Auckland NZ to Christchurch in 7 days

I just completed a ride last week that wasn't on an FJR, but I WANTED to be riding an FJR. I hope that's close enough so that I can post a RR here.

I've ridden in New Zealand once before, back in 2001. My brother and I rented Yamaha XJ-900s in Auckland and did a 4-day loop of the North Island. That was a great ride...fantastic scenery, superb roads, and friendly people. The currency exchange rate was heavily in our favor back then. That trip was actually pretty cheap. I kept telling myself that I needed to go back someday, even though the exchange rate isn't nearly as favorable now. I would occasionally check the NZbike (where we rented in 2001) website to see what bikes were available. Last fall, the site showed an FJR being added to the fleet. That made the decision for me. I told the wife, Kristi, that we WERE GOING to New Zealand in the spring of 2015. In December, I bid for two weeks of vacation in late February.

Initially, the FJR was available during the time period that I wanted...but that changed while I waited for the vacation awards to be posted. I emailed NZbike with my awarded dates and found that the FJR had just been scheduled for a rental during that week. My timing just sucked. They had a new 2014 V-Strom 1000 that was available, however. Never having seen a new V-Strom in person, but knowing that it's generally a well-liked machine, I went ahead and reserved it. I'd rather have ridden an FJR, but at least the V-Strom would be a bit cheaper to rent. The high-season rate for the FJR is $140USD/day, while the Strom is only $121USD/day. Score one for the Suzuki. I planned on a 5-day ride around the North Island, starting and ending in Auckland. Then I was told that the V-Strom was only available if I did a one-way ride, returning the bike to their Christchurch location. I was initially a bit upset about that change to my plan, but later it became clear that the one-way ride was a much better way to go. Obviously, the $300 one-way fee was waived, as well as the fee for tie-downs needed for the Cook Strait ferry crossing. I couldn't complain too much. Now the plan was for a 7-day ride. I figured we would need a bit more time given the extra miles to be covered. I paid a deposit, and then with 30 days to go, I paid the full balance remaining for the rental. Now I had to figure out how to get to Auckland...and spend hours on Google Maps checking out the best routes to take and look at possible places to stay during the ride.

My travel options don't allow for a nonstop LAX-AKL flight, so we had to go to Sydney and then connect to Auckland. Kristi had never been to NZ or Australia, so I figured that we would kill a day in SYD on the way down, just so she could see a bit of downtown and the harbour. So we loaded up our stuff and drove to LAX. We were travelling light...wearing our boots, with helmets and FJR bag-liners as carry-ons. I was impressed that Kristi could pack so lightly for a 12-14 day trip. I don't know of many women that can pull that off. We boarded a Delta jet and left at 10pm.

That's a looooong flight:


We landed at SYD around 8am, cleared customs and took the train into town. We checked into our hotel overlooking the Darling Harbour, and then went out in search of breakfast. I don't normally post pics of food ****, but those Aussies sure know how to do a breakfast sandwich!


I had been awake for over 30 hours at that point, so I felt that a beer with breakfast wasn't too far out of line.

Then we wandered around for a bit, having a few pints at several other places on the pier. Then we found the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel...a pub open 24/7. Awesome.


I looked out on the street behind me, and I saw that the Sydney motor officers ride FJRs! Here's a Gen III:


A few minutes later, another officer showed up on his Gen II. I personally think the Gen IIs look better, but I am kinda biased as a Gen II owner:


At one point there were FOUR officers on FJRs at the intersection outside the pub. They were ticketing jaywalkers, of all things. It was entertaining to watch.

While having beers, of course you need a snack. I had to have a damn meat pie. They're everywhere you look in Australia and NZ. They're pretty tasty, but probably not very good for you:



After that, we headed back to the hotel. Kristi was exhausted, and was sound asleep in bed by 4pm. I think I was able to stay up until around 6, and then I was out. We got up early the next morning and took the train back to the airport. We took a Virgin Australia flight across the Tasman Sea to Auckland, arriving about 3:30pm. Then it was a 2 hour shuttle ride in AKL rush-hour traffic up to Takapuna, where we would pick up the V-Strom the next morning. We checked into a small motel and had dinner/beers at a pub up the street. We hit the sack pretty early that night as well. International travel really kicked our *****.

Next up, picking up the bike and the actual ride...sorry if I'm rambling too much here.

Great RR so far...looking forward to the rest of your report, and pics.

