Picton to Bluff and back

[tigertim20]

Hi

Deciding whether or not to take my ER-5 on a long trip this summer. Would depart

Picton on Sunday, ride to Christchurch, stay a night (337kms).
Christchurch to Queenstown, stay a night (483kms).
Queenstown to Bluff via Te Anau, stay a night (385kms)
then Invercargill to Christchurch (566kms)
Christchurch to Picton (337kms)

Roughly 2100kms... 5 days.

I absolutely love long distance travelling but never done it on a bike. I like to travel light but wonder how sore my backside is going to get and whether it's too much...?

GNJ

hmm. I say do it, but with some variation. heading south, go via kaikoura, queenstown etc, but once you reach invercargill, take a tiki tour through the caitlins, then shoot from balclutha across to queenstown (Balclutha - inland just before milton, through roxburgh etc) and back to queenstown. fron there the crown range to wanaka, then through hawea, and follow the west coast all the way to westport. from there if you are low on time, head back to Blenheim then picton. If you have time, go from westport to nelson, nelson to havelock, then go through queen charlotte drive to Picton

[nzspokes]

Pick a day off and go a ride for 400ks. That will tell you lots.

High sugar foods and drink or high caffeine will work against you. Water is your friend.

[Ocean1]

Nigga you crazy.

Missing out SH94 (Milford Sound) and the West Coast completely? Come on....

Make it a round trip and give it another couple days. Also, stay in a couple lil' towns as well, that you don't know the name of offhand (such as Glenorchy) - stuff staying in ChCh twice, imho.

/2c

hmm. I say do it, but with some variation. heading south, go via kaikoura, queenstown etc, but once you reach invercargill, take a tiki tour through the caitlins, then shoot from balclutha across to queenstown (Balclutha - inland just before milton, through roxburgh etc) and back to queenstown. fron there the crown range to wanaka, then through hawea, and follow the west coast all the way to westport. from there if you are low on time, head back to Blenheim then picton. If you have time, go from westport to nelson, nelson to havelock, then go through queen charlotte drive to Picton

These. I do that trip once a year, with lots of variations. Get on your bike early and snack every couple of hrs. Easy.

[insomnia01]

no west coast riding but that's the best part start early & you have all day weather permitting ENJOY I'm hoping to be back in the sth isld Feb/March 2014

[superjackal]

Nigga you crazy.

Missing out SH94 (Milford Sound) and the West Coast completely? Come on....

Make it a round trip and give it another couple days. Also, stay in a couple lil' towns as well, that you don't know the name of offhand (such as Glenorchy) - stuff staying in ChCh twice, imho.

/2c

I've already done those. This trip is about ticking off the (easily accessible) places in NZ I've not visited yet- which is actually only Bluff and Invercargill. Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up. I'm down South for a wedding on the Friday and don't want to stay at the inlaws for a week... I figure three days blasting around will be fun. I did the whole of Wales a few years back in an old 911 in three days, that was FUN and before I was into Bikes.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to. I tried once from Whakatane (in an old Triumph TC2500) but got bored halfway and headed back. Was a bit younger then so hopefully will have the patience now...

God, I love road trips.

[george formby]

Sounds lubbly.
Definitely ride similar distances before your trip, get your butt & head prepared. You may also find you have to make changes to the bike so it fits better for decent rides. I have had to put higher bars on my bike to prevent my shoulders seizing up. Wear comfortable under kecks...
Discomfort on the bike usually comes from being immobile while your riding so stop, eat, drink, pee & wander about to get your circulation going.
Get up with the larks & have a big brekkie, you can knock off half your days travel well before lunch in my experience. Check your bike at the end of the day, chain, tires, fluids, bulbs etc & again quickly in the morning in case you missed something when you were tired. Nothing worse than a late start then messing around with the bike, getting fuel, planning your route etc & ending up chasing the sunset.
Remember to go "weeeeeeeeeee" through the twisties.

[swarfie]

I've already done those. This trip is about ticking off the (easily accessible) places in NZ I've not visited yet- which is actually only Bluff and Invercargill. Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up. I'm down South for a wedding on the Friday and don't want to stay at the inlaws for a week... I figure three days blasting around will be fun. I did the whole of Wales a few years back in an old 911 in three days, that was FUN and before I was into Bikes.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to. I tried once from Whakatane (in an old Triumph TC2500) but got bored halfway and headed back. Was a bit younger then so hopefully will have the patience now...

God, I love road trips.

I did Picton to Dunners via the inland scenic route about four years ago in one hit...just under 700k in one day on my Gilera Saturno Bialbero. Won't be wanting to do that distance on a single board seat again! (although I did have an Airhawk to soften the blow a bit, they're well recommended if you can dig in the pocket deep enough) The Catlins IMHO is a definite MUST, awesome bit of road

[Gremlin]

Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to.

Uh... something tells me that Gisborne isn't the last place you haven't been. Quite the bold statement to make, when I've spent several hundred thousand km going to most places in the country, but there is still plenty more to see.

[superjackal]

Uh... something tells me that Gisborne isn't the last place you haven't been. Quite the bold statement to make, when I've spent several hundred thousand km going to most places in the country, but there is still plenty more to see.

Ex national sales rep. Pretty much gone everywhere! I used to have so much time up my sleeve I took all the backroads too.

[chrisso]

If your doing this in summer well Queenstown to Milford is easy.. and awesome. Just don't by fuel at Milford. And watch the sandflies... Some of them land at the airstrip and take on 200 litres of Avgas. ( The foreign tourists believe it...) I reckon the West Coast route thru the Buller would be better but whatever. Dunno about cheap accomodation at MIlford. Last time I was there I lost all my $$ playing pool and slept in the bus shelter at the Hollyford Vly tunroff.. Those damn sandflies ... Mate sounds good however you do it.

[BadSarah]

I just did a trip to Cape Reinga, take a break every now and then, have a coffee or lunch, look at the views, take some pictures- whatever, just get off the seat and stretch your legs regularly. It helped ease my butt, having said that, after the first couple of days it gets easier

[GFP]

As everyone else has pretty much stated just work up to it and the k's will roll off easy, I have done several trips to Phillip Island for the MotoGP from Sydney on various bikes I've owned including a Ducati 749, a KTM640 Adventure and lastly on a DRZ400SM, taking the most direct route its 1020km but that is highway riding, the way we go is closer to 1200km taking in as many twisty out of police presence roads as possible (you get fined for 3km over in Victoria), usually we'll try and split the trip in half so it's 600km per day but sometimes it's nicer to knock off say 800 the first day so you have an easy 400 to do on the last day.

[Subike]

As a person who enjoys the long rides of any distance in any weather most times of the year.
I have found that a 10 min break every 100 - 150k is good for me.
I have found that on cooler days, that a boul of soup, not a coffee at a break is far better.
Doing long ride in warm to hot weather, ensure that you have drinking water with you.
If you dont feel like a piss every two hours, then your dehydrated and in danger.
But like most here I also believe that you need to get distance fit before attempting huge distances, and a daily commute ride of under 50ks a day is not enough to prepare you for this.

[jellywrestler]

although I did have an Airhawk to soften the blow a bit, they're well recommended if you can dig in the pocket deep enough)

a bit of bubble wraps heaps cheaper...

[pete-blen]

Go to the ADV forum... we do 300plus k rides on dirt bikes all the time..
and think nothing of it.... little narrow seats / sitting up right wind on yer chest ..
The dusty butt is around 500k per day , can be 10/12hours on the bike each day
then getting there & back home...

Harden up sport.. it's all just part of the fun..