Jatz's travels

[JATZ]

Im afraid to say that once the place got taken over by immigrants, Springs Café turned to custard. I do have sympathy for the poor buggers working there ,one bloke was Afghan I think & he had had no days off for 3 months & his family was still back home.

I hear what your saying... It should be a destination, not somewhere to be avoided. 20 yrs ago it used to be good

Stale cardboard! Yuck!




Mmmm....
Fresh cardboard...

Reminds me of a muesli bar I had once....

Good story bro.
re Springs junction - Used to like stopping & getting real old school road food- white bread, egg or cheese& onion sammies. Called in the other week & the bread was the cheapest stalest cardboard I'd had. Grrrr.

Some nice looking gravel in your pics.

I/we/you/someone should organize a weekend exploring some of the roads/tracks out the back of Greymouth, some good riding down there.

Bearings wear out?

Aparently

[Woodman]

.


I/we/you/someone should organize a weekend exploring some of the roads/tracks out the back of Greymouth, some good riding down there.

Yes, when? organise it. Two days should do.

[Padmei]

Im afraid to say that once the place got taken over by immigrants, Springs Café turned to custard.

No tried the custard, that was hard too.









(Well if Nordie can post bad ones I can too)

[Padmei]

I/we/you/someone should organize a weekend exploring some of the roads/tracks out the back of Greymouth, some good riding down there.

Hey I'll do it

Unless of course there is organising, planning or commitment involved then I leave it someone else & read the ride reports...

[NordieBoy]

Organising, planning, commitment or a sense of direction...

[JATZ]

New bearings ordered, along with new seals and I dropped the wheel spacers at the engineers to get some new ones spun up. The old ones had a little bit of wear so wouldn't seal out the water/dust/crap. So I should be good for another 90 thou k's

Hey I'll do it

Unless of course there is organising, planning or commitment involved then I leave it someone else & read the ride reports...

See the Nelson rideout thread... also on that "other" site

[Aslan]

great report James - I don't visit here often but your travels / report / sense of humour / wit are always worthwhile - you've my respect for the native cunning you brought to bear in addressing the collapsed wheel bearing - onya!

[JATZ]

finally got some screen time...

I/we/you/someone should organize a weekend exploring some of the roads/tracks out the back of Greymouth, some good riding down there.

Someone did organize.... was a good w/end, more to come nek week

[Muzz67]

finally got some screen time...


Someone did organize.... was a good w/end, more to come nek week

It's goin to need a good length of chain and a couple of metres more water to succeed as a mooring block.

[Moi]

finally got some screen time...


Someone did organize.... was a good w/end, more to come nek week

Dear Insurance Company,

I had parked my bike safely...

[JATZ]

Dear Insurance Company,

I had parked my bike safely...

It's goin to need a good length of chain and a couple of metres more water to succeed as a mooring block.

Hope you guys didn't get a spanking for quoting images

[JATZ]

Right.... I've cleared my diary and made time for a RR from the other w/end.
This was s'posed to be a poem instead of a story...

But I strived and I tried, but time after time
I drew a blank, finding words that would rhyme
So after sleepless nights, and troublesome days
I gave it away,and went back to old ways
So here is my tale, Enjoy the words and pics
As much as I enjoyed hanging out with these dicks

After the last trip to the West Coast there was murmurings about another w/end knocking around some of the other tracks the area has to offer. Plans were formed and dates set, GPS tracks downloaded/uploaded, wheel bearings and new used tyre fitted oil and chain tensioned, and bags packed. The forecast wasn't looking to flash for the saturday, but we still went anyway. I headed over to Wakefield to meet Woodman, wondering what I'd left behind We hung about for about 3 mins waiting for another to turn up (which never happened...yes I'm looking at you Underground ) before heading off to Murchison for a pie and to pick up Puddycat,



then through the Gorge



and onto Inangahua to meetup with RMoto. Now, although I thought I had things sorted navigation wise, it was good to have Josh along as a backup navigator He suggested having a look up Perseverance rd on the way to Reefton and poking our noses up a wee side track at the same time. We found the road alright, which is a nice little dead end road. After a brief stop at the end to check out the river, a pile of rubbish and discuss how you get across the yawning chasm that blocked our path we turned tail and went back the way we'd come, Woodman and P-cat must've been hungry as they went straight past the interesting little side track RMoto tried to chase them down while I waited... with company



The other 2 must've been REAL hungry cause he couldn't catch them and returned alone



Nevermind... I was getting a wee bit peckish myself and also needed some more caffeine coursing through my veins.
Onto Reefton then...
After lunch I made a quick call to the Napoleons hill contact to check on access as it was getting kind of damp in Reefton by this stage, it was still all good so we saddled up and hit the road down to Ahaura and the turnoff, and headed to the farmers house to pay the toll and get the gate unlocked.



