Cajun and MotoGirl's South Island Escapades

[MotoGirl]

Well, 20 nights and thousands of KM later, Cajun and I are back from our South Island tour. Neither of us had toured anywhere before and this trip was Cajun’s first time to the South Island.

Now, before I write what we actually did, here are my thoughts on touring and any lessons learnt:

• Touring is a mixed bag – always be prepared because you will encounter a different challenge every day, be it rain, cold, wind, road works, tight and technical roads, traffic, or whatever. Don’t be surprised if you receive multiple of these in the same day!
• Make sure you eat enough – I went a bit light on breakfast and wondered why I had the concentration of a goldfish.
• Comfort is paramount – spend the money to ensure you’re warm and protected from the wind (and take lip balm).
• Italian bikes aren’t good off road, especially ones with a poor side stand and a non-existent steering lock.
• Don’t tour on a small bike if you’re over 6ft.

This trip was just awesome and I'd do it again in a flash. In my opinion, the South Island is far superior in terms of road condition and scenery. All three bikes went well and I was pleased to get that many KM out of my bike without a major headache. Finally, I got the reliability I've been wanting for yonks!

We never swapped bikes on the entire trip and I was pleased about this because I didn't want to. My bike was going so damn well that I just didn't want to get off the thing. I hadn't ridden it far since getting the Ohlins rear shock and I really learnt how firmly planted this thing is on the road now.

I must give dad a big for my Rider seat because my bum never got sore, even being in the seat for up to six hours. Even to me, the seat looks like a plank of wood so of course I was surprised to be comfortable whilst sitting on so little!

[MotoGirl]

In the days building up to the tour I was filled with feelings of uneasiness. I’d only just received the RSVR back from the shop and had been told its recurring stalling issue was fixed. (The bike would stall when I pulled the clutch in to come to a stop.) The bike had had one setback after another and I was beginning to wonder whether these were a sign I shouldn’t go. It was like “What’s gonna be next?”. Funnily enough though, the bike’s stalling issues had gone on for months and someone conveniently came out of the woodwork just in time so we could fix it before we left – I took this as a sign I was meant to go.

I had more confidence again when someone from the aprilia forum sent us a new set of link plates for the bike (they weigh three times as much as the originals and feel loads sturdier). These plates have been breaking on some RSVRs so we wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

[MotoGirl]

The bikes were prepped, we’d checked everything a dozen times, and it was time to roll! We left at 4.30p.m. in the afternoon with the intention of heading to Bulls. We had to check in for the ferry at midday the following day and didn’t fancy getting up at the crack of dawn to ride from Tauranga to Wellington in one stint.

Our ride to Bulls was cut short by the overcast weather, sub-zero temperature, and road works along the Desert Road. We’re experienced at riding on metal (17 years living rurally) and it was like riding on loose marbles. A sign of what was to come!

In the end, we spent the night in Taihape before heading off towards Wellington the following morning. Once again, the weather was freezing and the wind blew straight through my perforated suit.

We arrived in Wellington an hour or so before we had to check in for the ferry so took a quick visit to Wellington Motorcycles for some glove liners and a light overcoat. It’s all about comfort!

As expected, the trip on the ferry was unadventurous and we saw a Harry Potter movie for the millionth time. We picked on MacDaddy to pass the time and, let’s just say, he brings it on himself (see pic).

We spent the night at Picton Top 10 so we’d be rested to ride to Hokitika for the Wildfoods Festival the following day.

[MotoGirl]

The ride from Picton to Murchison was all good – it had some nice long straights, and open curves following the Buller river. We were, however, surprised at the amount of unmarked road works and loose metal everywhere. We never got the chance to open the throttle
(see pic 1)

Cajun found the roads into St Arnaud too straight, which made him want to nod off. We opted to fuel up at St Arnaud instead of testing our bikes’ fuel ranges to go directly to Murchison. The fuel only cost $1.93/L for 96.
Pic 2 is a pic taken between St Arnaud and Murchison.