I was up early the next morning, ready to get out on the road. It was a 10 minute walk from the motel to the motorcycle shop. Barry's Point Rd in Takapuna has multiple motorcycle dealers along a small stretch. BMW, KTM, Ducati, Husqvarna, Honda, Suzuki, Triumph, Hyosung, Kawasaki, and of course Yamaha are all represented. The rental shop is located at the Yamaha dealer. They had a new 2015 FJR on the floor. I almost fell over when I saw the price tag on the bike:


$27,700NZD?? That converts to $20,974USD. Seriously? And 13.95% interest? Geez, I don't know how anyone could afford a new bike at those prices. But then again, maybe the relative income is higher in NZ than in the US. I have no idea..

So after picking my jaw up off the ground, we went to pick up the V-Strom. It's a goofy looking bike at first glance...it has that beak on the front that is so popular on adventure bikes these days. After a day or two of riding it, I started to think that it's actually pretty cool looking. I even liked the color scheme.


As advertised, it was almost a new bike. Very clean, with only 7198km (4472 miles) on the odometer. After looking over the bike and attaching the GIVI panniers, I secured my Garmin Montana to the RAM ball. They have Zumo 660s available to rent, but having used one in the past...I hated it. I much prefer the Montana for it's easy route programming. I spent $133 on the Garmin map set for Australia and NZ, which is way too expensive...but with the Zumo rental being $79, I felt a little better about it. Being on a strange bike far from home, at least I'd be able to find things on the GPS. I lifted the seat and added the Autocom which I had also brought along. It's portable, with 9V battery power. On a ride like this, it's much better to be able to talk to the wife on the back! I had to sign some paperwork, and was then briefed on the bike's controls and riding on the left side of the road. Then we had to pick out some rental riding jackets and pants, since there was no way to bring our gear from home. Kristi, oddly enough, found that the first jacket and pants she tried fit just fine. I found a jacket that fit, but it took several pairs of pants to find one that was even close. I sure missed my FirstGear stuff back home!

About two hours after arriving at the shop, we hit the road. I was a bit unsteady at first...strange bike with unfamiliar clutch feel, fully loaded two-up, riding on the wrong side of the road. We joined the 1 Motorway heading south past downtown Auckland. After a few miles, I started getting a better feel for the bike. We rode 36 miles of slab before finally exiting on to a two-lane, Highway 2. We took 2 east to join 25, which would take us around the Coromandel Peninsula. We stopped at a petrol station in Thames for a brief break, only 75 miles into the ride. It was a rather warm day, and I was sweating heavily because the jacket liner was still in place. The overpants were too snug as well, not very comfortable. I ditched the liner and pants, riding in jeans for the first time in a long while. That made things MUCH more comfortable. Even though we had burned very little fuel in 75 miles, I topped off the Strom's tank. I had no idea what kind of mileage it would get, and I wanted a full tank to get us all the way around the peninsula. Back on the road north of Thames, the ride started getting fun. The traffic tapered off to almost zero, with smooth pavement, well-cambered corners, and some spectacular views of the Firth of Thames (an odd name for a bay). If you zoom in on Google Maps to see 25 across the north side of the Coromandel, you'll notice that it's quite twisty. That turned out to be a LOT of fun, but sadly I wasn't able to get any pics of the road. The best photo-ops had no space on the shoulders to park for a photo, and I certainly didn't want to risk stopping on the roadway itself. On the northeast side of the peninsula, there was a turnout with a great view of the rolling hills and the Bay of Plenty way off in the distance:




After a lot of twisty stuff, I found that I was really enjoying the V-Strom. It was very stable on the straights, and was easily thrown into the corners. The brakes were excellent, and that engine has a LOT of torque to power out of corners with that really cool v-twin sound. Even Kristi commented on how cool that was. We stopped for bit in the town of Whitianga. She needed to get off the bike for a few minutes. There's no such thing as a quick pee stop with Kristi, however. I think that stop lasted for 20 minutes. She's a great sport for going on rides like this with me, but it takes her forever to get suited up. I sit there tapping my fingers on the tank while she gets all of her layers in place, then fumbles with her gloves. I've found that it's best not to say anything...just let it go. It takes however long it takes. I can't complain too much though...she's an awesome riding partner, always up for whatever I want to do with rarely ever a complaint. And she likes to drink beer at the end of the day.

