2013 Queen's Birthday Ride - Canterbury

[mattsdakar]

Thanks for the awesome write up Tim,
Looking forward to catching up to get some copies of your photos, have to say really enjoyed hearing of your biking exploits in the USA and observing your awesome riding skills. Hadn't actually realised you were than sick, what a trouper, feeling really bad now for not insisting that you took my bunk over the floor
For those that haven't meet Tim before, you will find him working at Superior Motorcycles in town, stop in for a chat, I'm sure he can do you a deal

Hoping to bribe you with a few beers one night to pick your brains about my XR's suspension set up (Tim has competed in the Baja1000 twice, once on a XR650R) so he really knows what he is talking about.
I am still getting shit at work for being awol for a couple of shifts and almost being subject to a SAR mission which I am normally co-ordinating rather than participating in!

[ADVGD]

I've been perusing your website quite a bit, and will be PMing you with a barrage of questions relating to this and other rides...

Fire away...

It looks like a cool area to do some exploring in.... in late summer when the rivers are low My Sis now lives near Stavely so we are thinking basing ourselves there for next summer's SI trip as we haven't ridden much in that area.

Giday Clint, not a fan of the cold there brother? Late summer is a lot warmer for sure but one of the reasons the ride will be run late autumn/early winter is that those rivers run lower and are fairly stable at that time, much of the water is locked up in snow/ice and has predominantly low flows for easy fording. Spring has huge snow melt flows and warm early/mid summer days can be the same with no show in hell of crossing some of the planned route. With all that said, no matter what season, if a storm rolls in some sections will be impassable.

I've got a D10, not the prettiest cameras ever made but the image quality is second to none.
Wish it had an auto type lens cap though.

It's hard to find the perfect adventure camera, much like finding the perfect adventure bike. I've tried (and killed) a number of cameras. Currently trying a Fuji F800 EXR. It cost me $419. I feel I paid about $419 too much

Looking forward to this..might make the trip Down for this one!!!

The ride will be roughly 10 months away, final dates will be confirmed later on. I'll reuse the same registering system as the DB1K website built for Ryan and will pop up a link when registrations are ready to roll. As you'd expect from the images posted, there will be one hell of a disclaimer to sign! I'll be using a rider nomination system for registrations to ensure only experienced riders can enter, more info to follow...

Thanks for sharing your adventure. Astoundingly bad form shown by those hunters but you reap what you sow....looking at those river crossings its amazing you didn't have more drowned bikes!

That was a little surprising to hear, most hunters I've spent time in huts with have been really good value but I suppose there is always the odd grumpy bugger. Their loss, they could have joined in for a good laugh and a good time.

[Chris6.]

I have been rained in at a few high country huts in my time but never with a group so under prepared and irritating as what you lot were. The four of us looked at the forecast and went in knowing we may not be able to get out for up to a week and supplied ourselves accordingly. Tims' accusation of not sharing food is quite correct. We may have been there until Friday if you look at the river flows for that week. Why should we go hungry because you people weren't aware / prepared for the country and conditions. A group of six (could have been seven) of you expecting to find bunks together in a hut up that valley on a long weekend was ridiculous. It is possibly the most heavily hunted valley on public land in the South Island. Tims' comment in this thread that he couldn't partake of some conversation is laughable. Mate you never came up for air. When you all left the hut, you made no attempt to replace firewood that was used or even to clean up after yourselves. This to the extent that one of your party left behind a bag with his wallet in it containing several hundred dollars! (which I might add was returned to him intact by the grumpy hunters!)
Finally, That track that we all got out on. The track is on private land (Mesopotamia Station) and none of us had ever used it before out of respect for the property owner Malcolm Prouting. When we got home I rang Malcolm and explained we had had to dig our way out across the first scree and use his track to get out of the riverbed. He now has a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label from me as a thankyou for crossing his land without permission.
You blokes have a lot to learn before you have any business spending time in the highcountry again.

[clint640]

Giday Clint, not a fan of the cold there brother? Late summer is a lot warmer for sure but one of the reasons the ride will be run late autumn/early winter is that those rivers run lower and are fairly stable at that time, much of the water is locked up in snow/ice and has predominantly low flows for easy fording. .

No worries with cold weather, I do organise the midwinter madness ride after all, but the combination of cold conditions & fording deep rivers I will leave to mad southerners

Looking at river flows around there anytime from mid March is probably nearly as good as later in the winter, & more stable weather, so thats when we'd be planning on heading down for the next trip. Your site is definitely going to come in handy.

Cheers
Clint

[NordieBoy]

You blokes have a lot to learn before you have any business spending time in the highcountry again.

So you would recommend participating in an organised ride with an experienced leader?

