Wet N Wild Wairarapa - Newbie Adventure Ride December 06

[Zukin]

It was Friday night and I was all packed and ready to go and ride with a few others in the Newbie Adventure Ride.
The weather in the Hawkes Bay turned to utter crap, and I thought I don’t really want to go by myself, so decided to contact Bartman10 and make sure they weren’t going to bail on me.

After getting off the phone to them we agreed that I would call again on Saturday morning at 7.30 (sorry Fraggle ) and decide then. (But in all reality they were as keen (or mad) as I was)

So at 7.30am I called and the reply was “it looks like its clearing here, so let’s go!”

I put on my Dririder gear, expecting the odd cold shower along the way and hoped that my gear stood up to the test to keep me warm and dry, I went over the trusty ole XR for the last time and then fired the ole girl up.
With a blip of the throttle I was off on the Newbie adventure ride to my old stomping grounds.

About ½ hour out, I hit really wet and windy weather on SH50 near Tikokino, it was pouring down and now was the time I really hoped that my gear would stand up as I hadn’t started the ride proper yet, and I was still over 2 hours from our rendezvous point.
However after hitting the Takapau plains I hit much better weather and actually got a bit of sunshine in Dannevirke, so I decided to keep going and not stop for a warm coffee!
The weather was good, except for the headwind, which reduced the 250’s power to almost nothing, in some places I couldn’t get into top gear
I arrived in Pahiatua and could see the ominous black clouds on the horizon and knew I should push on and hopefully make Eketahuna before I hit bad weather again.
I wasn’t far down the road when it hit me, but I was surprisingly enjoying it, just me the bike and the elements. I couldn’t pass anything but I had fun!!

I arrived in Eketahuna and stopped there to dry off a bit and then headed for Masterton, which was the starting point for our journey.
I arrived in Masterton earlier than expected, at 11.15, and thought to myself that is good I have ¾ of an hour before the others arrived, so I could get a nice cuppa coffee and some tucker and liquid refreshments before meeting up. I was just unscrewing the fuel cap when the DR650’s of Bartman10 and Fraggle pulled up beside me….wow what timing. It was pouring down again so we decided to head back to my mothers house and have a coffee and relax before heading out into the now very well set in persistent rain!

I guess we killed about ½ an hour hoping the rain would bugger off, not that anyone mentioned that, but I know that it what I was thinking of, and I bet the other 2 were too!!
It eased enough for us to walk out to the garage and then saddle up, before the heavens opened!!!
I still had to stop for tucker so we stopped at the supermarket and the whole time (about 10mins) I was in there in, it pissed down.
No time for mucking around, I threw the tucker into my panniers and off we went to find the first gravel road.

It was nice in the fact that it was the first time during the day that the wind was at my back, so that made things a little easier on me (and the bike ), but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the raindrops off my visor!! I tried at speed by turning my head left and right, but they just didn’t go!!! . Then I realised they were on the inside of my visor, I guess that is one pitfall with having a flip lid!!

The first part of the trip took us to Bideford and the road the followed the Wainuiomapu Stream, we then turned onto Wairiri Road and the first good section of gravel. It was still raining but the roads were in remarkably good condition with not too many puddles on the insides of the corners to trap any unsuspecting motorcyclists cutting the corners. The road itself starts with a steady climb and is tight and twisty, but opens out in the valleys to be quite open and fast . I stopped along here to actually take off my helmet and get rid of those pesky drips. The weather had started to improve, and we only had slight drizzle when we arrived in Ihuraua. The next road was a road that brings you out just a few Km’s south of Eketahuna, it is another great gravel road that winds its way through another sheltered valley, before popping out on top of a ridge overlooking Eketahuna (not that we could see it because of the cloud), a few straights before we hot SH2 and a quick jaunt into Eketahuna
We stopped to use the toilets, before we noticed the huge black clouds looming to the South again, and we decided to ride North and miss a few of the gravel roads I had planned so we could stay in the sunshine that we were currently enjoying.

