Scottie

Day 9 – Te Anau to Wanaka

By Day 9 the good weather seemed here to stay and the thermals were stowed away and the mesh jackets and gloves came out. We stopped at Kingston for coffee and then it was a easy cruise along the banks of Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown. This is a breath-taking lakeside ride and one we would love to do again - nice views and good twisty corners. We stopped at the wharf in Queenstown just in tine to see the Ernslaw steamship berth – cameras got a good hammering here.

From Queentown it was a short ride to Arrowtown where we stopped for lunch and a drink prior to taking on the Crown Range. There has been so much written about this section of road that I probably can’t add much more here except to say it is always a joy to ride, and on such a fine hot day, the views were fantastic. We stopped for a few more drinks at the Cardrona pub and sat outside and enjoyed the glorious Central Otago sun some more. From there it was a short ride to Wanaka where we relaxed at our motel with a few beers and reflected on a great days ride.

Day 10 – Wanaka to Franz Josef

We left Wanaka just after 9.00am, stopped for a few photos at the lakeside and settled in for a nice cruise along the shores of Lake Hawea. We had a bit of a mishap when Terry hit a rock lying the middle of the road and it sheared the bolt from his engine guard. Fortunately, it did not affect his riding and he was able to continue and sort it out on his return to Auckland. The highlight of this ride was definitely the Haast Pass which turned on a fantastic day and we got to see right up to the snow line from the river floor in several places. We had a little altercation with a dickhead in a Holden who refused to give way on a one way bridge and I got pretty testy with him (and his snooty wife) – then again you afford to get a bit agro when you know you have Terry riding with you.

The ride northwards from Haast gave us more awesome coastal views and we all stopped at Bruce Bay to look at the hundreds of rock sculptures along the foreshore. Helen added a few more.

Day 11 – Franz Josef Layover

At Franz, we said goodbye to John and Janine who decided to ride through Arthurs Pass to Christchurch to stay with a friend. Kevin and Kathy and Terry and Sue decided ditch one of two planned nights at Westport for a night at Hokitika (where Kathy’s cousin lives). Helen and I decided that we wanted to take a ride in a helicopter and land on a glacier, just in case Climate Change is not just a clever global conspiracy and they do actually disappear over the next few years.

This was a fantastic experience and well worth the effort. The amazing thing was that the glacier had a thin layer of red dust over it, which the pilot assures us is from the Sydney dust storms earlier last year. Like the boat cruise on Milford Sound, sometimes it is not always about the riding.

Day 12 – Franz Josef to Westport

We headed off on yet another beautiful day north to Westport. Our first stop was at the Montieths Brewery for a very enjoyable tour and a spot of lunch in Greymouth. We decided to make a detour to Blackball, the location of the famous “Blackball Hilton” hotel who were sued by the hotel chain of the same name. With a population of about 20 and catering for only the most intrepid backpacker, I really think The Hilton hotel dynasty was under no real threat of losing any customers! We stopped at a local bee-keeper and got a 1kg pot of manuka honey for next to nothing and stowed in the already overfull saddle bag.

Next stop was Punakaiki for walk around the famous pancake rocks. Believe it or not this was also a first time for us as the weather has usually been too inclement to justify a stop. I am glad we finally did this on this trip. The costal road to Westport from here is a real delight to ride – beautiful coastal views on one side and spectacular native forest on the other. Before riding into Westport we stopped at Cape Foulwind for a look at the seal colony. This too is a nice place to stop on this section of road.

Day 13 – Westport to Picton

The previous night, Kevin and Kathy, Terry and Sue and Helen and I decided that we would rather go direct to Picton and miss out Nelson – mainly because we had all been to Nelson often previously. This allowed us to travel through the fabulous Buller Gorge, over the range to St Arnoud and down through the Wairau Valley. What a glorious road.

The major incident was Terry’s C90 cutting out midway through the Buller Gorge – no lights or power – nothing. We jiggled things and switched things on and off again and – ta da! It worked! but then we could not switch it off again. We let Terry take the lead and gingerly rode through to Murchison for a closer inspection. After much cursing and sweating Terry reckoned it had to the ignition - we agreed – even I knew where the ignition was. Terry used his considerable finesse and skill and started banging the ignition switch with a wrench – that allowed the power to go on and off again – one tap for “power on” – one heavier tap for “power off”. Not really a cause for confidence for the remainder of the trip. Enter: Kevin “MacGyver” Finnerty!

Kev got the top off the ignition switch (although he did not have a security ‘star drive’ tool) and found that the ignition power lead had come loose. He secured the connection with duct tape and a popsicle stick (no shit!) and we were good to go again. In the mean time, Sue had called the AA and the guy turned up just in time to help fasten the bolts back on the bike. Kev - you are a legend and deserving recipient of this month’s MacGyver award.

The ride into Blenhiem was a dream, through the vineyards along the Wairau Valley, the temperature rising with every km riden. We booked accommodation along the Picton water front 2 x 2 bedroom apartment units and they were, without doubt the most luxurious accommodation we had stayed in on this trip. I highly recommend these apartments for groups of two or more.

[B]Day 13 and 14 - Piction to Wellington

The sailing was pleasant if uneventful and we bid John and Janine, Kev and Kathy and Terry and Sue goodbye as we had decided to head straight back to Auckland so that I could attend to a few work matters. Kev and Kath and Terry and Sue decided to take the long way home via Napier with a night in Taupo – I wish we could have joined you guys for that.

A quick word about the bike. The Honda VTX 1300 performed admirably throughout the whole trip. We managed to stay upright throughout and had no hiccups. The much maligned VTX 1300 engine did its job more than adequately given that it is smaller than many cruisers and does not have fuel injection. It has so much torque that you can put a pillion and (in our case) an oversized bag on the back, stick it in 5th gear and it will go up any hill at almost any speed. It is a very easy bike to ride on a long journey.

In many ways it was shame that the ride split into two groups and by now most will have heard or read much various stories about this aspect. We have chosen to focus on the positives and these, in my view, far outweigh the negatives. This ride was a big commitment for each and every rider (both financially and time commitments) and everyone deserved to get the most out of it. In that sense, it was appropriate that each rider ended up doing the ride their own way. And with that, I will leave it there.

Thanks to Kevin and Kathy, Terry and Sue and John and Janine for your company, fantastic sense of humour and the wonderful shared memories that we will always have. Thanks to Johnny for his considerable work to put this ride together. Thanks also to Dave and Kirsty, although we did not end up riding a huge distance with you guys, we really appreciated the efforts you made to touch base at the end of each day and swap stories and have a cold drink together.

I’m Scottie (Trotsky) and this is my story.

END