10,000km, 4 weeks, 2 islands...

[gegvasco]

Have finally nutted out the plan for my 4 week NZ riding extravaganza later in the year. I am hiring a V-Strom in Christchurch, running clockwise around the south island to the ferry, then running clockwise around the north island back to the ferry then one last day into Christchurch. Maps attached with red marking the route. It is ambitious (average of about 440km a day with 4 days off) but I reckon if I get even 80% of this done I'll be a very happy rider.

Any comments? Recommendations for places to drop in on the way?

[Supertwin Don]

Sounds good - last November I did a run around - 6800kms in about 25 days.
Looks like you've missed out Bluff / Stirling Point - if you're going to do Cape Reinga, you might as well do Bluff! and go up to the top of Bluff Hill - magnificent view!
Arrowtown to Wanaka over the Cardrona is worth doing, and Hamner Springs is good for a soak.
Army Museum at Waiouru worth a visit, and the Te Manawa Museum at Palmerston North (if it's still got the m/c display going)

[Gremlin]

Re bluff, yep, if you're doing cape reinga, you'd want to do bluff.

Looks like you have nailed most of the best roads of the country, west coast, you do probably want to go all the way to Karamea, the best bit is right at the top...

Re the distance, it depends... Are you used to riding those sort of distances every day? Mate and I did 6400km in 13 odd days, but we didn't bother stopping for many tourist attractions. We were simply down south for the roads.

You would probably need a bit of time for maintenance of the bike, not sure what service intervals the vstrom has, plus tyres (the South Island eats tyres faster than the North Island due to the materials used).

So, you do want lots of tourist attractions, or do you want the roads?

[LBD]

Looks like you have most of it covered...Alexander to Roxborough is not on your map and is a nice ride.

Make sure your ride , te anau to Milford is a cruise not a race...250 km return, the BP servo on the main street/lake front has fuel containers available for bikes heading to MFD, though on the Vstrom you should be right.

[Hinny]

North Island section: North from New Plymouth. If you hang a left at Awakino and go up the coast road to Kawhia you will see some magnificent country. About 10km of gravel. A lot is new seal.
If you can see the mountain clearly when in Ohakune the mountain road to the skifield is a must do.
South Island:North of Motueka go to Marahau. Great wood carvings on left near end of Harvey road. Start of Able Tasman track. Take Riwaka / Sandy Bay Rd. for trip back.
North of Westport. Great run up the hill to see the Denniston Incline.
To the end of the road past Karamea is worth the trip. Start of Heaphy track.
The road over the Crown Range South from Wanaka has the best seal in NZ on one section. Great views.
Seems a bit messy around Southland. H'way 94 is flat. 10km /100km it's all the same.
Catlins:Slope Point, Curio Bay, Thomas Catlins Hostel in Owaka and Nugget Point are recommended.
I prefer the Rainbow Rd., north from Hanmer Springs,over the coastal route.
You could take H'way 6 from North of Kohatu on your way South.Then take Tophouse road from 63 going North. Through Golden Downs to meet H'way 6 to Wakefield - Nelson.
This thread (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=86074) and Pete's Blog are worthy reads. He packed an amazing amount of travel into a short time, saw some great sights and had some wonderful experiences.

[gegvasco]

Thanks for the responses guys. Much appreciated. Now to start working out where all these places are and adjusting route plans......Google Maps is about to get FLOGGED!!!

Speaking of which, I was amazed at how much of NZ has Street View. Often there are no high-res aerial pics yet there is a street view of the area. Had one or two occasions where I looked at street view to check out the layout of an intersection and almost fell off my chair because the scenery was so beautiful, like this one:link (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=-44.783442,168.394567&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=19&sll=-44.78326,168.394472&sspn=0.001399,0.003487&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=-44.782593,168.394179&panoid=OArG2zO2CksGbVJWZT-lnQ&cbp=12,183.72,,0,5&ll=-44.782267,168.394074&spn=0,359.996513&z=19)
Damn, NZ is a beautiful place. Can't wait to get there.

[gegvasco]

Re the distance, it depends... Are you used to riding those sort of distances every day? Mate and I did 6400km in 13 odd days, but we didn't bother stopping for many tourist attractions. We were simply down south for the roads.

You would probably need a bit of time for maintenance of the bike, not sure what service intervals the vstrom has, plus tyres (the South Island eats tyres faster than the North Island due to the materials used).

So, you do want lots of tourist attractions, or do you want the roads?
I'm not a seasoned ironbutt rider but I'm not a short-distance guy either. I've done 1300km in a day including some twisty bits and the biggest trip I have done is 6500km in 3 weeks from Sydney to Tasmania, 90% of the tarmac in Tasmania, and back. Equates to about 4500km around Tasmania which is almost all twisty stuff. If it is open highway I can knock off 1000km in a day no worries. Especially on the V-Strom (I have one, hence my selection for hire). I can handle twisties up to 800km per day but I wouldn't want to be doing that for 3 weeks! So I have assumed over a prolonged period, 400-500 a day is going to be rather exhausting.

I tend to stay on the bike rather than stop at every opportunity (maybe 200km a hit) but I will be stopping for photos mainly to document the trip. With a 400km tank on the V-Strom, you normally only fill up in the morning and then once around lunch time and you are sorted for the day. So I had figured 400-500 a day would also be about as much as I could do in decent daylight (being Australian we have a fear of riding at Dawn/Dusk thanks to all the f$%^ing stupid roos!).

As for maintenance, 6000km servicings on the Strom. Have yet to discuss this with the hire company. It is unlimited KMs so they must have come across this before.

[Jantar]

Your Strom is the ideal bike for what you are planning. Plenty of places where you can get it serviced (and it will need it), but you may struggle to get tyres to last the distance.

The length of ride you are planning each day is manageable with ease and will give you plenty of time to stop for photos. I have no trouble doing 900km days on my Strom (all in daylight), but that is without allowing any sightseeing time. So 500 km per day will be a breeze.

[gegvasco]

Your Strom is the ideal bike for what you are planning. Plenty of places where you can get it serviced (and it will need it), but you may struggle to get tyres to last the distance.

The length of ride you are planning each day is manageable with ease and will give you plenty of time to stop for photos. I have no trouble doing 900km days on my Strom (all in daylight), but that is without allowing any sightseeing time. So 500 km per day will be a breeze.
Thanks. I have only had the one road trip in NZ (Auckland to Waitomo in a car) so I am trying to take into account one-lane roads, 80kph and lots of twists in deciding how much I can do in one day. This sort of confirmation from those who know the area (and the bike!) is invaluable.

