Coming to New Zealand for a 6 week tour (Jan-Feb 2011)

**Gone Burger** · 24th January 2011, 20:40

Originally Posted by olegeezer

Very wet ride yesterday to get to Picton. Today was much better. I was getting spoiled with the motel luxuries so I am camping 100m from the beach here and the waves will be good sleep music for sure. Beautiful ride down the coast so far and I will stay on the the west side as long as possible. I think I could spend two or more nites here it's so nice. There is a very high bluff? about 200 meters from the beach and if you walk down the road you can hear the echo of the waves off this massive wall of rock, very strange but kuel. Camping $20, dinner $44, SLOW speed internet $10, sound of the waves....priceless.....

Sounds like a GREAT start to the South Island so far Joe. Weather looking a little kinder to you for the rest of the week so far. Have a great time down there on those magic roads. Oh how I long for them again.

**olegeezer** · 24th January 2011, 22:04

Tuesday Jan 18 to Thursday Jan 20, the long ride over. I don't think I've ever spent so much money to have so little fun. Camped in the Holiday Inn in Auckland.
When I went through security in Auckland I had to send my tent to the bio-hazard agents for inspection. This was incase I inadvertently packed any unwanted critters in the tent. I heard one of the agents hummin this song.....I don't like spiders and snakes, and that ain't what it takes to love me, like I wanna be loved by you.

Friday (day one?). I took the train from Middlemore station to Taumarunui (in 100 attempts, I have yet to learn how to pronounce this). I did enjoy the train ride of about 4 hours. I walked with two suitcases and one backpack full of goodies for the long trip to the Honda shop. Mr. Paul was there as planned and commenced to installing the rear tip-over bars (Bydawgs of L A Bama). It was easy and all that stuff packed well into the side cases and the Givi box. The "biologically approved" camping gear went in a bag strapped on the pillion seat plus odds and ends in a small tank bag. The shop sent me to a key maker to fix the Givi box key which was bent and here is where I had my first lapse of memory as to which side of the road to ride on. That sure didn't take long but the street was slow moving with little traffic. It also didn't take long to get my arse back on the left side either. I sure don't want to die over here because it will take an act of congress to get my ashes back to the US I suppose. I got the key straightened and headed south for where ever I found a bed. I rode about 80km to a ski town called Ohakune. Got a real Hostel deal with a dorm room to myself. Sah-wheet.....the place was like new and I had plenty of room. A couple from Brazil invited me to help them eat their oven baked chicken so I brought a bottle of wine and picked up desert for the big feast. They had quit their jobs, sold their cars and took sabbatical?. They were hitch-hiking their way around New Zealand and in a few months are going to sign on to an environmental research vessel and sail around some of the lesser know islands of the S Pacific. They said they had reduced their carbon footprint from 34 tons (tonnes?) to 2 tons. I'm probably burning enough gas on this trip to cancel out their gains.......of which I do feel terrible about.

Saturday (day two). I met Carla (of Martinborough) near a place called Vinegar Hill and she led the way toward her place on her Ducati Monster...... that gal can ride and I tried hard not to fall behind. We cruised by an airshow and decided it was too wet to risk and rode to her place. Carla fixed a rack of lamb dinner for 5 of us and then she had her daughter take us to a party with some other riders. A few of the riders gave me some good tips for the trip. We turned in after the party, I was still trying to catch up on the jet lag thing.

Sunday (day 3) Carla was kind enough to lead me out of town and point me in the general direction of Wellington. It rained the whole way and I had hoped to get on the 2pm ferry to Picton but it was full so I had to wait until the 6pm ride. I parked at a McDonalds to use their wi-fi and get something to eat. While I was there I heard from a Kiwi biker Paul (BMWST) and he came down and kept me company until I left for the ferry. I sure do appreciate all the warm welcoming and such. The people here will help you most any way they can. When the ferry arrived in Picton, it was still raining and I took the first motel I saw.

Monday (day 4), After breakfast, I packed and headed for Nelson (north-west coast of the south island) It was a pretty ride through the mountains and only stopped briefly in Westport before I ended up in Punakaiki. I put the helmet cam on and shot a little video before the battery died. I took my throttle glove off to operate the shutter button. Not two minutes after I took it off, a bee stung me on my naked hand.........sh*t that hurt. (I know, all the gear, all the time). I rode toward a place called Golden Downs and an old fart on a Kawasaki Versys and a young fart on a BMW passed me. I wanted to ride with them and attempted to keep up for about 15km but it was few-tile I say. The guy on the Versys was really good in the curves, it looked so smooth, I was enjoying watching him ride. I could catch up in the straight sections but the curves, I could/would not. And then I remembered what the great cowboy enforcer, Clint Eastwood, once said. "A mans got to know his limitations". So I had to let em go. I ended up in Punakaiki, camping on the beach. Very nice and very soothing to sleep here.

