Monday, June 23, 2008

Part 3 - Wellington to Dunback

We were (all 11 of us) looking forward to catching the ferry and going to the South Island. The roads are great and there is so much less traffic plus the scenery is great. It is much more relaxed than to the North. As we had a very short day planned (in case of hangovers) everyone was laid back and not in too much of a hurry to do anything. Come departure time the girls, (Beate, Josie and Maree) decided that they would head off first so that they weren’t holding anybody up on the windy road into Wellington. I went with Tim, Hugh and Marty and wouldn’t you know it Tim got us a wee bit lost and we ended up in downtown Wellington so Marty took over using his hunter gatherer skills and we eventually found ourselves at a set of traffic lights leading to the ferry terminal. Only trouble was the right turn arrow wasn’t working so after sitting through a couple of changes we just had to turn on the red. Lynn,
Deane and Phil arrived soon after but no sign of our friend Hutch. We found ourselves a corner and settled back to enjoy the cruise. Hutch arrived soon after so we were all present and correct. After a perfect crossing, highlighted by seeing a
pod of dolphins we disembarked in Picton about 4.30 and headed off to Blenheim and to friends Roy and Sue who were putting us up for the night. Marty and I were the only ones who knew where they lived so it was to be a follow the leader ride to our destination. All went well till the group got separated at some manned road works, but the tour leader didn’t realize this and only a party of 4 arrived. A phone call was received soon after from some very lost motorcyclists. It was becoming like Kamo all over again!! There were a few irate people for a while but a dip in the pool soon cooled everybody off. And if that didn’t the cold ales did. Rob and Claire rode over from Nelson and were joining the tour for a while.

The intention was to ride to Christchurch via Kaikoura then the Inland Kaikoura Road over Mount Lyford rejoining the main road into Christchurch at Waipara. We had a sort of riding plan by now with the slower riders leaving a few minutes ahead of the main bunch and we had pre arranged re grouping points or should I say Café stops. It was working very well as far as the girls were concerned but the blokes I think would have preferred fewer stops and more miles. They were holding up very well. Maree left earlier and was taking a direct route to Christchurch to stay with family before meeting up with us again at Dunback.

The Kaikoura coastline was as beautiful as ever and we had a perfect day to enjoy
it. We all stopped at various points to observe the seals. Is quite humorous watching the baby seals playing in the rock pools. We found a lovely seaside café to
have our morning break. They were offering crayfish meals for $65 which we all thought was daylight robbery but they really catered for the unsuspecting tourist not locals. We stuck to coffee and muffins.


We soon left the coast behind and headed Inland. This is a motorcyclist’s road to be sure. We stopped at Mt Lyford Ski Lodge for lunch. Some of us very feeling a little
weary after the yesterdays late night and the miles of steep and winding roads, so some made use of the very comfy lounge furniture and had 40 winks.



Being the start of Easter weekend there was a quite bit of traffic (and traffic cops) on the road from Waipara to Chch. We regrouped at the start of the motorway and managed to stay intact as a group. We had a discussion about which way to go at a major intersection and for once we got it right and had a painless ride to our friends Owen and Jill. We went out to dinner at their local pub and I have to say they make the best seafood chowder I have ever tasted.

Getting out of Christchurch turned out to be as easy as getting in and we were soon
on our way to Hororata. I wanted to go this way as my Great Great Grandfather settled here and my Grandmothers family home is still standing and is now a family home and café so I thought it would be nice for everyone to have a coffee here. The thought was great but in reality it didn’t happen because the café was shut. Rather disappointing but not to worry, Marty knew a local guy who lived across the road who was into old motorcycles so we all ended up in his backyard having a cuppa and then a tour of his shed. Tim, Marty and I stayed a bit longer than the others and had quite a quick ride down to Geraldine, the only bit of excitement on the road, apart from some very gusty winds was when we came across a group of hot-rodder’s on their way to their Easter rally and one of their number had hit a bridge. They were not going to let us across but Tim sorted them out and we were soon enjoying lunch in Geraldine with the rest of the group.

