A Hawke's Bay motorcycling buff who honed his love of the two-wheel machines as a youngster watching the Isle of Man TT has been identified as New Zealand's first road fatality of the New Year.
Norman John Lessells, 52, of Havelock North, died in Hawke's Bay Hospital on Thursday afternoon, soon after his admission following a collision with a light truck during a day-trip to Taihape and back.
Mr Lessells was born in Scotland and moved with his family to the Isle of Man when he was about 13, said wife Alison, whom he met while travelling in Africa about 27 years ago.
He first came to New Zealand in 1989 when they married, but the couple had then travelled abroad again, including more time in Africa where they worked on a water and sanitation project at Tabora, Central Tanzania.
The couple returned to New Zealand about 15 years ago, Mrs Lessells works mainly in aged-care nursing, and they have a teenaged son, Andrew.