Adventures Down Under - New Zealand and Australia
- Thread starter Tyler
- Start date
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bigjohnsd
2021 BMW R1250GSA
Miss T they keep getting better with every release, out-ffing-standing!
escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
Oh sure, bait us with this and then you leave...tease!
--G
Just doin' my job, G...Oh sure, bait us with this and then you leave...tease!
--G
lidja
Member
First time I've seen a camera capture you literally wearing your heart on your sleeve. Love that you shared this with us!
Anxiously looking forward to the next road pix!
Love that you shared this with us!
Anxiously looking forward to the next road pix!
Niehart
Pie Smuggler
Love this picture.
hppants
Well-known member
enjoying this ride report while I sit by the fire at my camp site.great entertainment
wheatonFJR
...
My guess is that although you love this picture, you feel that the camera was not properly centered on the pie sign. Next time, tell the truth man. Tyler can handle it.
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bigjohnsd
2021 BMW R1250GSA
T it has been more than a week, WTF?
Sorry... work has been crazy... paying my dues for being gone for 3 weeks... I'll get something up this week... promise.
Niehart
Pie Smuggler
Oh, we've heard that before.Sorry... work has been crazy... paying my dues for being gone for 3 weeks... I'll get something up this week... promise.
Don't make me come over there, mister...Oh, we've heard that before.Sorry... work has been crazy... paying my dues for being gone for 3 weeks... I'll get something up this week... promise.
Fontanaman
Robin Trower
Great trip and trip report Tyler.
yamafitter
Reigning NERDS Granite Lane Gold Medalist
If you took Crown Ridge Road and then the high road over to Wanaka then absolutely you rode the best motorcycle road EVER!!! I got to ride that piece back in 2009..... what a blast!
Day 8 - Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier
When Sally had her issue with getting the bike started, she checked the oil level and found it to be quite low... couldn't even see it the sight window. So off to the local dealer to get some oil...
They took very good care of her and the bike... once she purchased the oil, they told her to take the bike around back to the shop where one of the mechanics took about 20 minutes to look it over, make sure no leaks, etc... and all at no charge... really nice folks!
One of the other bikes they were working on...
Satisfied that Sally's bike was in good working condition, we headed out of town for the Cadrona Hotel, another one of my bonus spots...
The start of the road to Cadrona is tight and twisty but unfortunately cluttered with slow moving vehicles so we didn't get to enjoy it properly...
Then we came up on a huge line of cars stuck behind tractor at first and then a really slow car who refused to pull over... we got to employ our leap frogging skills past the cars...
And just as we got past all of the cars with an open road, we came to the Cadrona Hotel...
Which actually was actually okay because it the ride had been a bit frustrating so taking a chill pill and relaxing a bit was just what the doctor ordered... the Cadrona Hotel is actual working hotel with an onsite restaurant and lovely grounds in the back... we ordered a coffee and made some new friends from Australia...
Evidently there used to be a Bra Fence nearby which caused quite a controversy with the locals... tourists loved it and it was photographed more than anything else in the area... but some residents said it was an eyesore, embarassment and a potenial hazard to drivers using teh road so in 2006 the bras were removed... looks like they may be starting their own fence at the hotel...
Cute little story next to the hotel with lots of unique sundries... the gal that runs it, Susie, came out when she saw the bikes and wanted to get a photo of them and us and her store for a scrapbook she was making of all her visitors...
When Sally had her issue with getting the bike started, she checked the oil level and found it to be quite low... couldn't even see it the sight window. So off to the local dealer to get some oil...
They took very good care of her and the bike... once she purchased the oil, they told her to take the bike around back to the shop where one of the mechanics took about 20 minutes to look it over, make sure no leaks, etc... and all at no charge... really nice folks!
One of the other bikes they were working on...
Satisfied that Sally's bike was in good working condition, we headed out of town for the Cadrona Hotel, another one of my bonus spots...
The start of the road to Cadrona is tight and twisty but unfortunately cluttered with slow moving vehicles so we didn't get to enjoy it properly...
Then we came up on a huge line of cars stuck behind tractor at first and then a really slow car who refused to pull over... we got to employ our leap frogging skills past the cars...
And just as we got past all of the cars with an open road, we came to the Cadrona Hotel...
Which actually was actually okay because it the ride had been a bit frustrating so taking a chill pill and relaxing a bit was just what the doctor ordered... the Cadrona Hotel is actual working hotel with an onsite restaurant and lovely grounds in the back... we ordered a coffee and made some new friends from Australia...
Evidently there used to be a Bra Fence nearby which caused quite a controversy with the locals... tourists loved it and it was photographed more than anything else in the area... but some residents said it was an eyesore, embarassment and a potenial hazard to drivers using teh road so in 2006 the bras were removed... looks like they may be starting their own fence at the hotel...
Cute little story next to the hotel with lots of unique sundries... the gal that runs it, Susie, came out when she saw the bikes and wanted to get a photo of them and us and her store for a scrapbook she was making of all her visitors...