Yeah, the V-Strom is a great touring bike. Can handle almost all surfaces that you generally come across, has a long range, very comfortable and no shortage of grunt or manoeuvrability. Plus it can carry a heap of stuff. I did a lot of research into bringing mine over because it is well "farkled" and all the major touring I have done has been on that bike. But it was all going to be too hard. And in the end, when I added up the entire cost of the trip including all expenses such as airfares and accommodation, hiring was only going to add a bit less than 10% cost to the trip. It also saved me a couple of days mucking around in Oz dropping my bike off and picking it up (300km from home), quarantine cleaning and inspections etc, etc. By hiring, I get on a plane, arrive in NZ, pick the bike up and do the reverse at the other end, no hassle.

[Gremlin]

It sounds like 4-500km a day shouldn't be a problem for you then. Don't know if you have visited before, but yeah, open road allowance of 80kph is about right for a tourist. Outside main centres, even SH1 is single lane for a lot of it.

Certainly sounds like you are planning it very well. Enjoy! :2thumbsup

[Supertwin Don]

FWIW - don't plan TOO well, NZ is a great place to stop and wander about - the "lookout point" is there for a reason.

[Squid]

Have finally nutted out the plan for my 4 week NZ riding extravaganza later in the year. ....
Any comments? Recommendations for places to drop in on the way?

Looks pretty sweet man!! You'll love it.

I drove down the west coast of the South Island and over Hasst pass earlier this year for the first time and it was just awesome :D

All the best with your trip planning and hope to see a write up or blog on how its going when you do the trip. ;)

[Hinny]

Can recomend keeping up to date posts to a blog or this thread when you come.
You will be amazed by the hospitality of Kiwi Bikers. Touching base with locals is the best way to get the best experience of the area and people.

[Shadowjack]

gegvasco, on a good day, a short trip up the Mt John Observatory road (near Lake Tekapo, South Island) will give you some outstanding views of the MacKenzie Country and the Southern Alps. The road up the mountain is sealed, steep, narrow, winding and worth it.

[Pixie]

Thanks for the responses guys. Much appreciated. Now to start working out where all these places are and adjusting route plans......Google Maps is about to get FLOGGED!!!

Speaking of which, I was amazed at how much of NZ has Street View. Often there are no high-res aerial pics yet there is a street view of the area. Had one or two occasions where I looked at street view to check out the layout of an intersection and almost fell off my chair because the scenery was so beautiful, like this one:link (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=-44.783442,168.394567&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=19&sll=-44.78326,168.394472&sspn=0.001399,0.003487&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=-44.782593,168.394179&panoid=OArG2zO2CksGbVJWZT-lnQ&cbp=12,183.72,,0,5&ll=-44.782267,168.394074&spn=0,359.996513&z=19)
Damn, NZ is a beautiful place. Can't wait to get there.

In theory every road in NZ was imaged for street view.Certainly,I haven't found any dirt roads that aren't viewable.

[gegvasco]

Well, the time has finally come. After 6 months planning, and having to reorganise my bike hire after the first company closed up shop, I'm 2 days from heading off. Arriving in Christchurch Sunday arvo, hitting the road about Midday Monday. Have had to revise the trip a couple of times to allow more rest stops but it comes out at about 9000km in 4 weeks now (was 10500 at the first cut). Missing out a little bit of the North Island but the South Island was the priority and that will be well covered. Probably needed 5 weeks to do everything I wanted but maybe that will be for another trip.

If you see a V-Strom 650 touring around with full panniers, top box, big tank bag and Andy Strapz pillion seat bag, with a big bloke wearing an all White Shoei, red and black Dririder jacket and dark draggin jeans, that'll be me.

[Moki]

Sounds like a blast. You should plan to hit the Burt Munro while your down there:yes:

[kit]

Sounds like a blast. You should plan to hit the Burt Munro while your down there:yes:

:2thumbsup Agreed!

[Jantar]

Well, the time has finally come. After 6 months planning, and having to reorganise my bike hire after the first company closed up shop, I'm 2 days from heading off. Arriving in Christchurch Sunday arvo, hitting the road about Midday Monday. Have had to revise the trip a couple of times to allow more rest stops but it comes out at about 9000km in 4 weeks now (was 10500 at the first cut). Missing out a little bit of the North Island but the South Island was the priority and that will be well covered. Probably needed 5 weeks to do everything I wanted but maybe that will be for another trip.

If you see a V-Strom 650 touring around with full panniers, top box, big tank bag and Andy Strapz pillion seat bag, with a big bloke wearing an all White Shoei, red and black Dririder jacket and dark draggin jeans, that'll be me.

I'll also be in Christchurch on Sunday night, but headed in the opposite direction. Returning via Christchurch Wednesday night. Try and keep a commentary running about where you are each day and your plans for the next day or two and I'm sure you'll find riders prepared to join in and act as guide.

[gegvasco]

After 6 months of planning, I'm finally here. Just knocked off the first day's riding. Christchurch to Akaroa then some backroads to Ashburton for an overnight. Just a short day to get in the swing of things, get used to the bike and to scrub the brand new tyres.

Was great riding down to Akaroa. I took the Dyer's Pass Rd up the hill before coming down through Lyttleton which was a great run. The ride through the hills to Akaroa is fantastic. Hardly any traffic either. Bit of boring flat stuff through the flatlands into Ashburton which looks almost identical to many parts of Victoria east of Melbourne.

Tomorrow is the first signature day. From Ashburton, tracking North West through Mt Somers up to Erehwon. The motel manager was good enough to explain the origin of the name Erehwon, makes sense. When the road runs out, back down the hill to Mt Somers, then the 41/44 through to Fairlie and up to Lake Tekapo on the 44.

[gegvasco]

Thanks for the PMs offering a place to stay. I now find myself in Palmerston after another 3 days of glorious riding. The weather has been very nice to me (so far) and it hasn't rained at all. After Ashburton, tried to get up to Erehwon but I found out that you don't have dirt roads in NZ. You have gravel roads. The road up that way was thick loose gravel about 10cm thick in places and not much of a wheel track of shallower stuff. With a big bike with a big bloke with lots of gear (350kg all up) with more road oriented tyres, after 5km I gave up. Even at 15kph maximum I almost put it down twice when the front wheel got into some deep stuff and went it's own way. Somehow managed to keep it upright. Considering I was on about km 200 of 9000 I thought I'd better admit the road beat me and turn around. Seems most of the unsealed roads I have seen are the same so I don't think I'll be taking it off the tarmac. Especially considering my insurance doesn't cover the bike off-road.

