New Zealand - Day 7

Queenstown to Milford Sound to Te Anau- Feb 17

Unfortunately we only had the two nights in Queenstown, as you could really spend weeks here and thousands of dollars doing fun things. It really is the adventure central on the south island. As a matter of fact just about any road around here is also a motorcycling mecha. But we had to keep rolling forward and I was excited to be riding down the Queenstown-Kingston road and eventually the Milford sound road. I had been looking forward to Milford sound the whole trip with eager anticapation. Would it be fine and sunny(fat chance) or would it bucket down cats and dogs(more than likely).

After riding the Glenorchy road in perfect conditions the day before the Kingston road didn't quite seem as good in overcast conditions today, but still the ride and views were spectacular and the road was lots of fun. It is a crackingly good ride.

Queenstown - Kingston Road

Dave at the Kingston Motogp

The guys were obviously having lots of fun along this section as they didn't stop to take any photos at all, it was hard not to get a blurry photo as they blasted past.

It wasn't long before we got into Kingston and had a coffee at what looked like the only place in town. There didn't seem to be anything much in Kingston. So we kept on riding down to Te Anau which would be where our accommodation was for the night. When we got into Te Anau we fueled up and the weather looked like it was going to get worse as it was really starting to cloud over now.

Wayne wanted to keep going but we had decided to get some subway that was quite handily next to the petrol station. The idea was we could have a picnic lunch in Milford. We would eventually catch up to Wayne as there was only one way in and out.

The ride into Milford sound is one of those great motorcycle rides, you don't want to miss it. It has a bit of everything. The mountains along this section are especially tall and steep and there are big long forest sections of road where the tree canopy's come across the road, there were quite a few places along here that I looked into the forest and thought wow, this looks just like I am in the forests straight out of middle earth in the Lord of the Rings, half expecting to see orcs or elves running through the forest.

After riding through what seemed like endless forested hills we came out into a flat plain with mountains to either side. We could see up the valley towards Milford that rain would be coming soon, but I didn't put my wets on for another 15 minutes or so up the road, when it was just starting to lightly sprinkle.

It's lucky we did pull over in a sheltered side road underneath some trees near cascade creek as it started to rain not long after and it didn't let up again until we got back to Te Anau. There was some quite heavy rain too. If it rains 465 days a year here with 8 metres of rain then we must have hit about a metre of rain today. The funny part about it though was that everyone was loving riding in the rain on this road, nobody was complaining. Its hard to explain that but hopefully you will see from the video I shot from my gopro. The road changed between forest and then lake and back again. It was unfortunate that it was raining so much because we then didn't stop to take many photo's from here on in, and the scenery here was beautiful.

We stopped briefly at Bobs lookout and the mountains here had pierced the clouds. Mt Christina was 2,502m(8,209). You had to turn your head up to try to see the tops of them that's how steep they are and how close to the base you actually are. It's unreal to think that most of these peaks are taller than Australia's tallest mountain Mt Kosciuszko which is only 2,228m(7,310 ft) and that looks mostly flat compared to these monsters.

I put the gopro on just before we got to the Homer Tunnel heading up to the top of the pass. The Homer tunnel is an incredible engineering feat, it is bored straight under the mountain and runs for about 1.2kms and when you pop out the other side there are stunning views of mountain vistas and water falls. I love Geoff's comment in the video below when I pulled up next to him. "This is Fucking Awesome" and that's riding in the pissing rain. Normally sane riders don't say such things when riding in the rain. And you know what? It was fucking awesome, I'd do it again with no hesitation.





We rode down from Homer Tunnel down into Milford sound. It was bucketing down cats and dogs so it looked like our picnic was not going to happen. We ended up standing on the front porch of the cafe eating our subway under shelter. It's funny some guy came up to us and asked where he could buy subway cause there was nothing good here. We said "yeah you can get some about 120kms down the road". We should of said you can have this 6 inch bmt for $25. He walked off disappointed.