We bade our new friends goodbye and embarked on what would prove to be our favorite stretch of road for the trip between Wanaka and Haast...
And of course more of these...
And we had to stop to get some photos of this amazing mirrored Lake Hawea... it was stunning...
The next section of road was perfect in every way... no traffic, fantastic scenery, brilliant weather, clean roads, and lots of twists and turns...
Lake Wanaka on our left...
I don't have a ton of photos from this section because it was one of those moments when you just immersed yourself in the moment and lived it... but there was lots of this... trust me...
Open road outside of Haast...
Starting to see the glaciers...
We saw these rental vans upon occasion, hand painted with interesting slogans and such...
And lots of one-lane bridges which took me a little getting used to coming off of and staying to the left side of the road...
And of course more of these...
And we had to stop to get some photos of this amazing mirrored Lake Hawea... it was stunning...
The next section of road was perfect in every way... no traffic, fantastic scenery, brilliant weather, clean roads, and lots of twists and turns...
Lake Wanaka on our left...
I don't have a ton of photos from this section because it was one of those moments when you just immersed yourself in the moment and lived it... but there was lots of this... trust me...
Open road outside of Haast...
Starting to see the glaciers...
We saw these rental vans upon occasion, hand painted with interesting slogans and such...
And lots of one-lane bridges which took me a little getting used to coming off of and staying to the left side of the road...
We stopped in Haast for a late lunch... this was the view from our table...
Ever had that feeling you're being watched...
NZ seagulls may be smaller than ours here in the states but they are just as aggressive when going for food... so we moved inside to eat... but we still weren't safe!
Sally had something called whitebait... a juvenile fish of five different species...
The west side of the island has much more of a tropical feel to it and was my favorite part of the island...
The sides of the hills were covered in lush fern growth...
And then we popped back out on the coast...
Ever had that feeling you're being watched...
NZ seagulls may be smaller than ours here in the states but they are just as aggressive when going for food... so we moved inside to eat... but we still weren't safe!
Sally had something called whitebait... a juvenile fish of five different species...
The west side of the island has much more of a tropical feel to it and was my favorite part of the island...
The sides of the hills were covered in lush fern growth...
And then we popped back out on the coast...
We stoppped at one beach and found lots of stacked rock formations left by those who came before us...
As well as a plethora of white rocks (not sure where they came from) that were signed and decorated and left as mementos...
A few miles further down the road, something off the road caught our eye so we took the small road to the left and found a monument to the early surveyors...
Camo barn... our friend, Andrew, would've like this one...
We lucked out on most of these small bridges and had no oncoming traffic...
Some more fun as we got closer to Franz Josef Glacier...
We arrived in town and stopped at the grocery store for supplies as our accommodations for the evening were similar to Te Anau... we were approached by a couple who lived in Auckland and were vacationing for the week and struck up a conversation and chatted for a good half-hour about NZ, the US, and the UK, exchanging stories of where we lived and why we loved where we lived... again, contact info was exchanged and we have a place to stay the next time we find ourselves in Auckland!
We arrived at the Top 10 Holiday Park a couple of miles out of town and found our cozy little cabin...
Did some laundry...
And chatted with our neighbors across the way, two widows who were out having a grand vacation together...
We sat out on our porch and enjoyed our makeshift dinner and watched the sun set.. before retiring for the night, sated and happy with the day's adventures... we only had two more riding days together so there was a wee bit of a sadness that tried to creep in but I kept it at bay and focused on the now so we could enjoy the rest of our time...
Next up... off to Hokitika and the Pancake Rocks!
As well as a plethora of white rocks (not sure where they came from) that were signed and decorated and left as mementos...
A few miles further down the road, something off the road caught our eye so we took the small road to the left and found a monument to the early surveyors...
Camo barn... our friend, Andrew, would've like this one...
We lucked out on most of these small bridges and had no oncoming traffic...
Some more fun as we got closer to Franz Josef Glacier...
We arrived in town and stopped at the grocery store for supplies as our accommodations for the evening were similar to Te Anau... we were approached by a couple who lived in Auckland and were vacationing for the week and struck up a conversation and chatted for a good half-hour about NZ, the US, and the UK, exchanging stories of where we lived and why we loved where we lived... again, contact info was exchanged and we have a place to stay the next time we find ourselves in Auckland!
We arrived at the Top 10 Holiday Park a couple of miles out of town and found our cozy little cabin...
Did some laundry...
And chatted with our neighbors across the way, two widows who were out having a grand vacation together...
We sat out on our porch and enjoyed our makeshift dinner and watched the sun set.. before retiring for the night, sated and happy with the day's adventures... we only had two more riding days together so there was a wee bit of a sadness that tried to creep in but I kept it at bay and focused on the now so we could enjoy the rest of our time...
Next up... off to Hokitika and the Pancake Rocks!
Auburn
Well-known member
What an awesome trip. Thank you for taking us along and such wonderful pictures!
airboss
Well-known member
Worth the wait, for sure
