Auckland via Waihi – 25th Nov

As the final day of our tour dawned I was awake early, it is now a realisation the journey will soon be over. We have about 220 km to cover today and have agreed with Baz we are happy to drop the bikes off in Waihi, his base, rather than struggle through the traffic into Auckland. Instead we will take the van and Ali will bring all the luggage.

Before that we still had a ride to complete and our only stop, other than coffee, would be the Huka Falls. These falls are part of a number along this river used to generate electricity from a dam. I am informed that New Zealand generate 80% of their electricity from hydropower and renewable’s, which is brilliant, clean and green. I wish we had a solution like this in the UK. The falls were very impressive, as every other natural wonder has been, and it was well worth the detour, then a big push for the finish.

A final beautiful ride through Hobbit - Ville and then on to Waihi to drop off the bikes. The last 5km took us on a back route into town and this turned out to be one of the most tranquil and beautiful roads we rode. Cleared the bikes with Baz and then were taken for lunch followed by an unexpected walk through an old gold mine, which presented some more great picture opportunities,then in to Auckland. The City traffic was terrible with long queues of about 5 miles so pleased to be in the car. The temperature was about 30 degrees and sunny.

Our end of tour dinner was held in the Sky tower, New Zealand’s tallest building, and what a spectacular view. Words were spoken, sincerity expressed and praise handed around followed by a Maori song from Tony who had come down with his wife Sonia to join us; a fitting end to a marvellous tour.

So…… New Zealand, a land of contrasts, great beauty, spectacle. A feat of natures wonder’s. The superlatives can be written but they do not do justice to a land the local people call “Gods Own”, having now seen most of it I can understand why.

Thanks to Barry & Ali Howie of Harley Tours and the support of Tony and Colin, you made our trip a memorable one that will live in our minds for many years to come.

May I also thank all you blog follows for sharing in our experience and we all look forward to seeing you soon.
Big Rog – Total Km ridden 5631

Lake Taupo – Tues 24th Nov

Our usual early start saw us on the road at 8.30; we had about 50km’s to ride to get over to a Geo Thermal area where a large Geyser named “The Lady Knox” blows her top at about 10.15 every day. We made it in plenty of time and it was fun to see and hear how the Geyser works and finally shoot her hot water high into the air. Once we had seen this we were able to take a stroll around the area and look at the remarkable landscape that bubbles and steams and gives off the smell of Sulphur.

Then we jumped back on the bikes and made our back the 50km to Taupo for a spot of lunch. The temperature was now about 30 degrees and very hot so we dumped the bikes grabbed our swim gear and went with Baz, by van, to a nearby river. We planned to go for a dip. Baz had a couple of bottles wine and some glasses and we made our way down to the bank. Quite a few people had the same idea but there was still room for us to get in. The river was fed by hot thermal springs and so we had a rather wonderful experience of bathing in the river and moving from hot to cold areas while we had a swim. Then we popped the wine and drank a glass while basking in the sunshine.

Packing it all in today we then set off to a dam that let out water every couple of hours into a gorge. A great sight as the water thundered from the sluice gates, it filled the gorge in minutes.

Our last day of the tour is officially tomorrow. We are riding back Waihi to leave the bikes at Baz’s premises and take the van onto Auckland and our end of tour dinner; where has a month gone?

Wellington to Lake Taupo – Mon 23rd Nov

Leaving “windy “Wellington in the rush hour traffic meant a slow start to the day. Once out of the city we fuelled up and set off for Taupo some 380 km’s North. A two-hour ride without a tea stop and nothing much to look at made it one of our less interesting ones.

There were a lot of police on the road, more than we have seen on the entire trip but we managed to keep Arl S out their way. We finally stopped for lunch at, what appeared to be, a Dakota DC3 aircraft parked at the side of the road and it was! Really cool, a café was using it and it was being refurbished so we could not get on it but will be real neat when it’s finished.