We popped back onto SH 1 at Winchester and despite a bit of sea fog and chilly temperatures between Timaru and Oamaru we had an uneventful ride. We nodded our commiserations at a poor unfortunate motorcyclist pulled over by Mr. Plod along the way.

Josie Marty and myself took the direct route into Palmerston, while the others rode through Trotters Gully a road I had inadvertently ridden on my pushbike a couple of years previously when I made a navigational error – but that is another story!! Tim and Beate joined us to visit Ian and Rae now residents of Palmerston. Rae had just pulled a fruit cake out of the oven and we were only too happy to sample it for her. In case you are wondering, yes, we are on a motorcycle tour not a food tour although somehow the two just seem to go hand in hand.
Fed and watered we said our goodbyes and headed up the road to a small camp where we would be spending Easter and attending the Vincent Owners Rally. Being on BMW’s we would slot right on in. The question on everybody’s mind was would Vincent’s outnumber BMW’s again this year?

We have been on the road 10 days and covered just nearly 1800 miles (approx 2900kms). The speedo has ticked over to 80,008 miles and my BMW is now (just) run in.

Part Two - Auckland to Wellington

Having been on the road for 4 days we were all getting quicker and packing our gear and realizing that even though we packed light we all had the odd item or two that we didn’t really need. Another reality is that no matter where you are in Auckland you have to get on the motorway to get out. Timing is crucial if you don’t want to get caught up in the work traffic so we solved that wee problem by having a LLB (large leisurely breakfast). We had an easy ride down to Glen Murray where we turned and left the chaos of the main highway for the peace and tranquility of rural roads. At Pirongia we split up with Josie and Beate heading to Te Awamutu to visit old friends of Josie’s. They were then going to take the main road to Mokau and the regroup point at the Mokau pub. The rest of us continued on down the 39 to Otorohanga where we stopped by lunch. Hugh scared the little Asian waitress half to death when he told her he was looking for a wife and was she interested. She never came back to our table instead we had a male waiter who really didn’t do it for Hugh at all.

I was looking forward to the afternoons ride as we were going to ride to Mokau via the coastal route which contained about 30kms of gravel and a road I have wanted to ride for ever. On the Te Anga road I came a little unstuck. Well wedged would be a better way to describe it. I failed to see a road works sign (Marty was the only one of us who did!), came around a shaded corner and hit some loose gravel. I had a wee wrestle with the bike, lost and ended up wedged against the bank. An American tourist coming the other way (only car we saw the whole afternoon) and helped me pull the bike up. Damage to rider – one very bruised leg. Damage to bike one broken clip on the left hand pannier. Tim came back to look for us as we hadn’t turned up at the Te Anga watering hole. Seeing we were ok they headed back to the pub to wait for us. Despite the off I stuck to orange juice to settle the nerves. It was quite a hard road from Kiritehere to Mokau. The gravel was quite loose and once on the seal there were lots of shaded and wet corners so was quite mentally challenging.


The plan was to stay at Mokau for the night but Marty and I pressed onto New Plymouth as we had friends from England staying with mutual friends there and had we not gone we would not have been able to see them before they returned to England. So after warm scones with jam and cream and coffee we set off leaving the others to immerse themselves in the publican’s hospitality. We had hoped to fill up at Mokau but that gas station is no longer. By the time we pulled into Urenui we were both on reserve. I just but Marty was running on the smell of an oily rag and very relieved to have made it. It was a long day (450km) and I was very pleased to pull into Willie and Joc’s driveway and even nicer was the lovely home cooking that night.


