Picton to Invercargill

 Day 4.

The wind was awful last night and I thought if it's like that in the morning I'm not going anywhere., but it had blown itself out and was a lovely day. First stop was Brayshaw Park in Blenheim to visit the Historic vehicle display. Was pretty cool.

 

Then we went to the Air plane museum at Omaka. That is fantastic.

We left there and headed for Kaikoura. It was stunning along the coast road today. The colour of the sea was a brilliant blue.

Again I arrived without the boys. Took me a while to find the motel but when I did I just parked infront and waited.......

Marty had had another petrol drama just before Kaikoura.

Very hot today so the beers Blair bought went down well. Went to the Indian for dinner. Was as good as last time.

Early night again. Riding these old bikes is exhausting.

DAY 5

Another beautiful day. Despite it being the end of a long weekend the traffic hasn't been too bad. Was lucky enough  at a stop/go to whip down the inside of a few cars and get in front of a milk tanker. That was our only hold up.

Stopped in Amberley for gas then took the Inland route, destination Tram Rd. I thought Marty had missed the turnoff but I should know better and after what seemed a rather round about route we found ourselves at the monument celebrating  Russell Wright and Bob Burns's world land speed records set in 1955 aboard Vincent's. Just had to get the photo.

 

Stopped in Oxford for a famous Sheffield pie for lunch. I got the last chicken apricot and camenbert pie so I shared that with MJ who had a yummy venison and herb pie. Then onto Methven where we are staying at the Blue Pub. Clean and basic and only $60 for the night. Had a nice pub meal. Another early night had by all.

DAY 6

Blair was up and gone by 7.30 but not before slipping $50 under our door for his $36 room, plus he left a ciggy and a lighter for MJ. We gave him the day off from being our wingman and sent him to Palmerston via McKenzie, Hakataramea and Dansey Passes. Much more fun for him.

We stopped at a very rural motorcycle repair shop about 10km out of Methven and MJ was able to get the oil and chain lube that he wanted. As very cruises day for us, Brunch in Hyde, gas and photo shoot at a gas station in Temuka. A guy was so impressed to see husband and wife on Vincent's he wanted a photo. Said it made his day.

Was pretty windy coming along the coast. Made the Comet work but we arrived safely in Palmerston about 2.30. Blair arrived about an hour later with a beaming smile and a GS that looked like it had been doing what it was designed for. He had a great ride.

We took Ian and Rae to the Morakea Tavern for dinner. Lovely spot over looking the Harbour.

DAY 7

Very cool this morning so we all put our liners back in and layered up before we left. Stopped at Lake Waihola as I was busting for the loo.

Coming into Balclutha I noticed the boys were absent again. I waited for a bit then decided I better go back. Just after I turned around they went past. Caught up with them at the gas station to learn the roll bag had come off again but no spillage this time.  Pie and a coffee later we headed off around the Catlins. Slow riding from me as it's quite windy.

We went out to Nugget Point a one way in and way out road. First time we had been there.

 Blair battered off when he got bored and tried to get action photos of us as we came off the one lane bridges. 

 My battery and battery box parted company from the bike thru a windy stretch. I slowed to retrieve it but MJ said don't bother it is will be stuffed. Wingman Blair picked up what he could.

Stopped at Curio Bay and took in the views.

Coffee stop at the Cafe then the final push to Invercargill. Blair and I both missed the turn off to Fortrosebut luckily for me we had the intercom on and I turned back but Blair sailed off into the sunset. He did reconnect to the road we were on but we never saw him till we reached the motel.

About 10 miles out of Invercargill MJ went onto reserve and just when we thought we'd have to send for our wingman a very old gas station appeared like an oasis in the desert and we were able to fill up. It was here MJ discovered that the fuel tank wasn't 4 gallons as he thought. More like 3.5 which explains the fuel mishaps.

Motel is nice. Plenty of room and a short walk to a diary and an Indian restaurant which we tested tonight. Was great so its our go to place for dinner while we are here.

We have done 1093 miles so far. A good effort.

DAY 8

We went out to the beach racing this morning at Oreti Beach. Perfect weather for it.

Blair rode down to Bluff but we returned to the motel for a Nana nap but there was so many fire sirens, fire trucks etc we gave up and had coffee in the sunshine instead.

MJ did some minor or maintenance on the bike and we finished the day with another lovely Indian meal, only this time MJ and I shared one. More than ample.

DAY 9

 I sent the boys off to the museums without me this morning. They walked down. Might be regretting doing that now as it has got rather warm. I have spent the morning doing this blog. Looking forward to going to the speedway soon.

Speedway was great. A minor drama with Blair getting in as we didnt realize he wasn't behind us and we rode in and I gave the lady all three tickets. Luckily I spotted him as we were looking for him thinking he had parked up further down the paddock. The lady recognised me and it was all sorted. She had wondered why I had given her 3 tickets. 