As we climbed into the Rhitianga Ranges the terrain became more interesting; soon we were in the dessert and three large Volcanoes dominated the horizon, it was weird as it was most unexpected. After all we had seen in NZ a dessert was just not on the list but there it was barren, harsh and dry as a bone. It does not cover a wide area though and as fast as we were in it we were out again.
From here we wound our way to Taupo, NZ ‘s largest lake and as you can imagine it is beautiful. Tomorrow we will be exploring the area as we have a day here to go out to play, I will have lots of fun stuff to write about then, today we simply rode all day. Now we are staying in some cool villas set on a winery at a place called Huka Falls, again very nice accommodation.

Kaikoura to Picton \ Wellington – Sunday 22nd Nov

With not far to ride we left about 10am, having had an enjoyable breakfast at a local café. We knew the ride would be picturesque as it was a continuation of yesterdays ride. What a special one it turned out to be; how many times in your life do you get the chance to ride a quiet road with the Pacific Ocean immediately on your right and a mountain range on your left with beautiful rolling foothills beneath them. In fact they looked unreal, too perfect, they peppered the landscape as we wound our way through gentle undulating curves that passed alongside them. Baz had said this was one of his top three rides in New Zealand.

We stopped at a Fur Seal colony to look at them basking on the rocks; what characters they are. It has been good to see such a wonderful range of wildlife on this trip we only managed a squirrel in the USA LOL!!

Another calm sea meant a pleasant crossing from Picton back to Wellington where we are staying in the Cook Hotel once more. Tonight we ate in their restaurant and it was a brilliant buffet where a chef cooked Asian stir-fry in front of you, the smell of it cooking was mouth watering and it lived up to expectation, polished off with cheese and port, very nice.

The end is now in sight, back on the North Island, we only have about 700 km’s left to ride before arriving back in Auckland but we still have a hot river to swim in, a set of Volcano’s to see and the big Geyser at Rotarua to watch so lots to look forward to. Total km’s so far 4920

Kaikoura Whale watching Sat 21st Nov

Today, for me, was going to be about whale watching. It is something I have dreamed of doing all my life and today I was going fulfil my ambition. We set off early from Christchurch to avoid the city traffic and were soon out in the countryside.

We had some more strong crosswinds but nothing like yesterday. The ride was only going to take a couple of hours and cover about 200k. As we approached our destination Baz had pulled us over to tell us about this section of the road. It dropped down to the sea with a mountainside backdrop and wound it’s way along the coast weaving through tunnels, where we had to blast the horns and rev the bikes like the children we are, before pulling into our Hotel “Fairway Apartments” very nice indeed. Brand new, set on a golf course and just a few minutes ride from town.

Baz dropped John, Arl and myself off at the Whale watch place. Paul and Arlene had done this before so opted out. The sea had a good swell and was rolling the boat around but not enough to make us uncomfortable. We were soon into our first whale; it was on the surface, blowing air and water high from its blowhole, digesting food before it’s next dive. This one went down again before we got a good look but it was not too long before another surfaced. This time we got right alongside the Whale and had about 15minutes watching it before it Fluked it’s huge tail and dived beneath the ocean. John managed to get a couple of great shots of the Whales tale as it went down; brilliant!

We moved on, scanning the sea for activity, suddenly Dusky Dolphins, a whole pod of them, surrounded us; they were the stars of the show and spent about 10 minutes with us. They darted alongside the boat leaping from the water showing off, as Dolphins love to do. They were beautiful creatures and to see them like this in the wild was very special.
So that’s another ambition ticked off my bucket list and I must say it lived up to my expectation. We are going into the local town tonight for dinner and a few beers, it’s been a very good day!

Christchurch – Fri 20th Dec

With another early start we rose from our beds tired from the lack of sleep, the rooms were unbearably hot and everyone complained about it. The weather looked good though and we enjoyed a sunny start to the ride. We were warned that strong winds may be a problem further along our route and they were!

