Re: New Zealand...4 wheels good, 2 wheels better?
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:45 am
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.
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.