Limbimtimwim rips the face off the South Island

**elle-f** · 28th February 2008, 04:49

i am loving these write ups........(i know the two thumbs up looks gay but its all there was)

**limbimtimwim** · 28th February 2008, 20:38

Old Dunstan Road yesterday. No internets in Becks.

Wasn't that brilliant, I have to say. Road was too easy, scenery too samey. Perhaps if I had done this road first I'd have more to say.

I had a better time talking to the publican and the punters at the White Horse hotel in Becks where I stayed the night.

Nice place that White Horse, I recommend it. It gets the 'LBTW 5 stars of good'.

**limbimtimwim** · 28th February 2008, 20:41

And some moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

**limbimtimwim** · 28th February 2008, 20:44

There was a rock with a tap in it.

**limbimtimwim** · 28th February 2008, 21:25

Originally Posted by Blue Velvet

Agree with him. What camera are you using LBTW?

A Pentax K100D. It does the trick. I'm forever fixing the colour though.

**limbimtimwim** · 28th February 2008, 22:10

I did Thompson's Track from Omakau to Tarras today. That was really good.

Then I did Skipper's Canyon, which was really really good. There should be a sign at the end saying "You fucking made it!! Have a free gold bar!!" but there isn't.

I must sleep now. Maybe tomorrow I'll post the pictures and write stuff. That mostly concludes the gravel road riding. I need to be back at work on Monday and the back tyre about to hit the wear indicators round the middle, much to my annoyance.

**limbimtimwim** · 29th February 2008, 18:42

Thompson Track

I left the White Horse in Becks and went to the beginning of the Thompson Track. You get some serious Graeme Sydney like scenery as you head out. The table top like plain with the hills bordering it. Quite cool I can assure you. A couple of times I came around a bend and had to jump on the brakes just so I could take a picture. One to show the kiddies when roads are banned by environmentalists.

As you climb you have a rocky mountain to your right and a grass covered one (That looks higher) infront of you. The view back down to the proceeding plain is pretty cool.

I met some people on a Honda Riders Club tour. They were riding their wee-strom 2 up by themselves while the rest of the tour went around the gravel. The fools were missing out. Though I would not take a proper sports bike along this road due to the fords.

Along the road there is an old hut that I imagine was used by people driving stock in times gone by. As the HRC guy pointed out (Stating the obvious a bit) the vegetation around the hut was pretty hardy looking stuff. If the weather closed in the hut with it's fire could would your life in the middle of winter. Don't know where the horses would have ended up though.

After that you wind down the road (It's not too steep) towards Bendigo. From there I went to Tarras and had a coffee and a bite to eat.

Skipper's Canyon

I hate Queenstown. Luckily on my way from Tarras to Skipper's Canyon I had my satnav with me. It provided me with a route that avoided it's disgusting disgustingness. The road that goes up to Skipper's Canyon also goes to Coronet peak, and if it wasn't full of tourist buses it would make a great hillclimb race track. There are a multitude of signs warning you about this road and how your insurance is most likely invalid. I take them with a grain of salt, expecting these just to keep tourists in Daihatsu Sirion mini cars (There are a lot of these) away from the road in case they freak at the sight of their first gravel road.

No. No. No. These signs are not idle threats.

The drop offs from the edge of the road are not adequately described as "vertical" If there was something more vertical than the word vertical, I would use it.

There are some sheep on this road, and I encounter a small bunch. Four or five run away from me off up the hill, but one cannot climb it and falls back onto the road. It get's really paniced now, and away from me towards a cliff and leaps through a bit of tall grass on the downhill side. As I get nearer where the sheep went and round the corner, I see that there is a massive drop off there. And no sheep. I am pretty sure the poor thing lept to it's doom. I didn't intentionally do this, I'd never do something like that, I could see it was going to happen in my minds eye and slowed right down to a crawl.

The road is pretty damn spectatcualar, but you have to go slow. Some of it is just solid rock, the rest a very fine kind of sandy stuff, almost like ash, that it appears my tyres grip quite well.

After the canyon you follow the shotover river north, the road is a little less risky but it's still pretty high. You can see way way down into the river below. Eventually you get to a bridge that looks about 400 years old. Though the steel cables that make up much of it's construction look new. And the concrete anchors at the end. So it is looked after in some way. This doesn't make me any happier riding over it as I am scared of heights. I can't stand on a chair or a table, so this is pretty nerve-wracking stuff for me. I think this is where in the LOTR film they did that scene where that elf chick casts a spell and the river whips up into some horse type stuff and washes away the bag guys.

After bridge the road turns into some big ruts. And some nice forest. Which looks a lot like the road where Frodo and the Hobbits are walking before they first encounter the ring wraiths and Frodo implores the little guys to "GET OFF THE ROAD!!". Funnily enough a Land Rover Defender with the numberplate "Bilbo" is just around the corner. ODD.

Skipper's itself has an historic school and homestead you can have a look around in. The NZ flag flaps proudly in the breeze.

That concludes the gravel riding. My Avon Distanzia rear is shot. Super Motard compound you see. It's square. I've just replaced it with a Pirelli Dragon Corsa SC2, which has such a steep angle to the sides the handing of the bike is radically different. I think it's a bloody soft tyre too because for a laugh I gave the rear brake a good push and..... No lockup. It's crazy. I think it'll be square too by the time I get to Picton

**limbimtimwim** · 29th February 2008, 18:47

And some more of Thompson's Track

**limbimtimwim** · 29th February 2008, 18:51

Skipper's Canyon

**limbimtimwim** · 29th February 2008, 18:55

Skippy Skip Skip

**Kendog** · 29th February 2008, 19:21

Originally Posted by limbimtimwim

Thompson Track.......

Shit a brick, I am loving your photos and write ups!!!!!

**Kendog** · 29th February 2008, 19:33

I am going to add that what you are doing sounds like a lot of fun. A great adventure in fact. Maybe this is something I could get into and enjoy.

Hang on a minute, I followed you onto the 750, what is going on here?

I am a little drunk, I will come back to this train of thought in a few days

**chrisso** · 4th March 2008, 15:10

Well im jealous... Ive lived in Sydney for 17 yrs but come from Blenheim, I worked on a farm at Ocean Bay(next bay north of Robin Hood Bay I think). I used to chase Quail on the Farm bike. Used to be a lot of Paua there im them days,ah the good ol days......