For about 50km’s we were battered by cross winds and at one corner both Arl Stevens and myself nearly lost it when a really strong gust caught us out. Luckily we had no disasters and we laughed about it a few km’s down the road.

Being the rufty tufty rock hard biker dudes we are, we stopped for a water break and began to chat about the beautiful Lupins we had seen, while eating dried fruit!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On arriving in Christchurch we checked into our city Hotel then spent the afternoon looking around. We took a Tram ride, visited Cathedral Square and walked back through North Hagley Park, which was more like Kew Gardens, as well as browsing the shops. Christchurch is a much nicer city than Auckland, in my opinion, its more personal and seems a very contented place. The weather was beautiful and the temperature rose to 27 c, the best weather day so far.

Tomorrow we head on up the coast to Kaikoura where we hope to do some Whale & Gannet watching, should be an exciting day?

Lake Te Ka Po – Thurs 19th Nov

Today we rode 425kms from Te Anu up North through McKenzie Country to Lake Te Ka Po (And Barry Pearce turned up! see pic). Now I have been ranting on about NZ and how great it is for the past 3 x weeks but guys, you gotta believe me when I tell you that these roads have to be some of the best in the world for bikers. Long undulating straights blend into scintillating curves followed by some tight hairpins and then more beautiful straights, all with virtually no other traffic on the road.

If you can summon up the means to get down here book direct with Baz at Harley Tours and it will be a lot cheaper. We have paid an awful lot of money for this trip but we have stayed in luxury accommodation and to be honest that’s not necessary. Baz told us he could run a tour for much less and if you think you have the inclination to take on a trip of this nature I would recommend these guys, they are excellent, a real good laugh, know the best routes and roads and places to stop and can really ride.

I feel my riding has improved considerably during this tour and I have loved the bends and twists. Today’s ride was magnificent, we kept our speed up to 100k’s for most of the day and I loved every minute of it, the sun shone, the temperature rose and we all have rather red faces this evening; its been a brilliant day.

Lake Te Ka Po is one of New Zealand’s largest and is the most amazing colour of blue imaginable. I am not sure how to describe it? Azure blue? Topaz blue? Whatever the colour it took my breath away and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to see it. Added to this magnificent Mount Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain, stands majestically in the background, it is no wonder so many movies are now filmed here. The backdrops are just meant for celluloid and the big screen.

Total km’s so far, around 4700, and we head towards Christ Church in the morning. A shorter ride, we will be there by mid afternoon, which will be good for some R and R and a little retail therapy for Mrs Stevens!

Milford Sound Wed 18th Nov

Today we had a day off the bikes and took the van; Baz drove us to Milford Sound. It was about a two-hour journey through yet more outstanding territory with constant demands to stop and take pictures.

We climbed up into the mountains once again, this time passing through the Homer Tunnel, it is 1.3km long and has a steep gradient cut through the base of a 2000-foot high mountain. We descended down from 3000 ft to sea level, into the Sound. Here we boarded a vessel and took a cruise that delivered the most amazing scenery! I hope some of the pictures we took do it justice but I doubt it?

During the cruise we saw Dolphin, seals and penguins, waterfalls and fiords and John & I were snapping away with our cameras, it was great fun and the sun shone brilliantly all day. The best day’s sunshine we have had on the South Island.

We got back to our Motel about 3.45 so have some time to rest up before our big ride to lake Te Ka Po tomorrow. I think we have over 400km to cover so it will be a tiring one for sure. We are as far South as we go on the trip and beginning the climb North back to Auckland in the morning. We just realised the end of our trip is in sight as we have just 6 more days on the road

17.11.09 Te Anu au

We had a cold but sunny ride of about 190km into Te Anu. It is a beautiful little town of about 4000 people and hosts a masterpiece of a lake. We took another boat trip across it to some glow worm caves where we saw the most amazing caves and water systems passing through them. The glow worms glowed, as we had expected, and it was a really cool experience.

