Touring the South Island, Nov 24th-29th

[jumma]

It's official - A mate and I are headed to the South Island with the intention of clocking up a few thousand k's. Booked the ferry Tuesday, arranged the time of work and am now in the process of planning our route.

My mate was going down anyway for a wedding in Christchurch on the Saturday, plus taking a few extra days off to see a bit more of the countryside, so when I realised I could do with a bit of a break I though i'd join him.

Planned route so far will take us to Christchurch via Kaikoura on the Friday. Not going to muck about there as we need to be in Christchurch that night.

He'll be off at the wedding on Saturday so I thought I might cruise out to Akaroa (from reports on here that sounds like a great ride). Any other suggestions, Summit Road looks alright on the map?

Sunday, depending on the gravity of our hangovers we'll attempt to get to Queenstown via Fairlie, Twizel etc.

From there we'll be shooting up the west coast on Monday and Tuesday, dropping in on a mate at Franz Josef and probably staying at Greymouth or Westport.

Wednesday we plan to head through the Buller Gorge, up to Motueka and have a play on the Takaka Hill, before jetting back to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive for a 10pm ferry.

Actual route is far from confirmed, looking at a map I'd prefer to have 2 or 3 extra days so I could see the deep south, but I'm sure this will keep me grinning for a while anyway.

Would be cool to meet some fellow KB'ers along the way, maybe in Chch for the ride to Akaroa if anyones keen? Roll on next Friday!

[Alice]

Lucky barstard, oops I mean person.

[SDU]

Akaroa is a must when in town. Don't forget you can also ride around the bays. The Summit is a busy place (cyclists) but watch out for the gusty winds.
There is often someone riding to Akkas so watch the meeting thread or start one for a ride & / drinks while you're here.
Hope you enjoy your trip.

[jumma]

Akaroa is a must when in town. Don't forget you can also ride around the bays. The Summit is a busy place (cyclists) but watch out for the gusty winds.

Cheers for the warning. Being from Wellington I don't mind contending with the wind, but cyclists, they're a different story. Always two abreast on my entry into blind corners:angry:

May start a 'meeting' post for that ride once my plans are confirmed.

[MyGSXF]

Got a place to crash here if ya need one on the way through.. :scooter:

if not.. have a bloody fantastic trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :Punk:

Jen :rockon:

[limbimtimwim]

I don't see a Milford sound run there! Great road, great scenery.

If you can, do it. There is fuel at the end if you have EFTPOS. Or is that a credit card.. Hmm.. Take both.

[jumma]

I don't see a Milford sound run there! Great road, great scenery.

If you can, do it. There is fuel at the end if you have EFTPOS. Or is that a credit card.. Hmm.. Take both.

Would love to get there, and depending on how quickly we cover ground we may make it. Don't quite have the time i'd like to spend down there as this was a rather impromptu trip.

Cheers for the pointer though, will keep ya updated on the schedule - it's sure to change.

[jumma]

Got a place to crash here if ya need one on the way through.. :scooter:

if not.. have a bloody fantastic trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :Punk:

Jen :rockon:

Thanks for the offer:clap:

At the moment it looks as though we'll be passing through Nelson on Wednesday on our way back to Picton, but if plans change will keep your offer in mind. Cheers:D

[NighthawkNZ]

Enjoy the ride, the views... ride safely :-)

[jumma]

Enjoy the ride, the views... ride safely :-)

Cheers. Will need to make sure I'm not focussing on the scenery too much!

[bell]

From there we'll be shooting up the west coast on Monday and Tuesday, dropping in on a mate at Franz Josef and probably staying at Greymouth or Westport.

Wednesday we plan to head through the Buller Gorge, up to Motueka and have a play on the Takaka Hill, before jetting back to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive for a 10pm ferry.

Sounds like a few long-ish days in there - hope you have great weather to make it even more enjoyable.

Consider heading inland at Greymouth toward Blackball - the best salami you'll ever eat some say - I'd agree! Out of Blackball toward Reefton for a coffee and wander up the main street. Leaving reefton you'd have the Buller (Lower section) another 35kms up the road. You'd miss the last 40kms of the Gorge but depending on the weather you might prefer to avoid the gorge to some extent. Don't worry, plenty of twisties between Inangahua Junction and the turnoff north near Murchison. Great fast sweepers along the next section to Kawatiri Junction, past the Owen River. Good coffee at Murchison but don't bother at Owen River. Hey, life is too bloody short to drink crap coffee!

Definitely do the back road into Motueka via Tapawera. Watch for the last of the grit though. Some of these roads on the northern side of Stanley Brook still had heaps of grit on them a couple of weeks back.

Takaka Hill very much worth the detour. More good coffee in Takaka township...

