escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
Wow, great trip 'cowbell. Thanks for taking time to post it up!
Standing by for the next installment.
--G
Standing by for the next installment.
--G
Auckland NZ to Christchurch in 7 days
- Thread starter Morecowbell
- Start date
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Uncle Hud
Just another blob of protoplasm using up your oxyg
Oh my! That's some really beautiful countryside! Thanks for the time and effort to (1) take the photos, (2) share the photos, and (3) write explanatory details.
And French toast with blueberries, powdered sugar and -- whatever mascarpone might be -- looks ultra fab.
And French toast with blueberries, powdered sugar and -- whatever mascarpone might be -- looks ultra fab.
Geez, this is taking me forever. Sorry.
Last day, 2/24/15, 258 miles.
This would be a relatively short day since we had to return the bike to the shop in Christchurch by 4pm. I woke up early for some reason, and decided that I should probably find a place to stay in Christchurch that night. I started looking around on Kayak, TripAdvisor, and individual hotel websites. Not a single room to be found in the whole city. Crap. As Tyler mentioned, the Cricket World Cup games were going on and everything was booked. I had booked a rental car several weeks prior to use after returning the bike, but I had simply forgotten to book a room. That was a pretty boneheaded tactical error. I hoped we'd find a vacancy somewhere in the outer 'burbs as we rode that day.
We had a quick breakfast by the waterfront and packed our gear. We headed out around 9:15. Just as we passed through the village, we fell in behind a solo rider on an R1200GS. He rode at a spirited but sane pace, so we followed him all the way into the Christchurch 'burbs. It was fun keeping up with him through the curvy sections of Hwy 75. I came out of one uphill corner and accelerated harder than usual to keep up with the guy, and the front end of the Strom started to come up. I hadn't had that happen before, so it startled Kristi a bit...but I thought it was great fun. That bike has a lot of torque! We rolled through the CHC suburbs, which sucked as the day before with a lot of morning traffic. Then westbound on 73, the traffic lightened up quite a bit. We kept our eyes open for any small mom-and-pop motels with a vacancy sign showing. The few places we saw had the "no vacancy" signs lit. This wasn't looking very promising. We topped the tank in Darfield, and even that far west the motels were still full. Finally, 35 miles west of CHC, we rolled though Springfield and found a motel with rooms available. It wasn't fancy, but it had a bed and a shower. We paid for the room and told the clerk that we would keep riding and be back later that evening.
We headed towards the west coast on 73, planning to turn around somewhere near Arthur's Pass or Otira. It was a fun road, very scenic with a few good curves here and there. It was a beautiful day, sunny and a temp in the 70s. We stopped for a quick break at the rest area at Arthur's Pass. There was a group of three bikes parked just west of us, and I waved as we dismounted. One of the riders came over and we chatted for a bit. As I mentioned before, everyone is just so friendly and talkative. This guy was asking about our trip and how I liked the V-Strom. As we talked, one of the other riders approached, and that guy grabbed my hand and shook it. It was the same guy we'd met several days prior on the ferry! How cool is that? What a small...world, or country, in this case. We swapped stories about where we had all been in the past few days. The gentleman gave me his card and asked me to email him when we got home. The other guy said, "Hey, I don't have a card, but email me too! I'll write my address on the back of that card". He said that if we ever came back to his area on the North Island, we were welcome to ride his Triumph Tiger 800(?). What great people. I need to email those guys.
We continued on 73, and the road crests a pass, and then descends a very steep grade. I think the sign showed 16%. We got stuck behind a couple of sheep haulers, and they creep down the hill in 1st gear and about 10km/h. We finally got around them and went out as far as Otira. The Garmin showed that we needed to head back now to return the bike on time. We climbed back up that grade, luckily with no traffic. It was no challenge for the V-Strom.
Here's a view looking down the hill...it doesn't really show how steep it is, though:
Looking up at the hills above:
We stopped at Arthur's Pass again for a snack. Another rider approached to chat for a bit. The usual stuff about our trip and how I liked the bike. It's hard to cover any miles when everybody wants to talk so much! There were a lot of bikes out that day:
Back on the bike, heading for the shop in Christchurch...the Garmin showed an ETA of 4:10pm. Whoops...we gotta haul *** and get back. As we retraced our route, some cloud cover started rolling in. Not a big deal initially, but it got a lot lower and darker as we headed east. As we crossed the mountains just west of Springfield, the wind started blowing...and it started raining. The temp dropped into the 50s, and we didn't have our rain jackets on. What happened to the beautiful weather just a few hours earlier? We didn't really have time to stop and get the rain gear on...so we pressed on. I knew Kristi wasn't very comfortable back there, but she never complained. She's awesome. We finally got back to Christchurch and found a gas station near the shop. We topped the tank one last time, and parked the bike at 4:15pm. Just a few minutes late. I was thrilled that we had made it back with no damage to ourselves or the bike, but I was really sad to end the ride. I could have kept going for a few more days! I had grown quite fond of the V-Strom and was having a lot of fun riding it.