Back on the road, we continued south on 25 over the rolling hills. When the road was inland from the coast, the topography reminded us of Central California, say CA 58 out towards Atascadero. Somewhat more arid and brown than the lush vegetation right near the water. We stopped again for fuel in Waihi. The tank wasn't really low yet, only 130 miles since Thames, but it was getting to be late afternoon...time for another break. Then we were back on highway 2 heading for Tauranga. Of course we rolled through there right as afternoon rush-hour was in full swing. There was a slow-down for some construction east of town, and there I discovered that I didn't like the V-Strom's low-speed handling, while waddling along just fast enough to keep my feet on the pegs. The bike seemed to wander a lot more than my FJR in similar circumstances. Also, the clutch pull was noticeably heavier than I initially thought. It's probably because I was tired. Finally away from the traffic, we had a good ride on 2 along the shoreline, and then Thornton Rd into Whakatane, our stop for the night. We had to navigate eight roundabouts on our way through town to the hotel.

Roundabouts...they're everywhere in New Zealand! Every small town has them...once you get used to them, they're easy enough to navigate. That is, as long as you remember to look RIGHT for traffic in the roundabout to yield to. I only had one or two "oh ****" moments until I felt pretty comfortable working my way through towns. One-lane bridges? They're everywhere in NZ as well. Once you figure out the right-of-way signs, those are easy as well. I only had one dipshit try to come at us head-on. I don't think he realized I was already crossing the bridge, but he stopped and backed up for us.


The traffic with a red arrow and white stop-line painted on the ground have to give way to oncoming traffic, and then proceed when clear. Coming from the other direction with no red arrow, you can sail across without stopping.

So after 302 miles, we finally made it to the hotel in Whakatane...time to put the bike to bed and head out for chow and a few beers.


Oh, and on the topic of beer...I noticed that the hoppy styles from the Western US haven't made it down under yet. There are tasty beers in NZ, for sure...but none of them are very hoppy. It was a slight adjustment from what I'm used to. We also learned that settling the tab is different in Australia and NZ. The staff won't bring you the bill when you're done, as we normally see here. You have to go up to the bar or register on the counter, show them where you were seated, and then you can settle the bill. Weird, but you get used to it. And when you check into your hotel, the clerk will ask if you want trim or regular...in an accent that's difficult to understand at first. They're asking what kind of milk you want to add to your tea in your room. That would crack me up every time.

Day #2, 2/19/15, 369 miles

I set the alarm for 6am, knowing that I'd hit the snooze button a few times before getting up. Sunrise was around 7am, give or take a few minutes. When I'm on a solo ride, or out with my buddy Pete and his FJR, I'm usually on the road at sunrise. I'll have a quick bite before hitting the road, and then a snack at each fuel stop. A real sit-down lunch is rare for me...I generally just have a big dinner at the end of the day. Well, I know that Kristi isn't up for that kind of nonsense when she's out on a ride with me. We'd be up around 7 and then wander down to a café for a quick breakfast. It seemed like it was between 9 and 9:30 every morning when we finally got rolling. It's a bit frustrating for me, since I generally don't like to spend too much time dicking around...I'd rather be riding. But we're on vacation, so I have to relax a little bit on that.

We had breakfast by the marina, on the road by 9:30. We stopped for fuel only 27 miles later in Opotiki. Again, I wanted a full tank of gas for the trip around the next peninsula. This tank would take us all the way around to Gisborne on the east side of the island. Heading northeast on highway 35, the road and topography were almost identical to the previous days ride around the Coromandel Peninsula. After about 70 miles on the road, she decided it was time for a quick (15 min) break. We stopped at a roadside park near the village of Te Kaha. Quite a scenic location:




A few more miles down the road, we realized the Autocom battery had died. Luckily there was a wide shoulder to park on while changing out the battery. Nice location for a church, almost on the beach:


Highway 35 took us to the northeast corner of the island, twisting and turning most of the way, with the occasional straight areas along the beach. It was fantastic. The road turns south at Te Araroa, the inland sections again turning more arid and looking like Central CA. We stopped in Te Puia Springs for water and snack. A bit later, we rolled into Gisborne for a fuel stop. The fuel gauge had been flashing for a bit, but we got 205 miles out of that tank. Not quite the range of an FJR, but better than I expected. We joined up with highway 2 that heads south and then west to Wairoa. That's another fun road, climbing and diving and twisting and turning. Lots of fun, very little traffic.