On the way back down I finally realised why none of my pre-planned distances were working out. The speedo on the hire bike is in mph! It has a smaller kph scale but it hadn't dawned on me that the odometer would be working in mph as well. Bugger, 27 day plans all in kilometres and a speedo/odometer reading out a different scale. Guess I'll be doing some pen amendments.

After that it was a run up to Lake Tekapo and an overnight in a cabin on the shore. Wow, what a place.

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Given I arrived early thanks to blowing off the dirt sections, I tried to run along the hydro canal running south from the Lake but it was closed after a couple of k's unfortunately. Some great photos ops though. Touched this one up a bit....

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After Lake Tekapo, it was up to Mt Cook village. Now there is something we don't have in Oz. Some proper mountains! So there I was thinking the rest of the day would be ho-hum, to only find some phenomenal riding and scenery down the Waitaki River valley with Lake Aviemore.

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Overnight in Oamaru which is quite a town. I guess they make lots of films there around the old part of town. I know there is a place in Tasmania which has similar old buildings and it is always appearing in films.

Then today it was back up the valley to Omarama then down the 8 through Lindis Pass, to Cromwell, Alexandra and on to Palmerston. Lindis Pass was good fun riding but the scenery wasn't quite as good as the last few days. Had a little encounter with some roadworks today which I wasn't real impressed with. They must have just laid the stuff and the sweepers hadn't been through yet. It was like riding on marbles. Bugger the 30kph speed limit, at 20kph I was getting hit in the helmet by rocks getting picked up by the front wheel while being tailgated by some dumb bint in a 4WD. Now there are rocks in every nook and cranny of the bike. The hire company is going to love me!

[Pixie]

The road up that way was thick loose gravel about 10cm thick in places and not much of a wheel track of shallower stuff. With a big bike with a big bloke with lots of gear (350kg all up) with more road oriented tyres, after 5km I gave up. Even at 15kph maximum I almost put it down twice when the front wheel got into some deep stuff and went it's own way.

The trick is to ride faster.The bike will be more unstable in the thick stuff,below a certain speed.
It's hard to overcome the urge to stay at a low speed when the bike feels uncontrollable

[gegvasco]

Day 5 was from Palmerston to Dunedin via the 85, Macraes Flat Rd, the 87 to just after Clarks Junction, then a left turn to do a loop along George King Rd, then back onto the 87 to Dunedin. Because this only took half a day, I headed north on the 1 to Evansdale, then took the Coast Road to Karitane, rejoined the 1 heading south, got off the 1 at Waitati, took some back roads to Aromoana, then back to Dunedin and a loop through the Otago Peninsula.

Some great riding in that lot. Especially the Otago Peninsula. I did the Harbour run up to the point and then headed up Highcliff Rd to run the ridge to the souther coast and into Dunedin via the racecourse. Absolutely phenomenal riding through that area.
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Gotta watch the loose gravel in corners but that is the sort of riding you have too look long and hard for in Oz. And in Oz when you do find roads like that there is normally a whole lot of traffic. You guys really are blessed for motorcycling roads.

The ride through Central Otago was reasonably good. While the rain stayed away, the wind really picked up which made it a bit tricky on the higher ridge lines.

Sure needed the day off when I got into Dunedin though.

[Gremlin]

Great shots... glad you're enjoying it :2thumbsup

[gegvasco]

Made it to Queenstown. Man it is busy here. Couldn't get up to Milford Sound yesterday because it was bucketing down with a low cloud base - I was just getting wetter, couldn't see anything and the wet narrow roads with umpteem buses and campers didn't make for fun riding. Got a couple of shots on the way up though before it turned to custard.
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Today it was a leasurely push up through Queenstown to above Glenorchy. Weather was the exact opposite of the day before thankfully.
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Tomorrow, shotover jet boat in the morning, followed by a short run into Wanaka and up towards Mt Aspiring.

Reckon I've knocked off about half of the South Island so far. It's all north from here.

[Hinny]

Made it to Queenstown. Man it is busy here. Couldn't get up to Milford Sound yesterday because it was bucketing down with a low cloud base - I was just getting wetter, couldn't see anything and the wet narrow roads with umpteem buses and campers didn't make for fun riding. Got a couple of shots on the way up though before it turned to custard.
152328
Today it was a leasurely push up through Queenstown to above Glenorchy. Weather was the exact opposite of the day before thankfully.
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Tomorrow, shotover jet boat in the morning, followed by a short run into Wanaka and up towards Mt Aspiring.

Reckon I've knocked off about half of the South Island so far. It's all north from here.

One day too early to Milford. That's a shame. It is a spectacular piece of road.- next time eh?

Great photos. Love the Panorama shot. Keep 'em coming.

[gegvasco]

One day too early to Milford. That's a shame. It is a spectacular piece of road.- next time eh?

Great photos. Love the Panorama shot. Keep 'em coming.
Milford will definitely be high on the list next time. Pretty happy with the way the photos are turning out considering it is a 6-year old 6.5MPixel Digital SLR with just an 18-55mm lens. Will sure keep them coming. Have to keep on making sure I take the time to stop and take some photos. Having too much fun riding!

Unfortunately, didn't get to do the jetboating. Of all days my back decided to play up and Shotover was warning people with back injuries because the river was really high. Maybe next time. As a result, it was a very casual ride from Queenstown through Arrowtown, then via the Crown Ridge Rd to Wanaka. Crown Ridge Rd is an outstanding bike road. Almost turned around at the bottom to do it again. Once in Wanaka, it was up towards Glendhu Bay. Not bad country up there.
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Today was up the SH6 from Wanaka to Hokitiki. Oh man! The road from Wanaka to Haast almost had me wetting myself it was so good. Glorious weather, as you can see, and great roads. Almost no roadworks and very little traffic.
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Almost the whole way today I was passing the flood of riders heading south to the Burt Munro Challenge. Hundreds of bikes all loaded up. Great to see. One bloke even started pointing the other way ie. "you're going the wrong way!". Had a bit of a chuckle at that. One similarity between Australia and NZ was made very apparent today though. On the road south of Ross, there is a really windy narrow section of highway. It was here that some idiot pushbikes decided to get dropped off by their support vehicles and go for a ride. About 20 of them were clogging up the narrow bends riding in the middle of the road and causing all sorts of mayhem. The campers, who were too scared of collecting them when passing, were coming onto the other side of the road in corners to avoid them and in doing so almost having head-ons with opposing traffic. F'en idiots the lot of them! (And before the over-sensitive start screaming, I ride as well. But I'm smart enough to not ride such that it causes a serious accident. Common sense goes a long way but unfortunately can't be legislated for)

Now a day off with a short trip up to Greymouth and back to get the bike spruced up after 3000+km.

