Ain't over till it's over

Home again. As much fun as it is to be on holiday it's nice to be home. We had a blast!
Already planning the next big trip, and a few little ones.
Kymbo did'nt go parasailing yesterday she said she wanted to get home to get her cat,so we will have to make a point of her doing that this year.
The weather was good all the way home, we stopped in Morrinsville for brunch and visited Shane to look at the trike he is building. Traffic was good for Auckland.. the only holdup was in Kumeu for the A&P show (agriculture & pastoral fair or farm show ) for a one light town it gets quite busy twice a year for the Hot Rod show and the A&P show and I had to go that way DOH!.
The daughter took good care of the dog so I made a point of hugging her first then the doggie.
Kym went right out to get the cat from the cattery. Two very happy animals.
Then just because we haven't had enough of each other we sat in the office and played Scrabble and drank some summer vino, perhaps to much. for me at least.
There is a lot more of 2010 and we plan to make it a comprehensive tour, so I ain't done yet!!

Heading to Lake Taupo

We left Nelson the weather was great the road is great winding and twisting, the only problem is all the campervans and old people that drive 30kph under the speed limit, yes a vickers machine gun mounted to the front would sort them out..he he he...
Had lunch/ brunch at a place called 'The Barn' in Picton would recommend it as the place to stop and have a feed.
Well we are on the North Island, as usual the Wellington weather was crap, rain and wind and dumb asses driving fast and lane changing to get one car length ahead.
The ferry crossing was pretty good the sea had a bit of a chop but not so you would notice.
Got dinner at the same place we did a few weeks ago Kym loves the tofu special. and I had some port and black bean beef. Well we must get going we have a big ride today.

PHOTO : leaving South Island

Are we there yet ?

We travelled to Nelson today we went through the 'Upper Buller Gorge' and stopped in Murchison for lunch .
The weather was great again. Didn’t have the SD card in the camera so no photos for today.
It is our last night in the south island and we still didn’t see every thing we wanted to.
We payed Kym’s uncle a visit while we were her in Nelson after I had a few Mexican beers and a few tequilas at the Mexican restaurant we ate at.
We are going back on the ferry tomorrow afternoon to stay at Upper Hut then to Taupo so Kym can go parasailing. Home on Saturday and a bit of a rest before we start the second faze of the tour.

The Pass

had another great day weather wise. Went through Arthur's Pass today it is a great place to go through, I have been over the Rockies to the Grand Canyon,dove on the great Barrier Reef and the pass compares to any of those. I guess what make so special is that it is all accessible without a bunch of no go areas or paying to see. The Department of Conservation does a great job, you could go caving in an under ground river or walk for miles hell base jump if that what your into. The roads are typical NZ roads with those damn orange cones but if you take the time to go slow and look around it is a truly great place to spend a day. Just be on the look out for the naughty Kea's they will steal your food, rip the rubber from around your windshield, or try to eat your stuff and if they don't like it they will just destroy it for the hell of it. (Kea- a native bird of NZ like a large parrot with attitude ). Kym never saw one in the wild before and wasn't disappointed, it lived up to its reputation.
we are back on the west coast at a place called South Beach about 100 meters from the Tasman Sea, after dinner we went down to watch the sunset . HOW SWEET ...

Blues

We left Omarama and continued north,The blueness of the water of lake Tekapo and the sky is a bit surreal With Mt Cook as a backdrop it is postcard material.We along with all the other tourist stopped and grabbed the cameras to take photos.
We saw some unfortunate Asians that forgot about the stupid give way to right rule but there were a few car stopped and lucky it looked as if nobody was hurt so we slowed but keep going.
Had lunch at the town of Lake Tekapo, Kym reckons we should make a point of spending a week in the McKenize high country lake district.I was explaining why some of water was so blue and other water was darker but she told me I was a know-it all so I will let her bask in her ignorance..
We stopped at the Rikaia Gorge and did the photo thing and it was such a nice day for riding I went as far as Darfield, we decided to treat ourselves and checked into a motel, AHHHH.

