HanaBelle
28th October 2004, 10:33
So what did you do at Labour Weekend? We went for a short and very enjoyable cruise around Northland...not very brief reportette follows...skip if you dont love New Zealand wildly and passionately...
Rushing to get out of Auckland before the holiday traffic meant we chose the stinky SH1 north as far as the Brynderwyns, which has nothing to recommend itself as a road except for a fair number of passing lanes. Mucho SUVs and people driving with one hand while searching the car floor for that escaped M&M and pickin their nose (simultaneously) with the other. <flick out a closed window>
The up trip was pretty unremarkable except for discovering the torque on the VN800 works at speed on passing lanes...That stock seat made me whiny before Kaiwaka but the turn down towards Dargaville at Maungaturoto heralds "home/whanau" and "really fast straights" so I cheered up lots by the time we reached the Cruiser Cafe in Paparoa, owned by a couple of 1500Valkyrie folks and stocked with bike mags galore. Great food too. Weirdly the big group of HDs missed it altogether but they did stop for petrol 100m down the road (umm, MUCH cheaper 20kms before then, dudes, you know where you stopped to munch? Doh)...saw a couple of Buells with the rest of the Harleys and they werent keeping up with the pack. *snicker*
We had zero rain for the whole trip up despite the overcast cloud cover and although Dargaville town saw multiple pleecemens on the road they kept off the country lanes and we went our merry way unmolested. There really is nothing like thundering along the margins of a harbours edge, dotted with cabbage trees, flax, rushes, and birdied galore...dappled rays of sun shining up the duckegg blue water like polish on chrome.
Has anyone stopped at the Kaihu pub for, say, coffee? We are riding this route with WIMA mid December (The Hokianga Heartland Girlie Run! Women bikers and their guys welcome) and want to freshen up so as to fully enjoy the wonderful ride through Waipoua Forest, all awesome twisty deep cornered all-seal road :yeah: and just the best ambient native forest all around you...usually there is a dumpy ole pie cart takeaways parked by the God of the Forest tree walk, but they must have been on holiday themselves this day. By then I was half ass-hanging off the right side of my bike to compensate for stupid stock seat so it was less enjoyable than the just beautiful ride path deserved...hence the thought we could stop and stretch a while in Kaihu on the next run.
Aint it interesting how 5 minutes of walking around gives another 40-50km of comfortable ride, though.
We crested the top of Signal Station hill coming up the Waimamaku valley and into Ompaere just about 5pmish, there is nothing to compare with the view of harbour and sand dunes, sun, beach, stunning cruising weather...and places to see old friends and party hearty. My 88 year old grandmother was mucho impressed at my midlife crisis bikie self and told me about her horse, Maysie, which was the transport in "her day". Later in the weekend, Whetu Tirakatene Sullivan shared stories of her aunties riding bikes going around the (no doubt atrocious) roads collecting signatures for Ratana in the 20s and 30s...bikes were a really important transport choice in those days, especially if you were poor. Whetu used to own an Indian. :2thumbsup
The short run from Opononi to Rawene passed uneventfully except for the rain which was determined to keep us in the mid-North...We spent the day with family and rested up in a quaint but overpriced and understocked B&B on the Rawene harbour - if youre riding the northern Hokianga route from Kohukohu to Kaitaia and thinking of stopped at Rawene to catch the vehicular ferry over the harbour, bring your own food! Cafe prices are ridiculous, although the food was pretty good.
We were joined at the B&B by a nice couple of couples on Harleys - mid to late forties and really enjoying themselves on their Fatboy and the two Softtails. Shared a pleasant time over instant coffee exchanging tales of seeing more of NZ than we ever did before climbing on a bike, and truly living out loud, plus a tale or two of Cage Driver Road Woe Survived. I kinda fell in lust with the Fatboy but kept hearing the sneering some of you guys do running like a tape in the back of my head so, well, dont tell anyone I said that bit about lust etc. Ok? I was suspicious about how clean all his chrome was, though. The vulcan looked like some big ole dusty thang by then. And they swore they had ridden up from Ak too, so maybe theres a car wash in Dargaville or something and Harleys dont run good unless they are clean?