We covered 2184 miles in 7 days, for an average of 312 mi/day. Way below my usual average, but then again...this wasn't an average trip for us. I pulled the GPS off the bike and we rearranged all of our stuff. I almost forgot to pull the Autocom from under the seat. That would have sucked to leave that behind. After double checking to see that we had everything, we took a taxi out to the airport to pick up a rental car. A Toyota Yaris. Yay. What a letdown after riding such a cool bike for a week. Driving from the right side was awkward...several times when trying to signal a turn, I'd hit the windshield wiper lever instead. Just a bit embarrassing.
We drove 35 miles back to the west to our motel in Springfield, only to find out that all of the kitchens in town were closed. We back-tracked to Sheffield hoping to find some chow. No luck there either. We ended up going 14 miles east to Darfield to find an open restaurant. It was a pain in the ***, but we were just happy to find something to eat. We slept late the next morning, had breakfast at the small café across the street...and then headed back to Christchurch. We had a few hours to kill before our flight to Sydney, so I talked Kristi into checking out the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at the old air base near the rental shop. They had some cool stuff on display. The A-4 Skyhawk. I've always loved the Scooter:
Had to take this pic for Kristi's dad. He used to fly C-47s in the Air Force before a long career at TWA:
After that, it was back to the CHC airport to return the car and check-in for the Jetstar flight back to SYD. We landed at SYD around 7pm and got a ride to the hotel. Had a quick massively overpriced dinner at the hotel restaurant and turned in relatively early. Up early the next morning, shuttle ride to the international terminal, and check in for the United flight back to LAX. We were happy to get seats, even if they were middle seats way back in coach. That was a long ride back to LAX. Then we cleared customs, caught the bus out to the parking lot, and a 2.5 hour drive home to Palm Springs. Back to real life. And laundry. And bills. That's no fun.
It was an epic trip for us. We'd talked about doing it for years, but seeing the FJR in the fleet pushed me over the edge. I hope to go back someday, maybe in 5 years or so when I can afford it. And then I'll schedule my vacation time way in advance and make SURE I get the FJR booked!
Thanks for reading.
Last day, 2/24/15, 258 miles.
This would be a relatively short day since we had to return the bike to the shop in Christchurch by 4pm. I woke up early for some reason, and decided that I should probably find a place to stay in Christchurch that night. I started looking around on Kayak, TripAdvisor, and individual hotel websites. Not a single room to be found in the whole city. Crap. As Tyler mentioned, the Cricket World Cup games were going on and everything was booked. I had booked a rental car several weeks prior to use after returning the bike, but I had simply forgotten to book a room. That was a pretty boneheaded tactical error. I hoped we'd find a vacancy somewhere in the outer 'burbs as we rode that day.
We had a quick breakfast by the waterfront and packed our gear. We headed out around 9:15. Just as we passed through the village, we fell in behind a solo rider on an R1200GS. He rode at a spirited but sane pace, so we followed him all the way into the Christchurch 'burbs. It was fun keeping up with him through the curvy sections of Hwy 75. I came out of one uphill corner and accelerated harder than usual to keep up with the guy, and the front end of the Strom started to come up. I hadn't had that happen before, so it startled Kristi a bit...but I thought it was great fun. That bike has a lot of torque! We rolled through the CHC suburbs, which sucked as the day before with a lot of morning traffic. Then westbound on 73, the traffic lightened up quite a bit. We kept our eyes open for any small mom-and-pop motels with a vacancy sign showing. The few places we saw had the "no vacancy" signs lit. This wasn't looking very promising. We topped the tank in Darfield, and even that far west the motels were still full. Finally, 35 miles west of CHC, we rolled though Springfield and found a motel with rooms available. It wasn't fancy, but it had a bed and a shower. We paid for the room and told the clerk that we would keep riding and be back later that evening.
