The Great Lower North Island Loop Ride

[Dino]

Outstanding effort on the ride report Grub, nice read.

Looking forward to part 2.

[diego]

I loved the report... we will have to do it all again... by the way... thanks Grub for not kissing me.

[Grub]

Well, how remiss of me, I didn't post up the day two report and since then we've been to Levin, Mangaweka, Apiti and back to Welly and then two days later back up to the Manawatu, over to Hawera and then back to Welly the long way via Turakina and Shannon - another 1,200km. But I digress ....

Day Two, Sunday, dawned with a typical NZ fine and still day - motorcycler's heaven. We were all pretty much awake by 7:30 and looking forward to the day ahead which promised to be a little more leisurely than Saturday since the distance was a little less and we didn't have the pressure of a timetable. That's nice in a way because it allows you to stop and smell the flowers when the urge takes you. Saturday had some timelines so that we could meet and pick up any onther riders on the way who might like to come along. We did that and valued our time enourmously with the HB crowd.

Diego had left us in Taupo so it was just Dingoz, Nivram and I who shook off the cobwebs. Dingoz's cobwebs were a little stickier than ours as he alleges that I snored and kept him awake all night. Clearly that's not true as I heard no such thing. No photographic nor audio evidence has been presented to verify the allegation. I believe that the excitement was just too much for him. Thinking about it now, I don't recall Nivram voting either for the Ayes or the Noes - fence sitter! So since no offence was disclosed, we set about for breakfast.

We settled on the tried and true Cafe Max. They did us proud for the evening meal and they're really geared up for this eat n go stuff. Besides, how could I pass up Lambs Fry & Bacon for a sunday brunch - huh? We were pretty well organised and got away at 9:07 which was pretty much to plan.

We had options for our route home and so over breakfast debated which to take ...
- 1) Around the Lake to Taumaranui/National Park, Taihape for lunch, back roads behind Taihape to Feilding and Pahiatua Track (530km, 9hrs 48mins)
- 2) Around the Lake to Taumaranui/National Park and then the Paraparas to Wanganui (468km, 6hrs 24mins)
- 3) Around the Lake to Taumaranui/National Park to Taihape for lunch and SH1 home (474km, 6hrs 40mins)
- 4) Straight down SH1 to Taihape, back roads behind Taihape to Feilding for lunch and Pahiatua Track (418km, 8hrs 25mins)

Last time Dingoz and I did this area we had the most fun on the road around the lake through Taumaranui and onto National Park. This was all new to Nivram so he was happy to follow us (fool!). So our choice over breakfast was 3). We thought the Paraparas as being very technical and Nivram was still finding his wings on the nice open winding roads so were best to carry on like that. The around Lake Taupo inclusion was never an issue, it's just too sweeping and too empty to be left out of any ride in that area but it does add 111.1km (true) and 2hrs to the leg from Taupo to Taihape so that had to be considered - albeit briefly. The best laid plans and all that - but more of that later (no, I didn't get a puncture!).

We were all talking about riding styles and the value of a road trip to get your confidence and abilities up so we suggested to Nivram that he trusts us (fool!) using MSTRS's mantra of "... if I don't brake, you don't, if I do brake, do it too ...". We set off from Taupo and as soon as we hit Poihipi Rd around the north side of the lake, you could see it was working. We were like a big bad snake winding it's way through some great scenery on a great road that has no surprises. This is one of those roads where you never notice the distance and you just wish it could go on forever. We finally stopped for a chat and grin-reset at the Kuratau Junction. We were only there for less that 10mins and countless bikes came around from the Turangi way heading north. The guy on the gixxer thou tried to impress us by winding to the red line all the way into the northern sun but we were much too cool to be impressed.

From Kuratau Junction it was off towards Taumaranui, well Manunui actually which is about 6km south of Taumaranui and is the junction of SH4 and SH41 (which we were on). As is the beauty of motorcycle touring, about halfway along this route, we happened upon a hidden treasure in the form of a lookout. We had stopped for a regroup where the road was a bit wider and allowed a safe stop. Where we stopped had been preceded by a lookout sign. I'm sorry that I can't remember the name of it but it started with W - it didn't seem important at the time and as the sign was behind us we didn't later see the name. A couple of cars came out of the bush road from the lookout so curiosity got the better of us and we went to have a looksee. Well! This lookout was the highest point for what seemed like hundreds of kms. The platform and carpark are in the top right of this image where the regional boundary takes a sharp turn, you can see the wee sealed road up through the bush. There's a large platform and from the top you have a 360deg view of the whole south Waikato and northen Manawatu-Wanganui regions. Brilliant, just brilliant.
I should have done a panorama but I didn't so this will have to do for now.

It's not far from there to SH4, which just happens to be Dingoz favourite piece of road. Dingoz? Where's Dingoz? Oh that might be him, that speck disappearing over the horizon! He got 'slightly' ahead of us. By the time we'd reached the National Park gas station he'd gassed the bike and deflowered two virgins.
As you can see, the day was a stunner - and now we were hungry. So onto the beasts for a run down the west side of the mountain, a quick wave to the camera van in the rest area just before the Ohakune turnoff and on to Taihape to put the nosebag on.

