Babes on Buells Southern Tour

[buellbabe]

Ok this is from my perspective... Rashika will have more to sya and pics to add but I thought I would get the ball rolling while I have some downtime at work...
Bear with me cos its long and is gonna have to be posted in a few parts (like about 5!)
Here goes
Part 1

Well its pretty hard adjusting to working life again after doing 2,500 miles over the last 10 days in the South Island.
As some of ya may know I wasn't able to do the trip on my own bike cos my shock needed a rebuild so my good buddy AJ said I could use the 04 Firebolt that he had just bought from a guy up here in Auckland.
What a hero! He hadn't even taken the Bolt for a ride yet and was willing to let me hoon around the South Island on it and then deliver it to him in Wellington!!!!

Anyway the trip rates as one of the best holidays I have ever had.
There were 4 of us tiki-touring and we had an absolute blast. Deano was on a Ducati Multistrada, his lady Jocelyn rides an SV100, moi on da Bolt and my great mate Rashika on her Bolt.
It was just bliss riding with 3 other people who all had similar riding styles and were all into the same things!
All 4 of us are tequila fans so we had 'Cocktail' hour each evening with Deano making us primo Mararitas.
Ah yes sitting in the evening sun, glass in hand musing over the days glorious ride, anticipating the next days adventure... It really doesn't get much better!

[buellbabe]

So here is how it went down... D, J & I left Auckland after work on Wednesday and rode south to Taupo then headed to Wellington to catch a 1.30pm ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton. The last hour approaching Wellington was not the best as the North Island decided to farewell us with a downpour but by the time we were riding onto the ferry the skies cleared again and our spirits lifted :-)
Then onto Blenheim where we stayed the night and showed the locals how to party.
Next day we rode to Christchurch (to hook up with Rashika), we had the whole day to get there so we just cruised, stopped at Kaikoura and later on stopped at a vineyard where we sampled a few different wines...
Friday night in Christchurch was a fairly quiet one and Saturday we rode with a big group of locals the long way (aka twisty back roads) down to Waimate for the March Hare Rally. This was the biggest rally I have ever been to and I loved every minute of it! Not sure of numbers but it had to be a couple of thousand easily???. It rocked! In fact it rocked so much that I only had about 3 hours sleep before doing another long-way-round ride the next day! I was shattered and seriously doubted whether I could make it! But of course I DID! I was just blindly following Rashika glad that she had gotten more sleep than I had!

[buellbabe]

Balclutha was the stop that night, at Chez Scumdogs! I was feeling miraculously revived and needless to say we had a bit of a sesh...
Cheers Scummie, Chrissie Bimbo and Mangrove!
I could say more about policemen wandering around with no trousers on ...but I won't...
Then onto Invercargill the next night where we celebrated my birthday!
Yep! I could tell my this point that I was gonna have a good year!

[buellbabe]

We rode down to Bluff at the bottom of the Sth Island and then along the Catlins coast (which was stunning) before heading to Te Anau where we holed up for a couple of days so that we could take a day to go out to Milford Sound and do a sightseeing cruise. Blimmin AWESOME!
Riding back up towards Queenstown the next day was bliss. I actually got a wee bit choked up while riding around the bottom of Lake Whakatipu cos the scenery was so stunning and the road was dynamite.
Beautiful Wanaka was the stop that night...around this time we decided that eating out every night was getting a bit expensive so we went to the local supermarket and bought a heap of cheeses, pate, dips, bread, crackers, smoked seafood etc...Yummo! and needless to say we had to replenish the cocktail supplies...

[buellbabe]

getting very frustrated trying to attach pics... grr! They are NOT too big!
So here is the rest of the report and I will persevere with the pic up loading...