We rode directly to Pahiatua, and gassed up at the local BP before heading towards the coast on the Pahiatua/Pongaroa road, now anyone that hasn’t ridden this road it is great, especially through the gorge.
However we turned off here about ½ way along the gorge to ride on one of my favourite roads, Pori Road.
How can I explain this road?
Tight & twisty, single lane goat track, with a bank on the left hand side and a cliff on the right!! I guess that would explain it ok!! I love it. The views from the top are fantastic too; we could see the windmills, the Tararua’s and the remote farms over Wairarapa.
The ride down the other side is interesting; with washouts and drains to capture any stray motorcyclist into the trap.

By this time the weather was still good and most of our gear was dry, which always makes you feel better.

After the infamous Pori road we headed into Alfredton, before veering off and heading towards Tinui via Castlerock road and plenty more gravel to deal with.
This road normally has quite a bit of traffic, but today there was only a couple of other road users.
We arrived in Tinui at about the same time as more black clouds arrived, but this time they skirted around us, and we saddled off and headed towards Castlepoint.
The last leg of today’s riding was over the Mataikona road, which twists and turns around the side of the coast, with panoramic views of the pacific, before we arrived at our overnight destination, the Shearers Quarters. We didn’t have much time before a few spits were felt and we quickly unloaded the bikes and put them in the shed, before it persisted down again.

A few quiets and a few games of cards (I think I lost more than I won, but watch Fraggle, she is a card shark I tell ya ) were the order for the evening before retiring for some kip and to listen to the very heavy showers during the night!!

DAY 2
I woke up and admired the blue sky so we decided to cook some breakfast and pack up. But it didn’t take long before these rogue showers passed overhead again.
So between these showers we packed and headed off towards Castlepoint and the last fuel stop for the day.
We got about…..um 1km up the road when I could smell oil to find my dipstick had come undone and was spewing oil over my tank and down the frame, so I turned around and headed back to the farm and cleaned up and checked it to make sure I didn’t lose too much.

Off again for the second time, this time we had much better views from the road looking South towards Castlepoint. Onto the tarseal for a quick run into Castlepoint and a detour around to the basin, and a quick ride up the beach to Castlerock.
Back to the shop and a fill up before heading to Riversdale, and then the final leg back to Masterton.
The trip to Riversdale was uneventful and all tarseal, but we stopped at the beach and made our last comfort stop before heading south again on our quest for more gravel

This time is was the long straights of Homewood road, before getting into the twisty forest roads, that would lead us eventually back to the tarseal and the end of the gravel part of our adventure.
I also forgot to mention why I had stopped along this road with a waving motion, when I approached that corner, there was one very mad looking bull standing in the middle of the road!! I was worried if I made it past he might run towards Bartman10 and Fraggle who were behind me, so I waited for him to wander casually off the road.
The last section was good fast flowing corners, and even on the old fully laden 250 Honda, there was a smile from ear to ear as I handled this nimble little machine around the corners.
The ride down to Gladstone was met with panoramic views of the Tararuas and the reason it was cold, Snow and plenty covering them!!

So overall the weather ended up to our benefit, and we really timed it just right and didn’t really get any rain over the weekend, even better was there was no dust.
The ride home to Napier was perfect, with a stiff Southerly breeze at my back the old XR had never gone so well in its life, I was home just after 2.30
Overall I covered 800km return to Napier.

For those of you that were thinking of coming you missed out on a great ride in some great country.

So thanks to Bartman10 and Fraggle, I really enjoyed your company and am happy to ride with you anytime, and I hope it’s the same for you.

Scott

[upshift]

Looks like a good ride and that you managed to avoid most of the wet weather.

[Garry.W]

Good stuff you guys, and good write up Zukin Manged to catch up with Bartman and Fraggle at Caltex Rimutaka as they were leaving, glad all went well.

[Bartman10]

Cheers for the report.

Had a bloody good time.

Thanks for offering accommodation and say thanks to your mum for the coffee.

I'm sure we'll catch up again soon...

Cheers!

Mark.

[yungatart]

Wow! All that weather! Big ups to you Zukin!!

[hXc]

Saw you on SH50, was heading north, just before the Bridge Pa turnoff. I was with Clivoris on his Tuono. I gave a big cheery wave as I realised who it was. Hope you had a good ride, sounds like it, even with the weather.