South Island passes adventure ride

[RedKLR650]

Haka is fine at the moment

Have you been down this way playing Mickeyboy

[warewolf]

Had a trip to Hanmer over the weekend as a sighting trip for the Rainbow Rage.

Saturday we went to St Arnaud, then Rainbow (Island Pass) then Jacks Pass. The northern 20km of the Rainbow road has been graded and has loose rock spread all over it - not very pleasant two up but would be a hoot solo - you could be sideways the whole time. South of that stuff it was very bumpy with unpredictable potholes that were difficult to see.

Sunday out via Jollies Pass, the Molesworth (Wards Pass) and had to go Taylors Pass to Blenheim: nice bit of road. I noted that there is another no-exit Pass on Taylors Pass Rd (north-east of Taylors Pass?) which would increase your tally.

All up, not a bad weekend jaunt, 537km with 250km gravel, although I would probably do it the other way around next time: the Molesworth is by far the longest leg and includes 160km of gravel (minus a few short bursts of seal).

Thanks for the inspiration, Jantar!

btw were you going to do Island Pass? It is 49km from Hanmer, by my notes, say 39km from Jacks Pass Road.

[Jantar]

Thanks for the report Werewolf,

The Rainbow road actually crosses Island Saddle, so its not on our agenda. According to my Topo maps, Island Pass is around 1.8 km southeast of Island saddle, and it does have a track marked to it, but not a road.

[warewolf]

The Rainbow road actually crosses Island Saddle, so its not on our agenda. According to my Topo maps, Island Pass is around 1.8 km southeast of Island saddle, and it does have a track marked to it, but not a road.

I thought the sign said Pass, and with your ride in mind I was looking out for the saddle vs pass thing. Guess I'm going to have to go back for another look!

[Ruralman]

I thought the sign said Pass, and with your ride in mind I was looking out for the saddle vs pass thing. Guess I'm going to have to go back for another look!

I think that no exit pass off the Molesworth road was Saxton Pass - Jantar and I looked at that one as well - its on some maps and not others. At one point we had agreed that we would use Kiwimaps Road Atlas of NZ as our guide as to whether something was in or out - a couple have slipped in that aren't mentioned in these maps but by and large we were going to be either going over them anyway or going very close to them.

Look forward to catching up up there somewhere

[Jantar]

I thought the sign said Pass, and with your ride in mind I was looking out for the saddle vs pass thing. Guess I'm going to have to go back for another look!

Well what better excuse to ride the rainbow?

[warewolf]

I think that no exit pass off the Molesworth road was Saxton Pass

Just to clarify, the no-exit pass I mentioned was off Taylors Pass.

[Jantar]

Just to clarify, the no-exit pass I mentioned was off Taylors Pass.

That is Maxwell Pass. The No Exit road goes to Maxwell Pass Station, the Pass it self is further in and does not have a road over it.

[Zukin]

Just wanting to tidy up a few loose ends before we leave...

So to confirm
You will be in Picton on the evening of the 14th Feb?

and

In Franz Josef on the evening of the 14th Feb?

I have your cell numbers Ruralman and Jantar
I am looking forward to catching up and hearing of your adventure

Cheers Scott

[Jantar]

Picton on the 12th and Franz on the 14th. Enjoy your ride and we'll catch up along the way.

[RedKLR650]

So here it is again:
Sunday 11th Feb: Leave Dunedin and head north taking the coastal route. Turn inland at Glenavy and head to Wahou Downs. Then over Meyers Pass into the Hakataramea Valley. Over Hakataramea Pass to Haldon Rd..........

Hi team,

The Haka Pass could prove VERY interesting this weekend if the weather forecast is to be believed.....

http://www.metvuw.co.nz/forecast/for...in&region=nzsi

If this holds true ( and from experience, this site is pretty reliable ) then you should be looking at these fords running at near maximum capacity by Sunday.....

[Ruralman]

Hi team,

The Haka Pass could prove VERY interesting this weekend if the weather forecast is to be believed.....

http://www.metvuw.co.nz/forecast/for...in&region=nzsi

If this holds true ( and from experience, this site is pretty reliable ) then you should be looking at these fords running at near maximum capacity by Sunday.....

At least it looks like Sunday will be fine, maybe a little windy, and Tuesday looks good too. I would have thought those fords on that road will go up and down pretty quickly at this time of year. That weather system is a short sharp one rather than a long extended event so hopefully it won't pose any problems. It might make it a bit wet to do that off road pass near Little Pass that you were going to lead us through though.

[oldrider]

At least it looks like Sunday will be fine, maybe a little windy, and Tuesday looks good too. I would have thought those fords on that road will go up and down pretty quickly at this time of year. That weather system is a short sharp one rather than a long extended event so hopefully it won't pose any problems. It might make it a bit wet to do that off road pass near Little Pass that you were going to lead us through though.

It shouldn't matter if it's wet, gravel roads are always so much nicer to traverse when they are wet and there's no bloody dust!.
The fords on the roads around here are pretty low at the moment but the bigger rivers have still got quite a lot of water in them.
The big rivers have got a thing called a bridge over them, they are quite handy when the water level is up a bit, if no one is looking, give the bridges a try!
Cheers John.

[Jantar]

That weather forecast looks perfect. The front goes through thursday night/friday morning, and as its a NW cold front, the effect in the central part of the island will be minimal. Even if we did get the 1mm per hour which the isohyets suggest then any increase would have diminished completely by sunday.

I'll get a new detailed long range forecast tomorrow with updates right through till Saturday.

RedKLR650, did you manage to get permission for us to add Big Pass to the ride?

[Jantar]

Its looking good. The latest long range forecast has a weak fast moving front crossing the island from south west to northeast on friday. It wont add any significant water to any streams or rivers and may help to dampen the dust. On monday there is a 50% chance of a weak front moving up the west coast, then it looks like fine weather for the rest of week.