From there we went thru the Haast Pass to the west coast. Its a great bike road but there is a lot of tourist traffic on it and very few places to pass during the first really tight bit. I gave 1 camper van the 1 finger wave cos the wanker REALLY could have moved left a bit to let us pass but DIDN'T. A-hole!
In the Motorcycle Atlas we used as a rough guide it described the west coast ride as a 5 smiley ride... I would give it 10/10...I have done it a few times now on 4 different bikes and I never get tired of this stretch of road!
Stayed at Fox Glacier that night and of course did the tourist thing and walked out to the Glacier. It is advancing at the rate of 1.5 metres a week and tourists are advised not to venture right up to it (cos of rocks falling) but of course ya just can't stop some people and only a month ago some stoopid foreigner got airlifted out with a shattered leg...

Well we continued up the coast to Hokitika, did a stretch of road that is continuous 15-25kms corners! The Buell just ate the corners up and spat them out. Yee ha!
Stretched our legs in Hokitika, the place was packed cos it was the weekend of the Wild Foods Festival and all the loonies had come out to play. We were parked on the side of the road wondering what to do about bike and gear security when I realised that we were opposite the local police station so I went over and explained our situation and asked if we could park our bikes in their compound... The cop said no cos they were expecting 're-inforcements' to be turning up soon buuuut he said we were welcome to stash them next door at the 'police owned house'!!!! Great stuff! Nothing ventured nothing gained huh?
Well after a bit we continued on to Greymouth having met up with Rashikas man and 1 of his mates along the way. We all did a tour of the Monteiths Brewery... Fascinating and GREAT beer! Then we hooned out to 'the Blackball Hilton' for the night. It was hill-billy night... so party party party!
Well sadly we said goodbye to Deano and Jocelyn the next day as they were heading up to Nelson and beyond intending to do a spot of kayaking. I rode back to ChCh with Rashika, Dangerous and Crazy Bren... We went thru the Lewis Pass which is definitely on my list of favorite roads... Bush either side forming an archway and fabulous corner after corner... Sigh... Never get tired of that road either ;-)
Gave the bike a wash and then it was round to Mary Lous for 1 final sesh ;-) Next day I headed north on my own wondering if the back tyre was gonna last til Picton cos it was SHAGGED! I still broke the speed limit the entire way but kept all my accelerating as smooth as poss cos I am NOT kidding...the rubber was so thin in places the canvas was showing thru!
The COOLEST thing happened while I was stopped again at Kaikoura having brunch, across the road from me a pod of dolphins came into the bay and just stayed there frolicking around, somersaulting out of the water and putting on quite a display! I was glad of my dark glasses cos I got a wee bit weepy... Yeah I KNOW! I really must harden up!
Then sadly me and bike said goodbye to the South Island and landed at Wellington where, even sadder, I had to say good bye to my bike...oops! I mean AJs bike. Handing the key over to him was bloody hard to do cos I had become very attached the the Firebolt!
Flew back to Auckland the next day and was greeted with enthusiastic love by my critters, that took some of the sting out of my holiday being over.
Picked my X1 up the next day, serviced and with rebuilt shock :-) yeeha :-))))) I found myself laughing as I rode it home cos I felt like I was riding a trailbike after being on the Bolt! Jeez! Gotta lower the handlebars!

So now I am saving hard for my next tour and...contemplating a new bike...
Shock horror! But I'll tell ya why in another thread...

[buellbabe]

I GIVE UP!
Why is it taking forever to up load these pics??? Bugger this... I will try again tomorrow morn cos i am off home now!

[scumdog]

Great write-up BB, the pic of the 'cop bike' turned out O.K. too!

Glad you did your ride when you did - the weather over the last 3-4 days down here has not been too shit-hot (bloody wet'n'windy!!) for riding.

[buellbabe]

well here goes with some pics

[buellbabe]

and some more

[Rashika]

damn thats an awesum bit of writing chicky!
yeah I know... I'm slack...but I have been a little busy, buying another house, selling mine amongst other things, I WILL get something up and posted soon. maybe this weekend... if I can push someone else off the net :innocent:

[dangerous]

Man, who let that dodgy looking bugger loose behind the bar :Punk:
Awesome write up Bb and it was a bloody great ride back from the Blackball Hilton were we stayed, I forgot I took my old Kat on that trip to the coast and back.
Crazy Bren is BrenChCh and Mary Lou is SuzyQ partnered up with Thunder, aint KB a grand old place. :scooter:

[Rashika]

well this will have ta be brief cos I aint got much time...