We stopped for a bite at the Beechwoods Café in Murchison. I took my time taking a pit stop and could hear giggling outside the door. It was quiet when I walked into the dunny so didn’t bother rushing to put my 1,000 layers back on. Unfortunately the bus load of tourists with a line going out the door didn’t look too impressed when I emerged!

We found some curves after leaving Murchison – this was the road I’d dreamt about since my trip last year (shamelessly) in the car. Since the RSVR’s atmospheric pressure sensor was replaced (to stop the stalling) it now backfires and burbles away and really sounds the business. I enjoyed hearing the bike as much as I enjoyed throwing it through the fast 55/65kph curves heading towards Westport.

After another food stop at Westport, we headed for the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. The curves here ranged from 25-65kph with some very tight, uphill hairpins and the 25km corner that seemed to last forever. The road conditions were generally good and the West Coast was as rugged as we’d been led to believe. A few tight twisties had more unmarked road works so paying attention was mandatory and we couldn’t afford to lose concentration.

Considering how tight the roads were going into Punakaiki, we were surprised to see faster sweepers almost immediately after leaving Pancake Rocks. From here into Greymouth we had a casual pace because we expected to see Mr. Plod. Sure enough, a patrol car was parked at the major intersection as we entered Greymouth. He pulled out directly behind us and followed us through town – fair’s fair, so we slowed down to 45kph so he’d get sick of it and bugger off.
It was a long day and we never arrived in Hokitika until 4.30p.m. We settled into our accommodation and then went into town for some dinner and saw a wood chopping demo and heard live music where the singer was murdering what are normally good songs.

[MotoGirl]

We’d been warned about the traffic leaving the Wildfoods Festival so we chose to leave early and get out in front of it. Even at 9a.m. there were queues at the petrol stations and people in all directions. We knew there’d be cops out in force so we took our time as we headed to Christchurch via Arthur’s Pass. We realised the benefit of our cautious speed quickly when we saw a cop with a radar gun at Kumara.
The road through to Otira was damp so we went slow and steady ‘cause we certainly weren’t in a hurry. Just out of Arthur’s Pass I saw a group of bikes going in the opposite direction. A few KM later they screamed past me and I realised it was Dangerous, Rashika, and Skyryder, etc.
We stopped at the Bealey Hotel for lunch (see pics).

The weather from Arthur’s Pass was incredible and it was a pleasant change to be toasty warm. The traffic had obviously caught up to us because we caught up to a long line of traffic, and from Arthur’s Pass to Springfield we spent 90 percent of the time on the wrong side of the road passing vehicles. We literally passed hundreds of vehicles, and at times, it took miles to even see the cause of the hold up. Surprise, surprise, it was some arsehole in a campervan

We stopped at Springfield for fuel and heard that Cajun and Dangerous were naughty boys. Mr. Plod had pulled them over and warned them about their excessive speed.
The wind came from nowhere once we left Springfield, and it was so strong in places that stopping at intersections got challenging with being buffered from both directions. Never mind, who needs to stop right?

[MotoGirl]

I was tired on this day and couldn't get in the groove. Okay, it happens to all of us occasionally! While I was stuck inside my helmet with myself, I decided there's a fine line between safety and taking a dose of HTFU. We pootled to Tekapo because the roads were newish seal and we didn't want to be caught out by any loose metal. The weather here was somewhat chilly, but much warmer and sunnier after Tekapo. Once the clouds cleared we had the most spectacular views of the mountain in its snowy glory.

We did all the usual touristy stuff, such as pics at the old stone church and beside the lake (one of the most greatest things I've ever seen anyway). We had a quick feed in Tekapo, and man, some of those parking spaces were challenging. The RSVR has a bitch of a side stand and didn't particularly want to sit nicely in any of those parks so it wound up in a diagonal park facing downhill. Cajun had to stand on the road and watch for traffic so I could even get it out past the campervan beside me (just 'cause I couldn't see anything).