[Hinny]

Crown Ridge Rd is an outstanding bike road. Almost turned around at the bottom to do it again. Once in Wanaka, it was up towards Glendhu Bay. Not bad country up there.

Today was up the SH6 from Wanaka to Hokitika. Oh man! The road from Wanaka to Haast almost had me wetting myself it was so good.


There's two of my favourite stretches of road in NZ.

For your next trip you should take in the Burt Munro rally and ride the road to the top on the West Coast to Karamea.

[Jantar]

My two favourite roads as well.

The area you are in is due for some very heavy rain on Saturday morning. I would suggest you head on to Nelson tomorrow, or else where ever you are when the rain starts just find shelter and sit it out for 8 - 12 hours.

[gegvasco]

My two favourite roads as well.

The area you are in is due for some very heavy rain on Saturday morning. I would suggest you head on to Nelson tomorrow, or else where ever you are when the rain starts just find shelter and sit it out for 8 - 12 hours.
Thought about it, especially considering I was feeling pretty good and could have riden some more. The next route is from Hokitika via Arthurs Pass to Sheffield, Oxford, Woodend and then Hanmer Springs. So if it is really crap tomorrow, I might stay here another day and then not have a day off in Wellington when I get off the ferry. I've got a really good book that I can finish off tomorrow if need be. That would in fact be like someone on holidays ie. sitting around doing F'all. Now wouldn't that be a novel idea!

[crazyhorse]

Sounds like a great trip :woohoo:

[Jantar]

Thought about it, especially considering I was feeling pretty good and could have riden some more. The next route is from Hokitika via Arthurs Pass to Sheffield, Oxford, Woodend and then Hanmer Springs. So if it is really crap tomorrow, I might stay here another day and then not have a day off in Wellington when I get off the ferry. I've got a really good book that I can finish off tomorrow if need be. That would in fact be like someone on holidays ie. sitting around doing F'all. Now wouldn't that be a novel idea!

I'm at work right now monitoring the front as it heads north. It has hit about 2 hours earlier than expected and is moving a lot quicker than first forecast. At its present rate the front will reach Hokitika in 3 - 4 hours and be all over by 4:00 am. So you should have a great day tomorrow.

[gijoe1313]

Fantastic! I'm glad you're enjoying the trip and getting in some serious road riding around some of the best places in New Zealand :yes: As my mate, Gremlin says, you got a good pace going on there - and the locals are blardy friendly to talk with.

Keep up the excellent travelogue and piccies. Makes me a hankering to go back down there again! :niceone:

[gegvasco]

I'm at work right now monitoring the front as it heads north. It has hit about 2 hours earlier than expected and is moving a lot quicker than first forecast. At its present rate the front will reach Hokitika in 3 - 4 hours and be all over by 4:00 am. So you should have a great day tomorrow.
Beaut, that's the bonus plan. Thanks. I have been trying to get some detail on the front without much luck. So that has helped out. Normally in OZ I use the aviation weather forecasts (I have a private pilot licence so know how to read their heiroglyphics) as they are necessarily very accurate and detailed. But not much in that respect that I can find on the net for over here. Rain is an annoyance that I can deal with but the wind really sucks. It's like having a monkey on the bars. I rode from Sydney to Canberra a couple of months ago and there was some serious wind and it almost blew me off the road a couple of times. I can do without that.

[gegvasco]

Keep up the excellent travelogue and piccies. Makes me a hankering to go back down there again! :niceone:
Here's a couple of others that I have touched up today.
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[Jantar]

Beaut, that's the bonus plan. Thanks. I have been trying to get some detail on the front without much luck. So that has helped out. Normally in OZ I use the aviation weather forecasts (I have a private pilot licence so know how to read their heiroglyphics) as they are necessarily very accurate and detailed. But not much in that respect that I can find on the net for over here. Rain is an annoyance that I can deal with but the wind really sucks. It's like having a monkey on the bars. I rode from Sydney to Canberra a couple of months ago and there was some serious wind and it almost blew me off the road a couple of times. I can do without that.
Aviation met is available online, but access to the General Aviation Weather Briefing System (MetFlight GA) is through a valid CAA NZ Pilots Licence or a Part 149 Aviation Recreation Organisation membership number. http://metflight.metra.co.nz/MetFlight.php
When my son visits here from Darwin I let him use my login, and similarly when I visit him in Darwin I use his details for aviation met. (well we do share the same surname).

[gegvasco]

I reckon Arthur's Pass would be a great road when it is dry. Unfortunately, it wasn't today. Socked in the whole way up. Cold and wet for pretty much all of today's riding (360km). Couldn't see bugger all so no photos as the camera was well wrapped in plastic bags to keep the water out. Holed up in Hanmer Springs tonight. Heading through Lewis Pass tomorrow morning to Reefton, then Greymouth, then up the coast to Westport, then inland to St Arnaud for the night. Weather should be good so hopefully will have some photos tomorrow.

[gegvasco]

Couldn't have had two more chalk and cheese days riding.

Yesterday was from Hanmer Springs to the coast then Westport and then up the Buller Gorge to St Arnaud. What a glorious day's riding. The weather was pretty much perfect, as the photos show. The uninterupted run Buller Gorge will be one of the standouts of the trip.
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Then today it was up to Motueka via some back roads, then up the coast to Port Poponga then back down to Nelson. By going to Port Poponga, this marked having been to the end of the roads at the north and south tips of the south island. The weather was absolutely crap all day with either drizzle or full on rain all day. Takaka Hill above Motueka was some pretty hairy riding given the cloud was low meaning the road rose into the cloud and visibility was down to about 30 metres. The road was really wet and given how windy and hilly the road is, it was slow going. I narrowly missed being taken out by a wanker in a Suburu who came around a corner too quick, lost the back end and ended up sliding sideways in front of me before coming to a stop blocking my lane. If I'd been 5 seconds further along that road either he would have collected me or I would have had to steer off into a ditch.

