Adventures Down Under - New Zealand and Australia

[Tyler]

And then the road starts to climb and get nice and twisty...

Unfortunately, the fog/clouds gets quite thick and the pace is slowed a bit as you can't see very far ahead and never know when there might be an errant farm animal roaming the road...

At the peak, we break through the clouds and it kind of feels like we are in heaven, riding above everything and everyone in our own little world...

We descend through some more clouds and then it is sunny skies again as the patchwork quilt farmland appears in view...

We continue on through Gore and continue to the southernmost tip of the island, Bluff, which also happens to have a sign that is a bonus in the rally...

The town has very colorfully painted buildings lining the streets... very cheerful!

Stirling Point area where Bluff is located...

Lighthouse...

We found it!

It was an interesting spot as we met two older ladies who were both widows and decided to continue to travel together and a German gent who insisted on getting a photo with the two of us and the bikes... I guess we're a bit of an anomaly in these parts!

 

[Tyler]

Next on the agenda was heading into Invercargill for two reasons... 1) Sally wanted to see the actual World's Fastest Indian which was located in town, and 2) i wanted to get another bonus location which was a place called E. Hayes Hammer Hardware (https://www.ehayes.co.nz/). Luckily, both of these items ended up being the same place!

We were having a little difficulty finding the location so stopped and chatted up two friendly and very nice looking Aussie police officers... if we'd had extra helmets, we might have taken them for a ride!

Ahem, sorry... I digressed... anyway, these nice gents pointed us to the location and by the time we got there, they had walked the beat to the shop and introduced us to the owner, Neville (son of the original owner), who welcomed us in, offered us water, and said we had free reign of the place and to just take our time and look around... oh my what a fantastic collection of vintage motorcycles, cars, and machinery! I won't bore you with all of the pics I took but here is a photo gallery of the collection on their website: https://www.ehayes.co.nz/Hayes-Motorworks-Collection/Hayes-Motorworks-Collection-Photo-Gallery-__I.8198

And we can both now say we've seen the World's Fastest Indian in person as well which was pretty damn cool...

By this time it was around 2pm and our tummies were grumbling for some lunch... we asked our new friend Neville if he had a recommendation and he directed us to a place called Beach House Cafe & Bar in Riverton so we bade farewell and headed on down the road... it was a perfect day with the sun shining and a cool breeze blowing...

A different kind of gear store on the way out of town...

Turning into Riverton...

And arriving at the restaurant which was an excellent recommendation not only for the food...

But also for the kick *** views...

Our table... bliss...

It was hard to pull ourselves away from this place... just one of those brilliant moments of relaxation, peace & quiet, good food... but we knew we still had a ways to go until Te Anau so headed back to the bikes where we found Sally had picked up a hitchhiker on her jacket...

We relocated the critter and then headed out of town...

 

[hppants]

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm so impressed by the sheer desolation of the back country. This keeps getting better...

 

[Tyler]

There was a faster route to get to Te Anau but several riding comrades had suggested taking 99 which was a fantastic suggestion... first the road would pop out by the coast...

And then inland... the road was lined with feathery foliage waving in the breeze and glowing golden in the sun...

Oh hey what are those???

And we took a short break to drink in the coastal views just outside of Tuatapere...

And then cutting inland toward Te Anau...

Lake Manapouri... we had hoped to stay here but everything was fully booked...

Getting closer...

And we finally arrived at our lodging for the next two daysm Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park (https://www.teanauholidaypark.co.nz/)... this was basically the only room that was available anywhere within a 20-mile radius and it was a hostel-type facility with 2 sets of bunk beds and shared bathroom/kitchen facilities... at first we were a little wary but actually found it to be quite charming, very clean, and surrounded by really nice people including a couple next door to us from Canada who had pulled their two kids out of school for nine months and were traveling the world and home schooling them at the same time... what a fantastic education!

While not high class, it was a place to sleep and very budget friendly... Sally hadn't been doing a lot of riding before this trip so she was feeling a bit beat up (or "shattered" as she calls it) after two very long days of riding... so I once again volunteered to hop into town and acquire some supplies for dinner/breakfast... when we checked in we had made our reservations for the next day to cruise Milford Sound and tour to the glow worm caves so were all set... we noshed on our picnic dinner, sipped some vino, chatted with our neighbors, tried to access wifi (a huge challenge in NZ - they are not wired the way we are in the US) without much success, and finally closed up shop and hit the sack...