Tomorrow we have our fist day of zero riding as we take the van to Milford Sound. Blogging a bit weak I know at the moment but that is because i HAVE HARDLY HAD TIME TO SIT DOWN...all very hectic but I would not have missed this for the world.

Queens Town

We had a quiet day in Queenie today while Paul & Arlene V went for a fly in a Gypsy Moth by-plane, cool eh? We mooched around the town and had a chill.

In the evening we went on the TSS Ernslaw for a cruise on the lake followed by dinner and then a demo of sheep herding and shearing, which was great fun. Tomorrow we head for Te Anu and the second largest lake in NZ all 350 sq km of it !

The rain forest to Cadrona - 15.11.09

I awoke to torrential rain at about 6am and looked from my room with dread at the thought of a day riding through this but by the time we had finished breakfast at 8am it had died down. We set off towards the rainforest which was beautiful but named with good reason. Soon we were back in the rain and wind, which stayed with us right through until about 2.30pm.

We stopped at “Bruce Bay” and again we were treated to more dramatic scenes as big waves crashed against the shore driven on by the wind. Driftwood was all along the beach and by the side of the road people had stacked piles of small stones; there were many piles and I think they may represent souls long departed?

The Gates of Haast provided our exit from the rainforest, the haast is a powerful river dropping from the mountains that host much of the forest. Once out we rode onto a plateau that took us in land and past lake Wanaka. This was the most spectacular thing I have seen so far, equal to the Grand Canyon as a spectacle. Snow capped mountains fell to the shore of the bluest water I have ever seen; fantastic!

We have now covered around 3500 km and are halfway through our trip. We are staying the night at Cadrona an old gold mining town, which hosts a river to hold the record for having had the most gold ever extracted from it! The hotel is great, like an old western style building with old furniture; it gives you a real feel for the 1800’s, which is when it was built.

Tomorrow we hit Queens Town, it’s only a 40-minute ride away and we have the day off there. It will be nice to have a day off the bike and chill out around the town.

Haere Mai Te Wai Pounamu

Well in case your wondering, the title says welcome to the south island in Maori and what a welcome it has given us. By comparison to the north island where the sun shone all day every day it has been overcast and either cold, windy, rainy or even snow!

We have had a little sun but nothing like the north island. Baz tells me its 25c further south...lets wait and see?

Today we made our way to Fox Glacier and should have taken a chopper flight up the mountain but weather conditions prevented us from getting a landing on the Glacier so we didn't bother. We drove up as far as we could and got up close and personal with the huge Glacier, which is about 10 miles long. It has receded greatly over the past 100 years with global warming being blamed.

Along the way we stopped at a craft centre that sold Maori carving, which was a little treasure trove for gift shopping. We have had a nice relaxing day, which has been well received by myself in particular as my shoulder has become really sore with all the riding. I'm on Ibuprofen and hope it does not worsen? I would hate to have to take a day off the bike but if it gets more painful I might have to .

Baz tells us we have a long ride tomorrow and I am looking forward to reaching Queens Town in two days time, I hope it has stopped raining by morning ?

Four seasons in one day !

We left Hanmer Springs in fine sunshine but with a poor weather report. An hour into our ride the wind blew, the rain fell and poor Arl S had to take the van again as she was being blown all over the road. We had 375 km to ride and it took 9 hours but through the dramatic Arthur's Pass, which is 3000ft above sea level. It is a massive area, remote and rugged but fantastic to experience. While stopping to have our team picture taken it began to snow !

As we made our descent from the pass, out of nowhere came a plod who pulled us over and fined poor Arl S for going over the white line in the centre of the road $150, what a jobs worth!

