“Mild Hog” South Island Adventure.

[reofix]

that little whitebait caravan near haast is at jacksons bay.... turn south at the visitors centre... worth the ride to the end of the road ... dont miss air museum in blenheim (peter jacksons ww1 collection in full size dioramas) ... stunning

[gunrunner]

You not going into the Catlins...? shame... Catlins is probably the best part of the Southern Scenic Route... but suppose you are doing the other end into Milford... Just don't tell any one I said that... I'll get into trouble for telling our secret rides...

I second that . You have to do the Catlins as you will kick yourself if you dont .
A very nice scenic ride

[FJRider]

Piss off ya SOAPs, you'll hate it down here..

Yeh... we've been hating it for years now...

[mikeey01]

Tear up the itinerary for starters.

Head down there and go to the side of the island it is not raining on. When it starts to rain on that side of the alps - go to the other.

O how so true, good reply

[oldrider]

Will you be wanting to grovel in the gravel, or are you sticking to the tar?

You ride a V-Strom don't you?

Just curious. John.

[The Lone Rider]

Um.. why not time it so you can stop off at one of the south island rallies? Wouldn't that be a bit of a bonus?

4 days to get to CHCH?

MarkH did it in 1 day on a burgman scooter :P

[Tank]

Will you be wanting to grovel in the gravel, or are you sticking to the tar?

You ride a V-Strom don't you?

Just curious. John.

Yep we will be bringing a V-Strom and a GS650. We are happy with 'reasonable' gravel roads but not much more than that as haven't had much (any) experience on it yet. I'm sure it will handle it better than my old Boulevard M50 tho.

Um.. why not time it so you can stop off at one of the south island rallies? Wouldn't that be a bit of a bonus?

4 days to get to CHCH?

MarkH did it in 1 day on a burgman scooter :P

Dates are set by our respective jobs - I'm sure we could make Chch in a day - but the objective it to see some of the country, not just to bash out the miles.

We could go to a rally - but they're full of them bloody bikers.

[Solly]

Sounds like you're into beer & food, so if you're anywhere near Dunners, the Speights Alehouse serves good tucker and you've got the brewery right next door to tour.

Whatever you route though, I'm sure you'll enjoy the South Island.

[s8306]

Stop at Jacksons pub if your heading through Arthurs Pass,neat pub.

[Daffyd]

The jug will be on at Papatowai when you come through the Catlins.
I might even come through to The Riviera to meet you.

[Mikkel]

All recommendations greatly appreciated. In return I promise to post pics (when my infractions expire) from the locations and hopefully make a really useful thread for people looking to make the trip.

Looking forward to seeing you in Chch. However, that iteniary sucks - I've taken the liberty to design a much better one. Albeit, it's a man's iteniary and you will be riding decent distances - Invercargill to Te Anau is not a day's worth of riding I'm sorry.

Google Maps Iteniary


Day 1: Auckland to at least south of Wanganui - preferably Wellington.
Day 2: Wellington to Christchurch via the Costal road.
Day 3: Banks Peninsula - if you aren't afraid of gravel roads you really shouldn't pass this. (A guide will be provided for the price of a cold beer.
Day 4: Chch to Cromwell. (Do NOT have lunch at lake Tekapo.)
Day 5: Cromwell to Invercargill via the Catlins.
Day 6: Invercargill to Milford Sound.
Day 7: Milford Sound to Wanaka. (Start early and grab a Ferg Burger in Queestown for lunch.)
Day 8: Wanaka to Fox/Franz Josef.
Day 9: To Punakaiki - stay at Te Nikau Retreat, you will not regret it!
Day 10: Punakaiki to Takaka/Golden Bay via Foulwind Point and the Beachhouse restaurant.
Day 11: Takaka to somewhere between Wellington and Wanganui.
Day 12: Back home to Auckland.

That's less than 4000 kms in 12 days, easy peasy.
That gives you 2 days to either rest your arses or muck around or follow the odd lead to Biker Shangri-la you got at the pub the night before, etc...
Arthur's Pass is awesome, and you could use one of the spare days to make a trip up there or squeeze in a quick sidetrip to the village in as you're going north, that way you get to do Otira gorge and see the most dramatic part of the pass.

In the end, Big Dave's suggestion is the sensible plan. You never know where the rain is going to be - but the sun will usually not be further than a pass away. As such take the provided iteniary as a suggestion as to what is worth doing... and harden fuck up and get some miles under those steeds.

You guys can do it!