The next day dawned bright and clear and for the first time ever I saw the whole of Mt Egmont (or Mt Tarankai as it is now called). It was also snow free, something
that Willie hasn’t seen for over 30 years. It was a magnificent sight. The Mokau pub dwellers arrived about 10am and we set off for Cape Egmont (the second point in our
Sthn Cross). We were led astray by Joc’s instructions and had to ask a local farmer for directions. She sent us down the only coastal road there was but it didn’t lead to the lighthouse - and was gravel. We had turned a couple of roads too soon for the direct route but the coastal scenery was well worth the little bit of gravel.

Opunake seemed like a good place to stop for lunch but the only dairy in town turned us away saying they had no food which went totally against their advertising boards and the nearly full tables inside. I guess they felt threatened by 6 hungry middle aged motorcyclists, Jutla and Joerg having returned to Whangarei. Luckily the pub up the road was happy to supply us with burgers and chips – and beer of course.
It was a cruisey ride down to Patea where we were to meet up with Maree and spent a lovely night with her good friends Nick and Sue. Maree had had an uneventful ride
down and so feeling very pleased with herself she celebrated by pigging out on chocolate and was the little worse for wear when we arrived. We were all spoilt
rotten here and made to feel very welcome. In the morning Nick and Sue’s little foxy took charge of the group photo session and then we were on the road again with
full bellies and clean washing. What a treat to have a clean T shirt to wear.

We had a great ride down the coast. The road was gorgeous and not one I can remember ever being on. We stopped in at Pete and Sally’s at Waitaere Beach our last stop before hitting the mayhem of the Wellington traffic. Finding our way out to Makara and to the home of Lynne and Dean Carter was quite a challenge even for our top navigators and at one point a few toys were thrown out of the cot. We got lost, separated and lost again before finally finding the narrow winding road that leads to their abode. We were all in need of refreshments when we arrived. There was a wee bit of a do that night with several members of the VOC in attendance. Lots of lies and stories told.



And so we say farewell to the North Island for a couple of weeks and tomorrow we board the ferry and begin our adventures in the South.



post script. Overnight the gremlins struck and nothing seems to work on this blog site anymore. It has become very difficult to do a post so I am seriously thinking of kicking google blogs into touch and finding a more user friendly one. Will keep you posted as it were!!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

About this Blog

I hadn't really thought about doing a blog now we are back home but when speaking to one of Marty's rele's who lives in the USA who I think gets a bit homesick for NZ I decided I would do something and try and put as many pictures in as I could to remind all our NZ friends and relatives now living overseas just what a beautiful country they have left behind and so our overseas friends can share it too and hopefully find their way out here for a visit.





As we did a bike tour in March I thought I would start with that.

I am still having problems with the end layout but hopefully I will eventually get that sorted.

The picture below is a sunset over Cape Reinga taken from Spirits Bay.




Happy reading





Chris

New Zealand in 25 Days Part 1

Having a bucket list is all the rage these days so I thought I might as well have one of my own, and on top of the list was to ride around our beautiful country on my own motorcycle. That is from the driver’s seat not the pillion seat that happens all too frequently when Marty and I go on longer excursions. (A cost saving measure my beloved reminds me).
I partially pre planned this trip while we were touring the States so by the time we returned to NZ in January I already had 4 keen fellow travelers. Five, counting Marty. Emails and text flew back and forth between the interested parties, discussing travel dates and possible routes. By the time we had settled on a leaving date and route our initial party of 5 had increased to 9 and at times during the trip reached as high as 14. So here is how it unfolded………………

