Right, the bike is all back together & I've done everything I wanted to, so she's ready to roll.
We've got a good window of fine weather coming up (Tuesday to Friday) and possibly the last for the summer / autumn, so I'm heading off again (no potholes this time) and a different direction.
Day 1, Tuesday 28/3 Christchurch, Geraldine, Tekapo, Mt Cook, Omarama, Lindis Pass, Queenstown & stop in Glenorchy for the night - sml local pub.+ 6½ hrs riding & 530k
Day 2, Wednesday 29th, Back through Queenstown, Arrowtown, over the Crown Range to Wanaka, through Haast Pass to Franz Joseph Glacier for the night, motel, close to bar. 5.20 hrs riding 396K
Day 3, Thursday 30th, Carry on up the coast road through wee towns & Hokitika, turn off at Kumara junction & head to Otira & Arthurs Pass, through Springfield & Darfield back to CHC. 5 hrs riding 381K
That's the plan anyway, as I'm travelling on my own, I can amend at will. Accommodation is fixed though. Will be around 1200k over the 3 days & I may do a side trip here & there too, so could well be more.
Better luck this time, enjoy.
Lets hope better luck second time around. We look forward to the pictures on your return!!!!
Sounds good Col!
Enjoy it and stay safe
Pleased you got your bike sorted Col.
Sounds like a good ride.
Enjoy !!
Yep looking forward to the trip report and pics !
Thx, I'll do what I can. Get some pic's of the trip & do a bit of a write up. Well, might just be comments on the pic.
good luck and have a safe and good ride :onya:
Got your snow tyres Col. :stir:
Safe trip !
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Monday, 27 March 2017, 08:09 PM
Got your snow tyres Col. :stir:
Safe trip !
Nah, Queenstown has 23 degrees today. No snow for me. Rest of the time is looking good too.
Cheers.
Have a great safe trip Col
Had a good run today after the first 250K of cold, overcast & drizzle.
Got to some new roads I've not been on & some improved roads from last time I crossed them - years ago.
The bike went good & strong & the pub I'm in has good beer - result!
I'll do some pic's once I get home.
Cheers guys
The trip in Pic format,
The trip itinerary (loosely) is at the start of this post.
Tuesday
Sorry guys, I can't find where to put text under or above each pic.
1) First stop Tekapo fuel & toilet
2) Top of the Lindis pass, not 1 tree for miles.
3) Bike at the top
4) The Kawarau river, old gold mining site, can still pan for gold there today as tourist attraction
5) Queenstown Bay, the town itself off to the left - I'd been through it & looking back
6) TSS Earnslaw, The Lady of the lake, circa 1905 or thereabouts from memory
7) Heading up to the head of the lake, Queenstown is way off to the left & Glenorchy is way off to the far right, great vista.
8) The pub I stayed at, good steak & my beer too.
Great pics Col, I cant help with the titles over each pic as I don't know how to do it either.
Wednesday 29th
Glenorchy to Franz Joseph, I did a detour to Jackson Bay, never been there before. End of the road on the coast. Done both ends of that coast road now.
1) Mt Aspiring - pointed one on rhs
2) Glenorchy Lookout, looking back where i'd come from, great road that.
3) Look out on part of the Crown Range Rd, off to left you can see the twisties there, 15k corners, woooo, great fun those.
4) Almost at the top of the Crown Range (1075m) highest point on the trip. Photoshopped sky :stir:
5) Lake Hawea, very clear, can see the bottom here & it's actually deep there.
6) Hawea looking towards Wanaka direction - where I've just come through
7 & 8) Jacksons Bay, the road on the coast stops here. Done both ends of the coast rd now.
Wow ! What awesome scenery.. and a beautiful boat !
Thursday, home day
Franz Joseph to Christchurch
Not many pic's of this run as it started to rain just after I left, thought it would probably die out, nope & so 160k later I was wet through with my rain suit nicely tucked away in the bag.
1, 2 & 3) Couple of pies for brunch at Kumara, just ahead of the wet, but it caught me again for a few miles.
4, 5 & 6) The dirty girl when I got home - these are for Lord Barmy
I gave her a wash & dry & polish & oiled the chain before I tucked her up for the night. She's looking lovely again & ready to roll on the next adventure.
My new ram mount for the GoPro arrived the day I left - poo, It's on there now & works a treat, but if I'd had it just a day earlier & could have videoed most of the trip. Never mind, I have a similar trip saved on video anyway.
I must say, the roads down south, especially round the tourist areas are very good indeed. I'm not taking the mick here either, it's the tourists we can thank for these good roads, as without them, they wouldn't have been upgraded to the extent they have been., so thanks tourists, but stay on your side of the road aye!!