Tomorrow, after I dry out, it will be a short morning's ride to Picton to get on the ferry in the afternooon and then a day off in Wellington. Looks like I'm going to get saturated tomorrow as well. I must have used up all my weather luck in the first week of clear skies in the south of the south island.

[gegvasco]

Yet another bloody awful day's riding from Nelson to Picton. I had planned to detour at Havelock to do the Queen Charlotte Rd to come into the back of Picton, but the it was teeming rain for the whole ride from Nelson to Havelock with no sign of abating. So I opted for the straight route via Blenheim.

Ferry trip was very sedate given the weather. Even in the strait there was hardly a whitecap in sight and the boat only rolled a little, which was good as I hate ships. Then a quick sprint into town to stay at a downtown hotel. Note to all, don't stay at the Mercure in Wellington. What a joke. I've done a lot of travelling with work and have stayed in heaps of hotels in many countries and this was one of the worst I've seen. For instance, they only keyed my room key card for half of my stay so I couldn't get into my room without waiting in the queue at the lobby to get a new key. Showers that can't maintain a temperature. No spare powerpoints in the room. Lifts that won't let you out on the carpark level. Almost $40 a day for internet. And the cracker......a room service "all-day breakfast" that isn't actually available during breakfast! WTF!!! Then when I went to pay I must have been invisible because despite standing there waiting to check out and pay for the sub-standard hotel, the desk clerk looked straight past me to ask the person behind me who was next! Must have been the high-visibility motorcycle gear - proof that it does nothing to make people see you who don;t want to see you. Couldn't wait to get out of there.

Today was a run up the 1 then 2 then the 58 then the 3 then the 4 to Ohakune. Wasn't a bad day's riding although the sun only peeked through the overcast a couple of times. At least it didn't rain. When I was on the 58 cutting across to the coast, I took the Paekakariki Hill Rd that bypasses Paremata. This was an outstanding riding road. It rejoined the 1 from the top of the hill above Peakakariki and there is one great lookout at the top of the hill.
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After that it was pretty ho hum until heading north from Wanganui on the 4. This was a great road with some interesting country. Some good sweepers through there. Once I got to Raetihi I cut across to Ohakune and then headed up the hill on the Ohakune Mountain Rd. This was great little ride until it ascended into the overcast just before the end and turned to crudd.
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Tomorrow it will be north and then heading west to go around Mt Taranaki to New Plymouth. Hopefully the cloud will lift a bit tomorrow.

[Pixie]

Great posts.
Hope you get better weather

[gegvasco]

Well the rain abated but the cloud didn't lift. So it was a good compromise. I didn't get wet but the roads were still wet and remained so most of the day. Only rain was a bit coming into New Plymouth. From Ohakune I headed north to Taumarunui and then headed west on the aptly named "Forgotten World Highway". With damp roads, a little bit of the fun was taken out of the riding but the scenery was pretty good.
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The section through Tangarakau Gorge was great, even if the dirt road had turned to mud with heaps of rockfalls after the rain. When I got to Stratford I pulled into the mian street for lunch and as I'm getting ready to get back on the bike, a car pulls up and a bloke yells out "ARE YOU AN AUSSIE?". Yep, I replied. "GEGVASCO?" Yep. Turns out it was Nadroj who just happened to be passing through and recognised the bike. What are the chances. I was only standing there for about 2 minutes.

After a quick chat and sorting out the evening's plans in New Plymouth, it was around Mt Taranaki. Unfortunately, the cloud was totally socked in so I saw nothing of it and got a little wet on the way in.

Thanks to Nadroj and Denise for a great evening's company in New Plymouth and an impromptu mini-Tiki tour of New Plymouth.

Today dawned fairly clear and I managed to actually see the top of Mt Taranaki at least. It was the start of a brilliant days riding. Thought I'd better make the most of it so I added some extra legs to the plan and ended up doing about 500km between 9am and 5pm. Which was pretty good going considering there was 40km of twisty dirt in there and about 3/4 of the rest was winding tarmac. From New Plymouth it was up the 3 to Te Kuiti then the Waitomo loop to Kawhia. Then the dirt north to Raglan, then the 22 to Pukekohe. Didn't stop for any photos. I ended up making into the southern outskirts of Auckland because unbeknownst to me, there is some sort of racing event on at Pukekohe, my intended destination, so I coulnd't get any accommodation anywhere in town. So now I'm holed up in a motel in Manakau CBD right under the airport flight path. Gotta love being back in a big city.

Weather looks good tomorrrow which should be great because it is a big day all the way to Kaitaia via the west coast.

[Hinny]

You might even get some good weather.
Don't get any extra taxes up Highway 16. The infamous Ginga may be on the case with all the weekend warriors doing their thing up that road.

[Gremlin]

Now imagine doing 1600km of sealed roads throughout the middle of the North Island in under 24 hours... we do that every October. You should come on back ;)

[gegvasco]

Now imagine doing 1600km of sealed roads throughout the middle of the North Island in under 24 hours... we do that every October. You should come on back ;)
You'd do Davo from FarRiders proud.

[gegvasco]

Another two brilliant day's riding down. It seems the NZ weather is either ON(in capitals!) or OFF. So far it has been nearly two weeks of glorious riding, then a week of total and utter crud and then almost a week of pristine riding days. Weather looks like it might stay like this for a bit as well. Here's hoping.

From Manakau, I headed straight up the motorway to get though Auckalnd as quick as possible. Being a Sunday morning, it was quiet as. Despite this, I somehow managed to miss the 16 offramp and clearly thump-up-bum stuck with the 1 - not the plan. From the last time I was on the NW Motorway coming from RNZAF Whenuapai (admittedly 15 years ago), it seemed the only Motorway in/out of the city. I realised I was a little off the 16 when I saw the sign saying "Orewa 3km". Quick exit, replan and I managed to get back on the 16 just east of Helensville. Then it was a great little sprint up the 16 to Dargaville. Didn't see any Police but there were heaps of bikes. While the scenery was nice, it wasn't much to photograph. So I concentrated on the roads and picking up the pace a bit. Still have (had) some chicken strips up to this point. The run through the Waipoua Forest was brilliant.

