Great advice, thanks guys. Nokia and view ranger it is then.

I met some guys guiding in Whistler last summer and when the snow hits Canada they all jump on a plant to NZ. Queenstown to be specific. I think they worked for a company called bearback biking or something. I also met a few Kiwis out there and from what they say its a real outdoor mecca. I don't think they have the same kind of watered down, way marked trail centres like us but they do have a hell of a lot of wilderness and real mountains.

Try the wide SKS race blades. Their like cut down full mud guards that attach to the forks and seatstays with rubber straps.