The Resident Bike Friend and I did a nice loop up to Awanui and back down to Kaikohe, stopping to do the dutiful Northland go to Church and kiss the rellies thing...via the ferry to Kohukohu...which is a mini adventure in itself, bikes (inc rider) are $3.50 for the crossing but be careful riding off because the boat can shift suddenly sideways just as youre puttering up to the ramp! I kept my feet down just in case.
Best Road: What a choice of multiple wonders to select from! I pick the Mangakahia road from Kaikohe to Whangarei because I onnacrusier but the RBF would insist on the Mangamuka Gorge about half way to Kaitaia...which is a truly fantastic twister of a mountain road...misty road-wet on the way up but when we came back over it in the afternoon it was hot sunny and dry enough that I just had to let the VF1000 go for a "real" ride while I sedately trundled around corners that just beg to be ridden leaned right over as fast and dramatically as possible. Oh well, maybe I will get a second bike. RBF arrived at the other side several minutes before me and had that glisteny eyed smily perma grin pumped look that told me the VF had gone faster than I wanted to have seen it do...heh..
Mangamuka Gorge is a must do ride if you are up North even if you just turn around and come back again! Indescribably beautiful scenery too.
We puttered into Kaikohe about 2ish and paused for coffee, refuel and ablutions. Then the Mangakahia road...man, this beats SH12 through Kawakawa hands down as a ride route...country road in very good shape, practically no traffic even at Labour Weekend..up, down, dip, around, yeehhaaa!!!...another five star ride. Sun warming and lighting up the farmlets and rivers and bush all around, it was perfect.
Well, we HAD been told at the pub in Kaikohe that there were road works in May, but hey they had to be finished by now, right? WRONG...Norfland takes its time, eh, so Mangakahia does mean a nasty lil km or so of really shitty HUGE CHUNKY drifts of HUGE CHUNKY gravel! I managed to find some kind of line perched precariously on the very left verge and made it without mishap but blah...I am the most antigravel rider in the whole world I reckon and that road was still worth it..choose it over the main highway any chance you get!
I did a fair bit of praying for "No more gravel, please Lord" after that and was rewarded when we stopped for 5 min stretch at a little park thingy in the middle of nowhere and run into a local who shared his Test Ride on Mean Streak story and chatted about bike stuff for ten minutes or so, just the usual bonding thing...but blessedly he warned us to go straight into Whangarei rather than continuing on the bypass road because the roadworks on the hill were severe and involved shitloads of turns and ups and downs as well as the kind of metal encountered aforesaid...whew...
A quick cruise into Whangarei later and we nestled down to watch Sky Nascar racing on telly, enjoyed a lovely wallow in spa (yes, even with floating-in-pee issue, there is nothing like resting muscles after hundreds of bike kms)...and chicken n chips n coleslaw (the healthy variety not KFC!)...and a looooong sleep.
I have a real limit on this bike, which I didnt have on the EL250...about 50kms is annoyingly as far as my body wants to go before getting stretched and rearranging the blood supply to my butt...I gotta change that seat but the options dont look good - about 400 bucks to reupholster it is the cheapest Kiwi option Ive found so Im thinking of investing in a cheap sheepskin and seeing if that helps. Anyone found a cover making the diff? Those air cushions are a ridiculous 350 bucks too...I did see Cruiser mag roadtest suggesting the round wooden bead things work well, has anyone tried this?
Still, we made it to Wellsford in good shape the next morning and had yet another truly fantastic scenic run with no competing traffic to speak of on the Wellsford-Kaukapakapa road. Why the HELL anyone would choose SH1 on the last day of a long weekend is way beyond me but they do, and in droves, so we had the road almost to ourselves. Yay!
Lots of bikes running up and down both sides of that road, though, enjoying the ability to blast along at speed with stunning water views and again on a pretty good road surface. Its my pick for the best route into Ak from Northland by far. We took the short hop over Dairy Flat to Albany and arrived home refreshed and full of joy at the best 750km ride so far.
WIMA is taking a group up 11-12th Dec, with a free stopover in Opononi courtesy of my family connections and the local marae, so calling chickie bikers! WIMA is only 30 bucks a year, and contrary to some opinion is really welcoming of hubbies and bfs! Just dont take over! :rockon: Lots of fun runs and a South Island tour coming up next year.
