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!