Sunday, April 14, 2013

One does not simply ride into mordor, or do they?

I'd received an email from my brother a couple of weeks ago about taking a week off next year in either march or April and planning a motorcycle holiday. As soon as I saw it I thought great when can we get started and where are we going. Thoughts flew around my head of places we could ride to and where we should go.

 I had thoughts of should we go north to rides starting with the magic motorcycle road in the Oxley Hwy, then on further north onto roads I've not been like water fall way, Gwyder Hwy, summerland way and all the great biking roads in northern NSW and Southern Queensland OR we could go south to great roads in the NSW Snowy mountain and Victorian Highlands like Clyde Mountain, Brown Mountain, Bonang Hwy, the great Alpine way, Elliot's way, Towonga Gap & Falls creek rd and snowy mountains Hwy. Some of this country's greatest motorcycle roads thrown in there.

There were many thoughts crossing back and forth on my mind about a week long trip and the endless possibility's that we could do some serious touring. Then my brother suggested that the tour does not necessarily need to be in this country.

What the? 

I have always wanted to do a trip around New Zealand and now my brother has put it on the table. This is one place that as soon as I saw it the first time I said to my wife I have to come back here and ride it on a bike. It's one of those bucket list things, like a once in a life time opportunity. I wonder if there are 3 or 4 intelligent kiwi bloggers that have ridden the South Island that may have some great route suggestions?



17 comments:

  1. Now how much do you like your brother right now and wish you hadn't given him so many wedgies when you were kids? Nice that he opened the book to another opportunity. I'm sure a couple blogers out there will be able to help. :)

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    1. He's my older bro so more likely I got the wedgies. Maybe if we are very lucky we may be able to meet some international blogger extraordinaire's. We'll see.

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  2. So many fun roads, so little time.

    South Island NZ sounds like a great choice. I always enjoy seeing Andrew and Roger's posts from their rides down there. I am sure Geoff could throw some route ideas in there too.

    Make sure you give him another wedgie on the trip for good measure.

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    1. Too true, there's just not enough time to ride every bike road there is.

      I enjoyed andy TT2000 post and Rogeys post last year on his South Island trip.

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  3. Yep, remember back in the mid 90's when we used to dream of shipping our bikes over to NZ for a ride? There was just so much unknown about it then. The interwebs and hire bike certainly make it so much easier these days.

    About the same time you were writing this, Iron Chef over at Motorcycle Paradise was giving out some great tips!
    http://motorcycleparadise.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/motorcycling-new-zealand-north-island.html

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    1. Yes I'd still like to do it on my own bike but it's just easier to do it on a hire bike.

      I saw Iron Chefs North Island stint. Looks pretty good doesn't it.

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  4. Mate, sure we can help you out...and for a years supply of Vodka i will make sure immigration let you in.

    Hope we get to meet, I am sure we can give you a great kiwi feed...and not a bit of kangaroo meat to be seen...

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    1. Roger mate, we know a years supply of vodka would only last you about a week. Who knows whats on the cards.

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    2. Roger, did you mean your year or mine? I have had a bottle of vodka for about 6 years now, so if we go by my consumption rate you will be a bit thirsty.
      42 years young and never tried roo meat. Hoping to keep it that way too. Can you point us in the direction of some good brew pubs and wineries in the south?
      Cheers.

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  5. I'm not sure about intelligent bloggers (particularly those Jaffas) but let me know if I can be any help - banditrider at myhandle dot com.

    PS: there's always this: http://www.tt2000.org/

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    1. Well I was talking about you and Geoff Andrew. There seems to be quite a few of your pics in the TT2000 video.

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  6. Steve:

    I hope you have a great time over there. There's nothing like dreaming about a motorcycle trip and then meeting people you have only read about.

    can't wait to see photos of all of you having a good time

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  7. Steve

    My mate Marty and I did a run around the South Island in Feb 2012 and it was the best MC trip I've done so far.

    See my report half way down the page at

    http://tarsnakes.com.au/2012/02/

    Marty did the route planning. Riding the 4 main passes was always one of our aims. Here's a quote from the end of my blog post

    Marty planned a sensational route for our trip through the South Island, and full credit to him for that and also for being an easy going traveling buddy. Thanks mate! We had ridden the four iconic South Island Passes – Arthurs, Haast, Lindis and Lewis – as well as ridden from Collingwood in the north to Bluff in the south. We were in agreement, this was our best summer trip ever. All up around 3,500 kms without mishap on some of the best and most scenic motorcycling roads available. As the young kids say “Living the dream”!

    The rental bikes were expensive, especially to get the accident excess down low and neither liked our hire bikes very much. The other side of the coin in terms of logistics is that it is inexpensive to get there and our dollar has great purchasing power. Mrs T and went back again for a car based trip in Feb this year.

    I'd really like to ride California in The USA, having driven around a bit of it in a car
    once. The bike rental there is cheaper than NZ, though it will cost more to get there and travel insurance can be expensive for motorcycling.

    There's my 2 cents worth Steve.

    Cheers Jules.

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    1. Thanks mate, I've been looking through your blog post on your trip and it will come in quite handy. Do you think you spent enough time riding there or you needed more?

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  8. Hi Steve,

    You've been down south on 4 wheels before so you know you could spend a month down there and not see everything. However, in pure riding terms, Jules has pretty well nailed it. You HAVE to do the 4 iconic passes which he mentions as they're totally different both in terms of scenery and technical riding requirement. Doing a trip in Feb or early March is best as that's the most settled time. An excellent book which most riders in NZ buy is this one: http://www.amazon.com/New-Zealand-Motorcycle-Atlas-Hema/dp/1877302325. It has maps plus a lot of specific routes with lots of detail. Staying at the Blackball Hilton pub near Greymouth is a must Good access to the Lewis and Arthur's Passes! The east west passes give you a lot of route flexibility because if it's raining on one side of the Alps, it's dry on the other. Banks Peninsula near Christchurch also offers fantastic riding.

    I have motorcycling mates in Christchurch(IAM members!)who I'm sure would be happy to help in any way they can too, including knowing the best bike hire options. Anyway, if you think that I can be of further help, just email me.

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    1. Thanks Geoff, I ment you when I said intelligent New Zealander, just didn't want to offend Rog. Hey some great advise in your reply thanks. I may take you up on this a bit later, the south of the south island seems simple yet there are a lot of options for the northern part.

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  9. How did I miss this post? How exciting Steve ... I bet you're already planning! You're going to live the dream and I cant wait to see the pics to prove it!!

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