It's quite a cool house with a big water wheel in the front yard for power generation. the place sure has changed since the last time I was there, there was native bush where the house a paddocks are now.
Pretty soon we were off again, heading up Napoleons hill



Through some puddles





Following our guide



Down into Nobles creek for the interesting bit





It's an interesting surface to ride on, made more difficult by the fact you want to look around, not keep your eyes on where your going



The rest of the crew decided to head up a steep little side track to see where it went, I chose to hang out at the bottom and take pics of them coming back



After that little interlude we carried on and went through the tunnels



It really is a cool track that one After the tunnels there's just a couple of little river crossings before you get back into civilisation





RMoto had said the crossings were a bit slippery but we all got through alright... Except...... on the last crossing mr P-cat decided to give his bike an all over wash
No drama though, just a matter of getting the water out of places it shouldn't be, which takes time. sortoff a one man job so the rest of us just stood around looking, offering moral support and technical assistance where required



After a bit of faffing about and lots of kicking, it's a kick start only model the bike still wouldn't start. Woodman produced a hank of rope the likes of which I'd never seen before , it was wound up in such a way it fits in the downtube of the Beemers frame. Looked mighty queer and somewhat phallic but proved to be our savior, you'll have to get him to show you sometime.
Anyway...back to business. All hooked up and ready to roll



Up a nearby hill, with a weeeee bit of pushing, but they got there in the end



Luckily it started near the bottom of the hill and we were away we popped in to the farmhouse to see the farmer and drop a wee something off and while there P-cat checked his oil, which resembled white paint and had about the same consistency. The farmer had a poke about his shed and found some oil so the bike was wheeled into the workshop where the old oil was replaced with some fresh new stuff



Bloody good farmer that one couldn't do enough to help.

[Waihou Thumper]

Nice photos and report...
Have to add....

[JATZ]

After that little break, we saddled up again and headed for Nelson creek and a bit of a pow wow about what to do next. Woodman dropped of his luggage at the pub and double checked he had booked a room. He wasn't to sure as the publican was a bit vague and there was a darts tournament on. While the rest of us waited wondering whether to drop off panniers/set up camp in the reserve the publican came scuttling over to offer us the use of some comfortable couches out the back if we wanted, good to know We found out the kitchen shut at 9 so we'd best be back before then if we wanted a feed. All good
We had a bit of time to kill so decided to go have a look up another track, The lake Ahaura track and come back via the Lake Hochstetter track.
By the time I got to the turnoff RMoto and Woodman were waiting at the bottom, RMoto nodded so I pointed the front wheel up the track and took off.



I hadn't gone far when I thought, shit that's a little lumpyer and slipperyer than I was expecting, ah well, to late now, onwards and upwards
Before long the road side vegetation closed in....



And got thicker and thicker, wetter and wetter and pricklyer and pricklyer and got quite unpleasant. Couldn't have the visor down, just a matter of pushing through and hoping it got better, and you didn't get wiped out by a big branch At least those with screens had something to hide behind.
Before long we got to the first hurdle, which was steeperer and more gnarlier than the pics suggest, infact, it was just about vertical and the ruts were meters, not feet, deep.



After a bit more pushing through solid, sodden scrub we got to the next bit that could've be tricky, A wheel swallowing hole in the centre of the track and another on the right, the only option was to go left and up a bit of a step, after making a little ramp



