Well its almost been a week since we got home but here is a summary of what we did and where we went....
Day one: 21/11/11 480k's
Bike is loaded and now its a matter off heading too Wgtn to catch the 1:30pm sailing to Picton,strong winds as we got closer to Wgtn so that was a susprise...Well we got there in one piece with plenty of time too spare,Cheak in at the freight office and pretty much straight onto the ship parking the bike in pole position by the main door.....
The sailing was rather calm much to the relief of Melissa so rather boring for me.but I did catch up on sleeps,finally Yay we are in Picton and were on the road just after 5pm,weather is fine but knew we would proberly get rain as we hit the coast at Ward and I was right,but the roads were in good condition and we were making good time,Getting to Kaikoura it was time too refuel and change gloves,still raining we set off too Hanmer Springs via Mt Lyford where the rain seem too get heavier,but hey its only water but we finally arrived at our motel just on 8pm and time to dry wet gear and get some dinner which was somewhat of a disappointment when it came to portion size as I ended up buy two main courses too feel as though I had had a decent meal
Day two: 22/11/11 890ks
Beautiful fine day Orignal plan was to head down the West Coast but due to weather we opted to go east so the route was planned Hanmer Springs,Amberly,Ashley Gorge,Coalgate,Geraldine,Farlie,Tekapo,Lindas Pass,Cromwell,Clyde,Ranfurly,middlemarch and Dunedin
So a good morning jog out too Amberly for breakast and fuel once again the roads were great and traffic was minimal and enjoyed the sights on the way,while stopping for a stretch and chat with a couple from the west island and onto farlie for fuel then sight seeing in Tekapo and lunch in Twizel,where we had a quick chat with a buell rider who had just been ping then it was onto Cromwell where we would start the on the Southern escapade questions....which was going well until we got too Outram and said too Mel do you remember going through Sutton?Nup was the reply mainly coz there was no name we seen oh well we must have passed through it,once in Dunedin we found some accomadation at the Leith Valley Holiday park,
Day three 23/11/11 700ks
Another day started out fine,but rain was forcast which we found!!today the route was based on following the questions on the Escapade with the First at south road Dunedin then out through Taieri river mouth with breakfast at Miltonthen back out to the coast to Kaitangata and back too Balclutha and through the Catlins where it was here we found that rain again at Fortrose,bypassing the bonus questions at Bluff we carried on into Invercargill finding the museum before heading out to Riverton,Colac bay and Tuatapere where we had lunch before prceeding onto Blackmount (when the fuel light came on hmmmm how far too next fuel stop I wonder),Manapouri and Te Anau,where we meet a couple of other Escapadee's you were happy to give us thye answer for Sutton thanks guysonce back on the road we headed straight too Queenstown opting not too do Milford due too the weather conditions.once in Mossburn we found mickey's house and next answer was in Kingston...then onto Queenstown and man I enjoyed the devils staircase
and could sworn I seen a mufti car behind us but on a second look there was nothing....once in Queenstown I had trouble finding the motel,Which I was soon too discover that Amber court was in Te Anau
luckily we were actually booked into the gateway at Frankton,once settled we went out for dinner yay the bloody mans portion and the unit was proberly the best for the whole week and will be back..
Day four:24/11/11 400k's
started out by me going to the medical centre too see if they could take my stitches out of my right ring finger $29 later I was told no :grrr: so we decided to head to Wanaka via Crown range,we caught up to a couple of hyabusa's so that was a fun trip through to cardrona where we all stopped and mel and I decided it was time for breakfast always a fab little pub that even with the burnout mark in the bar floor done a couple of days ago after a 3 day wedding,After breakfats we headed to Wanaka and the hya's went back over the crown,In wanaka we saw this cool scooter and followe dit through town so we gould get a photo then it was a gentle trip back too Dunedin as we had decided to rebook at the holiday park as we decided we would go to larnach castle in the morning before heading too Invercargill for a second time this week,getting too Alexandra we refulled when a mufti car pulled in behind us,the officer looks at me then leans over too passenger seat rumaging through some things and then gets out of the car with his fuel card :killing me: So we had a nice ride through the knobb range but the rest off the trek back to Dunna's was pretty much mundane,once back at the unit we planned to head too the local RSA for a meal only too be told its shut down ok Fush & chops then....
Day Five:25/11/11 200k's
A sleep in yay Melissa said...Well we were on the road by 8am,stopping at a local bike shop to find a indicator bulb which we did.then onto Larnach Castle something Mel really wanted too do and I must admit it was well worth visiting depsite it costing $27 each I would be happy too go back a,so after a few hours looking around inside and out and headed to Invercargill to our accomadation at Myross bush and kick back and relax and enjoy a home cooked meal,thats what freinds are for....
Day Six:Election day no bike riding today
very casual day and started out by planning on going into milford sound but ended up going too Bluff,but first off too vote and when we get there,there is a que in the special votes line and all from Wanganui......so that took a while,then out too bluff via lookout followed by lunch at lands end and the afternoon was filled in by a trip out to Oreti beach and a couple of hours at E hayes admiring all the hardware....where I casually said I could move to Inver's just for the hardware shop,the look was not a smile...well it was almost time to get back and get ready for dinner as we were booked into Lone star where its was there I was called Barry Brown brother of Al as a couple of girls at the table reakon they knew me from somewhere,Oh those poor girls hooked line and sinkerafter dinner we went too see the comedian Chopper Reid bloody Brillaint
Day Seven:27/11/11 600ks
After waking up at 9am we said our goodbyes too our host's and hit the road at 11am and headed out to Hedgehope,Waimumu before joing SH1 at Gore and then turning off at miller road heading to Clydevale and Balclutha briefly stopping in at 420 south road handing over the escapade answers and making out way too CHCH going SH1 bloody borning but hey...we wanted too go that way just too say we did it..and the reality that our southern holiday was almost over just hitting home but we have already made plans for the next one....
Day Eight 28/11/11 600k's
A relaxed day as we were stopping in at a shop in Northlands mall that mel has spent a small national debt at.After changing our sailing from the 8am 29th sailing to the 7pm28th sailing it was onto Picton to catch up with friends where mel mention we should have gone out to Akaroa bit late now hunny we are in Picton,the saling was good and free food is alway a bonus Hmmm corn beef and Vegies,a cabin and shower just what the docotor ordered once again we were in pole position while the rest of the bikes were on top deck,we got home at 1am 29th,which meant mel could have a decent sleep in and spend a whole day at home before heading back too work....
Overall the trip was great and I finally got my stitches out once back in Wanganui,am looking forward too getting down south and doing west coast and milford and plan is an over nighter taking a boat through and getting a personal tour of old work camps etc by our host at Myross
Hanmer SpringsTekapo
Bike fence Clyde
Old pub at Becks
Stitches
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Originally Posted by 86GSXR
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