Hana
Rushing to get out of Auckland before the holiday traffic meant we chose the stinky SH1 north as far as the Brynderwyns, which has nothing to recommend itself as a road except for a fair number of passing lanes. Mucho SUVs and people driving with one hand while searching the car floor for that escaped M&M and pickin their nose (simultaneously) with the other. <flick out a closed window>
The up trip was pretty unremarkable except for discovering the torque on the VN800 works at speed on passing lanes...That stock seat made me whiny before Kaiwaka but the turn down towards Dargaville at Maungaturoto heralds "home/whanau" and "really fast straights" so I cheered up lots by the time we reached the Cruiser Cafe in Paparoa, owned by a couple of 1500Valkyrie folks and stocked with bike mags galore. Great food too. Weirdly the big group of HDs missed it altogether but they did stop for petrol 100m down the road (umm, MUCH cheaper 20kms before then, dudes, you know where you stopped to munch? Doh)...saw a couple of Buells with the rest of the Harleys and they werent keeping up with the pack. *snicker*
We had zero rain for the whole trip up despite the overcast cloud cover and although Dargaville town saw multiple pleecemens on the road they kept off the country lanes and we went our merry way unmolested. There really is nothing like thundering along the margins of a harbours edge, dotted with cabbage trees, flax, rushes, and birdied galore...dappled rays of sun shining up the duckegg blue water like polish on chrome.
Has anyone stopped at the Kaihu pub for, say, coffee? We are riding this route with WIMA mid December (The Hokianga Heartland Girlie Run! Women bikers and their guys welcome) and want to freshen up so as to fully enjoy the wonderful ride through Waipoua Forest, all awesome twisty deep cornered all-seal road :yeah: and just the best ambient native forest all around you...usually there is a dumpy ole pie cart takeaways parked by the God of the Forest tree walk, but they must have been on holiday themselves this day. By then I was half ass-hanging off the right side of my bike to compensate for stupid stock seat so it was less enjoyable than the just beautiful ride path deserved...hence the thought we could stop and stretch a while in Kaihu on the next run.
Aint it interesting how 5 minutes of walking around gives another 40-50km of comfortable ride, though.
We crested the top of Signal Station hill coming up the Waimamaku valley and into Ompaere just about 5pmish, there is nothing to compare with the view of harbour and sand dunes, sun, beach, stunning cruising weather...and places to see old friends and party hearty. My 88 year old grandmother was mucho impressed at my midlife crisis bikie self and told me about her horse, Maysie, which was the transport in "her day". Later in the weekend, Whetu Tirakatene Sullivan shared stories of her aunties riding bikes going around the (no doubt atrocious) roads collecting signatures for Ratana in the 20s and 30s...bikes were a really important transport choice in those days, especially if you were poor. Whetu used to own an Indian. :2thumbsup
The short run from Opononi to Rawene passed uneventfully except for the rain which was determined to keep us in the mid-North...We spent the day with family and rested up in a quaint but overpriced and understocked B&B on the Rawene harbour - if youre riding the northern Hokianga route from Kohukohu to Kaitaia and thinking of stopped at Rawene to catch the vehicular ferry over the harbour, bring your own food! Cafe prices are ridiculous, although the food was pretty good.
We were joined at the B&B by a nice couple of couples on Harleys - mid to late forties and really enjoying themselves on their Fatboy and the two Softtails. Shared a pleasant time over instant coffee exchanging tales of seeing more of NZ than we ever did before climbing on a bike, and truly living out loud, plus a tale or two of Cage Driver Road Woe Survived. I kinda fell in lust with the Fatboy but kept hearing the sneering some of you guys do running like a tape in the back of my head so, well, dont tell anyone I said that bit about lust etc. Ok? I was suspicious about how clean all his chrome was, though. The vulcan looked like some big ole dusty thang by then. And they swore they had ridden up from Ak too, so maybe theres a car wash in Dargaville or something and Harleys dont run good unless they are clean?