You'll love the run over the Whangamoa saddle into Havelock (small section of roadworks between Nelson and the top of the saddle - make sure you split up to the front of the queue otherwise you'll be stuck behind 30 slow moving vehicles on some roads that no motorcyclist in their right mind wants to miss!) before turning left onto Queen Charlotte Drive and some truly blissful riding. Remember: if there could be a campervan parked on the side of one of those 67 blind corners then there probably bloody will be! Take care on this section too guys - too much local traffic as it's a fairly populated area (lots of people commute into Picton from Havelock and all points along QCD. Local traffic for me means lazy, inattentive drivers.

Then you're back to that other place across the strait - what a letdown after seeing so much of this great southern land (biased? me? Nah.) Ok, it is pissing it down outside right now but...

PM me if you want any other details of things to see/routes. Cheers, bell

[Joni]

Make sure you let us know when exactly and where you are in Chch.... maybe we can catch up for a quick hello :yes:

[jumma]

Sounds like a few long-ish days in there - hope you have great weather to make it even more enjoyable.

Thanks for all the advice Bell, will print it out and confer with map when I get home:)

Fingers crossed for the weather. Mind you, it can't get much worse than Wellington at the moment.

[bell]

Yeah, days like today I think "cars sometimes do have their benefits". Hope you're not on the bike today?

[jumma]

Make sure you let us know when exactly and where you are in Chch.... maybe we can catch up for a quick hello :yes:

Will do. Hoping the weathers good, would love to get out to Akaroa and drag a few others along for the ride.

Cheers.

[doc]

Expect to see a lot of bike traffic and a full ferry as I think quite a few heading down for The "BURT" Rally at Invercargill. I'm crossing wed evening returning wed lunch. Some of the best roads in NZ looking forward to dry roads probablly heaps of sandflies on the coast side at least its protein. Its either that or face the gauntlet of HP down the guts or east coast. They are worse than the Nth Island. Except maybe Taupo to Waiuoru. Have a good trip.

[sunhuntin]

im hoping to head to welly sunday afternoon and spend the night, to catch the ferry at 9.35 monday [dumbass me didnt factor 4 hours between here and welly when booking the ferry.] im planning on heading down the west coast, staying in invers for the rally, and heading back up the east. im planning on shopping a bit, thats why i decided to go the way i did...more shops on the east. lol.

*finds map* so far, im heading south via nelson and murchison, where ill take 6 and hit the coast. ill then turn inland at haast and down past wanaka, avoiding q/town and straight down 6 to invers. does anyone who lives on the west have any advice on backpackers etc? im riding alone, unless i pick up others along the way.
coming back, ill head up caitlins coast. ive got arrows pointing to alexandra, then to ranfurly, back to the coast and then inland again towards mount cook [ i might scrap that though.] ive gotta meet a friend in chch, so will be going there for sure. from there, its up to kaikoura, blenheim and back to picton.

again...any advice on good backpackers would be much appreciated. cheers!

[jumma]

Sounds like you've got a tonne of riding planned Sunhuntin! Hope you enjoy it, and i bet i'm not alone in hoping for some good weather.

Thanks for the HP warning doc, gonna try to avoid contributing to the governments wallet.

[sunhuntin]

Sounds like you've got a tonne of riding planned Sunhuntin! Hope you enjoy it, and i bet i'm not alone in hoping for some good weather.

Thanks for the HP warning doc, gonna try to avoid contributing to the governments wallet.

cheers jumma. im also hoping on good weather. the north island is meant to be getting what south has just had, so hopefully the change over will be nice and smooth.
ill be on the look out for any other bikes, and any i "pick up" along the way, im happy to ride with, but wont stay with anyone for the whole duration.

[idb]

Sounds like a few might be round my way next weekend.
I'm away to Auckland 23/11 and back Sunday 26 or more likely Monday morning 27 (miss out on the Munro weekend - including a free grandstand at the streetrace d'oh!).
Anyone's welcome to stay at home Monday onwards.
A couple of spare beds and some lawn or garage space is available.
Plenty of inside parking too.

PM me if you need a place.

[scumdog]

The Magpie Rally is at Winchester (about 110km south of Christchurch) on Friday24th and saturday 25th if ya wanted to pop in. PM me for contact details if interested.

[jumma]

Sounds like a few might be round my way next weekend.
I'm away to Auckland 23/11 and back Sunday 26 or more likely Monday morning 27 (miss out on the Munro weekend - including a free grandstand at the streetrace d'oh!).
Anyone's welcome to stay at home Monday onwards.
A couple of spare beds and some lawn or garage space is available.
Plenty of inside parking too.

PM me if you need a place.

Cheers IDB, may PM you if we're gonna pass through Monday. Planning on passing through to Queenstown on Sunday but our plans still might change. Appreciate the offer:niceone:

[jumma]

Plans are getting a bit clearer now, so this is our most probable intinerary:

Fri 24th: Picton to Christchurch, stopping at Kaikoura for gas and a feed.