We rode on to Twizel and I was feeling loads better after some lunch and a V drink. We stopped for another photo shoot by Lake Pukaki with the other tourists. We were getting low on fuel so went straight into Twizel and opted not to go to Mt Cook. It wasn't a long ride today but the scenery was some of the most stunning I've ever seen, even the second time around.

The roads were full of big sweepers so we had a faster trip once we left Tekapo.

The bike clocked over 10,000km and the dash now shows the word "Service". I had no idea how to turn this off so it was going to annoy me for a few KM, even though the bike's already been serviced!

[MotoGirl]

We left Twizel nice and early because Cajun and I had a skydiving appointment in Queenstown. The route was via the Lindis Pass and through Cromwell.

The weather was cloudy, but warm enough. The winds in East Otago were forecast for up to 120kph, so as the winds were reasonable for the first 20mins, we wondered what the forecasters were on about! Sure enough, as we entered the Lindis Pass it all made sense; the wind was so strong it tried ripping my head off my shoulders! If I licked my lips I actually licked the inside of my helmet - that's how far back it got pushed.

As we rode through the pass, the cloud had increased and the lighting was extremely dark. We'd all left with tinted visors so visibility wasn't the greatest here either. We were still getting cocked up by the road conditions; that is, the seal that looks like it's brand new and should be covered in loose metal. I always remember "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups." so it took a huge amount of effort to resist slowing down in fear of finding metal.

We met Jantar just out of Tarras on his red V Strom and he was riding into Queenstown with us. A few KM from Tarras we encountered a farmer herding his sheep down the road. A quick chat to him determined that he was going quite a distance so we had to work our way through the herd. We come from a rural background so MacDaddy and I found it amusing to round up sheep on a 'Busa and the RSVR! Somehow, I don't think the busload of tourists that almost collected that herd (oblivious bus driver) found it quite so amusing!

The trip down the side of lake Dunstan was full of open sweepers so we gained a bit more speed going into Cromwell. I love riding round the South Island's lakes We stopped in Cromwell for a coffee and so we could formally meet Jantar - what a great guy! We had a nice chat then headed towards Queenstown via Kawarau Gorge.

We had our first light drizzle since leaving Tauranga but it wasn't enough to justify putting on any rain gear. It lasted a whopping 10 minutes. We took advantage of the road works through the gorge (rock blasting) to check out the goldmining shafts in the hills. We stopped again at the AJ Hackett bungy and said our goodbyes to Jantar.

I knew our skydiving would've been cancelled due to the drizzle so I rebooked it for the following morning. We had half a day to kill and Cajun wanted to go up the gondola. While up there, we decided to be dicks and head down the luge wearing our full bike gear. We had a ball on the luge and the tourists took photos of us silly bikers too

Not many bike-related pictures today so have some scenery instead! Views from the lookout at the top of the gondola and at the camp ground.

[MotoGirl]

Change of plans today because we'd had to rebook the skydiving, which meant we couldn't leave Queenstown until 1.30p.m. I'd been to Queenstown before in the car so I knew it wasn't particularly bike friendly. What surprised us the most is that the bike parks were like 15 minute parks - what's that all about? There's shitloads of tourists who stop in the middle of the road, don't indicate, and generally have no idea where they're going. Honestly, if ever I go to Queenstown again it'll be too soon.

We made our way out to the airfield for our 12,000ft jump (tandem). We were lucky this day; the weather was fine with a few strategically placed clouds to add to the scenery. Being thrown from a plane at that altitude was exhilerating and I was pleased that my jumper gave me no time to think about what was happening. We looked out the door to check Cajun was far enough away, he pointed us out the door, then threw us out! I'm a thrill seeker anyway so I naturally loved plummeting towards the earth in freefall. I was even with it enough to steer the thing and do a few donuts - the speed these things gain is like accelerating hard on a 'Busa.