Let the sun shine in

We had a nice visit in Oamaru walked to the Victorian part of town that has all of the old buildings and had a pint of beer and our mates had a soft drink, looked at some bizarre art gallery with faces on everything had some takeaways for dinner and chatted for a while then called it a night.
Woke to a beautiful morning had a coffee and gave the bike a quick wash to remove the salt spray, packed up and thanked our gracious hosts and roared off north.
We got to Omarama found a camping ground checked in and went to the airfield so I could do the gliding that I wanted to do. The folks at Southern Soaring were great, We met the pilot had some ground training hooked up to the tug plane and started off ,the tow rope snapped before we even moved 20 feet ! I thought maybe this is not going to be so good after all. A new rope was attached and off again, we climbed to 5000 feet with the tug and cut loose and went searching for thermals to soar in, found a bit of one and gained altitude and then I took the controls and got a feel for the craft, the sky was clear and visibility was great .
The pilot asked if I wanted to do a loop and some cantering , of course I did, returned control to him and went for it, what a rush .Took over and glided back towards the airstrip and then Don setup for the landing and we touched down it was the smoothest landing I ever had in any aircraft. I was not disappointed and will be going up again, it was a bit expensive but worth every dollar to see the Southern Alps and the lakes from that perspective. As I was walking back to the hut with a smile from ear to ear the first thing Kym said was “I guess you want to buy a glider” . She knows me so well !
We were going to the ‘Clay Cliffs’ but the road was all gravel, I started down it but it started to get deep and the bike really didn’t like it so we turned around and drove to Twizel not much there. We came back had showers and off to dinner.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

We left Invercargill and headed over to Bluff the rain and wind was really bad maybe the worst wind I have ever been in on a bike but it can't be a tour of NZ unless we go to both ends of both islands. We didn't sick around to take any photos because the camera would have been destroyed from the rain. And we have plenty from last time we were there.
Headed to the Catlin's the rain still persisted down but we got to the place we were going to stay at and when we arrived the rain eased a bit, we hiked down to see some water falls, when we got there some jagoff was standing in the middle with a tripod and camera waiting for the perfect pitcure, I waited for a while then got impatient and told him to move so I could take a few photos without him in it needless to say he moved pretty smartly when he saw I wasn't messing with him and then some kids tried to get up and I enlighten them as well. I got the photos people free. We had a nice dinner and a few drinks at the Whistling Frog Cafe, we went back to our cabin and when we woke it was raining again.GRRRR
We headed to Oamaru with out stopping because it was terrible weather. Going through Dunedin the rain got real bad and as we were going up the big hill on the way out I moved out into a passing lane to overtake a slow moving truck there was a roadworks with loose gravel all over the road and no signage to alert me I thought maybe I missed the sign but Kym didn't see any either. On state hi-way one in the pouring rain in the fast lane with car speeding up behind me ! I was shitting bricks it made the trip to Bluff seem tame !
Anyway we made to Oamaru safely and are going to spent a few days here with one of Kymbo old mates from back in the day and her husband and kiddies. we head north on sunday.

where the wild wind blows

We headed down to Invercargill today the weather is not so good the only place in NZ with bad weather today is Invercargill. The wind is blowing a gale the tank bag came off twice at speed pull and I had to catch it with the crook of my arm and pull in the clutch and drift off to the side of the road leaning at a strange angle, I will make something to hold it on a bit better.
We are off to Bluff in the morning it is the first of oyster season not that oysters interest Kym or me, I tried them a few times and only like them once, but will give them a go.
Kym wanted to run around Queens garden so that is what she is doing at the moment.
After Bluff we are going to stay in the Catlins for the night.
We walked into town for dinner we went to a place called Sopranos the food was mediocre at best, the waitress was a bit short in all ways, attitude,stature, she was the only one on the floor but cracking a smile could help the highlight was the poster collage above the urinal. So avoid that place if you are in Invercargill.
Kym made some new friends she thinks his name is Rudolph but i am not convinced he won't show me his nose......

We went to Milford Sounds today and had a day off the road. It was very cool. well worth the money. Kym wanted to go and I was a bit sceptical and thought it was going to a bit of a bore like the whale watching trip but i was wrong.
I would recommend going along it is a very spectacular trip. a two hour bus ride along Milford Road in a big comfy coach and on to a very well appointed boat for two hours.
It would not do the place justice to try to describe it here. It is something you have to see yourself, a bit like the Grand Canyon I guess.

Kym hated this photo of her this is the boat we were on and a few photos.

WET WET WET

Well the weather was crap. We departed Wanaka and headed down to Arrowtown, I wanted to cross over the Crown Ranges before it started to rain as the road is not the best and very twisty,
even in a car it can be a bit daunting you know it can't be good when it has signs 'CHECK YOUR BRAKES' from half way down. Cattle stops and switchbacks all sorts of fun things.
Stopped in Arrowtown even in the rain, a must see if your down this way. we had a bite to eat and the rain started to really fall. Wanted to walk to the Chinese part but decided to move on as we spent a lot of time there the last time we were in Arrowtown, the history is fascinating and not all packaged up like a lot of places.
Bypassed Queenstown we have been up the gondola and other than that not much there to interest us.
The road out of Queenstown south is a nightmare what they call slumps basically the road surface has worn away where the tires of traffic are and leave a hump in the middle with loose gravel in the center and sides and shiny bits to drive on, in the rain it was a real challenge to make matters worse we struck some road works and the flagman flipped the sign to go then changed his mind and waved up to a stop because the other side started to let cars through, What he didn't know Mr Angry was on a motorcycle this day. enough said !
the rain kept up till we reached Te Anau and stopped as soon as we did. Kym is out doing her run and then off to dinner, so will finish this later.
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We had Chinese for dinner and a few drinks and that was the night over.