About 25-30 miles east of Wairoa, the traffic came to stop. An officer in a patrol car said there was a pretty bad accident around the next bend, and a helicopter was enroute to pick up a guy that was in bad shape. The road might be blocked for an hour or so. Here's the lineup waiting:


Kristi asked if she could walk up to the front of the line and see what was going on. I reluctantly agreed, but I wasn't too fond of the idea. During a road blockage, I prefer to stay close to my rig just in case traffic starts moving unexpectedly. I finally saw her in the distance walking back, and of course there goes the helicopter with the injured guy:


She got back to the bike, said the accident was a car and a motorcycle that collided at the bottom of the next hill on a sharp curve. She saw the rider being loaded into the helicopter. I'm already geared-up at that point, and she starts getting her gear on. Of course the traffic starts moving much more quickly than she expected. She was standing beside me fumbling with her gloves when the cars ahead of us started rolling. I told her to get on the bike RIGHT NOW, and secure the gloves and Autocom cable later. I don't like barking orders like that, but she told me later that she appreciates the direct approach when something needs to be done immediately. As we rolled past the crash site, I saw a Ducati Monster laying in the grass on the opposite shoulder with the riders personal effects scattered around it. It was very sobering to see that. I never saw the car that was involved. I hope the rider will be okay. The rest of the ride that afternoon was on highway 2 into Napier...constantly turning and climbing and descending. It took a while to get past the traffic backup from the accident, but eventually I was able to get past every single vehicle. But you know what that means...as we rolled into Wairoa, then next town down the road, Kristi needed another pee stop. It was so frustrating to watch all the cars and trucks that I had just passed roll by us again. I stayed on the bike for that stop...and when she's getting tired, it takes her even longer to get suited up again. I think that stop was 10-15 minutes. Must. Bite. Tongue. Don't. Say. A. Word.

We finally rolled into Napier about an hour before sunset. We were lucky to find a room for the night. Apparently there was a huge art-deco festival going on in town, and the hotels were all sold out. We snagged a room because of a cancellation. Dumb luck that. We parked next to a beautifully restored 1939 Packard:


Everyone was dressed up for a night out, in their best Gatsby-era clothing. It was something to see. I wish we would have had time to see more of the event, but we only had time to have dinner and head out the next morning. Here's the view from our hotel room back door. What a dump:


After stowing our gear, it was time for dinner. We walked next door to the Boardwalk Beach Restaurant and Bar. What a crappy view from the dinner table:


Unfortunately, by the time dinner showed up, it was too dark to get a food **** shot of my steak. It's a dirty rotten job, but somebody has to do it. At 369 miles, it was the longest day of the trip. A short day by my usual standards, but given what I had to work with, it was about the limit of what we could do.

Excellent RR, thanks for sharing the adventure with us!

--G

Day # 3, 2/20/15, 346 miles

Woke up at the previously mentioned time, and headed across the street for breakfast. Instead of just a small breakfast sandwich or a bagel, I decided to go big this time:


That's right, French toast dammit! Ya, with blueberries all over. And that big glob on the top...I thought it was butter. But no, it was something WAY better. Mascarpone. I had no idea what it was, had to Google it when I got a free wifi signal. And it was AWESOME. I can't recall ever having that before anywhere. And it really tied the whole French toast/blueberry thing together. I'll have to find some of that stuff locally if I can, and then find something to put it on. Best breakfast of the trip...well, it's right up there with that Aussie sandwich & beer I had in Sydney.

So enough about that, time to hit the road. We backtracked a few miles north on Hwy 2, and then turned west on 5 towards Lake Taupo. The first several miles of 5 were quite beautiful, curving between the vineyards of the Hawke's Bay area wineries. It was a lot like the Sonoma/Napa CA areas, only prettier. Shortly after that, we saw a sign stating "No Fuel Next 130km". The V-Strom has a cool "km remaining" indication...I wish the FJR had something like that. Anyway, it showed 145km remaining in the tank. Hell, that was 15km more than I needed. I hadn't fueled up since Gisborne. Like an *****, I pressed on. The road was quite entertaining for about 45 miles, but the last 30 were rather uninspiring. Of course I was sweating the fuel for the last half of that ride. I tried to save as much fuel as I could, but the "km remaining" number seemed to click down faster than I expected. Finally, we rolled into a fuel stop in Taupo with 7km remaining on the range indicator. Whew! The meter showed that I pumped 21.0 litres into the tank. That's 5.5 gallons. The specs show that the tank capacity is 5.3 gallons. Either the pump meter was way off, or I was WAY LOW on fuel. Luckily, Kristi didn't have to push me at all.