We headed towards the west coast on 73, planning to turn around somewhere near Arthur's Pass or Otira. It was a fun road, very scenic with a few good curves here and there. It was a beautiful day, sunny and a temp in the 70s. We stopped for a quick break at the rest area at Arthur's Pass. There was a group of three bikes parked just west of us, and I waved as we dismounted. One of the riders came over and we chatted for a bit. As I mentioned before, everyone is just so friendly and talkative. This guy was asking about our trip and how I liked the V-Strom. As we talked, one of the other riders approached, and that guy grabbed my hand and shook it. It was the same guy we'd met several days prior on the ferry! How cool is that? What a small...world, or country, in this case. We swapped stories about where we had all been in the past few days. The gentleman gave me his card and asked me to email him when we got home. The other guy said, "Hey, I don't have a card, but email me too! I'll write my address on the back of that card". He said that if we ever came back to his area on the North Island, we were welcome to ride his Triumph Tiger 800(?). What great people. I need to email those guys.
We continued on 73, and the road crests a pass, and then descends a very steep grade. I think the sign showed 16%. We got stuck behind a couple of sheep haulers, and they creep down the hill in 1st gear and about 10km/h. We finally got around them and went out as far as Otira. The Garmin showed that we needed to head back now to return the bike on time. We climbed back up that grade, luckily with no traffic. It was no challenge for the V-Strom.
Here's a view looking down the hill...it doesn't really show how steep it is, though:
Looking up at the hills above:
We stopped at Arthur's Pass again for a snack. Another rider approached to chat for a bit. The usual stuff about our trip and how I liked the bike. It's hard to cover any miles when everybody wants to talk so much! There were a lot of bikes out that day:
Back on the bike, heading for the shop in Christchurch...the Garmin showed an ETA of 4:10pm. Whoops...we gotta haul *** and get back. As we retraced our route, some cloud cover started rolling in. Not a big deal initially, but it got a lot lower and darker as we headed east. As we crossed the mountains just west of Springfield, the wind started blowing...and it started raining. The temp dropped into the 50s, and we didn't have our rain jackets on. What happened to the beautiful weather just a few hours earlier? We didn't really have time to stop and get the rain gear on...so we pressed on. I knew Kristi wasn't very comfortable back there, but she never complained. She's awesome. We finally got back to Christchurch and found a gas station near the shop. We topped the tank one last time, and parked the bike at 4:15pm. Just a few minutes late. I was thrilled that we had made it back with no damage to ourselves or the bike, but I was really sad to end the ride. I could have kept going for a few more days! I had grown quite fond of the V-Strom and was having a lot of fun riding it.
We covered 2184 miles in 7 days, for an average of 312 mi/day. Way below my usual average, but then again...this wasn't an average trip for us. I pulled the GPS off the bike and we rearranged all of our stuff. I almost forgot to pull the Autocom from under the seat. That would have sucked to leave that behind. After double checking to see that we had everything, we took a taxi out to the airport to pick up a rental car. A Toyota Yaris. Yay. What a letdown after riding such a cool bike for a week. Driving from the right side was awkward...several times when trying to signal a turn, I'd hit the windshield wiper lever instead. Just a bit embarrassing.
We drove 35 miles back to the west to our motel in Springfield, only to find out that all of the kitchens in town were closed. We back-tracked to Sheffield hoping to find some chow. No luck there either. We ended up going 14 miles east to Darfield to find an open restaurant. It was a pain in the ***, but we were just happy to find something to eat. We slept late the next morning, had breakfast at the small café across the street...and then headed back to Christchurch. We had a few hours to kill before our flight to Sydney, so I talked Kristi into checking out the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at the old air base near the rental shop. They had some cool stuff on display. The A-4 Skyhawk. I've always loved the Scooter:
Had to take this pic for Kristi's dad. He used to fly C-47s in the Air Force before a long career at TWA:
After that, it was back to the CHC airport to return the car and check-in for the Jetstar flight back to SYD. We landed at SYD around 7pm and got a ride to the hotel. Had a quick massively overpriced dinner at the hotel restaurant and turned in relatively early. Up early the next morning, shuttle ride to the international terminal, and check in for the United flight back to LAX. We were happy to get seats, even if they were middle seats way back in coach. That was a long ride back to LAX. Then we cleared customs, caught the bus out to the parking lot, and a 2.5 hour drive home to Palm Springs. Back to real life. And laundry. And bills. That's no fun.
It was an epic trip for us. We'd talked about doing it for years, but seeing the FJR in the fleet pushed me over the edge. I hope to go back someday, maybe in 5 years or so when I can afford it. And then I'll schedule my vacation time way in advance and make SURE I get the FJR booked!