Sat 25th: I'll be heading out to Akaroa, hopefully a few Chch KB'ers will tag along.

Sun 26th: Christchurch to Queenstown, stopping at Fairlie and Tarras.

Mon 27th: Queenstown to Greymouth, stopping at Haast and Franz Josef.

Tues 28th: Greymouth to Motueka, via Buller Gorge and stopping at Murchison.

Wed 29th: Motueka to Takaka to Nelson. Will spend a while playing on the hill I think, then will take Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.

So, a few big days in there but we both feel up to it. Feel free to PM me if you want to tag along at any stage, the more the merrier:Punk:

I'm assuming there's gas available in all these towns? Someone please let me know if not, ta.

[idb]

Plans are getting a bit clearer now, so this is our most probable intinerary:

Fri 24th: Picton to Christchurch, stopping at Kaikoura for gas and a feed.

Sat 25th: I'll be heading out to Akaroa, hopefully a few Chch KB'ers will tag along.

Sun 26th: Christchurch to Queenstown, stopping at Fairlie and Tarras.

Mon 27th: Queenstown to Greymouth, stopping at Haast and Franz Josef.

Tues 28th: Greymouth to Motueka, via Buller Gorge and stopping at Murchison.

Wed 29th: Motueka to Takaka to Nelson. Will spend a while playing on the hill I think, then will take Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.

So, a few big days in there but we both feel up to it. Feel free to PM me if you want to tag along at any stage, the more the merrier:Punk:

I'm assuming there's gas available in all these towns? Someone please let me know if not, ta.

There's not much at Tarras except for a cafe and garage.
I'm pretty sure they still serve petrol there but Omarama is a good stop just before you hit the Lindis.

[jumma]

There's not much at Tarras except for a cafe and garage.
I'm pretty sure they still serve petrol there but Omarama is a good stop just before you hit the Lindis.

Thanks for the heads up, Omarama it is.

[sunhuntin]

whatever ya do, dont stop at those "independant" i think theyre caled servos that are in the middle of nowhere! youll be paying at east $1.50/l at those places! check the pump price first.

i rode from picton to chch on monday, stayed in chch yesterday and part of today, and then rode from chch to here in dunners, where im staying the night and riding out to invers tomorrow. heading back mon or tuesday.
the road from picton to kaikoura/chch is amazing...lots of very tight corners that only get tighter. if they say 25k, then you better for 25k! lots of roadworks too, but nothing too major.

enjoy your ride, and hopefully will see you down here!!

[jumma]

whatever ya do, dont stop at those "independant" i think theyre caled servos that are in the middle of nowhere! youll be paying at east $1.50/l at those places! check the pump price first.

i rode from picton to chch on monday, stayed in chch yesterday and part of today, and then rode from chch to here in dunners, where im staying the night and riding out to invers tomorrow. heading back mon or tuesday.
the road from picton to kaikoura/chch is amazing...lots of very tight corners that only get tighter. if they say 25k, then you better for 25k! lots of roadworks too, but nothing too major.

enjoy your ride, and hopefully will see you down here!!

Cheers for the petrol tips, should be filling up in Picton then Kaikoura again before we hit Chch.

We're heading inland after Chch so may spot you in Central Otago or on the West coast. Keep an eye out for a silver bandit and a blue GSX 250 in tandem.

Safe riding.

[MTW]

That's typical...a chance to go on a good group ride with some new people and the front end is out of the bike getting new fork seals.

Was over Akaroa last weekend in the car and thought to myself I must do this again on the bike REALLY soon. Just a bit too soon for me. :)

Have fun on the travels.

[SDU]

Check out JWalkers post for a Akaroa ride this weekend under meetings.
Quite a few of the chch folk are heading to the Magpie/burt munro rallies so Keep an eye out for them on the roads down south.
Enjoy your trip

[jumma]

Check out JWalkers post for a Akaroa ride this weekend under meetings.
Quite a few of the chch folk are heading to the Magpie/burt munro rallies so Keep an eye out for them on the roads down south.
Enjoy your trip

Thanks, already keeping an eye on that post. Hopefully there'll still be a few bikers left in Chch.

Expecting to see quite a few bikes on our journeys by the sound of it. 17 hours to go and I'm on the ferry!

[The Big J]

Hope you have a good time mate. Let us know your favourite roads. I'm going over 4th Dec and going well all over really.

[jumma]

Got back Wednesday night after 6 days on the road and a total of 2,300 kms travelled. Had a blast down south, so many magic bits of road I could have done it all again in reverse.