Two days after my 51st birthday my road trip was finally happening. Maree had left the day before having decided not to do the northern leg but go straight to New Plymouth for some family time and meet up with us there. A big adventure for her as she hadn’t ridden for 20 years and we’d only done about 30 miles on “the Clergy” (a R80 BMW we had borrowed for her). So that left Marty and I to ride to Auckland to the first rendezvous point – John and Heather’s for a light lunch before heading to Whangarei. Heather of course is quite incapable of providing bread and jam so we all sat down to an absolute feast. Thank you Heather you are a treasure. After doing justice to lunch 6 of us headed north. Marty, myself and Hugh on BMW’s, Heather on a Suzuki, Josie on a Honda and John on his Rubber Band automatic Moto Guzzi. Heather gave me a scare on the motorway when she didn’t move into her lane quick enough and ended up between 2 truck and trailer units as the lane ended. I sucked my breath in, pulled one of the trucks back and a potential squashing was averted.
Our first stop was in Wellsford to regroup. John and Hugh had detoured to the Puhoi Pub so we carried onto Kaiwaka and a “work in progress” café for the first of many café stops on the trip.
The plan was to take the Kaigoose (Otaika Valley) to Maungatapere then on to Tim and Beates for the night. Heather decided to break ranks and turn off too soon but I soon rounded her up and we arrived, en mass at our destination. Tim had spent hours in the kitchen and produced a wonderful curry for tea which we had over a few beers, and wines and discussed the next days travels.

After the necessary group photo our party of 8 hit the road. Chaos struck quite early in the day. It was never going to be easy to keep 8 riders, some of them navigationally challenged together but Tim was surprised when we lost the first two before we even got to Kamo. The plan was to gas up here (our two strays elected to do so earlier). Josie and I turned into the first gas station on the left but Marty sailed on ahead. Tim arrived checked on us and headed off with Josie right behind him but I couldn’t get my bike to start and was soon all alone. About 10 minutes later I saw Marty coming back down the road so I leapt up and down, waved my arms and screamed like only a lost soul can all to no avail. About 30 meters from the garage he did a U Turn and rode off. I couldn’t believe it and the air around me turned very blue. I tried numerous cell phones but none of course were on so I trudged back to my bike and contemplated what I would do in Kamo for the next 25 days. But lady luck was with me and after discovering the bike was in a false neutral I was able to sort the problem and get started. Next problem to overcome was the fact that I was now a good 3/4hr behind the bunch and wasn’t sure where the turn off to the Old Russell Road was (had no map) so I decided that I would ride straight up Highway 1 to Opua and meet them at the ferry. I made good time getting there and having checked with the ticket collector on the ferry that no bikes had come across I decided to catch the ferry across to Okiato and meet them there. As the ferry came in I spotted Tim and gave him a cheery wave. I was very relieved to be reunited with one of my companions. We had a wee wait as Heather had ridden into Russell and had to be chased down but eventually all 8 of us boarded the ferry back to Opua. We rode without incident to Paiha where we stopped for lunch. It had been quite a morning and we were all quite pleased to sit on the beach eat lunch and relax. I took the time to go and buy myself a road map.

Tim, Beate, Heather and Josie headed off, Marty and John went to put air in their tyres which left Hugh and I. I knew that Hugh hadn’t been in this part of the country before which is why I deliberately missed the turn off that took us to St Hway 10. I thought Hugh should see the Treaty Grounds and the world famous Waitangi Golf Course before hitting the gravel road that would have taken us – eventually – back onto our correct route. About 5km into the gravel we had a team talk and decided to retrace our steps and take the designated route as it would be quicker. Before we knew it we were on Hway 10 and it was all plain sailing from there. But no, I had one more little surprise for Hugh. We were going to detour into Kerikeri so he could say he had been there. I did consult my map before turning but without glasses I couldn’t really see anything so whilst it looked comforting to Hugh it really was a complete waste of time. He still had tobacco so I knew I was not likely to be murdered just yet. Kerikeri is a nice little town but we just did quick sortie before asking a local how the hell we could get back out onto the highway. We then had a great ride to Matauri Bay where we met the girls at a lookout. John and Tim were back up the road at a pub and Marty had gone on to Wainui to see a friend of ours. I asked Hugh what he wanted to do and he very bravely decided to follow me to our friends although I’m sure he had a mild panic attack when I turned off down a very unkempt gravel road, but for once I actually knew where I was going and we were soon enjoying a lovely cup of coffee with Marty and Larry.

