Jantar
3rd December 2005, 12:44
After returning from the Southern Cross in May, I promised my wife that I'd show her some of the country that we passed through, particularly the north Island as she has not seen much of that part of the country at all. So we loaded the bike and went to see the country.
Saturday 29th October: We left Alexandra in nice sunny weather and headed through the Cromwell Gorge and on to the Lindis pass. There were plenty of other bikes on the road and friendly waves from them all. We stopped in Omarama and talked to another couple of riders who had just come down from Christchurch and were heading for Queenstown. They made some strange comment about how they hoped we had some good wet weather gear to put over our leathers. Yet here we were chatting under a cloudless sky. On towards Pukaki and it just got hotter and hotter. :sunny:
Then, about 15 kms short of Tekapo we witnessed a very interesting police pursuit going on up ahead. I naturally had to speed up a bit to see what was happening. So for a few minutes there was a car that had no intention of stopping, but cruising at around 130, the Tekapo cop in his 4WD right on his tail with blue and reds flashing, then about 1/2 km behind my wife and I just keeping everyone in sight without getting too close. The car did stop eventually but only after being chased for some distance.
After Tekapo the sky started to cloud over somewhat and at Burke's Pass we met the rain. Only a light drizzle to begin with, but it just got steadily heavier. We stopped in Fairlie for fuel and Geraldine for coffee and to stretch our legs. There was obviously not going to be in let up in the rain, and now we knew why those Christchurch Riders had been asking us about wet weather gear. Didn't they know that leather IS wet weather gear?
We carried on to Methven for our first nights stay. Only 2 hours in the rain, so we were both still dry, and the Givi panniers made sure that our gear was still dry as well.
Sunday 30th October: Today we had considering taking a scenic detour from Oxford through to Amberly, but as it was still raining we decided to just take the normal route through Rangiora. As it turned out we should have taken the scenic route after all, because the idiot riding my bike (yes my wife's husband) missed the turn off to Amberly, and we ended up about 10kms futher up the road before I (oops it was me riding) realised that we were on the wrong road. Yes, I know. How can anyone miss seeing a sign as big at THAT one? Well, it may have been that while I was passing a truck that was slowing down to turn off that I missed the sign, and so didn't turn myself, or.... Anyway we still managed to get back to Amberly before running out of gas.
After refuelling we pulled out on to the main road and immediately had the radar detector go beserk. Sure enough there was a cop about two cars ahead, and we had to sit behind him all the way to Waipara. Not long after he turned off I was starting to wish that he was still around. Just short of Greta Valley I passed a Toyota Camry that was stuck behind a concrete truck. A few Kms further up the road the Toyota came racing up behind me and then sat on my tail. I pulled left to let him go, but instead he chose to sit on my tail, too damn close for comfort. I put on a bit of speed and passed another couple of vehicles, only to see this idiot in the Toyota acting very dangerously in passing the same two cars and trying to cath up with me again. North of Cheviot as we approached a passing lane I pulled into the left lane and slowed down to let him go, but instead he also stuck to the left lane and came charging straight at us. This was just getting too dangerous, and with him almost ramming into the back of us I just poured on the power and went for it. As far as I was concerned the only safe option was to put as many other vehicles between us as possible. Wet roads or not, I used all the power my bike had and passed everything in sight. I only felt safe when I passed an ambulance on a tight corner on the Hunderlees and left the Toyota about 6 vehicles behind.
We arrived in Kaikoura mid afternoon and booked into our accomadation for the night. My leather jacket was just starting to show the first signs of letting moisture through under the right armpit. My wife was still completely dry (no comments please). Subsequent investigation showed that the stitching in my jacket was just starting to open up right at the point of the leak. The rain finally stopped late in the afternoon.
Monday 31st October: We departed Kairoura in beautiful weather and headed up the coast. The radar detector started beeping at me just north of Clarence river, and shortly after a Mufti car came around the bend just ahead. With a fully laden bike, lovely scenery and great weather we weren't speeding, so no risk of a ticket anyway. Then only a short time later it started beeping again, and there was a HP car partly hidden at the side of the road. We carried on through Blenhiem, but instead of going straight to Picton we carried on towards Havelock for lunch. On one of the short straights I saw another HP car come around the corner towards us, then a few seconds later the detector went beserk again. Traffic was moderate in both directions and no-one seemed to be in any great hurry, so I guess it was a low revenue day for them.
From Havelock we took the scenic route to Picton. A great ride, but spoiled slightly by the tourists in their camper vans. Don't these foriegners have road laws their own countries? All over the road, stop where they feel like etc.
We arrived in Picton quite early, and as it was such a lovely day, ditched most of our gear at our accomadation and headed out on the Port Underwood road. While still in the 50kmh area the radar detector went to full alert again. We were only doing 45, so I decided not to hit the mute button, but left the screamer blasting away as we cruised past the cop. He couldn't help but hear the full 85 db of noise as we went past his open window.