We left just before the final races to avoid the traffic chaos. After an ale we went down to the Indian for tea. A mis understanding with the order and we ended up with 3 curries. Thankfully our wingman Blair was able to help out. We all left feeling very full.

Stan turned up with the battery box this afternoon which was great but meant we were a littlelate leaving for speedway but that really wasn't an issue. We didn't miss much.

Another great day.

DAY 10

Spent most of the day at the road races. Was great. A couple of crashes, one on the corner where we were and was particularly nasty.  All in all though a good day.

Saw a few Vincent people there. The power of the T shirt saw MJ meet a fellow Vincent owner from Australia. He may turn up at the rally.

We finished the day with our nightly visit to the Indian restaurant. The little cook has taken a real shine to us and spent quite a bit of time chatting to us. Wish he was in Katikati. Also got talking to an old guy who had been there done that in his 73 years. 

So that is the Burt done and dusted. Head to Te Anau tomorrow,.

Katikati to Picton

 Day one of our trip was full of drama. I was a little apprehensive about riding the Comet and my first fopah was stalling at the Bethlehem roundabout but luckily I dropped the clutch and away she went. Not so lucky at the water tank turn on the Poripori. By the time I got her restarted MJ had come back to look for me. The main trouble was the gear change lever was too far away for me and changing up was a real issue. MJ said it was a quick fix so would adjust it then and there but he couldn't find the keys to the top or tool boxes. Must have left them at home. Not something we could be without so he turned for home, I opted to ride on and wait for him at Whakamaru and Blair would visit his father in law in Tokoroa. Turns out he is in the South Island so he waited for me in Putaruru and we travelled together to Whakamaru where we had lunch and waited. We waited just over two hours for MJ who turned up sans keys. He couldn't find them so just gathered up some extra tools instead.

Next stop Waiouru at Subway for a leg stretch and coffee. The nice subway manager rushed over and flicked my side stand out for me. Was a short hop from there to Taihape. Via the inter com I thought MJ said he had lost a filling so I thought nothing of it when he disappeared from view. I arrived at the BP and waited, and waited. How long does it take to spit out a filling I thought. Decided to fill up and head to the motel. Left a message on Blairs phone to say where I was. Just as I finished checking us all in they arrived as did torrential rain that soaked us all. Turns out it wasn't a filling MJ lost but a cylinder and then gas lol. Blair to the rescue,  He shot to the nearest petrol duration bought a can and some gas. 

We had a lovely meal at the Chinese and after a nightcap we all decided an early night was required.

MJ adjusted the gear lever position and it's much better.

DAY TWO.

Late last night we got an email saying our ferry booking had been changed and we would now be on the 3.45pm sailing. Made an emergency call to Mark and Kerry and we are lucky enough to be able to bunk down there on Sunday night. Phew.

Didn't sleep that well because I was worrying about getting thru all the lights at Karori.

First drama of the day was the roll bag we put on the Shadow opened up and clothes spilled out along the road. Blair to the rescue again, picking it all up.  A cop saw the incident and kindly stopped and parked in front of the bikes till all was sorted. He never got out of his car or spoke to them.

MJ barely made it to Levin. His gas consumption is not good.

Transmission Gully is great and makes riding into Wellington so much more pleasant. I got thru Karori no problem at all but I did forget to turn into Dean's house and shot straight up to Briar's. Had to get MJ to bring the bike down. I was too tired to cope with the short sharp downhill into a left turn.

Boys did a bit of Vincent maintenance.

Very pleasant evening in Makara.

DAY 3

MJ woke up this morning and leapt out of bed as he remembered he hadn't tightened the front tank mounting bolts yesterday. That would not be a good look. He also found the missing keys in a hidden pocket on his riding trou. What a relief.

A short but tiring day. Hung out at Dean's till 2 then rode down to the ferry. Heaps of bikes going across so we were loaded differently and we really needed more tie downs but we had to make do with two per bike and hope they held if it was rough.

Was raining when we got off the boat but the sailing had been smooth and the bikes were still upright. Made ourselves at home and had another early night. Only rode 46km today but the ferry sailing added to the journey.

Great to be in the South Island and both bikes still going well.

Riding our Vincents to the deep South and beyond.

 It's been a while since I posted but as we are about to start an epic journey on our two Vincent's I thought I'd record it.

We set off tomorrow morning so Marty is currently working out our fuel stops as the bikes don't have the fuel range of our more modern bikes.

I will be riding the 1950 Comet on which I have done about 50km some 2 months ago so I'm expecting it to take me a few kms before I get my head and feet completely around the change in position of gear and brake levers, not to mention the fact the gear change is also opposite in direction to my BMW. Will be fine I'm sure.

Marty will be on board the 1954 Black Shadow. He is quite used to the reverse lever operations.

We will be accompanied on the journey by our friend Blair who will be aboard his GS 1250 BMW. Hopefully he won't mind the slightly slower pace of these old machines. 

So it's time to get some shut eye so we are ready to roll tomorrow.