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It was still pretty early, but we went to the dock to check in and hang out on this glorious sunny day.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...6f05a777_b.jpgIMG_1991 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...ff0df54d_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-102 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr They load the trucks first and then the bikes. There are some sketchy dirty ropes to tie the bikes with as we had been warned and we were glad we had some the the BMW tie downs from the shipping with us. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/...6c60bed8_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/...a0528ed5_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...d7dd21fb_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/...42fba4a9_b.jpgFILE2738 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...a93a7dde_b.jpg |
The crossing is 3.5 hours and the first 2 1/2 are a bit rocky in the strait.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/...10653c32_b.jpg The last hour you are behind the shelter of the coastal islands and travel down a narrow passage to the port at Picton. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...20dc3189_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4774/...7e9d8b7e_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...3c215485_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4774/...26daa4b8_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4780/...8e6715ed_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4777/...5d5a5cd6_b.jpg The unloading was pretty quick and we headed 28 km south west to Blenheim and the Top 10 Holiday Park that is right on the riverside. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/...fabaa8d3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4669/...4a7c7143_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/...9649ef23_z.jpg |
We had a river front spot for the tent and duck viewing. The walk into town was about 20 min and we found a locals only watering hole for a drink and a steak sandwich. There were some very colorful characters here tonight. Once the sun went down it was very cool and we showered and hopped into the sleeping bags. Despite being near the highway and the bridge it was pretty quiet all night.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/...2dae31c4_b.jpgFILE2765 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/...cf770353_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4778/...ca5631fc_b.jpgNZ South Isand-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today’s ride 208 km to Hanmer Springs via the Molesworth Station road. The Molesworth is said to be the largest station in the southern hemisphere.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...624f6871_b.jpg First you ride 23 km south to just north of Seddon to the access road to the Awatere Valley. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...6cc53322_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-26 at 20.53.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...29a428cc_b.jpgFILE3108 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The first 30 km of the Molesworth road are paved and then it is a good gravel road until 2 km from Hanmer Springs. The Awatere Valley road passes thru the Molesworth station itself. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4795/...10b3ff88_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/...afb616fd_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4718/...9610c48f_b.jpgFILE3190 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It was a pretty hot day. We left about 1030 when it was 24, but by Moleswoth Station 100 km later it was 29. We stopped here for a snack in the shade at a picnic table.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4718/...79422c72_b.jpgFILE3329 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4772/...8aa61cbc_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...878faf1b_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4763/...190b6a3a_b.jpgFILE3408 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...dc4fb15b_b.jpgFILE3411 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...dcff06a5_b.jpgFILE0010 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4777/...d4eb755f_b.jpgNZ South Isand-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Arriving near the town we chose the maintained Jack’s pass road and arrived to the camp spot at 3 when it was 31 degrees!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...147194bd_b.jpgFILE0036 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did a bit of a walk about this cute village and bought some supplies. We noted that the forecast has changed and now they call for rain starting at 5 am and so we packed up as much as possible and went to bad after a beautiful cloudless evening. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/...d7e55d04_b.jpgIMG_1999 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was indeed raining briskly at 630, but there was a break just after 830 long enough to get the tent down and the gear stowed. We only have 125 km to Christchurch today and the rain stopped about 30 km from Hanmer, but we did have a few heavy showers on the way. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...17930413_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-26 at 20.55.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was sunny arriving to the city and to Budget Motorcycles Spares where we had arranged for tires. Very nice guys here and professional work. They even charged us less than the quote and all said this was about 400$ cheaper than the tires in Wellington. Everything is expensive in NZ. A pint is 9$!!! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4795/...b45a2bb1_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4765/...7a1993a9_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...3299e29b_b.jpgIMG_2013 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had been invited to the home of Neil and Lorraine a UK couple living here. Neil met us in town and guided us to a spot for lunch and then set us up in their air B&B suite=sweet. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4608/...cbc4caf9_b.jpgIMG_2062 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4715/...0447c44c_b.jpgIMG_2063 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...6f3055ba_b.jpgNZ South Isand-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The forecast is not that great, but we decided that if it was not raining we would all ride out together today to the Akaroa Peninsula.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4741/...355be5b2_b.jpg First we rode up the Evans Pass road, which no longer goes thru to Lyttelton since the earthquake 8 years ago, but they are still working on it. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...08033dd7_b.jpgFILE0060 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr If you go left at the summit you can ride along the Summit road dodging cyclists for a view south over the Akaroa Peninsula where we are headed. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...2c0211d7_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-27 at 23.48.15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4775/...4fb1ecb7_b.jpgNZ South Isand-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4704/...8239b7ee_b.jpgFILE0066 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...79a8f9fb_b.jpgFILE0070 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4777/...a0aab9c0_b.jpgNZ South Isand-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Back down at the junction if you go straight instead of back down to Sumner or can take the Summit road left over the hill side to the valley thru residential streets and then connect to the tunnel to Lyttelton.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...e6811216_b.jpgFILE0073 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4697/...ff336fee_b.jpgFILE0076 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Here you follow the Govenor’s Bay-Teddington coast road and then on the Christchurch-Akaroa Road out onto the peninsula. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4759/...d3a631d6_b.jpgFILE0078 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4704/...08c74a66_b.jpgFILE0086 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...d95c5cac_b.jpgFILE0088 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We took the high summit road, which rides the crest of the mountain and then falls down into the bay at Akaroa town. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...4a01e8b6_b.jpgFILE0107 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4749/...f5631915_b.jpgFILE0114 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...ed939689_b.jpgFILE0121 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/...c68a7184_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...604c2f32_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4785/...40080d48_b.jpgNZ South Isand-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...76318266_b.jpgNZ South Isand-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4784/...90b0e677_b.jpgNZ South Isand-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It had become hot and very sunny and we enjoyed some great fish and chips at Murphy’s. Riding back we retraced our steps and finally arrived home after 7. We opted to stay in for dinner and a few beers. It was great to hear Lorraine and Neil’s stories from their trips around the world, but they have a lot more book worthy adventures than we have had including having a serious accident in SA and having to come home.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4783/...34a09f99_b.jpgNZ South Isand-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/...9bab4224_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4795/...44acdcec_b.jpgNZ South Isand-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...58c7e139_b.jpgNZ South Isand-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4778/...7d774a20_b.jpg |
The idea was to ride north west to Greymouth over Arthur's Pass and then the next day back to Hanmer. From here we can do the off road route on “the Rainbow” to St. Arnaud. (Google will not route over the Rainbow road past the campsite). This will then put us just south west of Nelson and we can go to the west coast from there. It is more often then not raining on the WEsT coast. Looking at the forecast is is supposed to be sunny on the coast for the next 2-3 days and then the weather everywhere is rain as a storm hit the island.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4774/...698ae6b0_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-03-21 at 10.28.36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Plans have to change sometimes. We will ride to the coast at Greymouth over Arthur’s pass and then head down the west coast. It is more likely to be nice at some time in the future for the rainbow and the north west road than it is on the west coast itself. (good thing we did this since after the predicted cyclone on the coast the road is now closed behind us). The next cyclone caused a massive landslide on the Rainbow, but that is another story. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/...f094e517_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-31 at 20.23.20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...fc11506a_b.jpgIMG_2065 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Leaving Christchurch we made for the #73 and stopped in Sheffield for their “world famous” hot pies. 5 star pie for sure. Today we must have seem several hundred bikes coming towards us over the pass and we found out why late. There was a biker/music festival on this weekend and they are headed home this Sunday.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4741/...e510004f_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-26 at 20.56.26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4782/...42c7f51e_b.jpgNZ South Isand-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/...1ae99a47_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4748/...fc5a73a3_b.jpgFILE0226 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...ff6763ca_b.jpgFILE0234 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...f2e59642_b.jpgIMG_2021 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4674/...f30ea614_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...33d0252b_b.jpgFILE0265 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We stopped at several view points along the alpine pass and hoped/feared to see the mischievous Kea. This is an alpine parrot that is only found here on the South island of NZ. They are very intelligent and very naughty. They have been known to pick the rubber out of car windshields, bend aerials, eat hand grips, and generally cause damage just for the fun of it.
We did see several flying and one briefly landed on the railing at the “death corner” look out, but when we stopped a few km farther down the road one was walking across the parking lot as we parked and hopped up into a tree. It is 32 degrees today and I think it is to hot for them to get up to any destruction. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4774/...31f5a863_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...2f155d16_b.jpgIMG_2024 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4785/...004865fd_b.jpgNZ South Isand-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4784/...05c4c14d_b.jpgNZ South Isand-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Arriving to the city we stopped for supplies and then decided on the Top 10 park that is on the beach. The beaches here on the south island are mostly rocky and at least on the west coast teeming with sand flies. These and tiny black biting flies that leave large itchy welts that only get worse if you scratch them and turn into red sores. Luckily there are not too many here. What is more worrisome here is how much everything costs.
Generally the price is double what it s at home and this makes NZ the most expensive place we have been. A small bottle of coke in a store is 4$, gas is 225/l, and camping is 20-25$/person per night. We are very lucky to have been hosted so much. This camp ground is on the sea, but there is a very high hedge that acts as a wind break and this means the large grass area for the tents is nice and sheltered. We set up camp and you can see our time lapse below. The Top 10 is a little more than the private sites, but they have very nice showers, hot water, full kitchens, BBQs, and wifi. https://youtu.be/reZtcp1AN38 https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...f139b7ce_b.jpgIMG_2056 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4779/...cc0e0f12_b.jpgNZ South Isand-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr While we were cooking our dinner we ran into cyclists Rich and Karlene from New Hampshire. They ride their tandem bike somewhere in the world for 3 month every winter. That is not the most crazy thing. What is super crazy is that we met them before in Lake Arenal Costa Rica when we were both at the same B&B in 2013! Small world indeed. They are also headed down the east coast, but what we will do in 2 days will take them 12! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4782/...d5ebb323_b.jpgNZ South Isand-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/...0b35b550_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4784/...dbff598f_b.jpgNZ South Isand-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We set off south from Greymouth on the 6 and detoured in to Hokitiki the center of greenstone for NZ and Sara bought herself a small piece for a souvenir.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...56f824ff_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-31 at 20.24.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...ae64b012_b.jpgFILE0279 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4622/...7581a805_b.jpgIMG_2070 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Next we continued with very little traffic along the coast and then the road goes inland towards the mountains. We stopped in Hari Hari for a snack. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...2d2fd657_b.jpgFILE0314 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...ed258050_b.jpgFILE0315 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...a4953364_b.jpgIMG_2071 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4715/...ea640b56_b.jpgIMG_2072 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...8460f734_b.jpgFILE0320 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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