Thanks for reading.
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wheatonFJR
...
Awesome. Just awesome.
I know what you mean... about 13-1/2 hours and I don't sleep on planes... seemed like forever! And driving in to work this morning was a bit of a downer... I'm planning on going back as well... put Australia on the list too as there is some really tasty riding there too!
rogdeb
Scouser
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Yes, thanks. You gave me some ideas for our trip next month. We'll be on the some of the same routes you took. We're staying in the South Island, starting and ending in CHC. As its a bit later in their summer (it will be the start of the Fall season in April) we'll probably get more rain....but we'll deal with it!
Redfish Hunter
Gone Fishing
Thank you for putting in the effort of doing this Excellent Ride Report. I know very well the time, effort, and aggravation of trying to type and arrange a lengthy Ride Report. It seems like it takes forever for me to finish one and the whole time I really should be doing other things. If it helps any, this one was great and very educational as well as entertaining. You have provided a travel guide as well as entertainment. Well Done.
A few tidbits from my journey:
If you go out to Milford Sound, get in front of the traffic at the queue waiting for the one-way traffic in the tunnel. Open road ahead... brilliant! If weather is cooperating, take a cruise on the Sound with Cruise Milford. Tell the skipper, Craig, that I sent you. Mention the two ladies that stood under the waterfall.
Look at staying at the Cadrona Hotel, about 1/2-hour outside of Queenstown. Q'town was busy, packed, and very touristy. Cadrona is quieter and just lovely, imo. If you like nightlife, etc., then stay in Q'town... try the restaurant Flame - definitely make a reservation as they are very popular. Definitely take the out-and-back road to Glenorchy.
Also, check out Hokitika and stay at the Beachfront Hotel... great little town, restaurant on site, beach view rooms... most excellent!
Okay. that's it off the top of my head... I'm sure there's more but it's been a whirlwind the past three weeks! B)
escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
You lucky *******. Two and a half weeks? Can I go with you? I wanna go back already. What's your plan, where are you going? Shoot me a PM if you have any questions about anything.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!
I showed Kristi what you wrote, and she just blushed. Thanks man.
Wheaton, you HAVE to go. I think every motorcyclist should head down under at least once in his/her life. It's that cool.
You got that right. The westbound flight wasn't too bad, even though it actually takes longer. Eastbound is the worst because of the timing of the flight and our normal circadian rhythm. Are you going to post a ride report? I'd love to see details and pics of where you went and what you saw. If (when) I ever go back, I'm going to stay on the South Island only and I definitely want to see Milford Sound. I would have hit it on this trip, but I didn't have enough time.
Thanks RFH. I rarely do ride reports (this is my first on this forum), and it does take a while to get everything sorted out. I always enjoy reading your RRs and the adventures that you and your pop have. I envy you getting to ride with your dad. My dad passed away back in 2007, and he wasn't a rider. I miss that guy. I would have loved to be able to share road trips with him. But I tried to model my RR after your style. I'm looking forward to reading about your next big trip.
Circadian rhythms, huh? I just figured it was longer going home because I didn't want to leave! :lol: Yes, I will definitely do a RR once I get caught up at work and have some time to go through all the photos - you'll probably see a few familiar places.
I definitely want to go back as well... three weeks seems like a long time (10 days in NZ, 10 in Australia) but it goes by so quickly! I could easily have spent double that amount of time. B)
Thanks Tyler..........we're staying a night at the Milford Lodge and will be taking the 9 am boat cruise..........I'll be sure to tell Craig you said Hey! Great tip on filtering to the front prior to the tunnel. I do this a lot normally here in CA. but being in a foreign country, you're never sure......if anyone says anything I'll just tell them Tyler said it was OKA few tidbits from my journey:
If you go out to Milford Sound, get in front of the traffic at the queue waiting for the one-way traffic in the tunnel. Open road ahead... brilliant! If weather is cooperating, take a cruise on the Sound with Cruise Milford. Tell the skipper, Craig, that I sent you. Mention the two ladies that stood under the waterfall.
We've got reservations in Qtown, and have a Rest day planned there so we're staying in town as we do like to experience the nightlife and being able to walk around town. The ride out to Glenorchy was on our plans though for sure.
Hah, perfect. Our route has us staying a night in Hokitika, and that's exactly where we're staying
yamafitter
Reigning NERDS Granite Lane Gold Medalist
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