**BMWST?** · 24th January 2011, 22:14

nice to meet you the other day Joe,you had any luck with your email?
Punikaiki has many vent holes in the rocks take a walk there tomorrow.

**sinfull** · 24th January 2011, 23:19

Originally Posted by olegeezer

of which I do feel terrible about.

.

Get over it Joe, climate change has happened a thousand times before we started making footprints in the sand and will thousands more after we're all gone !

Nice reading ! Enjoy NZ

**Quasi** · 25th January 2011, 06:52

Hi Joe,
Was lovely to meet you and hopefully we will met again. Still keen to do the forgotten highway when you back up this way. And if you need a bed for the night, there is one here for you.
All the best for the rest of your travels - its a gorgeous land out there that we live on and wonderful to read your thoughts and see it through anothers eyes.
Q

**olegeezer** · 25th January 2011, 17:26

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Bloody Hell Joe. Only been in NZ one day and you have already met the gorgeous Carla, Katie, and Bianca. Your being spoilt mate. Hope you had a good time last night. Sorry I didn't get to meet you but maybe on your way back up. Offer of a bed still stands. 20 mins from Welly Ferry terminal so just ring even if short notice. Alway's welcome.

Spoilt I am Hawkeye! Sleepovers, party invites, good food and drink, you'll have to get the Bio-Police to run me out your country! Hope to get to meet you b 4 I leave.
One question......is that your photo in your avatar??? Or is that the actor Hawkeye??

**Quasi** · 25th January 2011, 18:01

Originally Posted by olegeezer

Spoilt I am Hawkeye! Sleepovers, party invites, good food and drink, you'll have to get the Bio-Police to run me out your country! Hope to get to meet you b 4 I leave.
One question......is that your photo in your avatar??? Or is that the actor Hawkeye??

lol - our Hawkeye is FAR better looking then his avatar, and with an accent to die for for

**olegeezer** · 25th January 2011, 18:41

Originally Posted by Quasi

lol - our Hawkeye is FAR better looking then his avatar, and with an accent to die for for

Maybe if I get to meet him, some of that accent will rub off on me..........
Yes, I hope we can do that road on the way north. I'm sure enjoying the roads down this way. Headed for Queenstown tomorrow and then Milford Sound!!
Ride safe on that "monster".

**BMWST?** · 26th January 2011, 21:27

Originally Posted by olegeezer

Maybe if I get to meet him, some of that accent will rub off on me..........
Yes, I hope we can do that road on the way north. I'm sure enjoying the roads down this way. Headed for Queenstown tomorrow and then Milford Sound!!
Ride safe on that "monster".

queenstown,dont forget,shotover jet is a blast!

**shafty** · 26th January 2011, 23:01

Originally Posted by BMWST?

queenstown,dont forget,shotover jet is a blast!

I'll second that!

**Smifffy** · 27th January 2011, 10:32

Originally Posted by shafty

I'll second that!

Having done both, I prefer the Huka Jet at Taupo.

You could try doing both too

**olegeezer** · 30th January 2011, 10:31

I spent two nights in Milford Sound, took the boat tour of the Sound, very nice, very cool, very windy and then it rained..... I learned the second night how inadequate my cheapo tent is, but I still slept well. Did the underground power plant tour in Manapouri next, great for an engineer type. Got to see the edge of Doubtful Sound.
I seemed to be having a lot of trouble accessing my mail at hotmail?? They may just lose another user??? I had some nice beach views coming down 99 to Invercargill. Catlins next, may go to the Bluff. Still movin, still having fun in your beautiful country.

**BMWST?** · 30th January 2011, 10:40

Originally Posted by olegeezer

I spent two nights in Milford Sound, took the boat tour of the Sound, very nice, very cool, very windy and then it rained..... I learned the second night how inadequate my cheapo tent is, but I still slept well. Did the underground power plant tour in Manapouri next, great for an engineer type. Got to see the edge of Doubtful Sound.
I seemed to be having a lot of trouble accessing my mail at hotmail?? They may just lose another user??? I had some nice beach views coming down 99 to Invercargill. Catlins next, may go to the Bluff. Still movin, still having fun in your beautiful country.

re hotmail try this link

**FJRider** · 30th January 2011, 10:43

Most parts of this country, measure their rainfall in millimetre's ... in Milford they measure it in metres ...

Legend has it ... the runway in Milford was not built by human hand ... it was a mossie built one. Just extended to take the planes ...

**olegeezer** · 30th January 2011, 10:54

I can believe meters of rainfall..

Thanks for the link Paul, I was almost there, typed in me password and says it can't find the server. I depend on hotmail a lot when I travel, but I may have to move on with another server........