After a quiet night-in at a motel in Kaitaia that was lost to time, I embarked on the milestone ride this morning of reaching Cape Reinga. That would mark tip-to-tip of both islands. The weather came to the party which was a good thing as I was expecting a fair bit of dirt for the last 20km into the Cape. As it turns out, they are surfacing that entire stretch and only have about 5k's to go. The last 15km to the Cape is now all good quality seal. Given the conditions, I took the opportunity to walk down to the lighthouse for some photo ops. Why wouldn't you!
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After traipsing back to Awanui, I turned onto the 10 and explored the Bays including Tokerau Beach, Manganui and Taupo Bay.
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Then it was a quick run through Waitangi, without stopping because a cruise ship had disgorged about 1000 Europeans (ironic given the history of the place), and then onto the ferry to Russell. Where I'm holed up for a day off before the final 6-day run back to Christchurch via the Coromandel and East Cape. Feels like the home stretch. I ticked over the 7000th km today. That is in 3 weeks. Yet the hire company said I wouldn't do more than that in 4 weeks. Guess I'm going to set a new record for them as I have about 2000km to go by the time 4 weeks comes up!

[Gremlin]

I ticked over the 7000th km today. That is in 3 weeks. Yet the hire company said I wouldn't do more than that in 4 weeks. Guess I'm going to set a new record for them as I have about 2000km to go by the time 4 weeks comes up!
Wow... that hire company needs some perspective adjusting. When a mate and I did the South Island last Christmas, we did about 6500km in 13 days :lol: We weren't on the bikes all day either, often leaving after 10am and at the destination by 5-7pm.

It's great to see you enjoying the country, and getting the full experience, including weather :whistle:

[gegvasco]

Wow... that hire company needs some perspective adjusting. When a mate and I did the South Island last Christmas, we did about 6500km in 13 days :lol: We weren't on the bikes all day either, often leaving after 10am and at the destination by 5-7pm.

It's great to see you enjoying the country, and getting the full experience, including weather :whistle:

I guess they get a lot of international tourists who spend a lot of time doing other things than just riding every day. Plus, many probably stop more than I do during the course of a day or don't ride at all when it's wet. Some of my friends back home think I'm mad for just doing so much riding and bugger all else. My response..."I can't help it, I'm a motorcyclist." And for those that don't understand that I say "I understand why dogs love to hang their head out the car window"

[gijoe1313]

Bonzo read mate! 'Struth, sounds like you had a fair crack at our fair isles and probably seen more of it than most of our unlucky biking population! :lol:

Guess some new tyres will have to be thrown on at the end of the ride by the hire company ... good on ya for doing the hard yards and keeping us informed! :niceone:

Heres hoping you get a fab run of the weather and the rub of the green. You'll probably end up being a southerner saying "mate! you should have been here yesterday/last week!"

[gegvasco]

Bonzo read mate! 'Struth, sounds like you had a fair crack at our fair isles and probably seen more of it than most of our unlucky biking population! :lol:

Guess some new tyres will have to be thrown on at the end of the ride by the hire company ... good on ya for doing the hard yards and keeping us informed! :niceone:

Heres hoping you get a fab run of the weather and the rub of the green. You'll probably end up being a southerner saying "mate! you should have been here yesterday/last week!"
Ta. It has been a phenomenal trip so far (bit over 3/4 done). There is an expat-Kiwi at work and when I went through the route I had planned for some advice from him, he said that I will probably end up seeing more of NZ than many Kiwis have! This is the completed map so far (in Thames at the moment)
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[gegvasco]

After a day off on the watefront in Russell (now there's a nice spot), I hit the road again today heading towards Thames. The first 60km through the roads south of Russell was ALL corners. I could almost count the number of straight stretches more than 100m long on one hand! Great start to the day to get into a rhythm. I thought this appropriate to sum up the trip:
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The run along the coast was pretty good when the scenery opened up. Only problem being the road condition wasn't that great and there was a lot of crap on the road. Never knew what was going to be on the line around the corner. But when you see a vista like this, you forget about those little problems.
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After a couple of hours of fun, there wasn't much for it but to hit the 1 through Auckland. The traffic was more like I had expected (heavy) which wasn't a problem having lived in Sydney but it certainly wasn't welcome. The exit on Hill Rd to Clevedon was very welcome though. The road condition wasn't so good but the riding was still pretty good around the coast into Thames. Annoyingly, at Wherekawa they had just done a new seal but hadn't swept it at all so after spending an hour cleaning the bike of rocks and tar yesterday in Russell, it is now covered in shit again. I'm really starting to hate your roadworks.

[Pixie]

After a day off on the watefront in Russell (now there's a nice spot), I hit the road again today heading towards Thames. The first 60km through the roads south of Russell was ALL corners. I could almost count the number of straight stretches more than 100m long on one hand! Great start to the day to get into a rhythm. I thought this appropriate to sum up the trip:
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The run along the coast was pretty good when the scenery opened up. Only problem being the road condition wasn't that great and there was a lot of crap on the road. Never knew what was going to be on the line around the corner. But when you see a vista like this, you forget about those little problems.
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After a couple of hours of fun, there wasn't much for it but to hit the 1 through Auckland. The traffic was more like I had expected (heavy) which wasn't a problem having lived in Sydney but it certainly wasn't welcome. The exit on Hill Rd to Clevedon was very welcome though. The road condition wasn't so good but the riding was still pretty good around the coast into Thames. Annoyingly, at Wherekawa they had just done a new seal but hadn't swept it at all so after spending an hour cleaning the bike of rocks and tar yesterday in Russell, it is now covered in shit again. I'm really starting to hate your roadworks.
NZ road worker: "Sweeep ?What Eeees theees Sweeep you speak of?"
Watch out for the melted tar too .I was on the Coromandel yesterday and it was bad.

[Blackbird]

Don't suppose it was you I saw early (ish) this morning heading up towards Coromandel from Thames on a VStrom, was it? I was heading to Thames in the 4x4 to do the monthly grocery shop!

[gegvasco]

Don't suppose it was you I saw early (ish) this morning heading up towards Coromandel from Thames on a VStrom, was it? I was heading to Thames in the 4x4 to do the monthly grocery shop!

Probably me. I left Thames about 8.45.

[gegvasco]

NZ road worker: "Sweeep ?What Eeees theees Sweeep you speak of?"
Watch out for the melted tar too .I was on the Coromandel yesterday and it was bad.

Oh yeah. I reckon about 50% of today's 400kms had glistening tar to varying degrees. On some thankfully isolated sections it was almost the entire width of the lane. The smell of it was really strong as well.