Cajun didn't feel particularly well after his jump so we pootled down the side of Lake Wakatipu towards Invercargill. We never left the airfield until around 2p.m. so decided not to go via Manapouri. The state of the seal here was shocking and it was in three strips for miles. We heard this had something to do with fibre optics being laid from Queenstown so they resealed the road multiple times. We didn't want to go directly into Invercargill so we turned off just before Winton and headed towards Otautau. I hate those tiny yellow signs that supposedly give directions - I always overshoot them because they're too tiny to read

[MotoGirl]

Otautau was overcast and damn chilly. We stayed with my uncle and aunty (they own a Vulcan Nomad (pic 1)) and they wanted to show us around their backyard and show us Tuatapere, Orepuki, and Riverton. We stopped at a lookout just out of Tuatapere but I never caught the name of it (pic 2)

Since my uncle was riding his tractor, he chose to take us to Cosy Nook via a narrow gravel road. This was fine and dandy but none of us sportbike riders were too pleased with the downhill hairpin that was covered in thick, loose metal. The RSVR's steering lock is shite at the best of times and the bike ran wide going round this particular corner. A few metres up the corner we stopped and took pic 3.

We got back on a sealed road and headed for Riverton. I was riding begrudgingly this day and needed food to increase my attention span. We thoroughly enjoyed our pies and I had my first fruit in over a week It was a nice wee pootle around the block and you can do some decent speeds on those quiet country roads (although we hear Otautau has cops).

Cajun wanted to go to see Burt Munro's bike and Bluff (I'd been there before) so I sent him off with my uncle while I went shopping with my aunty.

[MotoGirl]

Well, we were meant to head off to Dunedin early so dad could make the coordinators meeting at the Ulysses AGM. When we opened my uncle's garage we discovered a puddle underneath the 600 and found its radiator was leaking fluid. Thankfully my uncle knows everyone in Otautau (what, all 10 of them?) so it was a quick trip to the garage to figure out how to fix it. We came away with some solder-it and had to ride the bike a few KM to warm it up before throwing it in the radiator.

By this point, time was getting short so dad took off ahead of us so he could make his meeting. We left Otautau around 10ish and went via Winton -> Mataura -> Gore -> Clinton -> Balclutha. It was a pretty straight and boring road, but after our frustrating morning, we just wanted to get to Dunedin so went direct.

Dad had warned us about the roadworks outside the motel and said he'd ridden over a ramp to get into the parking lot. By the time we got there it was just loose metal and the ramp was gone. It was pretty uneven and I half expected the RSVR to bottom out.

Dad had ridden the 'Busa to his meeting so Cajun and I caught a bus into Dunedin's city centre to meet Mr and Mrs Virago. With the yacking going on, mid-afternoon soon turned into evening so we decided to get tea at a bar in the Octagon. We invited Nighthawk and Zaria and had a caught up on all the goss going on round Dunedin

[MotoGirl]

We met up with dad at the Ulysses AGM in Dunedin. While we waited for him to stop yacking, both Cajun and I visited the Plugz 4 Lugz guys and got ourselves a set of custom ear plugs. They are a very strange sensation to have in place and it took me awhile to get the hang of twisting them in.

The first day wearing them was just odd; I couldn't hear my bike while I was trying to take off and I had my glove liners in so I couldn't feel the vibrations through the clutch very well either. Oh well, I just gave it more beans to make sure it didn't stall! I've done a couple of thousand KM wearing the plugz now and I'm very impressed with them, and I since I've got used to them I can now hear the bike again. The amount of road noise they cut down is incredible and it's certainly made me realise how noisy a standard helmet is. We must look like idiots stopped at the lights screaming at each other (domestic anyone?).