After refueling, we headed south on Highway 1. Normally it's a heavily travelled route, but we got kicked in the balls on that day. There was a walking/jogging/running event going on along Hw 1 that day. There were people everywhere. It sucked donkey balls, and not in a good kind of way. The speed limits dropped to 30km/h around the rally points, and then would go back up to 100km/h. The only problem was the stupid cage drivers that wouldn't accelerate beyond 50km/h, as if they were worried about a jogger somehow falling into their paths. Frustrating beyond belief, and it led to some aggressive passing when I was able. That crap went on for the entire 30 miles that we were on 1 until we turned off onto 41 westbound, and then 47 into the Tongariro National Park. Finally I was able to get up to the speed limit. We pulled into an overlook and got a pic of Lake Taupo from the south:


After a few miles, Hwy 47 intersected 4 heading south. And there, the rain started. We took a moment to rig the rain gear, and headed south to Whanganui. We got rained on for most of that ride, which was too bad. It would have been a really fun road with dry pavement. The pavement was dry enough in a few places to pick the pace up a bit, but then it would get wet again. Slow going. After Whanganui, we headed east on Highway 3. It rained most of the time, until we pulled off for fuel at the town of Bulls. I topped the tank, and then hit the McDonalds next door for a snack. Even McD's has a meat pie on the menu. They call it:


WTF is a Georgie Pie? It looked like any other meat pie, but the name was beyond me. It's just weird. From Bulls on to the south, it was a rather boring ride along Hwy 1 towards Wellington. Nothing to see here...just the occasional small town along the way. Near Paraparaumu, there was a lengthy traffic backup due to a 3 vehicle crash. Again I was reminded of how the V-Strom sucks at slow speed with it's heavy clutch-pull and wobbly handling. Or maybe I just suck at slow speed riding. Who knows. Finally we got past that and rolled into Petone for the night. We were scheduled on the ferry out of Wellington in the morning, but I preferred to stay a bit north in a small town within walking distance of a pub. Got the gear stowed for the night, and a 10 minute walk to Speights Ale House was in order. The chow and beer was good, but I forgot to get a pic for food ****. We were glad to be done for the day.

I am really, really enjoying this Ride Report. I am loving everything so far, and I am very much interested in your thoughts on the big Strom.

I have NO sympathy for your lack of patience with Miss Kristi. The fact that she is willing to ride with you and is also extremely attractive makes you more fortunate than you know. I am completely jealous. I would put up with just about anything if I could talk my wife into riding with me, a 15 to 20 minute pee break would not bother me in the least.

Please do go on, New Zealand is on the bucket list for sure.

You've got me waiting as well.......considering I'm on a plane in 5 weeks to the South Island for 2.5 weeks, to include a 7 day moto tour on a rented Triumph Tiger 800

You're getting me excited!

Day #4, 2/21/15, 215 miles

Woke up at the usual time that day, but we had to be on the bike much earlier than usual. We were booked on the 8:30am departure of the Interislander Kaitaki from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. Final check-in time was 7:30. I told Kristi that we would skip breakfast in Petone, but we'd have plenty of time on the ship for coffee and breakfast. We left the hotel at 7:10 for the quick ride to the ferry terminal. As we rolled up the check-in line, another group of motorcycles pulled in behind us. They were all rentals (you can tell by the same GIVI bags and some had rental company stickers), ridden by a group of Italians and some others with an accent that I didn't recognize. At least we made it in time. I was glad that I'd paid earlier on-line rather than fumbling around with my wallet at the booth. We pulled over to the bike waiting area and had about 10 or 15 minutes to kill.

It's a pretty big ship...seems larger than the WA State and BC ferries that I've been on, but I don't know any of the actual statistics:


A dock-hand came out in a truck and led all the bikes up to the loading area. It would have been cool to get pics of the loading process, but I was just concentrating on not dumping the bike on the steel ramps and decks. They had a lot of bikes loaded that day:


The ship carries all kinds of heavy trucks, and even a farm tractor. That was odd to see driving onboard:


Leaving Wellington:




The trip took about 3 hours. The first and last hours are the most entertaining, with lots of scenery to see from the top deck. The middle hour is a bit less exciting while out in the middle of the Cook Strait. That was the perfect time for coffee and breakfast...and of course, the ever-popular...meat pies! Those things are everywhere, even on the ship:


While on the ship, I saw a couple of other guys in riding gear, and ended up chatting with them for a bit. Everyone is so friendly, always wanting to talk...especially to fellow motorcyclists. They were from a small town north of Auckland. Super nice guys. As the ship docked in Picton, we all headed for the auto deck and got everything unstrapped and got the gear back in place. I followed them off the ship and waved goodbye as we turned up a different route. We turned north and then west on a little paved road, Queen Charlotte Drive. It was a great road, very tight and twisty. The only downside was that it was raining again, so we made slow progress working our way through the tight corners. Then it straightened out a bit and I could pick up the pace. We stopped at a turnout along a bay, the Mahakipawa Arm of the Mahau Sound. Even with the cloud cover and light rain, it sure was pretty:






We turned onto Hwy 6 at Havelock, and headed for Nelson. It was still raining, of course. Mostly a light steady shower, but with an occasional heavier patch. There's a section of 6 east of Nelson that had some great corners, but I had to behave on the wet pavement. The trusty V-Strom was performing impeccably. I had the traction-control set to level one (of two). Even with wet pavement, I still had fun powering out of the corners...but I never noticed the TC light on the panel, so I'm not sure if it was helping me or not. If it did, it was very subtle. We stopped for fuel in Nelson, and the rain finally started to ease up. Eventually the sun came out. We then had a great ride westbound on 6. Further west, the road was a lot of fun...more climbing and diving and turning. East of Murchison, the road had gentle sweepers down in a valley following the Buller River. We stopped in Murchison for a snack break. There was a neat looking café on the main road, and I offered Kristi a chance for an actual sit-down lunch. I was shocked when she declined...she's actually quite okay with snacks during the day just to hold us over until we can chow down at the end of the day and have a few adult beverages. She's an awesome riding buddy.


West of Murchison is where Hwy 6 gets really good. The road drops down into the Buller Gorge, and it's just awesome. A little slice of motorcycle heaven. Nice sweepers along the canyon walls, some tighter turns under a canopy of trees. And almost no traffic. I could even stop on the road in the more open section and snap a few pics:




Check this out...the road ahead is a one-lane section carved out of the rock. The rock actually overhangs the roadway like a half-tunnel. I wanted to stop under the overhang and take a pic, but if opposing traffic came up, they wouldn't see me from the yield point...and then we'd get whacked head-on. Not cool.




Finally we turned onto 67 for the brief remaining ride into Westport. It was still early in the evening, about 3 hours prior to sunset, but 215 miles after the ferry ride seemed like enough. Plus, we were running out of clean laundry. We checked into a neat older motel on the main street. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful...and we were able to do our laundry for FREE. Try finding that in the US. We had a few beers at the little motel bar while we waited on the laundry to finish. I was also using the wifi to find a hotel for the following night in Wanaka. There must have been an event of some sort in town, because all of the cheaper hotels were booked up. Luckily I found one remaining room at a lodge not far from the city center. It was way more $$ than I wanted to spend, but hey...we're on vacation, and you gotta sleep somewhere. Finally the laundry was finished and we then headed to a restaurant down the street to a neat little restaurant I'd found previously on Google Maps. The hours in front of my computer at home were well spent...at every overnight on the trip, I knew ahead of time where the food and beer was. Saves a lot of wandering-around time.

We slept well that night.

Redfish Hunter said:

I have NO sympathy for your lack of patience with Miss Kristi. The fact that she is willing to ride with you and is also extremely attractive makes you more fortunate than you know. I am completely jealous. I would put up with just about anything if I could talk my wife into riding with me, a 15 to 20 minute pee break would not bother me in the least.

Click to expand...

RFH, you're absolutely right. I'm kind of a **** for even mentioning my occasional frustration with her. But the truth is, she's such a great sport with a great attitude and willingness to tag along with me on a great adventure. There's nobody else I would have been able to share a trip like this with, except maybe my twin brother. I put a lot of effort into planning and making sure she's comfortable, and she thanks me for taking good care of her. If I didn't do that, her dad would probably kick my ***. But when it's kinda cold and we're riding along in the rain and I call back and ask "how ya doing back there?"...and she always says "I'm doing great". Even though I know she's cold. I'm really a lucky guy to have her riding with me.

Great RR.

NZ is at the top of my list for mcy touring. I'm very happy to see your report. Your wife is a trooper. Kudos to you for marrying up.

Morecowbell said:

Check this out...the road ahead is a one-lane section carved out of the rock. The rock actually overhangs the roadway like a half-tunnel. I wanted to stop under the overhang and take a pic, but if opposing traffic came up, they wouldn't see me from the yield point...and then we'd get whacked head-on. Not cool.

Click to expand...

Meh. We's gots that too. Even has some of that artistic stuff spray painted along the sides.



All kidding aside, nice report! I always enjoy seeing other parts and appreciate when someone takes the time out of their ride to snap the pics for one.

Day #5, 2/22/15, 359 miles

Woke up at the usual time, hit a little coffee place down the street from the motel, and a breakfast sandwich from Subway. Nothing but the finest for us when on tour. We were back on the road around 9:30 as always, with Wanaka as todays goal. We headed south on Hwy 6, and the ride was immediately a lot of fun. Nice curves and spectacular scenery; very tropical, almost like Hawaii. The whole ride between Westport and Greymouth was just awesome. And did I mention almost no traffic?