The biggest hassle today was the traffic. I was pretty much battling traffic for 80% of today. Most people were pretty good though in moving over to let you through, eventually. One idiot though almost caused an accident right in front of me by straying into the oncoming lane for no reason as a 4x4 was overtaking them. I had just opened the throttle to follow him past when I saw her drift over so I was at idle before the 4x4 put the anchors on hard. Just as well. (touch wood) Would rather not have an accident on the last stretch of the trip.

[gegvasco]

The last two days have just been good riding. Not much more else to say really. But I will. Weather has been great, if not getting a little hot. I'm an ATGATT type because I'd rather sweat than bleed, so the winter jacket, even with all the vents open, is getting a little toasty.

From Thames, it was a run around the Coromandel. Man what a great road. Followed the 25 all the way until it joined the 2 and then continued south. Just skirted through the outskirts of Tauranga and headed south on the 36 to Rotorua. Nice little run through the gorge, although there are heaps of roadworks. I have to say though, the first time a couple of weeks ago that I was directed by the STOP/GO person to proceed through roadworks and then hit opposing traffic in the only lane, I put it down to "Oh, well. No biggie". The second time, when it was a set of automated roadworks traffic lights that sent me through into oncoming traffic I also wrote it off to someone doing their sums wrong. But the third time this occured, which happened in the gorge, I'm really starting to wonder. Seriously, how hard is it?

From Rotorua it was westward along the 30 to Whakatane which was my final stop for the day. Whakatane is a nice little town. I wanted to stay there and see it as it was the sister school to my high school in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney when I was in year 11-12. I remember the name well as the pronunciation brought a lot of mirth to an Australian audience that had no idea about Kiwi place names.

Today was the big loop starting at Opotiki on the 35 all the way around to Gisborne. Clocked up the 8000th km today. The first half into Te Araroa was outstanding. It will be one of the standout sections of road on the trip. I was thinking that it is like one of Australia's best riding roads, the Great Ocean Road, only so much better because it is longer, there is almost no traffic and there aren't ridiculously lowered speed limits to account for the lowest common denominator in driving skills (or lack thereof). What a trifecta! The wharf at Tolaga Bay provided a good photo opportunity. And for those who know this wharf, yes I have doctored the photo to get rid of the bloody great ugly barricade half way down.
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Tomorrow it is further down the coast but via Tiniroto Rd inland to Wairoa, then the 2 to Whirinaka then the 5 up to Taupo. That isn't quite a full day's riding so I will probably end up doing a loop of Lake Taupo.

[gegvasco]

After a quiet night in Gisborne opposite the docks, it was onto the Tiniroto Rd to bypass the SH2. This is a fantastic road. Lots of bends up and down hills while passing through some gorgeous countryside.
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Once back on the main road it was the SH2 down to just before Napier. As I was coming back this way, I bypassed Napier and headed up the hill to Taupo on the 5. This was a great little run, although the wind picked up significantly which made some of the bends a little less certain. The wind monkey on the handlebars really kicked up a fuss in one or two of the corners and I had to wrestle the bike back onto a non-lethal line. Once at Taupo, as I had expected, it was early in the day so I started a clockwise loop of the Lake via Turangi. This was a great little run also, especially on the western side of the lake. At the first available piece of tarmac on the western side, I turned right towards Taupo. On this road approaching Kinloch, another similarity with Australia was made apparent. When within proximity of affluent suburbs, look out for wankers in tarmac-only luxury SUVs (Audis etc) as they seem to think both lanes are their domain and seeing a bike coming the other way is no reason to get back on their side of the road!

It was at about this point that the back brake started squealing. How could I have gone through an entire rear disk pad in 8000km? No way. To make matters worse, it was 3pm on a Saturday which meant it was the worst possible time to try to arrange a new rear brake pad as everywhere had just shut for the weekend. As a result, the next 3 days riding would be without a back brake to avoid having to repair/replace the disc.

Being a Saturday night, the local residents of Taupo were up at all hours in the streets so it wasn’t good night’s sleep. I woke up at about 4am wide-awake. So I thought I’d see a sunrise on the bike and headed south to “Mt Doom” down near Turangi. Man it was cold and there were heaps of rabbits on the road, but no fur-free traffic. Unfortunately, the cloud was down so I didn’t see much of the mountain but it was clear to the east and it was a brilliant sunrise over the hills to the east of Taupo.

After a quick breakfast it was back down the 5 to Napier then along the coast. After running down the 2 to Dannevirke, it was off the beaten track via Weber and then into the back of Ekatuhune. Just before Waipukurau I experienced some serious anti-bike sentiment from a driver, the likes of which would even be surprising in Australia. I was riding at the speed limit on a long straight stretch of the SH2. There was no oncoming traffic and wide open opportunities for overtaking. A white Camry (BBC 766) came up behind me at about 20k’s over the speed limit and I figured he would just overtake as it was wide open for him to do so. When he went past, he missed my right pannier by about 1 foot and when abeam, immediately pulled in front of me. He pulled in so close that from my riding position his rear left quarter-panel was inside my downward line-of-sight from the end of the right handlebar to the road! I instinctively swerved to the left given his proximity and honked and he then gave me a very vigorous middle finger salute. There was absolutely no need for this behaviour as he had plenty of room and I hadn’t held up his speeding at all. It was clearly just a matter of him deciding to try to scare me and piss me off. This got me real angry for a while which detracted from the ride a bit until I got off the 2 and into the back country around Weber.

That back-country south of Weber is fantastic riding country. Rolling pastoral hills, sweeping bends, magnificent vistas. Only downside being the strong wind tearing at my riding line through some of the exposed corners. I made it into Masterton just before a squall arrived.

With Monday morning I tried to arrange a new rear brake pad but no-one had them in stock in Masterton. As I was on the ferry at 2pm that afternoon it was going to be another days’ riding with a back brake for emergencies only. I ended up arranging a place in Blenheim to do the work which would give them time to get the pads in. From Masterton, I headed directly south and took the back road into Martinborough. Glorious riding through there. Then it was south to Lake Ferry with a divert down to the pinnacles. With such glorious weather, it made for some good photo ops.
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On the way back towards Featherstone, I took a divert around Lake Wairarapa. While the roads were narrow and not marked with advisory corner speeds, it was a nice run. Then onto the Rimutakas. I had heard a lot about these hills and was looking forward to the run. My timing was bad though as I was surrounded by trucks. They were very considerate and did their best to let me through when they could but there is only so much they can do on that road. The wind was quite severe on some of the corners that were exposed as well. So it was one of those “imagine how good this road could be on a bike” experiences. Then it was a quick run into Wellington and the ferry.