You couldn't see much in Milford so as soon as we'd finished lunch and a coffee we pretty much headed straight back out of there. By now my boots were soaked, my gloves and I could feel some water inside my leathers. Maybe I should have worn 2 dririder outfits. Water had seeped in onto my chest and my crotch. Ahh cold wet undies, that's a lot of fun for the man bits. The photo below is from my gopro as we were leaving, you couldn't see much at all as you can see.

Milford Sound 

I'd turned my gopro back onto video as we were climbing back up towards the homer tunnel. The water falls had more than doubled in numbers and size since we came through about an hour ago. This was one of the most amazing sites I've ever seen riding anywhere. Who said riding in the rain was bad, this was the best days riding in the rain I've ever experienced. Last time I was here these hills and roads were covered in snow and we had to drive out in snow chains, see photo below. Looks like the weather really likes me in Milford!

2007 Milford Road

Here's the amazing footage I got as we climbed back up towards homer tunnel which by now there was much more rain making bigger and better waterfalls. This has to be one of the most amazing things i've ever seen whilst riding a bike anywhere.

We didn't stop on the way back out as everyone was soaked, even Geoff who had water proof boots on had water inside them. We couldn't wait to get back to our motel and have a nice hot shower and some nice dry clothes. Then of course it was into town for beers and diner. The room we were staying in was fantastic after the drenching we just received, thank god I chose a good one here. Thanks for the recommendation Jules.

We had diner in town in Te Anau at this fantastic little pizza shop in the main street, my pizza was delicious. When we left there to head down to the pub there was a dazzling array of colours in the sky which kept changing over the space of about 10 minutes. I've never seen such a beautiful and dramatic storm filled sunset. The pictures do not do justice the colours in the sky that night.

Te Anau amazing sky

We had a few more beers in the pub before returning to our room for the night. We stayed at the Arran Motel which was fantastic and the best place we stayed at on the whole trip. The rooms were spacious, clean and the beds were fantastic. I slept well tonight.

The owners were motorcyclists themselves having a nice ducati cafe racer and a harley in the garage. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Give them a go if your in the area. It was the wettest day we had and my boots, gloves and jacket got wet going to Milford so it was fantastic that we had such a good place to stay on this night in particular. The floor of the lounge area was covered in boots, gloves, jacket and pants all in front of the heater which ran pretty much all night. It was nice to put on dry gear in the morning.

One thing I noticed about the bikes even in the pouring rain was that the tyres on these bikes were great, I didn't have a single slip or slide and they felt almost as good as they do in the dry. Yet another magic day riding in this amazing country. Surely the best is now behind us and it can't be any better? Can it?????



Day 7 map.



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New Zealand - Day 6

Queenstown Relaxation Day - Feb 16

This morning we could sleep in but it didn't quite work out like we planned. The beds in the lodge were atrocious and the pillows were no better, and it didn't help that the bed were squeaky and a room full of snorers. We didn't plan any riding for today as we would just chill out in Queenstown for the day. After breakfast Geoff, Wayne and myself rode out to the shot over jet ride. Dave decided he needed to punish himself with a mountain bike ride. Screw that with these big hills I thought.

We had a 9:30 booking on the shot over jet. They have been running since the early seventy's and Wayne actually rode one of the original 5 seater boats way back in the day. We couldn't have asked for a better day to do it the weather was perfect. It was predicted to get up to 29°C today which would be hot for down here in Queenstown.

Shot Over River

The shot over jet boats have 2 x V8 350" Chevy engines with 800hp and can run in only 4 inches of water. The driver of our boat Wayne, said "If you go in less then 10cm of water you have to get out and push", but he didn't want us to have to push the boat. Thanks mate. The jet boat ride was heaps of fun in the very beautiful and picturesque shot over river with those narrow canyons.

You couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces after the ride, it was top fun. We had a coffee and muffin at the cafe and sat there listening to those loud V8 motors punching up and down the river.

Shot Over Jet

Me @ Shot Over Jet Ride

Here's a short clip below of some of the fun we had on the ride.

After this we didn't have anything planned so we decided on a ride up to Coronet Peak ski fields and have a look around. I hadn't paid much attention to this as I was planning our trip so this was one of those unexpected wins. The road up to Coronet Peak is one of those great motorcycle rides, a steep winding mountain road in every sense of the word, dangerous and beautiful all in one.