The Resident Bike Friend and I did a nice loop up to Awanui and back down to Kaikohe, stopping to do the dutiful Northland go to Church and kiss the rellies thing...via the ferry to Kohukohu...which is a mini adventure in itself, bikes (inc rider) are $3.50 for the crossing but be careful riding off because the boat can shift suddenly sideways just as youre puttering up to the ramp! I kept my feet down just in case.
Best Road: What a choice of multiple wonders to select from! I pick the Mangakahia road from Kaikohe to Whangarei because I onnacrusier but the RBF would insist on the Mangamuka Gorge about half way to Kaitaia...which is a truly fantastic twister of a mountain road...misty road-wet on the way up but when we came back over it in the afternoon it was hot sunny and dry enough that I just had to let the VF1000 go for a "real" ride while I sedately trundled around corners that just beg to be ridden leaned right over as fast and dramatically as possible. Oh well, maybe I will get a second bike. RBF arrived at the other side several minutes before me and had that glisteny eyed smily perma grin pumped look that told me the VF had gone faster than I wanted to have seen it do...heh..
Mangamuka Gorge is a must do ride if you are up North even if you just turn around and come back again! Indescribably beautiful scenery too.
We puttered into Kaikohe about 2ish and paused for coffee, refuel and ablutions. Then the Mangakahia road...man, this beats SH12 through Kawakawa hands down as a ride route...country road in very good shape, practically no traffic even at Labour Weekend..up, down, dip, around, yeehhaaa!!!...another five star ride. Sun warming and lighting up the farmlets and rivers and bush all around, it was perfect.
Well, we HAD been told at the pub in Kaikohe that there were road works in May, but hey they had to be finished by now, right? WRONG...Norfland takes its time, eh, so Mangakahia does mean a nasty lil km or so of really shitty HUGE CHUNKY drifts of HUGE CHUNKY gravel! I managed to find some kind of line perched precariously on the very left verge and made it without mishap but blah...I am the most antigravel rider in the whole world I reckon and that road was still worth it..choose it over the main highway any chance you get!
I did a fair bit of praying for "No more gravel, please Lord" after that and was rewarded when we stopped for 5 min stretch at a little park thingy in the middle of nowhere and run into a local who shared his Test Ride on Mean Streak story and chatted about bike stuff for ten minutes or so, just the usual bonding thing...but blessedly he warned us to go straight into Whangarei rather than continuing on the bypass road because the roadworks on the hill were severe and involved shitloads of turns and ups and downs as well as the kind of metal encountered aforesaid...whew...
A quick cruise into Whangarei later and we nestled down to watch Sky Nascar racing on telly, enjoyed a lovely wallow in spa (yes, even with floating-in-pee issue, there is nothing like resting muscles after hundreds of bike kms)...and chicken n chips n coleslaw (the healthy variety not KFC!)...and a looooong sleep.
I have a real limit on this bike, which I didnt have on the EL250...about 50kms is annoyingly as far as my body wants to go before getting stretched and rearranging the blood supply to my butt...I gotta change that seat but the options dont look good - about 400 bucks to reupholster it is the cheapest Kiwi option Ive found so Im thinking of investing in a cheap sheepskin and seeing if that helps. Anyone found a cover making the diff? Those air cushions are a ridiculous 350 bucks too...I did see Cruiser mag roadtest suggesting the round wooden bead things work well, has anyone tried this?
Still, we made it to Wellsford in good shape the next morning and had yet another truly fantastic scenic run with no competing traffic to speak of on the Wellsford-Kaukapakapa road. Why the HELL anyone would choose SH1 on the last day of a long weekend is way beyond me but they do, and in droves, so we had the road almost to ourselves. Yay!
Lots of bikes running up and down both sides of that road, though, enjoying the ability to blast along at speed with stunning water views and again on a pretty good road surface. Its my pick for the best route into Ak from Northland by far. We took the short hop over Dairy Flat to Albany and arrived home refreshed and full of joy at the best 750km ride so far.
WIMA is taking a group up 11-12th Dec, with a free stopover in Opononi courtesy of my family connections and the local marae, so calling chickie bikers! WIMA is only 30 bucks a year, and contrary to some opinion is really welcoming of hubbies and bfs! Just dont take over! :rockon: Lots of fun runs and a South Island tour coming up next year.
Hana