New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
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OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

Post by OnHellas »

I haven’t updated the story of our journey for a while for two reasons. We were busy enjoying the Burt Munro Challange and I didn’t feel like it. I didn’t know what to write.

I’m not sure I’m in the best of moods now, sat in a camp kitchen, a nice camp kitchen it has to be said, on a campsite in Te Anau with a German constantly banging the back of my chair with his!!! Grrr. It doesn’t matter how close I try to get to the table, he just keeps on going.....

I’m typing this trying to be calm having moved to a sofa. It’s nit a comfortable sofa, but the German is no longer behind me.

The Burt Munro Challange was a series of events spread over four days. Hillclimb, Drag Race, Beach Race, Circuit Races, Speedway and finally some Street Races.
We bought passes for all of the events which came with a bit of a discount, which was nice.
We went to them all, didn’t watch all of each one, met some great people, ate some ‘racetrack’ food, had a great time and I ended up with a nose like Ronald McDonald. Yes I used Factor 50, no I didn’t put it on soon enough and no I didn’t use enough of it.
It was fun picking off the peeling skin a day or so afterwards though......

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we met three Brits with bikes at the Warrant of Fitness check place. They’d told us that they were going to Invercargill for The Burt and sure enough we bumped in to them. It turns out that Sarah has been skiing with Fin and Susie about 10 years ago. Another Small World moment.

Our bikes got a fair bit of attention having foreign plates and lots of stickers. One of the chaps that we met was David from Catalunya. He was travelling on a Yamaha 660 Tenere that he’d bought a couple of months ago when he arrived in NZ. We bumped in to him a couple of times, he’s a great chap, very funny. Hopefully we’ll meet him down the road somewhere.

We spotted a few other Brit registered bikes so it seems that NZ is a popular place. Especially for the Burt and for the fact that this year there is a World Triump Rally at Hanmer Springs. That’s about halfway up, or down depending which way your going, the South Island.
The fact that a Carnet isn’t required here and also that insurance is so easy to arrange, I can see why people choose to send their bike here.

We swapped accommodation a few times during our stay, the first couple of nights were in the tent, then we ended up in a B&B as the Motel we’d booked had double booked our room.
The B&B was nice, the bikes got to stay in a garage overnight and we got a cooked breakfast. The hosts sat down with us to eat their brekkies which seemed a bit weird.
The last night in town was at another campsite but this time in a cabin. The most comfortable bed we’d had for a good few nights.

We were both tired after the excitement, sun and noise of bikes after the weekend. Especially the hundreds of Harley’s, why do they have to be so loud. How do they put up with that racket for a days riding. Some sound like a clapped out Ford Sierra without an exhaust!! Nasty!

So on Monday morning it was...

Two happy (tired) people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

Post by DavidS »

Great stuff! We arrived in Auckland a year ago on Wednesday...time flies.
Glad you saw Franz Joseph. It was thick low cloud and chucking it down when we passed through.
We couldn't find Historic Arrowtown either.
We skipped Wanaka and went on to Cromwell for a couple of nights and popped down to Queenstown...did you miss that out? It’s way better than it’s image.
Haynes shop with the bikes is a rare treat.
Yes, the Germans are a complete pain in campsites and the untidiest. They take over the whole place and don’t clean up after themselves in the kitchens. We cooked in the camper but washed up in the kitchens when we could.

If you’re heading up the east coast, go to the Steam Punk HQ in Omaru, by the little railway near the beach and harbour. Also a nice old town area and good bars/food.
2023 Husqvarna Norden 901
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

Post by DavidS »

Have you been partaking of the wonderful Green Lipped Mussels?
Way better than the ones you get here.
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OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

Post by OnHellas »

DavidS wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:36 pm Have you been partaking of the wonderful Green Lipped Mussels?
Way better than the ones you get here.
Thanks for all the tips. We didn’t stop at Queenstown but we may well go back that way at some point. We have time.

Mussels? Er, whilst I really like them I’m still a bit wary after an ‘episode’ a few years ago. Maybe I’ll give them a try on a Motel night....😂
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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Monday the 11th of Feb, The Burt was all done and at 09.57 we were packed, bikes loaded and cabin vacated. Just in time for the 10am checkout time.
After the noise and sunburn of the weekend we headed off hoping for somewhere quiter. A nice looking campsite near Owaka. The coast road there was a joy with rolling fields and lots of happy looking grass chomping cattle. There seems to be more cows than sheep from what we can see from the road.

A leisurely lunch was had on route, we only had about 100 miles to ride so no rush. Not that we often feel the need to do that.

The booked cabin turned out to be a very well appointed shed. It had a kettle and a tele. The shower block was close by and the cafe did proper food.
We ended up staying for four nights and as it rained a fair bit we chilled out. Had a couple of nice lunches, did some routine bike checks and watched a few films and some American Pickers. I do like American Pickers.

The bikes seem OK, and we enjoyed the rest. There was a waterfall just up the road. We never did get to see it but they’ll be more to see I’m sure.

I know that I sign off with pretty much the same thing each time, but it’s always true.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?

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