Blenheim to Auckland-> via Alexandra

[awesker]

Hey guys, well Ive nearly finished my CIS course here in blenheim (hoo-fucking ra) and a friend and I are going to travel down the south island before heading home to auckland for xmas. North Island I find is easy enough but I have no idea how to get around the south island, this is why I have come to squeeze the wealth sponge of knowledge that is, KB. This is what I have for a concept so far:

Blenheim -> Alex via SH6 then taking SH8 from Alex to Chch
From there SH1 straight up to picton.

This is where I need local knowledge, about distances, road conditions, time taken from point A to B, wicked places to check out and stay the night, maybe even short cuts, and ways that you think would be better, as I have no idea how to navigate around!

Ive linked a picture of my proposed route, please let me know what you'd do differently, like I said.. local knowledge is king!

Cheers for your input guys!

P.S: Image is quite large!

[scumdog]

PM Jantar, he's a guy with the knowledge you need.

[limbimtimwim]

SH1 road from ChCh to Ashburton is BORING. Avoid.

Personally, I budget 500km a day. It doesn't sound much, but like that you don't have to leap out of bed, you can kill time while having a nice lunch, rock up early in some place without booking and chill out with a beer or two and read a book.

Have fun!

[fireball]

i just did i similar trip around the south with LilSel last week
drop me a pm with what you want to know exactly and i can answer your questions..

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

SH1 road from ChCh to Ashburton is BORING. Avoid.

Yup that it is, I would go inland on 73 to Darfield, and down Highway 77 to Methven, Geraldine, onto 79 Fairlie... then Lake Tekapo etc

Personally, I budget 500km a day. It doesn't sound much, but like that you don't have to leap out of bed, you can kill time while having a nice lunch, rock up early in some place without booking and chill out with a beer or two and read a book.

Yeah if you do much more than that you don't get to see anything do anything and thats the whole point of the trip no...

[awesker]

Cool cheers for the replies guys, Ill start looking at editing the route!

This is just the info I was looking for. Fireball, Ill give you a PM when I get more specific questions. Where did you go exactly mate?

I heard that SH6 road conditions are shit. can anyone elaborate on this?

cheers,
Nick

[Jantar]

You don't say how long you are planning to spend on this trip. However on the route you plan, I would allow an overnight stay at either Hokitika or Ross on the way south. That will give you time for a bit of a walk around at Punakaiki. Then day 2 to Alex with a stop at either Franz Joseph or Fox, and again at Makaroroa.

This is my favourite 2 day ride in the entire South Island.

North, Alex to Christchurch is an easy one day ride, with plenty of time for sightseeing in the Mckenzie Basin. From Christchurch to Picton try the inland Kaikoura route for something a bit different, however if you have never ridden SH1, then the coastal route is still very scenic even if it is now 80 kmh for part of the way.

[awesker]

We plan on spending 2 days heading down, a day or so there and 2 days up. So 5-6 days all up. Ross looks like a better place to stop for the night, could you recommend somewhere there? do they have a backpackers or cheap motel.. near a bar? (defense force wages remember). Also could you explain more about what Punakaiki is? like a hiking trail or something? and where is it near? If we stayed at Ross would it be close?

Also pretty interested on the inland Kaikoura route! we've already done SH1 but it was in a cage. Cheers for the advice on places to stop! Ill be sure to stop and check it out.

What are the dangers of black ice around those parts? or anywhere for that matter, I mean itll be the middle of December but it shouldn't be bad, surely? Cause I hit some black ice going into nelson in mid june, so Im paranoid!

[mbazza]

Black ice! December, don't worry about it. Go to the visitors centres as you pass through anyplace and check out the roads ahead. Cheap / free and plenty of advice. Alex to CHCH. Alex - Naseby - Dansey's Pass - Kurow - Hakataramea Pass - then Canterbury is your oyster. Happy riding. Cheers.

[JATZ]

Not to many places to stay in ross, interesting pub though, look out for the cattle stops on the lower west coast, punakaiki would be about half way between greymouth and westport and takes about half an hour to walk around the ride over the haast should be a blast

[bell]

I heard that SH6 road conditions are shit. can anyone elaborate on this?

cheers,
Nick

You'll find some shitty road surfaces just around quite a few corners down here - ride accordingly and you'll have a less stressful journey.

I've not noticed any particularly bad sections to be aware of though. You could try the Transit NZ helpline a week before you leave and see if there are any major roadworks planned perhaps? It'd usually only be a few kms worth of potential hassle though. Besides, Transit seem to be quite good at leaving warning signs up for much longer than is needed in some cases, so that's a bit more warning here and there.

Can highly recommend that you consider turning right when you hit the West Coast. Take yourself up to Karamea and watch the sunset, have a relaxed night and then do a long day south to Haast or the glaciers if you're after a shorter day. The scenery is sublime, the road equally impressive too and the sense of accomplishment once you've ridden the entire length of the coast is somehow satisfying.

There are more than a few SI ride reports in the er, Ride Reports section (Touring and something or other section?). You'll maybe see some pics of some of the sights along the way in there too.

I think the AA site has a trip planner too. Good for calculating distances, etc.

I haven't ridden it yet, but I'm sure there are a few around here that would agree that a diversion to Queenstown via the Crown Range Road would be worthwhile. Time permitting though you may just want to start heading to Alex if you've got a pressing need to be there.

Jantar mentioned Punakaiki (pancake rocks) - best if the tide is in and better if there's a 4m swell pounding in too!

It's worth the walk from the carpark up to the foot of the glaciers too. One of them is a shorter walk than the other IIRC....? I might be making that up. All I remember is getting to one of the two glaciers and dutifully standing behind the barriers/warning signs and within 10 minutes of being there watching as a small bus sized chunk of the glacier carved itself off into the river below. Woohoo! Nature at its best. If you're into that sort of shit then it's worth the diversion. Gets your ass off the seat for a bit of a walk too.

Flick us a PM if you've any more queries. Happy to help. Take care.

[awesker]

Awesome info! Thanks bell! F*cking legend !

[Jantar]

As JATZ said, not many places to stay at Ross, but Hokitika has plenty of backpackers.

Punakaiki, (pancake rocks), is between Westport and Greymouth. It is a 5 minute walk to a great lookout over the ocean on a fine day and there are spectacular blowholes when the wind is from the west. For the time you have available you probably wont be able to get to Karamea, but it is a worthwhile diversion if you have an extra day to spare.

[crash99]

Hey guys, well Ive nearly finished my CIS course here in blenheim (hoo-fucking ra) and a friend and I are going to travel down the south island before heading home to auckland for xmas. North Island I find is easy enough but I have no idea how to get around the south island, this is why I have come to squeeze the wealth sponge of knowledge that is, KB. This is what I have for a concept so far:

Blenheim -> Alex via SH6 then taking SH8 from Alex to Chch
From there SH1 straight up to picton.

This is where I need local knowledge, about distances, road conditions, time taken from point A to B, wicked places to check out and stay the night, maybe even short cuts, and ways that you think would be better, as I have no idea how to navigate around!

Ive linked a picture of my proposed route, please let me know what you'd do differently, like I said.. local knowledge is king!

Cheers for your input guys!

P.S: Image is quite large!

Yeah just done it myself, almost exact smae route except I went all the way (to Bluff) and you MUST go over Crown Range - Wanaka to Queenstown. SH6 was pretty good by my reckoning - most of the roadworks well signposted. Go get into those corners - there's plenty of them - enjoy!!