West Coast chopping

We headed out of Westport down the coast towards Greymouth the ride was good except the wind was coming off the sea and covered our visors and made it a bit hard to see. We stopped at 'Shantytown' it was the third time I have been there but the first time I went in and that was only because Kym made me, we had a look around and rode the steam train it was not that exciting but at least we been there and done that now, I reckon MOTAT has a better version of the same sort of thing.
We gave 'Pancake Rocks' a miss as there was a tour bus there and the food is overpriced. and the rocks haven't changed. Stopped for breakfast in Greymouth at Robert Harris Real coffee.
Headed to Franz Josef Glacier for the night, had a look around the township and went to dinner had a bit to much Black Beer with my venison pie.
We didn't walk out to the glacier this time the last time we were there we crossed the ropes and was mucking about in the ice cave that collapsed and killed those two Indian boys from Australia.
We headed down to Wanaka the accommodation we thought we were going to get fell through so we will spend one night here we spent a week here for an airshow in '06' so we seen it all before, We will stop at the warbird museum on our way out of town.
The weather is not looking to flash for the next few days ,but never mind, its not like we can quit and go home.

Lewis Pass

When we got up it had been raining during the night and was just a slight drizzle, I had not brought my riding boots in from the porch so the right one was a bit wet, o well never mind.
We set off from Hanmer Springs to the west coast town of Westport through the 'Lewis Pass'
being that the ground was wet I took it easy and you really can't see anything going to fast anyway. It is a very nice road and runs along parts of the 'Buller Gorge' with the Buller River at the bottom. It was cold riding through the forest as I don't have the inserts for my riding pants because SOMEONE biffed them out. I didn't bring the one for my jacket or my spare over pants because I am a dumbass and forgot them and if I had my leg inserts they would be at home as well!
We stopped at Reefton for a coffee a very quaint town a little bigger then Helensville. The weather cleared and became fine. A lot of straight roads after Reefton and little wind .
Got to Westport had a ride through town found the motor camp and checked in.
Kym wanted to see the fur seal colony so we headed over to 'Cape Foul Wind ' to see the seals there were not as many as last time we were there.

people soup

We left Kaikoura and went along the Alpine Highway route 70 heading west to Hanmer Springs. We stopped for my daily 'big breakfast' at the Rotherham Hotel, had a huge feed of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomato's,potato's for $15 and Kymbo had beans on toast the coffee was instant but I did ask for a gourmet one so....
The ride was great, I would have enjoyed it more with out the luggage and Kym on the back, a real motorcycling road the wind was up a bit but not to bad.another great day weather wise.

Got to Hanmer Springs and bought a real coffee. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ! After we finished the coffee's we checked into the holiday park . Kym wanted to go to the animal park to see the caged animal but I still don't like to see anything locked up, so I found a pub one that is that owned by the company that Kym works for so it was a self supporting venture, it my own mind anyway. Had a few ciders on ice in the garden bar.

We went shopping for some vegetables for dinner and then to the mineral springs for a big mix of people soup. I hate spas and such things, but not much point of coming here and not
having a look, some nice new season bikini's. I'm old but not blind.

A Whale of a time.

We looked at the weather and decided to go down the east coast as the weather on the west side was not that flash. What a great plan that turned out to be, the weather was magnificent, sun and not a cloud in the sky. One of the things Kym wanted to do while we were here was to go whale watching in Kaikoura so that is where we went. We booked in to the camp ground and walked down to the Whale watch HQ, booked that and then walked back to get some drinks and stuff. Went out to see some whales we saw ONE! A sperm Whale, and it was asleep and not moving. I had my suspicious that it was a bit like the shark in 'Jaws' a bit on the rubbery side. But Kym enjoyed it even though I reckon she thought it was not that great. Oh well good thing for the dosey whale we weren't there on a Japanese science research vessel.