This was one of our biggest trips so we wanted to get away early. We'd met some more Dunedin folk at the bar the previous night and they'd given us the route for riding to Haast. We went via Mosgiel -> Middlemarch -> Ranfurly.

This was a nice piece of road with big open sweepers and the road in good condition. I was glad I had my wits about me because there were truckloads of things testing our concentration; in particular, the car that pulled out from behind a shelterbelt without looking as I was practically overtaking a vehicle on that side of the road. I was lucky that it was a long straight and I wasn't in a hurry so I had truckloads of time to slow down and get back in my own lane. The road through to Ranfurly was rather chilly so we were relieved when the sun finally came out and it warmed up a bit.

We went into Alexandra (so we could see where Jantar lives) and down the side of the lake to Cromwell again. This piece of road is very, very fast and we had an absolute ball on it! The road between Cromwell and Wanaka was average in places and it got a lot more interesting once we could see the lakes (see pics).

My rear brake had faded into oblivion (a known issue with the Ape) and I'd never needed to do a hill start while holding the front brake. We stopped to take pictures beside the lake so I had to learn in a hurry! It was also challenging turning the ignition off when parked on a hill with the engine running, holding it on the front brake whilst in gear. For some odd reason, I'd always been taught not to touch my kill switch so it never occurred to me to use it. I was stopped on this bloody hill wondering how I was going to turn off the damn bike - thankfully, dad was beside me so could get to the key The kill switch became my best friend after that and I started using it loads

Going through the Haast Pass was awesome and the weather was stinking hot. The road was busy and Cajun was surprised to see cattlestops in the middle of the road, especially approaching corners on steep downhills. We had a blast riding this piece of road, just because of the superb weather. I have to say though, the scenery is better going in the opposite direction.

My back started getting a bit sore after about 4 hours in the seat so we were relieved to get to Haast. Cajun and I dawdled to the river and checked out the scenery.

[MotoGirl]

This was the only day where we had enough drizzle to make us damp. I'd done this piece of road before in the car and was looking forward to stopping at Knights Point to take more photos of the scenery, etc. Unfortunately, the weather was that cloudy that there was no visibility so we kept on ridin'.

The twisties along the coast are challenging so we were disappointed that they were wet. In some respects this was a good thing because we'd been warned to keep our speed down and the locals all say that everyone uses the West Coast like a racetrack.

I'm not a fan on riding in the rain (hence why I own an Italian bike ) but I felt reasonably confident on these roads because I had seen how grippy the seal is. The road had scattered repairs and the only one that got my heart pumping was the 25KM uphill hairpin that was straight mud. Thankfully it was that rutted that it gave us enough traction to get through it.

We fueled up at Franz Joseph (cheap at $2.02/L) and we chose to put on the rainsuits we'd bought specifically for this trip. We suspected the drizzle would clear once we did this and we weren't disappointed!

Cajun had told me to rev the RSVR more to give it a blow out (as opposed to riding economically). The whole trip to date his 600 had always used more litres than my bike and he's known to be a thrash artist. I deliberately gassed it a bit more than usual and even discovered where my rev limiter is. I was pleased to use 1.5L more fuel than him so I could call him a pussy

Overall, this day was pretty cautious riding for us because it was a bit damp. Even so, the amount of unmarked or wrong marked road works surprised us. For some odd reason they use slippery when wet signs for road repairs - wtf?

The road dried up heading into Greymouth and our pace increased somewhat. It was fantastic to gain some decent momentum after spending most of the day in the first two gears. We had considered staying in Greymouth for the night but decided to continue to Reefton so we'd have enough time to look around Nelson at the other end. We were impressed with the rooms at the Al Fresco Restaurant and Accommodation in Reefton - we had to park on the lawn, but otherwise it was a great place to stay.

[MotoGirl]

The weather was gorgeous and sunny when we left Reefton to head to Blenheim. Once we started down the Lewis Pass the roads were tree-lined with gorgeous sweepers, albeit they were a bit damp for the first few KM.