Then more pushing through scrub You needed to stick to the wheel tracks as riding over the mossy wet rocks/leaf litter in the centre was like riding on ice with bald tyres.
It was getting late by this stage, and dark and we needed to get back to the pub for a feed, I know I'd decided a boil in the bag meal just wasn't going to cut it this night.
Before long, actually it seemed like an eternity, we arrived on the most glorious forestry road I've had the pleasure to ride on, actually it was pretty ordinary, but felt like a highway after the last few k's, time to put the hammer down and use 2nd and 3rd gear I gave the Mosko panniers a good hit on a pointy stick going round a bend at one stage, hard enough to shift the bike sideways. I'm sure I heard George cry out even. I fully expected to see a hole in them, but no damage good gear that
We navigated our way back to the seal and made very good time (luckily there was no or I think 3 of the 4 of us would be walking), through swarms of huge sandflies back to the pub with only a couple of minutes to spare before the kitchen shut. Sorry I didn't hang about P-cat, but I was pretty damn hungry by this stage
Anyway...No one really wanted to pitch a tent in the rain by this stage so after a good feed, a hot shower and some beers we had a good night, RMoto showed us how to sink balls while I made a dick of myself and remembered why I don't really play pool. Eventually got to the couches (which are very comfy ) about 1. I really like West Coast pubs, There's something about a place where you just leave your cash on the bar and when your bottles empty they just replace it and take the right cash from your pile, also friendly, pool playing publicans and bar staff are good value.

[JATZ]

O.K.
Sunday morning felt like a Sunday morning, a bit of wind and a few showers passing through but it was s'posed to clear. I should mention here the owners 3 Rottie dogs whom I got to know while I was outside having breakfast. They had set up camp out the back on our gear which had been thrown there the night before. These things are HUGE !! Mum and her 2 pups which seemed about the size of small horses, quite intimidating, but apparently friendly, "yeah right" how often have you heard that ?
Anyway... After brekky we loaded up and went to take off for the day, except... there was Air Head issues



Not a good pic, but you get the idea. Luckily Woodman had the necessary tools to diagnose and fix the problem. I guess that's the beauty of old bikes, you spend enough time fixing them you know em inside out and all the little idiosyncrasies (is that spelt right ? ) I woulda called roadside rescue Pretty soon we were on our way again, down the road and onto NoTown rd





hopping we could join up with Arnold valley rd, before long we came to this



No way around it... backtrack a little and have a look up a couple of side tracks which looked like they may get us round it



Nope no joy there... Back the way we'd come



And onto the seal for a bit and up Arnold vlly rd to Lake Brunner for lunch at the stationhouse ( http://www.lakebrunner.net/ ) not to shabby either
Suitably refreshed we got underway again and headed over Maori gully rd





This is where the local knowledge of RMoto came in handy, as my GPS had decided to play silly buggers and I had no real idea where we were or where we were going. Gee that sounds familiar .
We got onto No Name rd which is another I've been meaning to do for a while and then onto Cape terrace rd for a bit.
I'm going to have a bit of a rant here....
Y'know what pisses me off ? This sort of shit



I've lost count of the number of times I've been somewhere and people have dumped their rubbish at a road end or picnic area. Junk food packets and beer cans litter the country side. "Energy drink" cans and bottles, I mean FFS you've just had an energy hit, surely you have the energy to put the rubbish in a bin or somewhere for disposal later. I have been known to stop and pick it up if I have room, and get rid of it later, it's not that hard

/Rant off

After cruising along Cape terrace road for a bit we had a look down Blackwater creek track,





RMoto didn't recommend going right through after the previous days wetness, there's some good puddles on that one DAMHIK

We turned around where it starts getting rough. After someone decided to ride through the biggest, deepest, muddyest puddle in sight then had the cheek to park his bike on my foot when trying to pull him back out of it



After extricating the big whale we turned around and headed back up the hill.



And back onto Cape terrace rd, I think It went a bit pear shaped here, nav wise We got onto some forestry tracks heading for somewhere else, what followed was a scenic tikki tour of some tracks that led vaguely in the direction we wanted to go





There was lots of gorse thankfully not over hanging stuff. A gate with a nice ride round



A tree to navigate under



some of us took an easier route



And some nice bush to ride through. Eventually finishing up at another one of these



Which seem to be making a regular appearance 'round the place. Never mind we had an alternative route to get back to the main rd.
Back on the main drag just south of Greymouth we said our goodbyes, RMoto heading for Chch and the rest of us heading North.
Headphones in for me



Just part of the eclectic playlist.
I lost sight of Woodman and couldn't see P-cat in my mirrors for very long so it was a solo ride to Reefton where I caught up with Woodman. I waited for P-cat for a bit but got bored and gapped it alone up to Murch where P-cat caught up while I was chillin at the servo. Then it was just a "spirited" ride through the Kawatiri gorge and Mot valley to get home