We stopped for lunch at Aurthur's Pass Cafe and watched wild parrots landing all over the cars, roofs and railings. I think they were Kea's, look that one up on google for yourselves. We eventually reached our destination after 9 hours, exhausted but exhilarated and happy in the knowledge that we have a short ride tomorrow.

The Lewis Pass and Hamner Springs (Thurs 12th)

We had a short day today, only had about 240km to do. Paul informed me our total km so far is 2600; so clocking up the miles now. Thanks to our Jen who after a quick call to Terry this morning Hexed us some sunshine right across the Lewis Pass.

We climbed high into the Southern Alps on wonderful roads, stopping to take lots of pictures and video before reaching the hick town of Reefton where we had lunch. Best ever BLT sandwich !

Then we charged on to the summit at St James walk before beginning the descent. Long straight roads then sweeping bends with the occasional hairpin made the ride down pretty close to heaven. Fantastic scenery has accompanied us throughout this trip and each day brings more breathtaking sights. Once into Hamner Springs, where once again the accommodation is brilliant, we went to the sulphuric thermal pools for a soak, what a pong though ! The water was 41 degrees so like a bath. You know I could get used to this life ???

Hope all you Vultures had a good meeting at the Horns, it was funny speaking to Terry at 8.30 this morning and it being the evening back home. More blogging tomorrow as I am now off for a Swedish Massage.... tuf life eh ?

Wed 11th Nov - Picton to Westport via Buller Gorge

Well I could not get a network connection yesterday so catching up today. We left wellington at 7am and caught the ferry at 8.30. It is a 3 hr crossing so we had time for food and lots of sight seeing from the decks. The water was calm so no up-chucking by any of the team and we got off at Picton where I had a new bike to collect. Lucky me he he he !

The weather looked poor so we all put our wet gear on and set off. We had 295 km to ride which took us about 4 hours. As we rose into the mountains the weather worsened, rain, and cold wind chilled us all to the bone. Poor Arl Stevens had to be put in to the van to warm up and then could not continue to ride so Baz today's driver let Arl drive the van and he took her bike. It was almost snowing as we reached a fuel stop. This was the first sign of life in about 2 hours of riding. We had a hot drink, something to eat and then gathered ourselves for the remainder of the ride. The weather seemed to be getting better, roads drier and soon we had forgotten the bad weather and enjoyed the ride in, Poor Paul got very wet despite his wet gear and the cold really chilled him to the bone. We were pleased to see our B & B but John and I had a ball as Baz cracked open the throttle for the last 45 Min's and we were caning it around the empty roads,....Fantastic !!!!

Lovely B & B set in 36 acres, good meal from our host Noleen and then bed, we were knackered

Napier to Wellington

Well I had the ride of my life today, the roads just have no traffic on them and we had another sunny 380 km into Wellington. We stopped at mount Bruce where we had lunch at Pukaha wildlife centre, which looks after some Takahe birds, see picture, and from there we crossed over a mountain range and down into Wellington. The ride across the mountain was probably the most exhilarating of my life and I felt really alive. How I wish more of my VSOC friends could be here - it's not quite the same without you all.

Up at 6am to ride to the ferry and our 3hr crossing the the south island. We enter the land of the Ork and the riders of Rowhan in the morning...... whats that I hear ???? My Precious !!!

Napier

Napier was an art deco city that was destroyed by an earth quake back in the 1930's; re-built it retains that feel of those by gone years and is an interesting place to visit. Arlene V particularly wanted to see the city and has embarked on a tour, with Paul, around it's buildings.

We had a short ride of 200km and got here by about 2pm so we have had a relaxing time today. Although the ride here was fantastic. Another gorge and mountain range to get across with heaps more bends but smoother turns made for a fast ride, it was awesome today. It rained on us good and proper too, the last hour we endured a soaking and I found out how crap my waterproofs are. Just been to buy some new ones. Big Bruv... if your reading this it's such a shame your not here, you would be loving the riding, probably the best riding roads I have ever experienced. Off to Wellington tomorrow.