Nice riding along the shoreline:



Just a short distance south of Punakaiki are the Pancake Rocks and a blowhole. It's a short hike off the highway, but worth the effort.













The camera just can't capture all the detail of the many layers in those rocks.

Back on the road, we stopped in Greymouth for fuel and water bottles. Then we pressed on to the south. There was a single-lane bridge south of Greymouth that had railroad tracks running down the center. That would certainly suck to go head to head with a locomotive! I wish I could have snapped a pic of that. The road was pretty straight until we got south of Hokitika. After that there were gentle curves running through some pasture land with scattered farmhouses. The road runs along the foothills at the base of the Southern Alps. At times the road was straight but still scenic with the tops of the hills obscured by clouds:



We stopped for fuel again at Franz Josef Glacier. We had only covered 108 miles since refueling in Greymouth, but I wasn't sure if there was any fuel available between Fox Glacier and Wanaka. I wanted a full tank just to be on the safe side. There's no good way to see the glacier from the motorcycle. Big spenders would take a helicopter tour, but I'm on a bit more of a budget. We rode up an access road as far as we could, but could only get a glimpse of it off in the distance. And then the rain started falling again. Awesome.





Heading south towards Haast, the rain eventually quit and the sun came out. The curves and scenery just kept coming. At Haast, the road turned eastward and followed a beautiful wide river bottom for several miles, with waterfalls visible on some of the mountains above us. Eventually the road climbed up over Haast Pass, which was kinda funny...only about 1800 feet elevation. When I think of a road going over a pass, I think of many thousands of feet higher. We came upon this bridge with the road winding up the hill on the other side:





Further south, we found ourselves running along the northeastern shore of Lake Wanaka. Those were some fun curves along that stretch. Then the road went over a low ridge and we were suddenly running along the southwestern shore of Lake Hawea. Beautiful. The fuel planning worked out perfectly...with just a few miles remaining to Wanaka, the fuel gauge started blinking. We rolled into the main part of town and saw some interesting restaurants. Duly noted, it was time to head to the hotel. It was listed as a lodge, but actually it was more of a bed and breakfast. I've never stayed in one of those, and I'm not too sure I like the concept. But the host was a great guy, welcomed us in. The room was fantastic, set up like a hotel room with it's own bathroom. Whew! I'm too old to share a bathroom with any strangers. There was a balcony with a great view of the hills around Wanaka. They had a cocktail hour on the back patio until 7pm, but we just missed it while we were getting settled in. It would have been great to have a beer with John, the owner.

Instead, we walked about 8 minutes down the hill to the city center and found a suitable place. A view of Lake Wanaka, eh? I think this will do.



I had the pork belly for dinner. I don't think I've ever had that before. Lots of pork chops and pork ribs and bacon...but never belly. It probably took a week off my lifespan, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

This is a wonderful Ride Report. I am very jealous over your riding partner. Please tell the lovely Miss Kristi that I am a member of her fan club.

I really do appreciate you bringing this report to this forum. The information is excellent, the pics are excellent, the story is excellent. This is a wonderful way to learn about a part of the world I may never get to see.

Awesome RR, Morecowbell. (Love the name by the way). I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Keep it coming!

Great stuff! I would love to ride in NZ some time soon! Definitely on the bucket list!

Looking forward to more good stuff to come in this awesome RR.

Sorry this is taking so long for me to get finished. I got called in to work yesterday afternoon, and I didn't get home until 0100.

Day #6, 2/23/15, 335 miles

We got up at the usual time and headed downstairs for breakfast. The owner of the lodge was the same dude cooking breakfast, with his daughter assisting. How cool is that? He was quite jovial, and we talked motorcycles for a bit. He was intrigued by the ride that we were doing and wanted to hear about it. The older British couple at the next table probably thought we were insane. It was a beautiful day in Wanaka, and it would have been fun to hang around town for a while, but I had already reserved a room in Akaroa for that night. We had about 330 miles to put down, so we needed to get going.

We rolled out at 9:30 as usual, and stopped at the BP station to top off the tank and check the tires. I hadn't checked them since Auckland (shame on me), and they were a few pounds low. With a full tank and tires, we headed south for a few miles on 6, then turned southeast on 8A, and then northeast on 8. It was a fun ride...the roads weren't very technical, just gentle sweepers through some rolling hills and agricultural areas. As usual, very little traffic.