The next day would take us out to Milford Sound which was at the top of my list of things I was not willing to give up and had to see... that would prove to be a very wise choice... B)

 

[majicmaker]

Damn...... What a trip. Loving it!

 

[festar]

Makes me want to go.

 

[juniorfjr]

Tyler, you are an anomaly where ever you go, but in a very good way. Great report, bucket list material for sure.

 

[escapefjrtist]

...seeing down-under through your lens is a treat for sure!

Nice job T!

--G

 

[Panman]

It's taken seven days to sneak a look at this, thanks for the bright spot Tyler.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

Cyclone Pam is going to be bearing down on New Zealand sometime next week. It was rated as a Category 5 as it came through Vanuatu and other islands north of NZ. It was downgraded to a Cat 4 a little later. You may want to keep tabs on it's path. Hopefully it will skirt to the east as the tracking map is forecasting.

BTW, your pics & RR continue to be top notch.

Edit: Just looked at the map again & it shows it passing to the east of the north island by Sunday evening. Hopefully you'll only have some wind from it and not a ton of rain.

 

[Auburn]

Awesome, can't wait to see the following days

 

[TestPilot]

Keep it coming - it sounds so good

 

[bigjohnsd]

Great RR Miss "T"

 

[beemerdons]

Great RR Miss "T"

Fantastic Ride Report and Outstanding Photographs, thank you so very much Miss Tyler! JSNS!

 

[Tyler]

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm so impressed by the sheer desolation of the back country. This keeps getting better...

We were amazed at the lack of traffic most days... empty roads all ours... B)

Makes me want to go.

Dude, you're closer than most of us... I'm planning on going back so maybe if you ask real nice, you can tag along.

Tyler, you are an anomaly where ever you go, but in a very good way.

I've been called worse... :lol:

Cyclone Pam is going to be bearing down on New Zealand sometime next week. It was rated as a Category 5 as it came through Vanuatu and other islands north of NZ. It was downgraded to a Cat 4 a little later. You may want to keep tabs on it's path. Hopefully it will skirt to the east as the tracking map is forecasting.
BTW, your pics & RR continue to be top notch.

Edit: Just looked at the map again & it shows it passing to the east of the north island by Sunday evening. Hopefully you'll only have some wind from it and not a ton of rain.

I'm actually home now so won't affect me directly but I will keep an eye on it as I do have friends over there... thanks for the heads up!

 

[Tyler]

Fantastic Ride Report and Outstanding Photographs, thank you so very much Miss Tyler! JSNS!

Thanks, Don... hope you're feeling better and better every day! :wub:

 

[lidja]

I have two cameras a small, inexpensive one (Canon PowershotA4000) for the on the go shots. If I have to drop the camera quickly for any reason, it doesnt go anywhere since its attached to a lanyard around my neck. It takes some practice as you have to shoot left-handed and I get a lot of crap shots including the side of my helmet and such but out of the many there is usually a good to great shot. Part of it is seeing the shot and part of it is luck!

So this is how you are getting the amazing road shots behind Sally? I love these! What features did you look for in this camera? Is it a point-and-shoot, or do you set the aperture for fast exposures before you start riding so that you don't get speed blur? How do you take pics with a big glove on? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm sick of seeing amazing things on rides and not having a camera at the ready! Just today, I saw a phenomenal cyclone-type birds-in-flight formation over a field, but couldn't stop. If only I'd had a camera...
Such a wonderful trip report, Tyler. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Bugnatr]

Worlds Fastest Indian...way cool Ms T!

 

[Tyler]

So this is how you are getting the amazing road shots behind Sally? I love these! What features did you look for in this camera? Is it a point-and-shoot, or do you set the aperture for fast exposures before you start riding so that you don't get speed blur? How do you take pics with a big glove on? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm sick of seeing amazing things on rides and not having a camera at the ready! Just today, I saw a phenomenal cyclone-type birds-in-flight formation over a field, but couldn't stop. If only I'd had a camera...
Such a wonderful trip report, Tyler. Thank you for sharing!

Something lightweight, cost effective, shoots fast, and has a proven record... the Canon Powershot series pretty much fits the bill. Gloves can affect how quickly I can get the shot and I do better with lighter weight gloves... like I said, it's pretty much practice, practice, practice... B)

 

[Tanker]

Wow, Tyler Just Wow!!

What a trip.