Left home in Tauranga headed for the ferry in Wellington.Stayed the night in Wellington and got the 1.30pm crossing on the 7th November my 15th Wedding Anniversary. Hmmm wish I'd thought of that when I booked the ferry, Ooops....
Anyway good crossing on the ferry. Met up with some others heading south. A group called The Patriots, a club made up of servicemen either server retired going to their muster, they were expecting 2-300 attendees. Great bunch of blokes and women riding quite a smorgasbord of bikes one fella was on a Spyder. I was invited to share their table. Interesting stories.
Stayed that night in Kaikoura. Headed off to Ashburton, stopped for lunch in Cheviot where the Police had set up a roadblock to pull up the Mongols who were heading to Christchurch for their fifth year celebration of being an organized criminal gang. Coppers did a great job. They just waved me through. Then again I didn't broadcast my arrival. Some of the clowns sat the Harvey Parkinsons on the rev limiters just to show their distain for authority. I presume they would have received a warm welcome from the next bunch of coppers 10k further on. Funny to watch.
Stayed in Ashburton got up and went to the pub for breaky and to watch the All Blacks beat Ireland.
Next stop Alexandra to see my son and the grandies. Just had lunch and doing some washing, good Ole laundromats !
Good Onya Kiwi, enjoy. Its a sort of Wild Hogs story so far. :cheers:
Tekapo, Church of the Good Shepherd.
Building the house in Ashburton.
Some of the bikes on the ferry.
No unicorns, dinosaurs or dodos but found a Vincent. Amazing work.
Aye, proper bike that!
I've seen at least half a dozen Vincent's since Thursday. They must have a meet on somewhere. I saw three together at Waiouru in the pissing rain. Not sure who were the oldest the riders or the bikes ?
Meeting some good guys out and about.
Col my Mates Mate has a Vincati, you wont see one of them.Only 7 at last count.1970 GT 750 Ducati with one of Phil Irvings finest in the power department.
This morning's view from the lounge.
En-suite next to the third tree? :rofl2:
Damn ducks woke me up at 4 this morning. They're lucky I'm not Chinese or they'd be Peking out of a pot !!
Quote from: Notty on Thursday, 14 November 2024, 06:18 PMEn-suite next to the third tree? :rofl2:
I thought no one could see :doh:
Notty you been on Google Earth again. Col,duck feathers in doonas keep you warm, not sleeping with live ones🦆
...and roast duck pancakes are delicious...
Snow fell in the hills behind Alexandra last night. Cold in my little tent.
Snow in mid November, :shocked: Bloody hell! how's the Ozzie imports gonna handle that in a few days? :whistling:
Shhhh don't tell Bobbie 🤫🤫🤫
We're gearing up for our winter weather anyway ☃️☃️
If it warms up that's a bonus.
Bobbie has packed and unpacked then repacked my head is spinning 😵�💫
I've said NZ is just like Oz in respect of shopping etc. we won't want for anything.
I'm really excited to see summer scenery as I've only ever traveled for snow skiing in winter months.
Good on ya for packing warmer gear, I went for a couple of outings today, sun shining but a cold wind, after an hour I was really quite chilled, best I wait for the +25 degrees days before I go any real distance I reckon. Dunno how KF is handling it down south as he's much more used to warmer weather being from TGA.
Only got down to 3 degrees last night Col. Looks like a sunblock day today, clear skies. Watching the rugby at an Alexandra local. Half time....Go the AB's !!
Had a great day riding around the Catlins coast. Did the tourist thing and went for a walk to a waterfall, a bit further on went to see the petrified forest at Curio Bay. Gets you thinking about man made climate change when you see logs encased in rock.
Howling wind with rain was today's experience up on top of Bluff Hill. Got blown plenty sideways by the crosswind....exciting.
View from Bluff Hill.
Culinary masterpiece at the campground. I won't show management.
Got all those same pic's too mate, except yer tea . . . :cheers:
Asparagus, steak n spuds, All you need Mate.
Looking forward to catching up with our Aussie imports tomorrow in Invercargill :onya:
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Wednesday, 20 November 2024, 06:45 PMLooking forward to catching up with our Aussie imports tomorrow in Invercargill :onya:
Remember to always call 'em 'Sport' & reply to everything with 'fair dinkum mate' as that makes them feel at home & less nervous.
They shouldn't feel too nervous Hooli, nothing here that eats you any more, the locals got told that's a no no a couple hundred years ago :facepalm:
Visiting THE hardware shop in Invercargill I presume?
Quote from: Eric GSX1400K3 on Thursday, 21 November 2024, 03:34 PMVisiting THE hardware shop in Invercargill I presume?
