Eight days through the South Island

[Frodo]

It was time for the Shiver and me to have another camping trip around the South Island New Zealand.

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This is the route I took. Starting and finishing at the ferry terminal at Picton, then 7 nights, 8 days and about 2700km.

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A somewhat dreary ferry crossing, here coming into Tory Channel.

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But the weather dramatically improved as I rode south. Turned west up the Awatere Valley where some excellent wines are grown.

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And then onto the Acheron Road through Molesworth Station. The road is 210 km long with about 150km of gravel. It rises to about 1200m and I once camped there on New Years day when it snowed. No snow today, just great weather.

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[Frodo]

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The country was very dry.

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About two thirds of the way through is an excellent camping spot with about half a dozen other vehicles (but no bikes).

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Some of the rugged hills around the camp site.

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And one of the locals.

[Frodo]

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Being close to the equinox the sun rises later, so it was a relatively early start in the cool of the morning.

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Being near the end of the summer season, the road was often quite badly corrugated. The Shiver handled the gravel fine (Michelin Road 5 tyres), but the rear suspension did suffer in the corrugations.
There were quite a few bikes, mainly adventure / dual sport bikes (including an Africa Twin which had to ride about 50km on a flat front tyre), but a few trail bikes (including one that flew out of a corner but was thankfully unhurt).

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Much of the road is very isolated with no cellphone reception.

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Nearing Hamner Springs. I remembered there are two passes into Hamner Springs. Jack's Pass and Jollie's Pass. One is difficult, the other not so. Jollie's Pass proved quite challenging on a road bike loaded with camping gear!

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I then rode south, bypassing Christchurch, then west to Arthurs Pass. I camped here at Lake Pearson and had a glorious swim in the lake.

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A wonderful starry night!

[To be continued]

[release_the_bees]

Great photos. Jollie's Pass was challenging enough in a 4x4 last year. I can only imagine it on a fully laden bike.

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[caspernz]

Thanks for sharing some cool pics :wings:

[F5 Dave]

Yeah wife trying to get to sleep but I keep insisting on showing her the next one.

[BMWST?]

great pics and a great pic and some choice words of the view of Isolated Flats.

[merv]

Great to see your ride photos Frodo :niceone:

[Navy Boy]

Excellent photos there. I rode Molesworth on Wed this week and your photos are better than mine.

Jollies was quite rough on a DR650 so all kudos to you for doing it on a Shiver!:niceone:

[OddDuck]

Great work Frodo! Really enjoying this report, brilliant photos too.

[Frodo]

Thanks for your comments.
A fantastic country we live in, eh!

[Frodo]

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The next morning started dreary with low cloud. This is heading up to Arthur's Pass.

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But the weather cleared at Arthur's Pass, which is great because this is a brilliant road when dry.

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I had a coffee in Arthurs Pass village, keeping an eye out for this kea, which was sizing up my bike.

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The great weather continued down towards the coast.

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Highway 6 down the West Coast is one of my favourite rides.

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With the Southern Alps as a backdrop.

[Frodo]

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The ride on a partly gravel road out from Fox Glacier to Gillespie's Beach was worth it. I left the low cloud for a brilliant sunset.

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Some of the campers built a fire and we were treated to a glorious Milky Way, and gave a blood donation to the local mosquitoes!

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The moon was bright enough to illuminate the Southern Alps but not obscure the stars. Mt Tasman is the high peak on the left and Mt Cook / Aoraki on the right.

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The next morning some rare Hector's dolphins swam past to bid me farewell.

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The morning cloud followed me southwards.

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But thankfully the weather cleared up through Haast Pass, another great road.

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Riding along Lake Wanaka towards Wanaka.

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That night I rented a cabin alongside at Glendhu Bay, Lake Wanaka - first shower in four days!

[Frodo]

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Another cloudy, cool start to the day so I dropped into the Cardrona Hotel for a coffee.

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I was soon joined by two guys who had almost completed riding their bicycles the length of New Zealand. Motorbikes are much easier!

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I rode south from Queenstown along Lake Whakatipu in morning cloud. The last time I rode this way, it was into a rainstorm! I had six of seven days riding in rain. Not this time though!

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But the weather cleared and the sun shone brightly by the time I got to Te Anau. A great ride up the valley towards Milford Sound.

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The scenery is dramatic (and the road brilliant) riding into an ever-narrowing valley towards the Homer tunnel.

[Frodo]

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Thanks to covid closing the border to most overseas tourists and arriving late in the day, Milford Sound, normally one of New Zealand's busiest tourist destinations was almost deserted.

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Mitre Peak.

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And a stunning sunset - just me and the sandflies! I had an interesting ride at night back to my campsite at Knobs Flat in the Eglington Valley.

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I packed up camp early to escape the early morning cloud - a bit of a pattern here. I had just enough fuel to make one trip into Milford Sound from Te Anau - I'm glad I went the previous night!

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The morning cloud cleared by the time I rode past Lake Te Anau.

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Then back up Lake Whakatipu - this time in brilliant weather.

[To be continued]

[Navy Boy]

Thanks Frodo - I'm loving the photos and commentary. :niceone:

[release_the_bees]

Great photos. It definitely sounds like a good time for a trip at the moment with less tourists around.

