South Island holiday

[Elysium]

Well I got back on Friday morning...at about 1.30am and up for work at 5am. I have been working through my days off and so am still tired right now and haven't un-packed yet

Anyhow the trip back sucked arse because of the rain and me missing the 2pm sailing so ended up on the 7pm sail which was an hour late into Wellington because of the rough seas..joy <_<

The trip itself was good due to the weather being good for most of the trip as well as the pristine road conditions. Passed through places like Greymouth, Hoitika, Arrowtown, Queenstown, Clyde, Dunedin etc.. Basicly I did the loop from the West Coast to the East Coast.

Sorry if this aint an exciting tour report of the quality like some riders here have posted but I'm pretty nackered at the moment and proberly should have planned to have a couple of days off afterwards. I will post some pics when I find time to organise them.

Oh and let me know when you want your tie-downs back Owl :)

[Hitcher]

Pictures would be good.

[portokiwi]

You enjoyed it mate???
Yes will look forward to seeing the pics.... Rest first:rockon:

[banditrider]

Welcome back, looking forward to the full write-up. Riding on Friday night?

[Elysium]

I will be there Friday hopefuly.

Just finished cleaning and lubing chain as well as applying some brake disk cleaner today. I was meant to try to get my car working today but the new battery I bought didn't fit so worked on the bike instead.
Have to move the car because been sitting too long on the side of the road without a warrant so ended up with a notice on the windscreen to move it by the 24th :<_< sheesh I was going to get to it, just after my holiday.

By the way did I mention I almost binned on the George Road west of Invercargill? Noticed some patch work was done to the road and hit one patch in a bend going up hill at about 80km/h and thought oh yeah some extra grip on the road, next thing my bike was swinging wildly side to side and almost lost it but tyres soon hit firm bitumen and stablised.

Dumb shit contractors thought it would be a good idea to patch a road and just leave the loose metal there without any warning signs along the road!!:mad:Further along on the other side of the road I saw more patching and not surprised to see some some car had leaved long skid marks on it after it lost traction. Reported this at some small cafe/petrol staton but they didn't seem to care much.

But anyway here are some pics I took of the trip.

[Elysium]

I aint going to break these posts into days as I wouldn't know which days I took these photos.

Well anyway the first day of the trip was brilliant as the weather decided to play its part so no problems in getting down to wellington. The heat seemed to increase as I got to Picton so I found myself needing to stop often so I could take a drink.

First pic: My bike tied down obviously. Just for those who might want to know how I did it.

Second pic: Such a bloody good day to begin the trip.

Third pic: The cloud were just rolling over the hill and into the sea, just an awsome sight.

Fourth pic: If you look clearly you will see a dingy of morons who thought fishing in an area designated for large ferries was a good idea. The horn from the ferry woke them up but going past I noticed children in the boat and not a single person was wearing life jackets, nor could I see any in the boat. They just waved...morons.

[Elysium]

It was very hot during the first day and the shade of the trees at the rest stops was welcome relieve.

First Pic: It was hot and I was getting a sore bum so pulled over into a rest stop.

Second Pic: So hot and a bit tired I needed a rest.

Third Pic: Buller country :)

Fourth Pic: Old meets new. It was also at this point I had to pull out the rain suit as the drizzle wasn't going away. I belive this was on the day a bike rally at Woodstock finished as I passed a lot of motorbikes on the way to Hokitika.

[Elysium]

First Pic: This driveway entrance caught my attention.

Second Pic: This was at some old gold mining town, now a tourist attraction.

Third Pic: Same place but looking across river.

[doc]

You do it by yourself ? Where are the "Blinding flash of awesomeness" comments that the Sth Island normally brings out of those from the more civilized Island. :no:

[Elysium]

First Pic: Hmmmmmmm

Well after Greymouth I hit Hokitika and I was wet after doing half of Arthur's Pass and decided I needed to stay the night and get dry. It stopped raining in the evening so I was able to take the camera and explore the town. They had some competition going at the beach involving making objects out of debris found on the beach.

Second Pic: Guess where I am

Third Pic: Someone had a lot of time with their chainsaw.

Fourth Pic: Liked this one.

