Hitcher
30th March 2008, 14:38
The Mini Returns
Invercargill cemetery to Collards Tavern in Kaitaia in four glorious days (19-22 March 2008).
Just over 2,300km from start to finish.
Seven pennants to collect on a route that transected some of New Zealand’s best scenery and motorcycling roads.
Fabulous weather experienced, apart from a few hours of low cloud and light drizzle on the West Coast.
Getting there...
First we had to get to the start. All participants had to travel about the length of New Zealand twice to complete this event – the distance covered in the rally itself plus the distances involved in getting to the start and home again afterwards. This inevitably involved a double crossing of Cook Strait.
We departed our home in Wellington on the Saturday preceding the start, caught the 11:00am Bluebridge sailing and rode directly through to Mrs H’s mum’s place in Ashburton. This first day on the road was a good portent for what was to follow. The late afternoon ride to our fuel and dinner stop at Kaikoura was faultless. Brilliant late summer weather, no wind and light traffic. The road was in great nick as well, further enhancing our enjoyment. Hislops Café in Kaikoura still does the South Island’s best coffee.
After dinner we enjoyed riding in the twilight that the South Island does so well, and encountered a myriad of flying insects hell-bent on concluding their life on Earth by hovering at helmet height over SH1 between Kaikoura and Amberley. At that point we paused for a visor clean and conference about whether or not to take the “inland” route to Ashburton via Rangiora and Sheffield, or to bang on down SH1 through Christchurch. Given the hour and the day (Saturday), we decided on the latter course. Christchurch is an arse of a place in terms of getting across it by road, and even trying to avoid the city by skirting its perimeter is not a straightforward task.
On Monday we hit the road southwards again, turning off at Hinds to ride across to the Mt Somers-Geraldine road. The day turned a bit cooler from Geraldine to our lunch stop at Fairlie, but warmed pleasantly after our ascent to the Mackenzie basin. We detoured along the Salmon Farm Road south of Tekapo for the requisite photo opportunity before heading to an afternoon tea stop at the Tarras Store. Dairy farming may well be leading what passes for New Zealand’s economic growth, but at some environmental cost. Today we noted how the pursuit of export dollars has laid waste the tussock land that was a trademark of the Mackenzie basin in favour of intensively irrigated and stocked pastureland. Landscape clearly has no value in New Zealand, if these sorts of land uses and huge windfarm developments in Central Otago are anything to go by. Go and visit traditional New Zealand now, before it is vandalised forever.
We parked up for the night in Wanaka – The Wanaka Lodge, to be precise. Good value accommodation within easy walking distance of downtown Wanaka. Recommended. Over dinner we got chatting with a Napier couple exploring the South Island by Goldwing. Afterwards we marvelled at the social interactions that travel by motorcycle affords. After all, who in their right mind would ever want to chat with people who travel by car?
Tuesday we decided to head on southwards through the Crown Range Road. After a photo stop outside the historic Cardrona Hotel, we experienced first-hand the delights that the tourist “industry” has to offer in the form of a 30-campervan daisy chain wending its weary way in the same direction we had chosen. Fortunately a stretch of controlled road works allowed us to jump to the head of the queue!
Another photo call and cold drink stop followed in the wonderfully scenic and now crassly exploited Arrowtown. Queenstown was avoided on this occasion.
Leaving Lake Wakatipu behind at Kingston, the wind increased in vigour and the temperature also warmed. Indeed the Rotary-provided thermometer and clock in the main street of Winton announced a more-than-balmy 38 degrees! A large and cold Coke Zero helped replenish some of the bodily fluids that had been evaporated in the previous kilometres.
Our accommodation that evening was at the Invercargill Top 10 motorcamp on the outskirts of town, where we met up with KBers and fellow TMRers KoroJ, banditrider and Blue Bandito. A Rusty Nuts MC club night at the Eagle Hotel in Bluff followed, together with a photo stop at the Bluff “road sign” and a late leisurely dinner at Invercargill’s Speight’s Bar.
Day 1: Invercargill to Greymouth, via Dunedin (966km)
8:00am at Invercargill cemetery was the designated start point. The sun was not yet above the eastern horizon. An impressive array of 50-odd bikes and about 60 odder people awaited us. Photos were snapped while we awaited Lee Rusty’s briefing. “Your objective is Kaitaia!” Then we were off.
A procession of bikes proceeded at an orderly clip across the Southland plains. We were part of those who chose to turn off SH1 at Mataura and re-emerge at Clinton. The sun was low and head on, so care was required at all times, given the rolling nature of this wonderful road and the patches of roadworks that dotted it.
It’s amazing how many truck-and-trailer units roll up and down the South Island’s main roads. We caught up on a stream of these north of Milton, but were able to leapfrog these at roadworks near Waihola.