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[Calix Lee]

What a beautiful place you have here. The view is amazing and sounds like a fun trip. Btw, do you use a motorcycle exhaust (https://4wheelonline.com/motorcycle/Motorcycle_Exhausts.171021) system on this ride? I am planning to install one on my bike, but I do not know which product to consider.

[MD]

Fantastic quality pictures, thanks for sharing.

You are in Kapiti and I don't think we have ever met? I did Molesworth in December for the first time but out of ignorance I lead the crew in pouring rain down Jollies Pass to get to Hanmer Springs. It was extremely rough and we all surprised ourselves for getting through. Later I looked up the map and discovered a 'Jack's Pass' was nearby! Doh.

You were brave doing that trip on your own. Well done that man.

I'm keen to go back and do the Rainbow and Molesworth combo in Jan or Feb maybe next year if you are interested let me know.
Mark

[Frodo]

Fantastic quality pictures, thanks for sharing.

You are in Kapiti and I don't think we have ever met? I did Molesworth in December for the first time but out of ignorance I lead the crew in pouring rain down Jollies Pass to get to Hanmer Springs. It was extremely rough and we all surprised ourselves for getting through. Later I looked up the map and discovered a 'Jack's Pass' was nearby! Doh.

You were brave doing that trip on your own. Well done that man.

I'm keen to go back and do the Rainbow and Molesworth combo in Jan or Feb maybe next year if you are interested let me know.
Mark

Hi mark

Always up for a coffee...
I did the Molesworth / Rainbow double a few years ago on my Aprilia Pegaso Trail. The Rainbow was quite easy on a dual sport bike, but would be more of a challenge on the Aprilia Shiver. I did consider it briefly this time. The main issue would be dropping the bike in a ford.

[Frodo]

Thanks for the nice comments.
The journey continues...

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I then rode inland over the Lindis Pass.

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And towards Aoraki Mt Cook. This is a bit of a cliche image, but was a brilliant day!

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As I rode closer, the sheer bulk of the mountain became even more impressive than its height.

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My campsite for the night (blue tent to the bottom right) under Mt Sefton with its cacophony of avalanches rumbling down its steep flanks.

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I got up early the next morning for the sunrise on Mt Sefton and Hooker Lake.

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And the first rays of light on Aoraki Mt Cook.

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The clouds whipping off the top of Mt Sefton heralded the wind I would battle with a day later.

[Frodo]

The last couple of days.

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I had a bit of a late start so not so much to report.
This is a view back across Lake Pukaki towards Aoraki Mt Cook. I played with the contrast a little to highlight the clouds to compare with the photo I took the previous day. The lenticular clouds signalled the wind that would plague me for the rest of the trip.

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The rest of the day provided pleasant, rather than stunning, riding.

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Lunch in Geraldine. As I was mostly camping, I tried to get a good lunchtime meal.

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I planned to camp at Rakaia Gorge beside the Rakaia River. However, the wind strengthens as it funnels through the gorge. Not without reason is a nearby town called "Windwhistle". So I rented a cabin at Mt Somers instead and had a peaceful sleep.
I packed my bike under a glorious "northwest arch", indicating a stronger norwester later that day.

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But the ride started off gloriously in a cool, still morning.

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The first rays of sunshine caught up with me a few miles up the road. I stopped to try to record the scene. I captured the warm light, but not the moist air.
For me, this photo summarises what motorcycle touring is about. The first rays of the sun promising a new day, the road winding off into the distance. The cool moist valleys (9'C) and the warm flats (already 16'C). A milk tanker driver glared at me as he drove past as I took this photo - he doesn't get it. A few moments later a BMW R1200GS waved out as he/she rode past - s/he clearly did! The sweet smell of a remnant forest. SPLAT!!! A large bug disintegrates on my visor, obscuring my view and bringing me back to reality!

[Frodo]

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The wind strengthens as I approach Rakaia Gorge – just as well I didn’t camp there.
A great latte in Oxford, then mundane roads that led me to State Highway 1. The traffic on the Highway in dramatic contrast to the quiet backroads I'd ridden to get here. I hadn't seen so many cars and trucks for a week. A Harley rider with girlfriend on the back, overtakes the car in front of me just as a large truck comes around the corner. Welcome back to the "real" world.
In the distance, the Hundalees. I remember a great riding road, but lots of traffic and a 60km/h speed limit in many places made this a chore.

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Lunch in Kaikoura- Nin's Bin: if not the best place to buy seafood in New Zealand, then certainly the most famous!

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The clouds in the northern sky hinted at strong winds. As the temperature rose to 26’C, so did the wind strength. I battled the crosswinds riding north, seeing dark clouds towards Picton.

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A light sprinkle of rain fell as I rode into the ferry.

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A nice merlot (offsetting a mundane ferry meal) to celebrate a great trip!

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And the full moon guides the ferry out through Tory Channel into Cook Strait. I can just make out the hills of home across the strait.

[MD]

I nominate this thread the best biking thread since lockdown!:niceone:

[F5 Dave]

Certainly the best photos. I was going to say, that one surpasses the previous ones. And then the next one does. .

[biggo]

Great write up enjoyed following your adventure :niceone:

[Reckless]

Good stuff
I screen grabbed your map
ONE day I might try and find those photo spots if I get lucky :) :first::Punk::niceone:

[Laava]

Great trip and report Frodo thanks! Sth Is is a very cool place to do it!