You don't want to get it wrong here otherwise you'll go sailing off the mountain, literally. There are no railing or barriers on some of the bends as the above pic shows. It has some of my favourite type of bends as the picture to the right shows. I love those quick flip flop bends that go for ages. This was so much f-ing fun I could do this again. And this was a day when we were meant to be taking it easy and relaxing. The road is only 8.5kms long but the whole thing is great, a bit like Macquarie Pass back home but without the traffic and with a wider road and a much better view.

When we got to the top where the ski lodge was we noticed that there were people up here doing paragliding from the peak. This must have set the seed in Geoff and Wayne's minds for what was to come later. The views up here were magnificent you could see from Queenstown to Arrowtown and the road winding up to the remarkables. Absolute beauty.

3 Amigo's in Queenstown

The boys at play on Coronet Peak Road

We headed back into Queenstown to the Lodge. Just having a drink out the front we saw a lot of para gliders coming down from the Gondola and landing in the field next to our lodge. Then Wayne and Roosty decided they would book a go on it too. I wasn't really interested in throwing myself off of the mountain so I would come along for a look and record it for the coroner's report.

As it turns out they had booked on the para glide school that goes from Coronet Peak. You mean I'm going to have to ride back up Coronet Peak road again. SHIT!!!! Let me put the slicks on this time will you. Hahahahhahahah. Que maniacal laughter.

The bus picked them up at about 2pm, I'd just put our washing in the drier and headed up to meet them at the top. I passed the bus half way up the road, which gave me plenty of time at the top to get the camera ready.

Wayno ready

Roosty Ready

With Wayne and Geoffro deciding that they would throw themselves off coronet peak for a laugh, I wasn't about to do that so I became the official photographer for them, I had 2 cameras, and 2 camera phones to take photo's with, unfortunately I only had two hands. Wayne had a digital SLR camera so I ditched most of the other cameras to use this as it would get the best photos out of all of them.

Roosty ready for take off, boy I really hope we don't have a CRASH

After both Wayne and Roosty had taken off, I'd packed the camera's away and got ready and raced off down the mountain. I was trying to get to the landing zone before they landed. A tall order you may think it was about a 15km trip down a winding mountain and back along the main road, but I managed to get there about a minute before Wayne landed and got some good pics of him landing. Unfortunately for me they were on his camera and not mine. They got some great video of their flight on the gopros that the instructors were filming them with.

After the para gliding Wayne wanted to head back to the room and catch some sleep. When we got back there Dave's bike was missing. I bet he thought that I went to Glenorchy and headed out early to find me. Roosty and I decided that we would head out to Glenorchy and hopefully meet up with Dave.

What can I say about the Glenorchy road that I haven't said before. It winds its way along lake Wakatipu, which today was showing off its aqua blue colours in real style. The road briefly leaves the lake to wind through a forest before returning again and winding its way along up and down along the lake until you come out at the Glenorchy village. Some of the best riding of the whole trip was along here with some of the best views. It sure was New Zealand at it's best.

Glenorchy Road

Lake Wakatipu

Here's a short bit of the ride into Glenorchy. Best viewed in 720p or 1080p.

We rode into Glenorchy and straight past the pub, I could see a familiar looking Triumph Explorer parked under a tree at the local cafe down the street. We continued down to the waterfront for a photo with the most famous boat shed ever. It turns up in every one's photos when in Glenorchy.

There was a wedding happening out on the end of the pier so we couldn't really go out and crash it for some photo's. We went back to the cafe and met up with Dave and had a cool beer in the back of the cafe in the gardens. We swapped stories of mountain biking for para gliding and jet boating.

Lake Wakatipu from Glenorchy Pier

We could have sat here all afternoon but we had to get back to Queenstown for diner and drinks. The trip back was another fun ride along the lake. The temperature along here was about 26°C according to the temp gauge on the bike. When we rode through the forest the temp dropped down to 20.5°C which was nice and refreshing, as soon as we popped out on the other side the temp quickly climbed again to 26C. It quite amazing how much temperature difference there was.