Things to remember for future:

1. Stick to pack racks, panniers tend to fall off, esp off Italian bikes :dodge:

2. When hunting for said panniers dont forget to take money card with you when you fill up in the middle of nowhere...or else you will have to go back for it

3. After 250mms of rain the ideal way to get to Milford is by... bus! ;)
but the pics are damn AWESOME!

4. Bluff has one ICREDIABLE view from the lookout

5. Tuatapere has a nice cop...

6. It rained, it rained, it rained, the average rainfall was well maintained. Well, Te Anau lived up to its reputation! And the Cordura did too!

7. Haast pass is a damn nice piece of road, yep 5 smilies from me! Altho I loved it all the way up the coast as well, weather was great, and that prob helped too.

8. Hoki wild foods Fes price is a bit of a rip, prob worth it for the whole weekend, but not for a couple of hours. Much better spent listening to some cool band from South America, even bought their CD!

9. Wheres the Cops???????????

10. 100kms an hour speed really DOES save you some petrol!

thats it, will post some pics...

Lindus pass, Tarras, Roxborough (outside the park I played in as a kid!), Clutha River near Balclutha

[Rashika]

bug splat

hmmm...hiding??

Kaka point

The whole bunch of us at the waterfall...

ahhhh pretty!

[Deviant Esq]

Great writeup Buellbabe, good reading! Shame the pics weren't a little bigger, but they're still great pics! I think Crazy Bren suits Bren more than bren_chch... but then, I remember hooning to Akaroa with him once with TygerTung... he spent more time on the rear hoop than with both on the deck! Bloody nutter... ;) Nice CBR900RR though... does he still have it?

Mary Lou feeling a bit better on that SV then?

Sounds like a good time was had by all - great stuff! Scummy's hospitality live up to its reputation? :dodge:

[buellbabe]

Yeah sorry about the pic size but I had grief uploading them and was ready to spit the dummy entirely! So they are what they are unfortunately!

[Rashika]

more piccies, round the Catlins coast and Curio bay.

Just had a thought about Curio bay: now this place has the petrified forest...very interesting spot, well worth a visit. Those straight lines you can see in the big pic are actually petrified fallen down trees (dunno what they were so scared of ;) ). The wee things that look like pimples in pic 2 are actually tree stumps, with layers of ash around them. And when you look closely at the trees and stumps you can actually see the trees, not bad for being many MANY centuries old!

[Rashika]

Great writeup Buellbabe, good reading! Shame the pics weren't a little bigger, but they're still great pics! I think Crazy Bren suits Bren more than bren_chch... but then, I remember hooning to Akaroa with him once with TygerTung... he spent more time on the rear hoop than with both on the deck! Bloody nutter... ;) Nice CBR900RR though... does he still have it?

Mary Lou feeling a bit better on that SV then?

Sounds like a good time was had by all - great stuff! Scummy's hospitality live up to its reputation? :dodge:

will find a pic somewhere... Brens CBR has changed, errr just a little
Marylou /SuziQ is still on her GSR600, and loving it.
Joc is on the SV1000., Thats me/Buellbabe/Dean/Joc in the pics above

[Rashika]

more Catlins pics, and then on to Bluff for the views from the top of the lookout

[Rashika]

My auntie on her kwaka, and Me and auntie (she loves it when i call here that! only being a couple of years older) at Tuatapere... (where they make very nice muffins)... and according to the others have an ok copper ;)

the mirror lakes...not very mirror like at that point anyway

[MyGSXF]

AWESOME write-ups biker babes.. & gorgeous pics!!!!!!!! :2thumbsup

Sounds like you had an absolute BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!! :Punk:

[buellbabe]

