of transport, but fast forward to the present, and the spirit of adventure that Grey epitomized finds a modern expression in Thunder Trike Tours, which provides a distinctive ? and exhilarating ? way for visitors to explore the scenic beauty and historical richness of the Bay of Islands. 

The company, based in the North Island port town of Paihia, offers tours in massive three-wheelers powered by 2...