We regrouped at Mangonui and over a few beers half the group decided to stay at a local hotel for the night and the rest (Marty, Hugh, Josie and myself) carried on up the road to our friend Lance’s place. We thought we would be tenting here but with reduced numbers we were all able to find floor space inside. It has not been a very inspiring start to the trip with me darting all over the place. At least I know I can’t get lost going to the Cape tomorrow. There is only one road there and back!

We were up early as the plan was to meet the others at Awanui at 9am where we gassed up before starting on our assault on Cape Reinga. (The first point in our Southern Cross sub ride.) We stopped at Te Kao and in my rush to get to the loo I seemed to forget to use the side stand and both the bike and I ended up on the ground. Tim and Marty came to my rescue and only my pride damaged. Josie’s bike has a smallish tank so it was decided the next stop would be Waitiki Landing – the last gas station in the north. Despite the advertising we discovered there was no gas only a gas station. No choice but to press on and if Josie ran out of gas we would just drain some from one of the other bikes. The last 21 kms is gravel road with lots of roadworks as they are in the process of sealing it - from the Cape down. This posed quite a challenge for Josie and Heather but we all made it safely, walked down to the lighthouse, and admired the view. The meeting of the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea is always a highlight for me. On a good day the difference in the water colour is very prominent. We had a photo session before beginning the climb back up to the carpark and heading south stopping at Houhora for a pub lunch. Fortified and the remnants of the gravel washed down with cool beers we mounted up and headed off in small groups. I was riding with Marty and Hugh, Tim and John paired up and Josie, Heather and Beate were the rear guard.

Marty was tour leader of our group so there was no chance for me to go tiki touring and Hugh was relieved to know he wouldn’t have to ride any extra miles. We gassed up in Kaitaia, headed towards Ahipara and into the Herekino George which was an awesome ride. We continued on the scenic route to Broadwood and then on to Kohukohu where we would spend the night. Beautiful country roads but just to test our skills the local road construction gang had created a wee obstacle for us to conquer before reaching the pub. A stretch of roadworks ended with a thick dumping of gravel. I felt the back end of my bike step out as I hit it, so remembering the words of an experienced rider I knew I gave it a handful and shot out the other side. Josie wasn’t so lucky and came off. Beate and Heather were ahead and didn’t know what had happened till a couple of locals stopped and spoke to them where they were waiting for her. They had helped her up and checked she was ok with minim al damage to the bike. She wasn’t a happy camper when she got to the pub but still managed to put on a brave face as she shouted her two rescuers a few beers. She decided then that gravel roads and her were not going to be a happening thing. That would not be a problem as we weren’t planning to do lots of gravel roads and there was alternative routes when we were. It had been a long day so despite staying in the pub we all found ourselves having an early night.

John and Heather left early the next morning as they had a function to attend in Auckland. The rest of us had a more leisurely start not having to be at the Rawene ferry till just before 9am. We stopped at the lookout over looking Oponoi. What a view. It is breathtaking. Next stop was in the Waipoua Forest and a short walk to pay our respects to Tane Mahuta the God of the forest. This huge kauri tree was reputedly the biggest kauri in NZ but in recent years a bigger tree has been found but this is on private Maori land and not accessible to the general public so Tane still reigns supreme. We made a small detour to Kai Iwi Lake as some in the party had never seen this beautiful lake. Marty and I had spent a few days here when we were doing our NZ campervan travels. We followed SH 12 to Dargaville, where we stopped for lunch and met up with Jutla and Joerg, friends of Tim and Beate who were joining us for the next couple of days. The 12 is an awesome road. Very little traffic, great rural scenery and roads made for motorcycles. Before we new it we were at Brynderwn and back on State H’Way 1. We turned off at Wellsford and took the quieter more scenic St H’Way 16 through Kaukakakapa where we had a wee stop for refreshments, then carried onto Northcote and John and Heather’s for the night. Thankfully Marty was leading Beate and I as the new motorway layout was totally alien to us and who knows where we would have ended up. I just know it wouldn’t have been John and Heather’s.