I think Crazy Bren suits Bren more than bren_chch... but then, I remember hooning to Akaroa with him once with TygerTung... he spent more time on the rear hoop than with both on the deck! Bloody nutter... ;) Nice CBR900RR though... does he still have it?


ha ha yes I think so too... I had a hard time remembering all the names and came up with that one pretty soon after meeting him!
His bike... er... the one formerly known as a Honda... oh yes he still has it and its been customised a wee bit... he he he

[Rashika]

and on to Milford...in the rain :yes:

[buellbabe]

But 2 days of rain the entire trip was bloody good going. And rain at Miford means SPECTACULAR waterfalls!
:yes:

[Deviant Esq]

will find a pic somewhere... Brens CBR has changed, errr just a little
Marylou /SuziQ is still on her GSR600, and loving it.
Joc is on the SV1000., Thats me/Buellbabe/Dean/Joc in the pics above
Ah, so the black streetfighter Bren posted a few days ago is the CBR? Was it an accident that caused him to fighter it or did he just decide "fuck it, I'm fightering it!"? Looked pretty good, now where'd that photo go...

Ah yeah... forgot ML's bike was actually a GSR. My bad, bad memory, thought it was an SV650. But good to hear she's getting along well :)

So many good photos! I would have liked to tag along except for the shitty old weather and me without good wet weather gear... and the minor problem of having a 250 single that doesn't do touring! One day that problem will be taken care of, along with a green piece of plastic with my photo on it to match ;)

[Rashika]

But 2 days of rain the entire trip was bloody good going. And rain at Miford means SPECTACULAR waterfalls!
:yes:

hell yeah, speaking of which heres more...


yip there were LOTS of waterfalls!

[Rashika]

Ah, so the black streetfighter Bren posted a few days ago is the CBR? Was it an accident that caused him to fighter it or did he just decide "fuck it, I'm fightering it!"? Looked pretty good, now where'd that photo go...

Ah yeah... forgot ML's bike was actually a GSR. My bad, bad memory, thought it was an SV650. But good to hear she's getting along well :)

So many good photos! I would have liked to tag along except for the shitty old weather and me without good wet weather gear... and the minor problem of having a 250 single that doesn't do touring! One day that problem will be taken care of, along with a green piece of plastic with my photo on it to match ;)

actually the weather was damn good, just that 1 day or so of major rain... sunny all the rest of the time

[Deviant Esq]

Awesome waterfall pics! Never get tired of waterfalls :yes:

Good weather overall then? Nice. What better way to spend a week? :2thumbsup

[buellbabe]

2 weeks of sunshine (apart from Milford) for me! and it rates as 1 of the best holidays I have ever had. I am at my happiest when I'm riding around this beautiful country of ours. :yes: :sunny: :love:

[Rashika]

ok then a few more just for DE ;)

check out the size of the boats next to the waterfalls

[Rashika]

and then there was the underwater aquarium...VERY cool place!
Suggest anyone who is in the area, make this a MUST do :rockon:

[mstriumph]

awesome AWESOME pics .................. :Punk: *sigh*



.. but i don't see the one of the policeman with no trousers on.......? :dodge:

[Rashika]

and then we emerged from down under the water to find the clouds had lifted...albeit briefly, for us to see a wee bit.

[Rashika]

awesome AWESOME pics .................. :Punk: *sigh*



.. but i don't see the one of the policeman with no trousers on.......? :dodge:

haha...now HE ran away when he saw us ;)
Actually no, he strolled around like he owned the place :shutup:

[buellbabe]

Believe me I am psychologically/emotionally damaged from the experience!

[pritch]

1. Stick to pack racks, panniers tend to fall off, esp off Italian bikes



That's scary. I never had any bother with the BMW panniers but I just fitted Italian boxes to Jap bike. I'd maybe better adjust the mirrors to include the panniers as well as my elbows... :-)

[buellbabe]

Fortunately all his clothes were in the remaining bag... just lost a sleeping bag, wire strop, bottle of wine and a couple of other minor things. The sleeping bag wasn't an issue cos it only got used at the March Hare.;-)

[MyGSXF]

The big falls in Milford Sound.. Stirling Falls @ 500ft.. is supposed to be the highest waterfall in the world.. to fall directly into the sea!!! :Punk: (Well that's what they said on my boat tour down the fjord back in 1990 anyway.. dunno if it has changed or not...)