Favourite roads from each day were as follows:

DAY ONE - Picton to Christchurch

The 80 kp/h section on the southern side of Kaikoura was awesome, although the locals made us nervous by informing us cops were always staking it out so I was hesitant to really let loose.

DAY TWO - Christchurch

Was stuck in Christchurch while my mate was at a wedding, so took off over Summit Road from Sumner to Dyers Pass. Enjoyed the views but as I had been warned there were too many cyclists to have too much fun.
So I headed out to Akaroa as well, an absolute abundance of corners. Favourite part was the climb from Barry's Bay to the Hilltop Tavern on the way back to Christchurch.

DAY THREE - Christchurch to Queenstown

Got absolutely soaked leaving Christchurch, and didn't dry up till Omarama, just in time to enjoy the Lindis Pass through to Tarras. Had a fantastic rythym going on through here, very predictable turns and no traffic. Don't remember too many times I was travelling below 100 either, great fifth gear riding.
Also tested the top ends of our bikes through the MacKenzie Country, between Fairlie and Omarama - holy shit straights, hate to think what a bigger bike would have been capable of.

DAY FOUR - Queenstown to Franz Josef

Nursing terrible hangovers we set off to Wanaka through the Crown Ranges. Stopped for the obligatory photo outside the Cadrona Hotel (Pic. 1), then knuckled down into some more fantastic riding.
On par with the Crown Ranges was the pass through to Haast (Pic. 2) from Wanaka, absolutely majestic scenery to accompany a thrilling ride. Started raining on the West Coast so didn't enjoy that too much.

DAY FIVE - Franz Josef to Kaiteriteri

Sore heads again as we caught up with a mate in Franz Josef, but after a decent brekky we were off, into the rain which didn't stop till Greymouth. Was very relieved to find only the fist 15kms of the Buller Gorge wet, would have lost my rag otherwise. The rest of it was dry all the way to Murchison and this is one hell of a road. Excellent condition and you can see it winding above the river for kilometres at a time, so you know how many cars/trucks you should encounter coming the other way. Got to Motueka in great time, so decided to head to Kaiteriteri for the night instead.

BUGGER

Unfortunately, this became the black point in the trip. Taking a right hander at about 50k's the 4-1 join on my exhaust bottomed out on a large bump right on the apex of the corner. This sent me and the bike sliding about 15 metres toward the gutter. I got up immediately, and in my adrenaline fuelled rage picked the bike up and wheeled her to a safer place.
Was stoked to find only a few scratches on the muffler and the rear brake pedal snapped the only side effects of the slide (Pic. 3) My gear saved my ass, pants are torn right on the knee pad, and again where the shin guard of my boots was. Also ripped the cellphone pocket off the front of my jacket as I slid on my front. Didn't hit my head at all so my helmet didn't get tested.

So, wasn't the best way to end a days riding, we were only a kilometre from Kaiteriteri so that pissed me off immensely.

DAY SIX - Kaiteriteri to Picton, via Takaka

Had quite a sore shoulder as a result of my bin, so as we headed over the Takaka Hill my riding wasn't quite the same, also due to a reluctance to lean the bike as much as I usually would. Still managed to appreciate this highly acclaimed piece of road, and can't wait to attack it again feeling 100 percent.

Travelled back to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive, and despite the amazing variety of corners I never really got into it that much. The road in some places was absolutely shit, ruts everywhere and patches of gravel mid corner. Very un-nerving for someone who'd just come off the day before.

So we hit Picton at about 4pm, to find the six o'clock ferry was two hours late. There were about 20 bikes in town all waiting to cross (Pic. 4), so had a quick yarn, a bite and then we were away.

So all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable trip, some amazing roads, and I guess I can count myself lucky to get away with only a few scratches on the bike.

[The Big J]

thanks for the write-up, sorry to hear about the bin

[jumma]

thanks for the write-up, sorry to hear about the bin

Cheers mate, just watch out for 'that corner' if you plan on going to Kaiteriteri.

[bell]

Hey, good on you for sharing that - had been wondering how you fared on that trip with the weather that was thrown about last week.
Your get-off sounds like it could've ended a lot worse than it did - glad to hear you pulled up ok-ish.
I'm keen to ride that section between Christchurch and the Kaikouras again soon too. This time it will be on much more enjoyable with 500ccs extra under the bonnet. I was battling a head wind the last time and doubt that I saw 85 on the speedo many times! Did you head inland south of Kaikoura down the scenic/made for 2 wheels route? There's some sublime riding and scenery through to Waiau before the maindrag rejoins at Waipara. Always next time....
Queen Charlotte can be a let down I must agree. Came back from Picton along there today and it was less enjoyable than I'd remembered from the previous time about 5 months ago - lots of slips that have left gravel mid corner and just a sub-standard surface in too many places as you mention. The Whangamoas made up for it though.
Rest up and cheers for the report.