Flag Number One was uplifted in Dunedin’s Octagon. A coffee was downed, and we were off.
Given the length of the day’s ride and a lack of enforcement about the route to the next flag stop at Cromwell, we decided to opt for the shortest route, and back-tracked to Milton. The route the Mini took in GBPP was via the Pig Route and Palmerston. While our route may have been shorter, it exposed us to a significant amount of meandering traffic and may not have been the quicker choice of route from Dunedin.
While refuelling at Milton we managed a chat with Jantar who was waiting to meet up with Highlander and others.
Trucks, trucks and more trucks. From Lawrence the day started to warm. The further west we went across Central Otago, the warmer it got. A lunch and fuel stop at Alexandra saw rehydrating fluids being consumed by riders as well as bikes.
The wind also started to pick up, and we had a gusty ride along Lake Dunstan and from the Second Flag collection point at the Cromwell Fruitbowl to Makarora.
Easter 2008 saw Wings Over Wanaka, and rehearsals and site preparation were in full swing as we flashed past the airport. It would have been nice to have parked up by the roadside for a couple of hours to watch the Polikarpovs and Kittyhawks flying circuits.
We stopped again at Lake Hawea and at Makarora for liquid refreshment. Then we were shortly into our work in the Haast Pass, where the temperature at least halved. This is a marvellous stretch of road amongst some of New Zealand’s most wondrous scenery, and one that we must ride in the opposite direction at some stage.
As we were almost clear of the Pass, the road moistened and the sky clouded and darkened. We stopped at the Haast township turnoff to don our wet-weather gear. Claggy, cloying low cloud and occasional drizzle dogged our run up the West Coast until Ross. This was the extent of wet weather on the entire run.
A Fox Glacier fuel stop provided an opportunity for a stretch and coffee break, before mounting up and riding into the now darkening early evening.
Rather than take our chances on finding an eatery open at Greymouth, we stopped in Hokitika for a simply splendid blue cod dinner.
A particularly droll service station attendant welcomed us to Greymouth. “What’s with all the bikes?” he asked. Mrs H gave him the skinny and asked if he had seen a few. “I’ve seen them all,” he noted grimly.
And then it was off to the motorcamp and into bed in readiness for Day 2.
Highlights for the day: The Mataura-Clinton road, Haast Pass and a blue cod dinner at Hokitika.
Invercargill cemetery to Collards Tavern in Kaitaia in four glorious days (19-22 March 2008).
Just over 2,300km from start to finish.
Seven pennants to collect on a route that transected some of New Zealand’s best scenery and motorcycling roads.
Fabulous weather experienced, apart from a few hours of low cloud and light drizzle on the West Coast.
Getting there...
First we had to get to the start. All participants had to travel about the length of New Zealand twice to complete this event – the distance covered in the rally itself plus the distances involved in getting to the start and home again afterwards. This inevitably involved a double crossing of Cook Strait.
We departed our home in Wellington on the Saturday preceding the start, caught the 11:00am Bluebridge sailing and rode directly through to Mrs H’s mum’s place in Ashburton. This first day on the road was a good portent for what was to follow. The late afternoon ride to our fuel and dinner stop at Kaikoura was faultless. Brilliant late summer weather, no wind and light traffic. The road was in great nick as well, further enhancing our enjoyment. Hislops Café in Kaikoura still does the South Island’s best coffee.
After dinner we enjoyed riding in the twilight that the South Island does so well, and encountered a myriad of flying insects hell-bent on concluding their life on Earth by hovering at helmet height over SH1 between Kaikoura and Amberley. At that point we paused for a visor clean and conference about whether or not to take the “inland” route to Ashburton via Rangiora and Sheffield, or to bang on down SH1 through Christchurch. Given the hour and the day (Saturday), we decided on the latter course. Christchurch is an arse of a place in terms of getting across it by road, and even trying to avoid the city by skirting its perimeter is not a straightforward task.
On Monday we hit the road southwards again, turning off at Hinds to ride across to the Mt Somers-Geraldine road. The day turned a bit cooler from Geraldine to our lunch stop at Fairlie, but warmed pleasantly after our ascent to the Mackenzie basin. We detoured along the Salmon Farm Road south of Tekapo for the requisite photo opportunity before heading to an afternoon tea stop at the Tarras Store. Dairy farming may well be leading what passes for New Zealand’s economic growth, but at some environmental cost. Today we noted how the pursuit of export dollars has laid waste the tussock land that was a trademark of the Mackenzie basin in favour of intensively irrigated and stocked pastureland. Landscape clearly has no value in New Zealand, if these sorts of land uses and huge windfarm developments in Central Otago are anything to go by. Go and visit traditional New Zealand now, before it is vandalised forever.