For a day where we were supposed to be relaxing we sure did some fast, fun riding, but luckily they were only short rides and we have had amazing weather to do it in too. I wonder if the weather will hold up for Milford sound tomorrow. It's supposed to rain there 465 days a year apparently.


Here's the ride out to Glenorchy, its only 46km's each way, but its fabulous at that.


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New Zealand - Day 5

Fox Glacier to Queenstown - Feb 15

We had a bit of a late start today as we had a late night at the pub, but that's ok we only have about 330kms to go today. We had a quick breakfast in town and it was the only place open. I had to fill up before heading out and it must have been one of the most expensive places of the trip. I put 8.24 litres in which cost $20.43 which is $2.48 per litre, OUCH. That's probably the reason NZ's roads are nearly empty, petrol costs too much. We then headed out to have a look at Fox Glacier which was only minutes from town. It was a beautiful day today not like yesterday so maybe I will actually see the glacier today. When I was here in 2007 my wife and I did a hike up the glacier onto the ice and tramped around, it was fantastic.

Fox Glacier 2014

We didn't do the walk up to the terminal face of the glacier as we didn't really have time for that but we did get pics of the top of the glacier coming down. I should think after seeing Franz Joseph retreating so far, that Fox would be much the same. Its still spectacular what we could see. All that ice moving down the mountain side at a blistering pace of 1 metre per day.

After riding up the southern side of the river we rode back around the northern side which most people access the glacier by to see what we could see. Dave was coming back down as we went up there. He said he couldn't see much and that it would be an hours walk to see it. So we walked down to the swing bridge over Fox river and looked up the valley towards the glacier. We couldn't see it here either but we did have an awesome view up the valley towards the bottom of the glacier. All that water is running straight out of the glacier. It's icy cold and would be good for cooling down some beers with.

Fox Glacier 2007

The photo I took above in February 2014 shows the difference in the size of the glacier since I was here last in September 2007. Both of the glaciers have retreated quite some way, I would have liked to have gotten a closer look and compare some more photos. Think global warming is just a myth. Think again.

Fox River

It was so scenic and relaxing here above the water. The roar of the water was actually pretty loud in an otherwise quiet and tranquil location. So beautiful. If I lived in NZ I think it would be an annual pilgrimage to visit the glacier and have a historic pictorial of them at different spots on the mountain side each year.















We headed off back down the West Coast taking in some amazing scenery and luckily we had nice dry warm conditions to do it in too. The road down the west coast has it all. Mountain views to the left and sea views to the right, sweepers rising up and down over hills, long straights, short bursts of twisties. It's hard to go wrong along here. We stopped along one beach front and a couple of small pods of dolphins swam by. There was one section of road works that was very tricky to ride through, and myself and Geoff had the GS's sideways there for a bit. Lucky we didn't have sports bikes otherwise I think we would have bit the dirt.

Vroom Vroom

Knights Point Lookout

Further south the road wound its way up the coastal hills till we came to to a place called Knights Point lookout. We stopped in for a couple of photo's and take in the view. The view was beautiful. It was here I uncovered Geoff's drug lab but am unsure if he was running a gambling and prostitution racket as well.

Geoff's methamphetamine lab

Haast Village

We briefly stopped in Haast village and had a quick coffee. The coffee here was pretty ordinary and it was 4000°C. We headed off and went up Haast Pass. Fantastic riding all the way along much like Lewis Pass but with huge mountains on either side of the valleys. There was still small patches of snow on some of the higher peaks. The road here winds its way through Mount Aspiring Nation Park and when it finally comes out of the mountains the road then winds its way along Lake Wanaka with beautiful views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Wow does it get any better than this.

Below is a short video of some of Haast pass.

Bridge over Haast River

One thing that New Zealand has a lot of is one way bridges. There are lots of river crossing and nearly all of them are single lane even on major highways. It fits in well though and with the scenery as it is it just adds to the atmosphere of the place. This one in Haast pass is no exception, the river running beneath is crystal clear. I'm sure there would be some good fishing here.

There are some fantastic little water falls literally 2 minutes walk from the side of the road along here. Fantail falls, thunder creek falls and the blue pools are 3 short walks from the road with fantastic views. Tourism New Zealand is going to need to start paying me I think.

