Wanted; South Island road trip ideas

[LBD]

, he did Queenstown to Kingston and recomended avoiding that stretch if poss. He said the road had been ripped up and re-sealed and was pretty bad.

There was a fibre optic laid in the road a few years back, it is all on the hill side of the road, right in my riding line, I find it a nuisance when heading south. Riding the other direction is fantastic, real tight, 6 minutes 11 seconds past Kingston then starts opening up more and more, good views of the road ahead and the lake and mountains ....Majik.

[Elysium]

Question for the natives. What's the weather in terms of rain like on the west coast during this time of the year?

[smoky]

Question for the natives. What's the weather in terms of rain like on the west coast during this time of the year?

wet ...... just like rain everywhere else, I guess

[FJRider]

wet ...... just like rain everywhere else, I guess

It varies between ... Fuckin' pissing down, to clear blue sky. Some days you get lucky ... some days you stay in bed.

[karla]

Most of the West Coast was dirt roads; the people and pubs were fantastic.

Roads down the West Coast are all tarsealed now, and there are wire barriers along parts of Lake Wanaka/Lake Hawea road (shame). It's beauty hasn't changed one little bit.

The best people from those days have moved to the cities and are recovering from terminal cabin fever. The pubs are all still there, though not as fantastic as they used to be (cos I'm here now)

West Coast rain still brings out beautiful, spontaneous waterfalls that you don't normally see. These have been known to knock out some 22 odd bridges between Wanaka and Haast in a single 24 hour day leaving people stranded for weeks while the army installs temporary bailey bridges ... but you can avoid that by travelling on the East Coast on those days.

Enjoy your travels!

[LBD]

question for the natives. What's the weather in terms of rain like on the west coast during this time of the year?

below is 30 year averages, The coast tends to be drier in the winter, and evenly wet all summer, with feb being the exception.

I like using www.metvuw.co.nz forcast charts, for up to week in advance.

location jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
westport 189 133 171 192 209 199 187 187 201 198 183 215
hokitika 250 172 217 249 245 233 232 224 250 286 240 278
milford sound 717 499 640 585 641 440 418 427 523 688 522 648

[Jantar]

Question for the natives. What's the weather in terms of rain like on the west coast during this time of the year?

below is 30 year averages, The coast tends to be drier in the winter, and evenly wet all summer, with feb being the exception.

I like using www.metvuw.co.nz forcast charts, for up to week in advance.

location jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
westport 189 133 171 192 209 199 187 187 201 198 183 215
hokitika 250 172 217 249 245 233 232 224 250 286 240 278
milford sound 717 499 640 585 641 440 418 427 523 688 522 648

The raw rainfall numbers don't tell the full story though. West coast rain is in two forms: orographic rain which falls as a consistant drizzle, or frontal rain which is a torential downpour.

As motorcyclists we are more interested in the chance of rain on any given day, and how heavy will it be. In those terms, the times of year with the greatest chance of getting wet are the 6 - 10 weeks following each equinox, and the most settled weather is the 6 - 10 weeks before each equinox.

So the best times to ride the West coast will be mid - late Janurary to mid March, and the worst time (getting wet wise) is September - mid November. Scenery wise, the wettest periods are the best.

[LBD]

The raw rainfall numbers don't tell the full story though. West coast rain is in two forms: orographic rain which falls as a consistant drizzle, or frontal rain which is a torential downpour.

As motorcyclists we are more interested in the chance of rain on any given day, and how heavy will it be. In those terms, the times of year with the greatest chance of getting wet are the 6 - 10 weeks following each equinox, and the most settled weather is the 6 - 10 weeks before each equinox.

So the best times to ride the West coast will be mid - late Janurary to mid March, and the worst time (getting wet wise) is September - mid November. Scenery wise, the wettest periods are the best.

So we agree about Feb....

[smoky]

So we agree about Feb....

Good job I'm planning on late March or April some time

[smoky]

Got new Conti Road attacks front and back, gave the bike an oil change, gave the bike a once over, looking all good for the 25th and the South Island

[smoky]

First night / day
Left Hamilton 5:56pm after work
Return to home 5:57pm to adjust gear lever to fit my new boots

Wellington ferry terminal 10:45pm
Slept on the tarmack, then a couple hours shut eye on the ferry
arrive 5:30am in Picton
breakfast in Motueka
Then Takaka and back - then Takaka and back cause it was such a wicked road, then down to Reefton - stayed the night there
Up this morning 8am - Westport for breakfast
Hast for lunch, over the Crown Range (fanbloodytastic road), Queenstown for dinner, just been to the pub - life is good
Not sure where we're heading tomorrow?

[Gezza]

I,m doing the south next Feb after reading this thread i'm going with Hinny's recomendation.Starting in Invercargill though and don't ask me why.It's along story.Thanks Hinny
Gezza