[ADVGD]

You blokes have a lot to learn before you have any business spending time in the highcountry again.

I completely agree with that statement, the High Country can bite if you don't give it respect and it is no place for the under-prepared.

I was the one that put this ride together, I have ridden/hunted/tramped this valley and basically every other valley down the Main Divide, I consider myself to be a knowledgeable outdoors-man, I have been riding/hunting/fishing in the remote outdoors since I was a very young fella; I highly prioritise safety.

Unfortunately I was forced to pull out on day due to a failing stator. This was a shame as I have sound knowledge of that valley, but, if you read the preparation document the riders were issued had you would be reassured that this was no cowboy ride, there were specific safety requirements with the most critical being:

- Full set of warm gear
- Second set of warm gear should you get wet
- Warm sleeping gear/bag
- A tent should the huts be full
- Food
- Two days spare food should rivers come up

The unfortunate truth is that it has recently come to my attention that some of these guys (offline) have put their hand up and sheepishly said "hey, I didn't take all that was requested". Make no mistake, that was very disappointing to hear because the finger gets pointed at me as the ride organiser and that's just not bloody fair on me. The requirements were clearly stated in the rider preparation document, and they were only partially followed. The splitting of the group and the decision to cross a swollen river were not the correct ones, but that being said, they did the right thing to seek the refuge of the hut and sit till water levels were of a safe level to cross.

I am disappointed I was not there to coordinate the group however I can assure you from the feedback I have received from the lads they have taken on-board some significant lessons. It is a shame that they had to be learned in this manner.

I will continue to put together this ride as this cannot tarnish the fact the intended route showcases some amazing New Zealand country, the terrain is fantastic and it will be a brilliant event. As mentioned above this will be a nomination entry event to filter out inexperienced riders and avoid similar issues. Due to unpreparedness of some riders there will only be a couple of riders to continue the final pre-runs with the strict rule of if you don't take what is on the rider preparation list, you will not be able to come. That may sound rough but what the hunter said above could not be more true, "you have no business being in the High Country if you are under-prepared". I’m not interested in being in the firing line for someone else’s decision to ignore safe preparation

[mattsdakar]

You blokes have a lot to learn before you have any business spending time in the highcountry again.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your comments Chris, to reply to your parting shot above, yes I have a bit to learn yet, but doing trips like this is how we learn and next time I will certainly be drawing on a wider knowledge base. Given your lack of sympathy for our situation you were obviously born an expert hunter/bushman?

I didn't have a problem with you guys choosing not to converse with us, we were clearly having a lot more fun than you given the amount of banter and laughs, you guys were obviously a bunch of loners sharing a common interest and weren't there for the social aspect so good on you.
I had no issues with you not sharing your food and completely understand your reasoning for not sharing..no problem we weren't looking for hand outs, what I do have a problem with is you guys all playing dumb when we asked you specifically as to whether there was an alternative high route out of the valley to Messi. Several of us had noted on google earth photos what appeared to be a hightrack but either you or one of your mates (and my group will back me up on this) specifically said there is no other way out but along the river flats. There was no "Yes, there is a track but it's on private land" or there was no "Yes there is a track but we haven't been on it" We were told point blank that there was no alternative which was bullshit!

I'll be the first to admit I had barely taken in enough food for two full extra days (unlike my mates who were better stocked) as unlike a Nissan Safari, my motorcycle is rather limited for carrying kitchen sinks etc - lesson learnt.
I did make the choice to leave my tent at Windwhistle in Alfs truck contrary to Joshs packing list but in hindsight my tent would not have stood up to the gale forcewinds we experienced nor the torrential rain and as happened in reality the hut floor was always going to be utilised.
As for not cutting up firewood, I personally carried plenty of firewood inside for our collective use but given there was no wood source within miles apart from scrub I'm not sure how were to have transported firewood to the hut.
In relation to your shot at cleaning up before leaving, Carl had swept the hut to allow a clean space to sleep on the floor the night before but maybe next time all of you lot could have taken your muddy boots off before repeatedly entering the hut and spreading hunks of mud everywhere, it was noted that none of us wore footwear inside while you guys were tramping in an out boots and all over the area that three of us were sleeping in.

To Josh - sorry to hear that you feel the finger was being pointed at you, your instructions were very clear and the ride was well orgainsed any criticism of your plans is unjustified, we all made conscious decisions that in hindsight we would most likely do things different next time, you made it clear what gear should be carried and what your weather expectations were, I can not fault any of your advise/suggestions, at the end of the day the weather gods pulled a swifty, but hey none of us were in any real danger, we all learned from it and all had a bloody good time,
looking forward to the next one!

Let the bagging begin......

[Chris6.]

I've said all I feel I need to.