KoroJ's Blog

DAY 5 / Leg 4 – 26/03/09 – Wellington - Picton - Christchurch:
I had packed two lots of gear for the trip, with sleeping bag, wets, liners and spare gloves in one pannier and clothing etc in the other. (Camera and travel docs etc in the top-box). When I got home I swapped North Island maps for South, threw in the strops for the ferry. Took the clothing pannier up to the bedroom, threw out the dirty washing and put in the clean gear I had packed in a shopping bag. I was all ready to go.

The next morning, rather than clean the bike, I headed over to Boyles to secure the mirror cover. We replaced the tie-wrap, tightened the spring grips and packed out the bottom one as it appeared to be short on reach to secure properly. This done, I headed down for the 1025 ferry to meet Steve and the Beemer boys we had followed the day before (Kevin & Tommo I think).

After a pleasant sailing we got to Blenheim for a fill at 1410 and hit the road for Christchurch, following a couple on a Goldwing. About half way along the coast to Kaikoura, we passed them stopping for a coffee in Kaikoura before continuing. The trip up the rest of the coast and over the Hunderlees was rather droll with the reduced speed limits, and we finally got to Christchurch, filling in Hornby at 1802, before grabbing a couple of wines and heading out to my mate’s place at Lincoln for the night, where we had a great meal and relaxing evening.
365 Kms for the day at 18.5 K/Ltr Total Kms: 3,758



DAY 6 & 7 / Leg 4 – 27/03/09 – Christchurch - Catlins – Invercargill - Bluff:
Another easyish day, we got away fron Christchurch at 0836 with the temp at 11°. The plan was to latch on to the fastest car, but there was too much traffic so we hovered around the 120 mark and made our boring way to Timaru, where we had morning tea. I tried to keep myself amused by calculating our distance / time every 15 minutes and we paused at Palmerston, when Steve went on reserve, but we decided to carry on so he slipped in behind me and I reduced the pace to 110 to ease him through. Even at that speed, we caught a bunch of Harley riders on the Kilmogs, and followed them into Dunedin, where Steve commented, “Why would you want to ride with those guys”? I must admit, they were even holding-up the cars. We gassed, then carried onto Balclutha where we stopped for another drink before attacking the Catlins…..Yeah right, that was definitely not to be the case.

By this time, it wasn’t raining, but the roads were wet, so we took it easy. The roads also had slick tracks on them so I was opting to ride the hump and about 20 Km in, just before we got to Owaka, I had my major scare for the trip.

We were only doing about 110 and caught up to a ute on a long straight, so I decided to pass. As I eased off the hump, for no apparent reason, the bike suddenly started lurching violently from side to side as the back wheel raced from side to side on the slippery seal. The gyroscopic forces from this caused the whole bike to rock from side to side and the front wheel to go into a tank slap. There were 4 or 5 slaps before it settled….then it did it again…..and again ….and again. I was in full ‘pucker’ as I readied to kiss my sorry arse goodbye (each time) and remember thinking, ‘Oh No, this is it”! But miraculously I managed to stay upright. I’m sure that effort used up another two Guardian Angels, not mention my ‘Dear Old Dad’ and a raft of other ancestors and I raised my eyes skyward in thanks. I then stood on the pegs and made a show for Steve of shaking the shit out of each trouser leg and a Km up the road, I had to stop because I was feeling the effects of shock, like somebody just stepped on my grave…or perhaps that was off it! My heart was racing, I had a cold shiver pass over me and felt like crap, but a few moments and I was off again. Steve commented that his bike had twitched and as he looked up, he saw me going to town and thought, “Oh No…he’s a goner”! and he was amazed that I came through it.

Shortly after that we hit a squall with 50 knot winds and horizontal rain, so we put the wets on and the Catlins wasn’t my favoured section of the trip.

We got to Invercargill by 1725, where Steve headed on to Bluff to stay at the Lodge while I stayed with another mate. That night was another pleasant catch-up and the next day I headed over to Bluff at about 1000, stopping at the eagle where I signed in and collected my badge and T-Shirt before nipping to the end of the road and back, to settle in for the day. We had a few beers, a great feed and whiled away the day, chatting by the fire (it was wintery) and by that evening, there only seemed about 20 – 30 riders left in Bluff.
30 Kms for the day Maybe Total Kms: 3,790’ish



DAY 8 – 29/03/09 – Invercargill - Picton - Wellington:
The Last Day, another biggy and a goody. We were supposed to travel via the West Coast & Buller Gorge, but the weather forecast was for constant drizzle and rain all the way up the coast so we opted for the middle route.

We were up and away from Bluff by 0635, fueled in Invercargill and got away from there at 0700, to head for Gore, Tapanui and on to Cromwell for fuel. My stomach was playing up so I avoided anything but a little water and led out, using the early hours to make a bit of time. It was a Balmy 16° when we left Bluff, but it dipped to 8° as we passed through Tapanui, then the sun rose, bringing a little warmth and a lot of glare.

We maintained a good pace to Cromwell where Steve had a snack (while I watched, then went for another dump), then we filled and headed for Tarras, the Lindis Pass, around the Lakes and into Geraldine for Lunch and another fill. The temp had risen to 15° by Cromwell and was 25° by the time we finished lunch (where I manage a pepper Steak Pie). It was 1330 by the time we left Geraldine, so we were making good time, and from there we took the inland scenic route up SH72, but missed the turn to Oxford, so came out through Darfield to Christchurch. From there it was up SH1 to Amberly for another top-up and snack before turning at Waipara and taking more inland scenic stuff via SH 72 to Kaikoura., then on to Picton to see if there was an earlier ferry, (which there wasn’t) and dinner. We had to be in Picton by 2130 for the check-in, so targeted to be there by 2030 to allow for any contingencies, but we actually arrived at 1917, doing the 1130Kms in 12¾ hours, which included 2¼ hours of stops…so I guess we did pretty well, only meeting 3 cops, one by Omarama, one South of Ward and one on the curly strip north of Seddon.

We got on the boat, found a comfy seat and slipped into a coma, only to be awakened by the announcement to go to our vehicles and I was home, showered and in bed a little after 0200.

In the 8 days I managed a Total Kms of 5,518, spending $478.65 on gas, $85 on accommodation and probably not much more on tucker, thanks to Andrew shouting breakfast in Houhora in thanks for the bed and Steve shouting dinner in Picton. I managed to shed about 4Kg over the week as well, but did cough $325 to have the Z6 fitted. (I would have been happy to pay $400 in the circumstances but!!)

What another awesome Rusty Ride. Travelling the length and breadth of the country certainly makes one aware of the inconsistencies of Road Contractors and Speed Management people as some corners marked at 35kph were taken in excess of 110 while others were taken barely quicker than the rating. Roadworks were marked at 70, 50 & 30 kph and some rated 30 had not the slightest bit of rough or loose stuff, while others had us extending ourselves to maintain control. The Far North and Deep South had lots of Slip-Slidy patches (if wet) and SH1 along the Kaikoura Coast is poor. But all in all, I had a blast on a great bike, with great mates. We pootled and we pushed the boundaries……Bring on the next adventure.