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Gremlin's Tall Stories

TT2000 Break: Day 2 (23/02/2012)

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8.30am and we’re up. The night’s sleep had been OK, only disturbed a couple of times by ol’ freight train. We head down to the breakfast bar for the complimentary breakfast of scones and cornflakes (and to admire the female batch of backpackers of course). The day had started very promising with nice sunny skies, but the rain clouds were in the distance looking threatening.

Breakfast complete, we packed and got ready for the day. I ended up chatting to Forklift Driver for a while, before leaving each other to pack. The plan was not a direct route to Christchurch (no work required today – unlike last year), instead we could do SH63 over to Greymouth and Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch, or around the Sounds to Nelson, then south to Springs Junction and over Lewis Pass to Christchurch. I wasn’t too fussed, as I would be in the Nelson region for the TT anyway, but Toto wanted to avoid the long boring straights of SH63 between Blenheim and St Arnaud. Fair enough, so Queen Charlotte Drive it was.

Toto was stuck in first gear, and for the first time in a long time I was packed and ready to go long before him. I waited patiently while he did god knows what, but he was eventually packed and ready to leave by around 10.30am. We headed into town, re-filled at Shell Picton (which is in the midst of being re-vamped into a Z) and I made the sacrifice to the biker gods by donning my rain jacket. The last time we were in Picton heading south, Toto had just bought himself a map, and I was helping him mark all the relevant points on, for the TT2000. This time, he had a GPS, which meant our troubles were over… or so I naively thought.

He asked where the evening’s accommodation was, and after telling him, he says, “Nothing Found”. I punch it into his GPS, it finds the accommodation… Scary isn’t it? Sometimes I think he needs a tracking chip permanently installed, so we can always find him, because goodness knows, he needs all the help he can get at times

Unlike GiJoe (a previous mainland invasion of GiJoe and I), my sacrifice to the biker gods didn’t work, and it did rain, but not too badly. Toto got a bit wet, and Queen Charlotte Drive was damp in places, but at least there wasn’t too much traffic. One car did refuse to move over to let the queue of vehicles pass, but we got past in the end.

The run across to Nelson was uneventful besides one decent bout of heavy rain, and arriving in very sunny Nelson I was done with the rain jacket, as the temperature was hovering around 20 degrees. The rain clouds were still in the distance, but I wanted to be a bit cooler. Toto needed more gas in Richmond (seriously, you’d think that bike has a drinking problem with the frequency it needs gas… almost 3 times as often!) and drank 2 V’s in quick succession - despite me saying how bad it was for him.

We continued on, deciding to have a late lunch in Murchison and after a nice run through SH6 arrived in Murchison around 2pm. We saw Forklift Driver on the way in, and were surprised, as he was doing the direct run on SH63, and had left the Tombstone before us. We both had chicken and bacon burgers and I also had a nice slice of carrot cake. We checked that Forklift Driver had left, but he had slipped past the café without us noticing. The highlight for lunch was an entire bus load of chicks in scant clothing... oh, Toto counted some guys, but I didn't notice. Them tourists are just soooo cute, most with legs for miles

Down SH65 for another gas fill in Springs Junction. Toto had been in the lead since Murchison, as he’d commented he wouldn’t mind some nice photos, so best for him to control the stops and stop when he wa’nted a picture. By Springs Junction we hadn’t stopped once He tried to continue on, exiting Springs Junction, but I’d already pulled over at the GAS, knowing he needed another fill. I was going to do the entire day of 560km ish on the single tank (and still have plenty to spare).

Toto took the lead again, until the straights around Culverden, when an oncoming cop gave us plenty of warning, but I had no way of warning Mr Toto, who had no such warning devices. I took the lead, partly perhaps to ensure Toto didn’t lead us on another tour of Christchurch before our accommodation. There were some roadworks entering the city, not too surprising, with a section past the airport at 50kph, but I lead us to the backpackers without issue, arriving shortly after 6pm.

Staying at a backpackers is like a box of choclates, sometimes you get good ones… sometimes you get bad ones. Unfortunately, my string of bad choices in Christchurch continues (that, or Toto is hard to satisfy…. Hmmmmmmmmm). However, one shower didn’t work (out of two - and the other was dirty as hell), the entire place had that feeling of being left behind from several decades earlier and my room was more like a portacom, complete with a midget doorway and wavy ceiling. I tried to pass it off as a flash new craze, but Toto wasn’t buying any of that.

“Bedding” consisted of a blanket (a thin one) and pillow. The mattresses had a fitted sheet. When I mentioned to the woman that all the toilets were out of toilet paper, she said there was a roll in my room. Who issues toilet paper by room? BYO toilet paper when going to the bathroom? Still, having the bad experiences makes the good ones better, or that’s how I get away with explaining it to Toto, at least. On the upside, there was free WIFI.

As we settled in and unpacked, Toto was txting EJK, to catch up and say hello. He arrived for dinner shortly after 8pm and we headed down the road for takeaways, then back to the backpackers to catch up over dinner. He left after 10pm… I’m surprised. Toto seemed to spend enough time bashing the poor chap over his town, and that he should come back to Auckland, I’m surprised EJ didn’t run away within 10min flat.

Pics: http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...0TT2000%20D02/
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Comments

  1. gijoe1313's Avatar
    And yet, as I have said in your travel Americas blog, where the eff'n feck is the blardy photos of aforesaid girlies?

    Slow learner ...
  2. Gremlin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by gijoe1313
    And yet, as I have said in your travel Americas blog, where the eff'n feck is the blardy photos of aforesaid girlies?
    You have to be on ride to see them! What goes on tour stays on tour! Ask Toto, even as an Ex-European, we've seen some real hotties. I even said Hey to the asian girlie
  3. Forklift Driver's Avatar
    Gremlin,
    I saw you and Toto ride past the Tearooms in Murchison, just as I was about to leave. Previously I had taken a time out to visit the Omaka WW1 Air Museum. For a war histroy nut like me this museum was just fantastic. To only spend 1 1/2 hours there was rushing it for me.
    Next time your passing through Blenheim take some time out to visit this hidden gem.

    F.D.
  4. Gremlin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Forklift Driver
    Previously I had taken a time out to visit the Omaka WW1 Air Museum. For a war histroy nut like me this museum was just fantastic. To only spend 1 1/2 hours there was rushing it for me.
    Next time your passing through Blenheim take some time out to visit this hidden gem.
    F.D, Yes I can understand that, as I spent several hours visiting the air ship museum at Tillamook in the USA last year... amazing how many hours can pass, and I'm not even that passionate about war history.