Invercargill has at least 2 hardware shops now, Bunnings & Mitre 10 Mega. :boogie: :rofl2:
Quote from: Eric GSX1400K3 on Thursday, 21 November 2024, 03:34 PMVisiting THE hardware shop in Invercargill I presume?
That's where I knew the name from! thanks, I hadn't clicked.
Out to Riverton from invercargill today, then enjoyed an evening with the Ozzies :onya:
Bobbie, Shane, Col and I visited Bert Munro exhibit this morning.
Then battled the elements of extreme wind and odd downpour to Te Anau.
It's a great place, hope you saw the display where Burt made his offerings to the "Gods of Speed"
Milford Sound (Fjord) today spectacular views
Pleased you enjoyed it, it's a stunning part of the planet. What did you think of the Homer Tunnel ?
That does look impressive!
Quote from: Hooli on Sunday, 24 November 2024, 12:54 AMThat does look impressive!
So are the bloody sandflies down there, they're legendary!
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Saturday, 23 November 2024, 07:13 PMPleased you enjoyed it, it's a stunning part of the planet. What did you think of the Homer Tunnel ?
Impressive engineering Col 3 men with hand tools
Could have ridden but wouldn't have known places to stop for photos or been informed of the history etc.
lunch bag was excellent free coffee and cookies on boat 👍
We were knackered when we finally got back to our digs.
Heading to Queenstown today 🏍�🏍�😁😁😁
Kawarau Jet or Shotover Jet in Queenstown, either would be a thrill for ya. Gotta go up the Gondola for the views & think there's still a restaurant up there, been a while since I was there. :onya: :cheers:
420 kms today from Wanaka via Haast, Fox Glacier and up the West Coast to Hokitika. Again staying in my no stars tent tonight.
Forgot to post this Pic yesterday. At Cardrona is 'BraDrona' a farmers fence covered in bra's to show support for Womens Breast Cancer Awareness.
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Spectacular Lake Wanaka.
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Great to catch up with you last night Col, few beers & a roast dinner. :cheers: all good.
Sun's out here now, am sure you'll be in the warm by now too.
Yep nice warm day today
Thank you both for your hospitality, was good to see you again. We enjoyed a lovely dinner, a couple of coldies then put the world in order, had a few laughs.
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Good lookin pair of roosters in that pic.👍Both the same height i see😂
Last night in the South Island for me on this trip.
300kms from Westport to Picton today, warm with a clear sky. An aircraft's vapor trail high up in the sky was visible for hours.
Dinner this evening at the Jolly Roger Bar and Restaurant in Waikawa Bay just along from Picton.
Check in for the ferry tomorrow at 6.45am. In my room getting my tie downs sorted out, gear ready, alarm set.
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Not many on the ferry this morning. Only one other bike on board.
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That outside one, is it from the strait with North Island in the background?
Was early in the crossing so I don't think so Col. A few more people appeared later, likely were outside when I took the photo. It was cold and windy outside.
Got home about 7.15 this evening. Just over 500 kms from ferry to home.
4481 kms was the total distance traveled. Had a great time away but it's always nice to be home.
Mt Ruapehu, central North Island.
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:cheers:
As promised by PC Plod i got my speeding ticket in the mail today.
66kph in a 50 = $120 let's hope that's the only mail I receive regarding speed. Lots of Police in the Central North Island. Even one monitoring temporary 30kph in road works. Not an easy speed to ride on coarse gravel.
Mr. Plod topping up the Christmas party drinks fund eh KF? Don't worry, we're in the same boat on this side of the ditch.
How many is that now Col? That radar detector is looking a good option about now . . . :onya: :cheers:
Anti-radar missiles would be more use.
People out killing,robbing,mugging, they are low life frogwits and you get a fine for a few ks over.Yep, all for the plods xmas party
Sounds like your plod are like ours. Scared of nasty violent criminals so go after the easy innocent targets to pretend to be doing their jobs.
Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.
I've just spent an enjoyable few minutes on Google Maps tracking down all those places with "borrowed" names :grin:
A part of the world that I am unlikely to ever see, but it does look beautiful.
Pete.
Just an FYI Pete, those 'borrowed' names came about cos it was poms who came here & named everything.
Your welcome Pete. I look forward to reading your trip report. You add such detail I have no idea how to load a map.
Next time I'm in Wimbledon I'll send you a Pic, it don't look like SW19 !!
Hooli to be fair to the Plods they are now enforcing our government's new gang patch ban. There was a Mongols gathering in Christchurch when i was traveling south from Kaikoura they set up a road block in Cheviot, they waved me through. There were lots of cops about that day, i stuck to the speed limit and was given a friendly way as i passed by. We've had some massive drug busts and ram raids have declined. I believe in the main they do a good job. I'm just grumpy because I got pinged.