We parked up for the night in Wanaka – The Wanaka Lodge, to be precise. Good value accommodation within easy walking distance of downtown Wanaka. Recommended. Over dinner we got chatting with a Napier couple exploring the South Island by Goldwing. Afterwards we marvelled at the social interactions that travel by motorcycle affords. After all, who in their right mind would ever want to chat with people who travel by car?
Tuesday we decided to head on southwards through the Crown Range Road. After a photo stop outside the historic Cardrona Hotel, we experienced first-hand the delights that the tourist “industry” has to offer in the form of a 30-campervan daisy chain wending its weary way in the same direction we had chosen. Fortunately a stretch of controlled road works allowed us to jump to the head of the queue!
Another photo call and cold drink stop followed in the wonderfully scenic and now crassly exploited Arrowtown. Queenstown was avoided on this occasion.
Leaving Lake Wakatipu behind at Kingston, the wind increased in vigour and the temperature also warmed. Indeed the Rotary-provided thermometer and clock in the main street of Winton announced a more-than-balmy 38 degrees! A large and cold Coke Zero helped replenish some of the bodily fluids that had been evaporated in the previous kilometres.
Our accommodation that evening was at the Invercargill Top 10 motorcamp on the outskirts of town, where we met up with KBers and fellow TMRers KoroJ, banditrider and Blue Bandito. A Rusty Nuts MC club night at the Eagle Hotel in Bluff followed, together with a photo stop at the Bluff “road sign” and a late leisurely dinner at Invercargill’s Speight’s Bar.
Day 1: Invercargill to Greymouth, via Dunedin (966km)
8:00am at Invercargill cemetery was the designated start point. The sun was not yet above the eastern horizon. An impressive array of 50-odd bikes and about 60 odder people awaited us. Photos were snapped while we awaited Lee Rusty’s briefing. “Your objective is Kaitaia!” Then we were off.
A procession of bikes proceeded at an orderly clip across the Southland plains. We were part of those who chose to turn off SH1 at Mataura and re-emerge at Clinton. The sun was low and head on, so care was required at all times, given the rolling nature of this wonderful road and the patches of roadworks that dotted it.
It’s amazing how many truck-and-trailer units roll up and down the South Island’s main roads. We caught up on a stream of these north of Milton, but were able to leapfrog these at roadworks near Waihola.
Flag Number One was uplifted in Dunedin’s Octagon. A coffee was downed, and we were off.
Given the length of the day’s ride and a lack of enforcement about the route to the next flag stop at Cromwell, we decided to opt for the shortest route, and back-tracked to Milton. The route the Mini took in GBPP was via the Pig Route and Palmerston. While our route may have been shorter, it exposed us to a significant amount of meandering traffic and may not have been the quicker choice of route from Dunedin.
While refuelling at Milton we managed a chat with Jantar who was waiting to meet up with Highlander and others.
Trucks, trucks and more trucks. From Lawrence the day started to warm. The further west we went across Central Otago, the warmer it got. A lunch and fuel stop at Alexandra saw rehydrating fluids being consumed by riders as well as bikes.
The wind also started to pick up, and we had a gusty ride along Lake Dunstan and from the Second Flag collection point at the Cromwell Fruitbowl to Makarora.
Easter 2008 saw Wings Over Wanaka, and rehearsals and site preparation were in full swing as we flashed past the airport. It would have been nice to have parked up by the roadside for a couple of hours to watch the Polikarpovs and Kittyhawks flying circuits.
We stopped again at Lake Hawea and at Makarora for liquid refreshment. Then we were shortly into our work in the Haast Pass, where the temperature at least halved. This is a marvellous stretch of road amongst some of New Zealand’s most wondrous scenery, and one that we must ride in the opposite direction at some stage.
As we were almost clear of the Pass, the road moistened and the sky clouded and darkened. We stopped at the Haast township turnoff to don our wet-weather gear. Claggy, cloying low cloud and occasional drizzle dogged our run up the West Coast until Ross. This was the extent of wet weather on the entire run.
A Fox Glacier fuel stop provided an opportunity for a stretch and coffee break, before mounting up and riding into the now darkening early evening.
Rather than take our chances on finding an eatery open at Greymouth, we stopped in Hokitika for a simply splendid blue cod dinner.
A particularly droll service station attendant welcomed us to Greymouth. “What’s with all the bikes?” he asked. Mrs H gave him the skinny and asked if he had seen a few. “I’ve seen them all,” he noted grimly.
And then it was off to the motorcamp and into bed in readiness for Day 2.
Highlights for the day: The Mataura-Clinton road, Haast Pass and a blue cod dinner at Hokitika.