[Elysium]

You do it by yourself ? Where are the "Blinding flash of awesomeness" comments that the Sth Island normally brings out of those from the more civilized Island. :no:

I don't pocess the oratol skills that some members here have. And yes I went by myself so there are no pics of me.

Anyway I will post some more pics later.

[doc]

I don't pocess the oratol skills that some members here have. And yes I went by myself so there are no pics of me.

Great trip aye. Did you meet any KB'rs. It can be pretty traumatic I know. But your safe now your home.

[Elysium]

Great trip aye. Did you meet any KB'rs. It can be pretty traumatic I know. But your safe now your home.

Don't think I meet any KB'rs, though a guy on the trip to Picton noticed my bike and he said he had a Beull.

[FJRider]

You do it by yourself ? Where are the "Blinding flash of awesomeness" comments that the Sth Island normally brings out of those from the more civilized Island. :no:

To those that live in the SOUTH Island... "Blinding flashes of awesomeness" is normal...get over it ...The southern term for the northern isle IS the "pig" island for a reason..

[Elysium]

First Pic: The only Kea I saw on the trip. Wasn't interested in comming down to meet me.

Second Pic: I think this was just as I was entering central Otago. Looks like some scenery out of Lord Of The Rings

Third Pic: Same area as the second pic but further along. One part of this trip that really anoyed me was the lack of stopping areas to view this awsome scenery. Nothing but twisties and breath taking plains and sheer mountains.

[Elysium]

Well Arrow town was sure a nice place to stay in. Lots of walking tracks and plenty to see.

First Pic: First police station recontructed.

Second Pic: Shithouse back in the old days. Never knew they had no doors.

Third Pic: How a chinese store looked bac in the old gold mining days.

Fourth Pic: Typical chinese miner home how it would've looked back in the old days.

[Elysium]

Staying in Arrow Town I came across this piece of artillary from Gallipali. The notice said the damage was from either a naval artillary strike or a miss-fire.

[ynot slow]

Arrowtown is excellent,good pub hehe.The walk around the chinese area is amazing to see how they lived.Great scenery around that area.

[sinfull]

Good on ya man ! Don't matter if ya writing skills aint the same as some, least ya putting the pics up and sharing where ya been ! Bloody great place aye ? Bit wet in them there parts but ya get that !

Shame ya didn't advertise it a bit more that you were headed down there, sure there would have been a southern KB kidknapping !!

[banditrider]

Second Pic: Shithouse back in the old days. Never knew they had no doors.

Just wondering what the condition of the loo was like? Got this snap when I was there:

[Monamie]

Just wondering what the condition of the loo was like? Got this snap when I was there:

Nice pic Andrew:whistle:
Planning a trip down south shortly before the weather decides to pack it in. Really looking forward to it:woohoo:I will catch up with you before then and get some travelling tips-your blog is great for that by the way:hug:

Good on you Elysium-great pics (must get a camera before I go).

[banditrider]

Heading down on the Southern X at the end of March...

[shafty]

Just wondering what the condition of the loo was like? Got this snap when I was there:

Just as a tip Andrew.....................when you are 'grunting' like the picture shows....it's best to have you pants DOWN!:laugh:

[banditrider]

Not me actually, but I'll pass it on to Mark (he is a bit uncouth and I'm not really sure what was going on there).

See ya in East Cape in a few weeks?

[Elysium]

In Queenstown and boy it sure was bloody hot in there that day :sunny: Pics explain themselves.

[Elysium]

In these pics I'm outside of Arrowtown and went up this nice steep, zig zaggy road on my way to Cardrona. It was also the road I got attacked by a bee on my leg as I opted for jeans as it was too hot that day for a short ride.

Dam bees don't seem to like Hornets.

[Elysium]

Well Cardrona pub at last, no doubt every man and his dog have been here but er..good on ya mate. On the way back I stop at a rest stop and took a couple of pics of this nice looking river and a small power station by the looks.

This was also the spot those three army engineers died when their Unimog
rolled.

[Elysium]

At last I'm in Invercargill and stayed on my uncles farm for about three days.

Pic:1 Athena/Minerva Goddess of wisdom/craft/war
Pic:2 Nice looking public monument.
Pic:3 Clock tower
Pic:4 The working of said clock tower. Kinda cool seeing how the mechinism itself is very old.