Great photos Col. Thanks for sharing.
Inspiring stuff Col,
every shot looks awesome (apart from the TWO pies) no wonder you need all those ponies to lug you around :stir:
Great scenary though and not a jam in sight! Not sure how you are going to follow that.
Cheers
Red
Quote from: Red Biker on Thursday, 30 March 2017, 08:47 PM
Inspiring stuff Col,
every shot looks awesome (apart from the TWO pies) no wonder you need all those ponies to lug you around :stir:
Great scenary though and not a jam in sight! Not sure how you are going to follow that.
Cheers
Red
Perhaps Col's Org name should be Tu Pai :stir:
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Friday, 31 March 2017, 02:15 AM
Quote from: Red Biker on Thursday, 30 March 2017, 08:47 PM
Inspiring stuff Col,
every shot looks awesome (apart from the TWO pies) no wonder you need all those ponies to lug you around :stir:
Great scenary though and not a jam in sight! Not sure how you are going to follow that.
Cheers
Red
Perhaps Col's Org name should be Tu Pai :stir:
Does he wear a wig Kiwi? :lol:
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Friday, 31 March 2017, 02:15 AM
Quote from: Red Biker on Thursday, 30 March 2017, 08:47 PM
Inspiring stuff Col,
every shot looks awesome (apart from the TWO pies) no wonder you need all those ponies to lug you around :stir:
Great scenary though and not a jam in sight! Not sure how you are going to follow that.
Cheers
Red
Perhaps Col's Org name should be Tu Pai :stir:
@Kiwifruit @Red Biker Now that's funny!! Nice Col.
Aaaaand, it was breakfast & lunch, It'd been 14 hours since I ate something, so my tank was running on reserve.
Tu Pai? could fly.
The roads were amazingly un-cluttered. I was most often traveling alone, no-one in front (or not for long!) and no-one following. Had the roads to myself. I couldn't believe it myself.
Def got more traffic near the towns, but I always managed to get a nice 'hole' to travel in.
The bike went very good & strong for the whole trip. I did fuel comparisons (95 & 91) over the journey, and from what I can see, it makes no difference whatsoever to economy or power. (Dave says it just cleans the insides a bit more than 91 though)
Highlights of the ride, in the order I did them.
Omarama to Tarras (The Lindis Pass)
Awesome road, much improved since I last was over it years ago. Just an awesome ride on a bike when you want to push hard into the bends.
Queenstown to Glenorchy
A very nice piece of road. Wide, good seal, fabulous vistas and some good twisties if you want. First time I'd actually been down that piece, it won't be the last either!
Arrowtown to Wanaka (via The Crown Range)
Waaaay improved over what it was last time I traveled that road, 25 odd years ago!! All sealed now, used to be a dirt road with lots of 1 lane bridges & rutted to buggery! Now, it's bloody awesome! Wide, great seal (it's a theme this great seat in central!) an 15k switchback at the start are a blast! Love those bits. There is a shot of some of them above in the 2nd lot of photos.
Haast to Jacksons Bay
First for this piece of road too, map showed long straight roads & so it was. Some of them are bumpy, quite dramatically so, but others are fine, you can let the girl stretch her legs a while on those, not traffic, no population, no side streets, just dead straight & empty road, hmmmm, what would you do?
Cook Saddle & Omoeroa Saddle
Between Fox Glacier & Franz Joseph Glacier
This is a tight & 'technical' ride if you want to do it at pace (which I do of course) and is quite a challenge at the end of a tiring days ride, but a bloody blast & adrenaline rush as well! Just finishes off a fantastic days ride.
Franz up the coast towards Hokitika
Some great scenery & fantastic vistas on this road. Gotta watch the moss growing on the road surface along here (well from Haast really) it's right where we want to ride. Also have to watch the corners, you start round one & it's a dry corner, ½ way round it changes to a wet one with moss growing right where you're riding!! Keeps you on your toes.
Must also say, in this thread too, those new tyres I put on prior to this wee trip did fantastic. Right from new they handled everything I did to them, and in a manner befitting the lady on which they were mounted.
I did 400 - 500K of wet riding & never the slightest hint of let go or slip. Lines in the road, no prob, painted lines & arrows, all taken in stride & without fuss (or slippage). I think they have the compound right on these Angel GT's. A big tick from me.
I'm not bagging the Michy's, just they do have some quirky traits, and, at this stage, the Angels do not appear to have these.
Cheers Col.
Wow, I managed to stick this bit on to the thread, belongs with these pics.
Good work Col, love reading travel threads.
Same Owen, travel threads are a great read.
Brill stuff Col, love all the little details you give 👍
Red