PHOTO
a very expensive photo of a sleeping whale

On the Mainland

After we left Wanganui we stopped at Stanson for some breakfast and coffee, we then headed down to Hutt Valley and stayed at the camp ground at Upper Hutt it was the same one I stayed at in ‘08’,we had a walk along the river front and then went to the Chinese take-away and the booze shop and that was pretty much the end of day two.
We headed down to ‘Upper Hutt ‘ for some breakfast and down to the ferry only to find it was delayed for an hour, we met a nice fella named Laurie and talked to him till we reached Picton had a few beers on the boat and then found the ‘Kiwi Camp Ground’ and settled in for the night and now we are about to go down to Picton to experience the night life, I’ll let ya know how that pans out.
Well just went to the Indian restaurant the café’s all look a bit upmarket and I really could’t be bothered but the Indian food was of an acceptable level of hotness and Kymbo’s green purée of spinach and potatoes looked… well acutely like a pile of sick , but she enjoyed it.
Decided to buy a mobile broadband stick while we were in Upper Hutt , since the Telecom XT network went down overnight again I bought a Vodafone one . I did plan to use hotspot wireless but soon found that I would have to join multiple networks and sign up every night. The Vodafone stick has $40 dollar credit on it and the cheapest top up plan, using hot spot wireless cost around $8 per hour and that’s only 50mb.
So we shall see how impressed I am with this Vodafone coverage as it is pretty marginal in Helensville at the best of times.
Time for a wee dram of Jack.
So in the morning we shall see which way the wind is blowing and decide where to go from here.

photos taken with Kym's cell phone
a silver dollar type plant along the Hutt River
Waikawa Bay, Picton

day one

Well we made Wanganui, it was a beautiful day for a ride had a few rest stops along the way but the bike felt good and the road works weren't to bad. I still think investing in the company that makes those orange road cones would be a winner !
Got to National Park and thought right for a bit of a rest saw a couple of bikes and some people sitting at a table outside of a pub/bistro turned around and pulled in, took off our riding gear said hi to the people and all the normal things bike people say. 'good day for it ' and all that. Decided to have a beer only to learn that they were the owners and their cousin and the place didn't open till four. But in true kiwi hospitably style the owners made kym a sandwich and we had a beer with them.
So if you are traveling down State Highway 4 stop in at Eivins Cafe in National Park village and see Bryce and Marie, good folks , great view, Kymbo reckons great sandwich. And they even took a photo of us with our camera.
We met up with a friend and went to dinner in the great metropolis of Wanganui. She took us up to the top of the 'elevator' and had a really cool view of the city. After having our suspicions confirmed that the rates were a bit cheaper because of the location of the campground, I put the cable lock on my bike.

Last minute

Well we are all set. Have packed the bike and know where every thing is going to be situated, we have a little room left over in the top box and tank bag for souvenirs -Yeah right. The sleeping bags are the real pain i guess because they are good ones they are a bit thick and bulky. Kym did buy a water proof bag but they are to big for it. So they will get strapped to the top box in a cheap carry bag with a rubbish bag as a liner.
The pannier's have worked out to 9.5 kg each and should not be over 10 kg each so weight will not be an issue but wind will always be an issue but not like it was on the BMW i hope, at least i have time on my side we will not be riding in bad weather at all, I expect we will get caught out at some point but we will head for shelter ASAP.
Delayed by a day. We had a nephew's 21st and had to go to that, but just as well we are ready to go first thing in the morning i think we have it really sorted, we will have to give Paeroa a miss this year and head south to Wanganui, because we won't want to be getting to Wellington too late on Monday. We might go to the national museum ' Te Papa ' or take a tour of Parliament there is actually a lot to do in Wellington. well thats all for now

get set

So we will have a trail run of packing the bike for two up touring in the morning after i scrub in the new tires. and bed in the new rear brakes i put on while I had the bike apart.

One Week to go.

New tires arranged and will be fitted tomorrow, have chosen to go with the pirelli diablo as the Michelin pilot's were $145 more expensive, I am not being cheep the reasoning being that the South Island roads are a lot courser and chew through the tires a lot quicker, and the turn around on buying new tires will be fairly quick. And I really don't have a handle on the whole tire compound thing yet. four types of rubber hard to cruise in the middle soft at the outer wall to go round corners....and so on.
Well I got the rims off and took them to Cycletreads for the new tires, and we both bought new helmets and a set of rear brake pads, the staff were helpful as always and by far the best shop to deal with. 1100 bucks later we are almost there. The tires were so bad I could not even ride it to the shop.
-click on pix-
all back together and seems to be working fine , filled the self oilier system for the chain. all system are go. Also bought summer gloves !

Get Ready

Getting ready, new tires OUCH that is going to HURT ! Have bought a puncture repair kit, did oil and filter change. I hope to cover most things and not leave it till the last minute like I did last time,and of course setting this blog site up.
Have to watch how much riding I do as i have burned up 965 km of the oil change and a few weeks of going to work will run up the kilometres before I even start the tour. ( i love me bike ! and take care of it like it was the most important thing in life, after my family of course. )

THE PLAN

Well being my first attempt I will try to make this as straight forward as possible.
The wife Kym and I are going to the South Island to tour around two-up on the Mighty Suzuki GSX 1400. We leave on the 21 February. We head down to Wanganui for a night and then cross on Bluebridge ferry to Picton, going through the sounds never gets old.
We have no real plans but to stay a few days in Wanaka ( yes airplanes be there )
I will endeavor to keep the posting as current as I can.
I hope you find this interesting and amusing and maybe informative.