Once again, we could see the low cloud in the distance and rode straight into a wall of fog, and then continued through it for several KM. It's horrible shit to ride in because the moisture just doesn't run off your visor (and wearing a tint wasn't fun either).

Once we came out of the fog the weather was awesome and we were on a road cutting straight through forest. The light filtering through the trees was spectacular; at one point everything was black with a ray of white shining through it and everything smelt so fresh. The trees were so dense that when we got on open road and re-entered the forest, it was like riding straight into a big hole in the trees. It was so dark in there as we approached the forest that we couldn't see the road or even the traffic that was on it. The road after the forest was enjoyable and we behaved ourselves speedwise.

We turned off before Rotherham and went into Waiau. Cajun suggested we take the inland route instead of heading out to the coast. The first few KM were like any other narrow country road then it became hellishly twisty. Cajun took off like a bat outta hell while dad and I took our time. Neither of us like this type of road so it was like our worst nightmare being stuck on 70KM of road that only had 15-55kph corners and truckloads of hairpins. On this day alone I probably spent more time in first gear than I have in the previous 12 months of owning the bike! If anything, I gained confidence using my brakes harder than I have in ages so I got something out of travelling this road.

We cruised into Kaikoura for lunch and then headed off towards Blenheim. The weather was so toasty that we'd stripped off most of our layers and were feeling loads more comfortable with that added flexibility! The coastline looked awesome, although the wind was a wee bit gusty. The trip along here was a reasonable speed and we only encountered one lot of road works (damn you, end of financial year!). We arrived in Blenheim at 3p.m. just in time for a quick swim before tea.

[MotoGirl]

Man, this stretch of road has some great sweepers and then there's what I can only assume is the Nelson GP. That hill is freakin' awesome! I was really getting into the twisties and then we hit the road works going down a steep hill. Thankfully this was fixed overnight because I didn't fancy doing a hill start there the next day! Have you noticed they make you stop in the most awkward places at times?

This wasn't a particularly long ride because we'd intended to go to Golden Bay, etc, but a couple of big days on the RSVR had killed my back so I could only ride for an hour before agony set in. We decided to blob out and give the back a rest otherwise I'd never ride home again. Never mind, the shops in Nelson had stuff we hadn't seen before and our purchases should arrive on Tuesday's courier

[MotoGirl]

Thankfully, the road works from the previous day were all fixed so we didn't have to stop in any stupid places, or do any hill starts. We totally got into the 55kph twisties on the way up the hill and saw several bikes heading in the opposite direction (red VTRs), looking like they had the same thing in mind.

Everything was a bit cloudy (surprise, surprise!) but it fined up in Havelock. We decided to take the Queen Charlotte Drive back to Picton because we had all day to get there with our 2p.m. sailing. When we started down this road we were surprised to see it had a 50kph speed limit. It only took a few corners to understand why! We spent most of our time in the first three gears and the corners were tight, and the surface was just shit on many of them.

We stopped at the lookout at the Havelock end of the road (see pics). Just beforehand, Cajun's bike was dive bombed by a bird, its body hit the radiator, and it came up through the triple clamps

We continued along the road, taking our time, and I was out in front. As I rounded a right-hander, a massive tourist bus went wide round the corner with the front of it in my lane. He got the shits to see me (in the right-hand tyre track within my own lane) and slammed on the anchors. Dad and Cajun were behind me and said the bus missed the bank by about 15cm. I have no idea why a vehicle that size was even on that road because it sure ain't suited for it! We saw several other vehicles cutting corners; I don't know if it's because the corners are tight or just because the drivers were dangerous retards?

To make the road more challenging, there was about a KM of loose metal and it was on downhill twisties. We had two hours until we had to check in for the ferry so we buggered off for a second breakfast and a coffee. My back was feeling a bit tender so I was glad we hadn't ridden far.