& they also said.. that after major rain fall, the force of the water coming over the falls, can send the spray UP the OTHER SIDE of the fjord :gob:

Some other interesting stats (1990) Mitre Peak 1695m high. 6273mm rainfall yearly. Walls of Milford Sound go 1200m vertically up from the sea & their depth goes down to 290m deep.

[dangerous]

I was lucky enuff to get into Milford on the bike on a dry day... well I thought I was, looks like a wet day is beter cos I never saw any of those impressive water falls... WOW


Nice CBR900RR though... does he still have it?

The Blade that has many faces... how do you remember it being?

[Deviant Esq]

The Blade that has many faces... how do you remember it being?
Picture number 1 is how I remember it, original Honda paint and decals. I don't think he'd had it long. Remember talking about it in the pub at Halswell... he was pleased with it because it hadn't been raced and only done about 27,000 km. By the looks of picture number three he did take it racing... and fightered it after that. Bet it doesn't spend more time with the front hoop on the ground though... :shutup:

[scumdog]

Meh,,,amazing how blase' one gets when one lives only 3-4 hours from such scenery, seeing it through different eyes make one appreciate it.

And BTE, the reason I walked around like I owned the place is 'cos I DO own the place!!!.....pants on or not!:yes: :done:

[doc]

Meh,,,amazing how blase' one gets when one lives only 3-4 hours from such scenery, seeing it through different eyes make one appreciate it.

And BTE, the reason I walked around like I owned the place is 'cos I DO own the place!!!.....pants on or not!:yes: :done:This is gettin a bit complicated. So you "own the place" but "you don't wear the pants"

[Rashika]

This is gettin a bit complicated. So you "own the place" but "you don't wear the pants"

yeah, hes one complicated person :shutup:

anyway got a few more for you lot.

first two are at the chasm (on the way back towards the tunnel) another superb spot, there is SOME water going down there!
mirror lake again, a little MORE mirror like this time
Our humble abode in Te Anau

[Rashika]

Now onwards towards Queenstown, first stop was Kingston for brunch (we found the sun there).
Bike at kingston, the flyer reving up, view towards the lake from kingston, and bike halfway along the lake, the DEVIL's staircase (ooooooohhhhhhhhaaaaahhh), the ducati next to the lake

[Rashika]

a bikie tourist :shutup:

Wanaka lakefront (damn nice AGAIN!) x2 pics

the bikes at Hawea lake

heading towards Haast pass (x2 pics)

[Rashika]

Fox glacier pics.
Last time I came past, I visited Franz Joseph Glacier, and all I really remember is the LONG walk! But this one was actually just a wee jaunt, inspiring spot... amazing to think to where it has advanced to before, and that it is on the move towards the road again...wonder how far it will be in 10 year time?

Then we ambled out to lake Matheson for an evening walk to see the sunset (that wasn't...damn it...no good pics of that), but a nice spot anyway.

[Rashika]

My reflection at the lake, tehehe ;)

Fox Glacier from the lookout (towards the coast from the township)

Mt Cook!

Bikes and Mt Cook

Hokitika buskers

a whole lot of bloody odd cars (at Hoki, where else??) :shutup:

[Rashika]

and the last couple are of The Blackball Hilton, and a couple of nutter bikers we picked up there :innocent:

all in all it was a GREAT trip, with awesome scenery and a damn fine bunch of people to blast around with (and the Tequilas were pretty yummy too thanks Dean!) ...and I want to make it a regular thing, so roll on next year :rockon:

[buellbabe]

Cheers for posting all those pics chicky! Dunno what went wrong with mine! They are tiny! tee hee!

Yep all in all it was one hell of a brilliant trip and I am already planning the next Sth Is invasion!

be afraid...be very afraid...