Coming out of Haast Pass brings you out through some lush farming land before coming to Lake Wanaka. The road twists its way along the edge of the lake and the mountain. This is excellent riding along here I really enjoyed this section and then the road crosses a small pass called the Neck and the road then follows along Lake Hawea. As you crest the hill between the two lakes at the neck all you can see is the crest of the road and a huge mountain looming up over the road growing increasingly bigger until you pop out and can see the lake and surrounds. Absolutely beautiful stuff and excellent riding.

Lake Wanaka

Here is a short video along Lake Wanaka.
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Geoff overlooking Lake Hawea

It didn't take to much longer before we got into Wanaka and refueled the bikes and had a quick bite to eat along the water front. Wanaka is a fantastic town, it's one of those places you could retire to. We soon departed for the Crown range road towards Queenstown. I'd driven this road before and it was fantastic in the car and it was even better on the bike. The Wanaka end is just a long series of sweepers and straights until Cardrona when it then gets a lot more winding and a hell of a lot more fun.

One thing I wanted to do that was a must was to stop in at the Cardrona Hotel and have a beer. It's a great little pub with a huge beer garden out the back. I wish we could have stayed here but we had to continue on.

Cardrona Hotel Beer Garden

So relaxing.......

Crown Range Road is one of those roads when you're in New Zealand is a must not miss road especially if your on a bike. It was a fantastic ride up and over the pass and down the last set of twisties. This is also New Zealands highest road at 1076 metres (3530 ft). I looked into it and its 10.4 kms and 47 corners with a 1076 meter descent. I was surprised a bit that it wasn't higher as back home the great alpine road at Mount Hotham is 1840 metres (6040 ft). Most of the roads in NZ seem to be fairly low but thats probably because their mountains are so steep that it was easier to build the roads at the bottom of the mountains and drive around them.

Crown Range Road

Lynard Skynard Concert

At one of the lookouts on the way down the mountain we noticed this huge rock concert in the field below. One of the people in town said that Lynard Skynard was playing and they had about 15,000 people in at the concert. That's why it was so hard to book some decent cheap accommodation in Queenstown that weekend.

Hairpin bends on Crown Range road

We got into our accommodation early compared with the other days which allowed us to go into town and have a bit of a look around. I personally love Queenstown it's got that big country town feel with City type stuff as well. I lot of kiwi's we met didn't like Queenstown because it's too busy. It's not too busy when you come from a city of close to 5 million people, its still a little country town to me with a heap of up and go.

It was particularly busy in town tonight probably due to the music festival. There were a few buskers around town plying their trade and one in particular was very good. He had a piano with the front panel off so you could see all of the internals and when he played you could see the hammers hitting the strings. Such a good talent I even bought his CD as it was only $20.

Geoff and Dave said "This looks like a good place to have a drink". So all four of us went in and we ordered a jug of beer between us. We sat down and I took a look around, it was a dark seedy looking place and there were 4 or 5 guys sitting inside the bar and about 8 or 9 outside. I then saw that Bros "When will I be famous" on the video music system.

ME: "Hey fella's I think we're in a gay bar"
Others: "Nah it's not, what makes you say that?"
ME: " Look there's only guys in here and what pub plays this gay shit music?"
Others "Nah it's not, it's all in your head"
A minute or so goes by with some even more gay music coming on the music system.
ME: "Well if this isn't a gay bar why are those 2 guys cuddling and kissing each other. Drink up fellas"

To which we duly finished up drinks pretty quickly and headed elsewhere for a beer.

Queenstown

Above was the view from the front of our room at our accommodation. We stayed at Reavers Lodge which is pretty much like a backpacker/ski lodge type of thing. We were pretty squished in with 4 of us in one room, and in hindsight it would have been better to get 2 rooms. Whilst we were out we booked in for the shotover jet ride for tomorrow and the guys are looking at doing some other things as well. Tomorrow is a rest and relaxation day where we don't really need to ride anywhere as we are staying in Queenstown for 2 nights.

Today's map reference for day 5.


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