If anyone has an hour or two to spare in Picton, I would reccommend the Port Underwood road as a side trip. It is sealed, narrow, very twisty, and climbs almost 2000 feet to give some absolutely fantastic views.
More to come.....
Saturday 29th October: We left Alexandra in nice sunny weather and headed through the Cromwell Gorge and on to the Lindis pass. There were plenty of other bikes on the road and friendly waves from them all. We stopped in Omarama and talked to another couple of riders who had just come down from Christchurch and were heading for Queenstown. They made some strange comment about how they hoped we had some good wet weather gear to put over our leathers. Yet here we were chatting under a cloudless sky. On towards Pukaki and it just got hotter and hotter. :sunny:
Then, about 15 kms short of Tekapo we witnessed a very interesting police pursuit going on up ahead. I naturally had to speed up a bit to see what was happening. So for a few minutes there was a car that had no intention of stopping, but cruising at around 130, the Tekapo cop in his 4WD right on his tail with blue and reds flashing, then about 1/2 km behind my wife and I just keeping everyone in sight without getting too close. The car did stop eventually but only after being chased for some distance.
After Tekapo the sky started to cloud over somewhat and at Burke's Pass we met the rain. Only a light drizzle to begin with, but it just got steadily heavier. We stopped in Fairlie for fuel and Geraldine for coffee and to stretch our legs. There was obviously not going to be in let up in the rain, and now we knew why those Christchurch Riders had been asking us about wet weather gear. Didn't they know that leather IS wet weather gear?
We carried on to Methven for our first nights stay. Only 2 hours in the rain, so we were both still dry, and the Givi panniers made sure that our gear was still dry as well.
Sunday 30th October: Today we had considering taking a scenic detour from Oxford through to Amberly, but as it was still raining we decided to just take the normal route through Rangiora. As it turned out we should have taken the scenic route after all, because the idiot riding my bike (yes my wife's husband) missed the turn off to Amberly, and we ended up about 10kms futher up the road before I (oops it was me riding) realised that we were on the wrong road. Yes, I know. How can anyone miss seeing a sign as big at THAT one? Well, it may have been that while I was passing a truck that was slowing down to turn off that I missed the sign, and so didn't turn myself, or.... Anyway we still managed to get back to Amberly before running out of gas.
After refuelling we pulled out on to the main road and immediately had the radar detector go beserk. Sure enough there was a cop about two cars ahead, and we had to sit behind him all the way to Waipara. Not long after he turned off I was starting to wish that he was still around. Just short of Greta Valley I passed a Toyota Camry that was stuck behind a concrete truck. A few Kms further up the road the Toyota came racing up behind me and then sat on my tail. I pulled left to let him go, but instead he chose to sit on my tail, too damn close for comfort. I put on a bit of speed and passed another couple of vehicles, only to see this idiot in the Toyota acting very dangerously in passing the same two cars and trying to cath up with me again. North of Cheviot as we approached a passing lane I pulled into the left lane and slowed down to let him go, but instead he also stuck to the left lane and came charging straight at us. This was just getting too dangerous, and with him almost ramming into the back of us I just poured on the power and went for it. As far as I was concerned the only safe option was to put as many other vehicles between us as possible. Wet roads or not, I used all the power my bike had and passed everything in sight. I only felt safe when I passed an ambulance on a tight corner on the Hunderlees and left the Toyota about 6 vehicles behind.
We arrived in Kaikoura mid afternoon and booked into our accomadation for the night. My leather jacket was just starting to show the first signs of letting moisture through under the right armpit. My wife was still completely dry (no comments please). Subsequent investigation showed that the stitching in my jacket was just starting to open up right at the point of the leak. The rain finally stopped late in the afternoon.
Monday 31st October: We departed Kairoura in beautiful weather and headed up the coast. The radar detector started beeping at me just north of Clarence river, and shortly after a Mufti car came around the bend just ahead. With a fully laden bike, lovely scenery and great weather we weren't speeding, so no risk of a ticket anyway. Then only a short time later it started beeping again, and there was a HP car partly hidden at the side of the road. We carried on through Blenhiem, but instead of going straight to Picton we carried on towards Havelock for lunch. On one of the short straights I saw another HP car come around the corner towards us, then a few seconds later the detector went beserk again. Traffic was moderate in both directions and no-one seemed to be in any great hurry, so I guess it was a low revenue day for them.
From Havelock we took the scenic route to Picton. A great ride, but spoiled slightly by the tourists in their camper vans. Don't these foriegners have road laws their own countries? All over the road, stop where they feel like etc.
We arrived in Picton quite early, and as it was such a lovely day, ditched most of our gear at our accomadation and headed out on the Port Underwood road. While still in the 50kmh area the radar detector went to full alert again. We were only doing 45, so I decided not to hit the mute button, but left the screamer blasting away as we cruised past the cop. He couldn't help but hear the full 85 db of noise as we went past his open window.
If anyone has an hour or two to spare in Picton, I would reccommend the Port Underwood road as a side trip. It is sealed, narrow, very twisty, and climbs almost 2000 feet to give some absolutely fantastic views.
More to come.....