{... more ...>}

[MSTRS:Me]

My suspicion is that it might have once upon a time been SH2 before they did the Mt Bruce deviation - it's that good.... the Mauriceville road. Ignore signs to Mauriceville West....

If so, it was a lot of years ago. My old man spent his early teens living in Mauriceville (his old man was Station Master there during WW2). Mauricevile existed because of the Lime Works there and it was on the Main Trunk Line. In those days the roads were all gravel and probably best described as 'interesting'. Anyway, my dad tells stories of riding a pushbike from Mauriceville, through the West version to work in a dairy factory that was situated on the Masterton to Eketahuna road. I remember that factory from when I was a kid, but it was bulldozed when the re-alignment of the north side of Mt Bruce was done in more recent years. You can still turn off the main road at that point to go to M.West etc

.... Frying Finn...

He won't be happy....he's Swedish

...they'd left us on our own for that corner.

Yeah. Us locals are scared of it...when we need to go to Taupo, we take the much easier way via Wairoa, Waikaremoana, Murupara....

[Grub]

The trouble with expectaions is that you can get disappointed - badly. The Taihape cafe behind he old bank/post office has been one of Nasty and my favourites. There's a courtyard out the back and the bikes can be parked beside the trellis where you can keep an eye on them (nice if they're loaded with gear that you can't be fagged taking off). When we arrived it wasn't hugely busy. I was second in line Dingoz was third. I placed my order and went outside to sit in the sun. Dingoz got there before me and had steam coming out of his ears - the young serving whench had ignored him and served the next person in the queue! To say he was pissed off is being mild. Just as he told me, this other young table-serving whench (both about 14) came past so I told her what had happened and suggested that she speak to her boss so that they could quietly solve the problem - she never did. she served both Nivram and my orders but never said a word to Dingoz - nor did anyone else. Piss poor all round - total f-up. Dingoz refused to be consoled and wouldn't eat anything in that place and I don't blame him. But I did feel a shit for eating mine! So for future reference, it's the cafe across the side road from the cenotaph behind what I believe was either the Bank or Post Office (can't remember its name). And so we grumpily left Taihape. What they though was an inconsequential single pissed-off customer has just been broadcast to 70,000 KBers ... bad move on the cafe's part.

This was going to be the boring part because the plan was to do SH1 all the way to Welly ... until that is, we got to Ohakea ... WTF???? Oh, ok, it's the Ohakea Open Day. Bloody hell, look all the cars! This was at about 3:30ish I think as we pulled off the road at the weighstation to see what the fuss was all about and why SH1 was lined with cars both sides and had cones turning it into 3 lanes. Well we got our answer as the F1-11 made its high speed pass with wings swept and just under Mach1 ... yummy! By the time we got our helmets off it was back doing the low-speed run with the tongue of fire out the back, you've all seen the photos - awesome. We soon realised that all 30,000 people there knew this was the day's finale and were trying to leave. OMG, time to get out of there quick-smart. Too late. The stream all the way to Sanson and turning up SH1 said it all .... no way we were going up there.

A quick roadside chat in Sanson confirmed we all felt the same and so it was off over the Pahiatua Track after all. Even at the end of a long day, it is a lovely road. We did the whole up-journey in reverse Track-Ballance-Mangamaire-Eketahuna. Awesome ride follwed by the Masterton bypass and over the hill uneventfully to Rimutex. From Memory it was 9:13pm so we'd been on the road 12hrs this day, we'd done Rimutex to Rimutex via 987.3 km and for me home to home of 1,040.5km. What a blast. Good people, great roads, brilliant weather and no dramas. My thanks to everyone who shared.

Can't wait to do it again.

[Dino]

Another great ride report Grub, glad you all had a great time and got home safely.

[DingoZ]

Yeah. Us locals are scared of it...when we need to go to Taupo, we take the much easier way via Wairoa, Waikaremoana, Murupara....

I remember the corner from the first trip over that road going up for the CC Ride that day. Not cool.....

After your advice on how to take that particular corner, was prewarned and pre armed, so found it much easier to negotiate. It will always be a corner stuck in the brain me thinks for the next time I am on that piece of road...

[DingoZ]

Snoring, what snoring, Oh you mean the stereo wood cutting that was going on from both you and Nivram......Nah that didn't keep me awake......Even through ear plugs...NOT!!!!!!......

Don't even go there about the cafe in Taihape... Piss Poor Service by any standards. If ya make a cock up, fine thats one thing, but it's all about what ya do to make it right. They didn't even attempt to do anything....So nope not going there again.


Ah bliss the National Park road from Taumaranui to National Park.........Even better is the road from Te Kuiti to National Park.....

In all it was a blardy excellent weekend. Great riding, roads, food (both Napier and Taupo), great company. Big thanks to the HB crowd that waited for us, and then "ESCORTED"......us out of town......Muchly appreciated..

Definetly a doer again for next summer.....

[Grub]

.........Even better is the road from Te Kuiti to National Park..........

You are a bad bad influence ... you mean like this?

A plan is being hatched

[DingoZ]

Yup thats the sucker....


Oooooh hatching of plans..........