[Blackbird]

Excellent ride reports:2thumbsup. The central north island used to be my playground until we retired to Coromandel in '08. Yep, there are some cool roads all right!

[gegvasco]

As far as the ferry trips go, I have been very lucky. Despite the wind, the strait was very calm and the trip over was very pleasant. Especially as the sun was out so we could actually see something this time (it was pissing down when I had gone the other way). The other big difference was that without the Burt Munro hoard, there were only two bikes on the trip. The other rider was a great bloke and we had a good natter the whole way over. Then it was straight off the ferry to a quiet night in downtown Picton.
The following day, it was an early start to get into Blenheim at the opening time of Croads Motorcycles. Sam was assigned to my bike and he did an outstanding job. Had the rear pads replaced, chain serviced and bike checked out in really quick time. He also found a defect with the rear caliper which explained the rapid wear. This would give me the leverage I needed in case the hire company gave me any grief about cleaning etc when I returned the bike. I can't recommend Croad’s in Blenheim more highly.

The run south down the 1 was fantastic. Once I was past the roadworks and the backlog of traffic caused by them, it was plain unmolested sailing all the way down the coast to Kaikora. Man that was a great run. I was going to divert inland to go through Mt Lyford before popping out at Cheviot, but the weather was murky over the hills and clear on the coast. So I stuck with the 1 to Cheviot. I then took a divert through Gore Bay and Port Robinson which was a nice option.

That pretty much wrapped up the trip because from there it was an easy run down the 1 into Kaiapoi for the night. With the bags dumped I headed into Christchurch to clean the bike. The bloody tar from the roadworks took 2 hours to clean off with some WD-40. What a horses ass! Thankfully, when I took the hire bike back the next day, they weren’t too fussed about the state of the bike apart from anything mechanical. They were particularly interested in the rear caliper defect as they prepped the bike like that and to their credit, they offered me a refund for the work on the brakes. They were very insistent about it.

The final tally on the secondary trip meter was 6277.2 miles – 10101 km.
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About 1000 more than I thought I would do. The other thing that surprised me is that after that much riding I thought I would have had enough. But I wanted to keep heading south and start the whole trip again! I have really mixed feelings about this stage of the trip. There is a sort of sense of accomplishment that I have done everything that I planned on doing and managed to do 10000km in 4 weeks – the most I have ever done on a trip like this by a long way (6500 in weeks was my previous best). But I’m also sad that it is over. I’m sad that I’m leaving that bike behind as well. It has very faithfully conveyed me through the most magnificent motorcycling trip I have had, a trip that I will look back on fondly. I almost feel like I have been unfaithful to my own V-Strom because of the attachment to the hire bike. The only thing I won’t miss is the constant unpacking and repacking of the panniers/bags. After a month of doing this every day except for 4 days off, that part of the trip was getting VERY old.

After a couple of days off in Christchurch and Auckland, I'm now sitting in a hotel in Auckland all packed and waiting to head to the airport for the return home. I had very high expectations of how good the motorcycling would be on this trip and I haven't been disappointed at all. I've travelled a lot and even outside of motorcycling considerations, you have a very special country here. For motorcyclists it has to be one of the greatest places in the world to ride. It might be a fair while before I'm back as I have other motorcycling conquests already rattling round in the back of my mind, but a quick 2-week jaunt to the south island on a hire bike now seems like a really easy and very rewarding option.

Thanks to all the KB'ers who have provided advice on riding roads, conditions etc and special thanks to those who have offered accommodation and company as I have travelled around. Can't rate you guys more highly and your hospitality is one of the great things about this country. If any KB'ers are coming through Canberra next year, send me an email (glb600@iinet.net.au). If I'm around, you will have a place to stay (if you can handle a house in Australia without aircon) and a local guide.

[gegvasco]

Oh, yeah....the final completed map.....
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[Blackbird]

Great that you've enjoyed yourself. As an ex-Pom (albeit 35 years ago), I think NZ is pretty darned fine for riding too. I don't know whether you've heard of the Kiwi rider, Mike Hyde, but he's written 2 wonderful books on touring on a V-Strom. One was circumnavigating your fine country and the other one is his exploits in America. Really funny and brilliantly written. Here's his website if you ever want to get your hands on his books: http://www.twistingthrottle.com/.

Safe travelling!

[gegvasco]

Great that you've enjoyed yourself. As an ex-Pom (albeit 35 years ago), I think NZ is pretty darned fine for riding too. I don't know whether you've heard of the Kiwi rider, Mike Hyde, but he's written 2 wonderful books on touring on a V-Strom. One was circumnavigating your fine country and the other one is his exploits in America. Really funny and brilliantly written. Here's his website if you ever want to get your hands on his books: http://www.twistingthrottle.com/.

Safe travelling!
Funny you should mention him. When I first booked the hire bike, it was through Motorcycle New Zealand. Mike worked for them and handled the booking. Then a couple months later he emailed me saying they were closing the business but luckily they weren't busted. So I got my deposit back and they arranged for my booking to be transferred to Te Waipounamu who I ended up with. I saw one of his books in a bookshop as well. Had a quick look...yep same guy.

[Jacko2]

Fark, that was a bloody good read Mate :2thumbsup:2thumbsup
Cheers

[Pixie]

A great series of reports.
Best of luck for your future trips.

[DemonWolf]

Thanx for the Riding reports, a pleasure reading them... Look forward to your next batch =) wherever they may be...

[Hinny]

Living one's life vicariously through the actions of others is so much more fun when exposed to such well presented stimuli. Great writing and photography.:yes:
Look forward to the next trip report from wherever that may be.

Turkey to China looks appealing!

[gegvasco]

Thanks guys. Next trip is forming in my head - round Australia - 17,000+km. But motocamping this time. Somehow I don't think the scenery will be quite as spectacular - or as closely spaced! Now I just have to work out how to motocamp.

[glitch_oz]

Thanks guys. Next trip is forming in my head - round Australia - 17,000+km. But motocamping this time. Somehow I don't think the scenery will be quite as spectacular - or as closely spaced! Now I just have to work out how to motocamp.


Time to pop into AusTouring.com then ;-)
NetRider could be a bit skinny on that sort of info :-PP

[R1madness]

Soynds great man. If ya need a place to stay in CHCH give me a holla.

[gegvasco]

Seems someone likes the photos of NZ.

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