The idea for the ride came about when Divvo suggested riding up to the NZSRA have a go day in Taupo, after a bit of shagging around and thinking about it the tickets were booked and accommodation was organised, Bren_chch also decided to come along and booked his tickets a couple of days before we left
I gave the bike a quick check over, changed the oil and filter and it was good to go
I organised a Ventura packrack and Bathurst pack to go with it, Glen at Street and Sport was quite accommodating in organising the pack at short notice and Thursday night it was packed and loaded
We were meeting up at Mobil Amberley at 8.30am, and when I arrived to gas up Bren_chch was there ready and waiting, another ¼ hour and Divvo finally rolls up and were on our way
We set an easy pace up SH1 with Kaikoura being the first planned stop for gas, we come up behind a guy towing a trailer just past the old Hawkeswood cutting getting along at a reasonable pace, I shoot past him on the downhill followed by Divvo, Bren_chch is a bit slower getting past, as he goes to pass him around the river the driver cuts a corner just as Bren_chch gets alongside and nearly runs him off the road, needless to say Bren_chch is less than impressed and lets him know it
Catching up to us as we hit the Conway river bridge and as we begin the climb up into the Hundalees he gasses it up and snots off into the distance followed by Divvo while I wallow along in their wake, it’s been a few years since I’ve ridden through here and I don’t catch them until they get stopped at the bottom of the hill on the Oaro side with some roadworks
Oaro through to Peketa is now a 80km zone so we take it fairly easy through there and stop off at the Caltex to gas up, a quick fuel stop and we’re on the way again sitting on a leisurely 1@0 kmh, traffic is relatively light all the way through to Seddon where we’re stopped by the lights on the road/rail bridge, the new bridge looks completed and the temptation to take a short cut is high but there’s to many people standing around, we hit our first bit of bad weather and stop at Ward and discuss putting on wet weather gear and decide not to bother and carry on, 5 minutes down the road it clears and it’s dry to Picton
Arriving in Picton with Bren_chch in the lead and heading down the hill he rides straight past the Ferry turn off, I follow after him and when he misses the second turn off Divvo gives up and turns off to book in, catching up to him I ask him if he knows where he’s going and he replies “no” I lead him to the Ferry terminal where he picks up the tickets and when we go to head back the Katana won’t start, a quick push from Bren_chch and we shoot around to book in, a short wait and another push from Bren_chch and the Katana fires up and we load up for the trip over the water
We were on the Kaitaki and I’d have to say the facilities for tying bikes down are absolute crap, a boring 3 hours later and another push from Divvo we roll off in Welly and head off to Lower Hutt and Divvos sisters place for the night, Divvo guides Bren_chch to his brothers place 5 minutes away with instructions to be ready to go at 7.45am the next morning
Jim2 picks me up later that evening and then we meet up with Her_B4 and Craig at Little India for a feed and chinwag, bloody good job Jim2 knows his Indian food because none of the rest of us much of a clue, after dropping me off the couch gets folded out and it’s off to bed
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