The traffic does deserve some mention...the North Island is much more heavily populated than the South, so there's a lot more traffic up there around the cities and towns. Passing is rarely a problem, though. Around the larger towns, there's the usual local traffic...but once out in the rural/scenic areas, it's nothing but tourists in rental vehicles. Rental sedans were common, and those damn small rental campers were everywhere. I lost count of how many of those annoying Jucy purple/green cars and campers we saw. I also lost count of how many rental company logos we saw on the back of the camper vans. We saw hundreds of those annoying things lumbering down the road during our 7 days of riding. But since they were always lumbering at WELL below the speed limit, they were all easily passed.

So anyway, there we were northeast-bound on 8. As the road crested a pass just south of Omarama, I pulled into a turnout for a photo:



Nothing spectacular, just a shot of the road heading down the somewhat arid hills. Jumped back on the road heading downhill, and not 30 seconds later I saw cars stopping ahead and a cloud of dust. I thought to myself, "oh ****, there's been a crash." As we rolled closer to the dust cloud, I saw that it wasn't a crash, but something much more entertaining. SHEEP!!



It was a huge herd of sheep being herded up the road. We were laughing our ***** off. They're so damn cute. Kristi wanted to grab a small one and take it with us. That's a great idea...but where to stow it? I paddled along behind the Jeep, stopping for a bit now and then. It was fun to watch them go by. Eventually we got past the sheep, and then I had to work my way around the cars that had been backed up.

The road then runs for a bit along the southern shore of Lake Pukaki. Just spectacular:





We stopped for a quick break in the town of Fairlie (all the small towns have public bathrooms, yay!), and then headed east on 79 towards Geraldine. There were some fun curves and hills on 79. We stopped for fuel in Geraldine, and Kristi and I split a gas station sandwich. Haute cuisine, to be sure. After that stop, I hate to say it, but the road got to be somewhat...boring. We headed northeast on 72 through a lot of farmland, and the road was straight and flat. Not much to see here. The road and scenery improved greatly when we dipped down into a valley to cross the Rakaia River:



Then we continued east until Darfield, where we took a small backroad southeast to join up with the main highway 1. That road sucked, way too much traffic. Luckily we were only on it for a couple of miles. Then we took another backroad though a small suburban area (which also sucked), until we could join up with 75 out to Akaroa. Now the fun started up again. If you look at Google Maps, you'll notice that it's quite twisty as you approach Akaroa. For a few miles we followed a guy on what looked like a VFR. That was fun trying to keep up. Being late afternoon, Kristi was starting to fade...so we stopped in Little River for a short break. Then it was 18 miles to go to the hotel. I was somewhat fatigued as well, but still had fun plowing the V-Strom through some 1st and 2nd gear corners. Then we crested a hill and started down. And there it was...a great view of the harbour with Akaroa visible on the other side:



We finally rolled into town with a couple of hours of daylight remaining. We checked into the hotel, and the lovely clerk told us that we were lucky to snag the last remaining room. That had been the story for pretty much every hotel on this trip. We walked up to the room and we quite shocked to see how big it was. Kristi let out a squeal of joy, especially when she saw the huge Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. She said, "oh yeah...I'm hitting THAT after dinner!"

It was great...we had one couch to pile our gear on, and another couch for relaxing. Oh, and a table for piling more gear on. It was just tragic:







And the view of the harbour from the huge deck...it's an outrage to have to stay in such a dump:



Then it was time to wander out in search of chow. Akaroa is a cool little village of French origin. Lots of neat little shops and restaurants along the waterfront.



We found a place that looked interesting. The view from the dinner table:



Of course we had a few beers to hold us over until the meal was brought out. A steak seemed in order that evening. And it was fantastic. It must be a NZ/Australia thing to have eggs for dinner, but I didn't mind one bit. It was all gone in a matter of minutes:



Besides the boring stretch of road east of Geraldine, it was a great day of riding. We had a fun night in Akaroa as a great end to the day. I was getting kind of sad though...only one more day to go.

Awesome stuff!

Thanks for writing it down...I'm going to use your trip as a reference when I plan ours that we take someday...cuz we WILL take it.

I just got back today from three weeks in NZ and Australia... was there a bit earlier than you else we might have crossed paths! The hotel situation was a challenge because it is Chinese New Year's and they had a ton of tourists visiting as well as the World Cricket Competition going on in Christchurch and many of the locals were traveling south to get away from all of that - you definitely lucked out! We barely managed to book rooms in Te Anau and Queenstown. And we had been counseled to gas up at half a tank because sometimes fuel is hard to find. I only did the southern section of the south island and then headed for Australia while my friend, Sally, did the northern section. It's a gorgeous place and I am definitely planning on going back now that I've had a taste! Looks like you guys packed a lot in the time you had! B)