New Zealand Tour 2011/12 part 4

Finally, finally, finally got the call to say that my bike had been delivered to Trevor Pierce Yamaha. So all that was left was to get down there, connect up the battery, get some fuel, get my Warrant Of Fitness (roadworthy) and we would be good to go. That was yesterday.

The original plan was to head north, stopping at Kaikoura to spend a day whale watching then up to Pahia and New Zealand's paradisical and unspoiled Bay of Islands. Then back down to Auckland to drop Robyn (wifey wife) off so she could fly home in time for Sarah, our youngest's, departure for her Mexican holiday. But having had to wait for 10 days for the bike, and with her due to fly back on Friday, we had to restrict our 2-up touring to just a 2 day excursion looping back to Christchurch.

So it was with a great sense of excitement we packed the bike this morning and pulled out of Christchurch at about 9.30, avoiding the rush hour.

Even fully loaded with ~ 35 kilos of stuff, the FJR was a joy! We effortlessly flicked past all the tinboxes, eating up the k's on our way towards the mountains, whilst we chatted about this an that. The intercom set that I originally bought for my first FJR 5 years ago was a great investment! I had downloaded 4 or 5 books onto my iPhone to listen to while we were riding. We'd be lucky to get through one on this trip!

It was about 19 degrees - beautifully fresh after some light showers last night. Once out of the built up area, I marvelled at the quality of the roads, sensible speed restrictions, the lack of traffic and the sheer magnificence of the countryside.

Suddenly in the near distance, we saw a few cars stopped at the side of the road. At the same instant I noticed a helicopter. It was doing doing crop spraying right at the side of the main road and they had pulled over to watch! I immediately pulled up to watch this spectacle. Damn, damn, damn. My camera was in the top box, not round my neck where I should have put it. By the time we had dismounted and got the camera out, it was over and he was speeding off into the distance. What a pity.

Some cheeky Kea's entertained us at our coffee stop at the little town of Arthur's Pass. Despite many warning signs to the contrary, everyone feeds them, so they can be quite a nuisance. Arthur's Pass itself is quite an impressive piece if engineering. The 16% gradient is no joke; particularly if you are in a car and are unlucky enough to get stuck behind one of the many trucks plying their way back and forth between the two sides of the island. But on the bike, it's brilliant.

The road is damp and a tad misty. Temp down to 15. Visor is open - fresh pine forest smell. My favourite type of riding. Fully laden, the FJR is super stable in the twisties, and quickly we flatten that pass.

At 1.30 we pull into Greymouth for lunch where its a humid 28 degrees. Then it's off to Punakaiki, a remarkable rock formation and national park.

At 5pm we drive into the Global Village Back Packers in Greymouth for the night. This is how you tour in unzud. Our host Russell, claims to remember us from our last stay 3 years earlier as he shows us to our comfortable, private double room, which only costs us NZ$68 (AU$52) for the night. What a pleasure! (You could not even get a roach infested lean-to in a garbage dump for that money in Aus.)

All that's left to do is to zip down to the supermarket and buy a few bits and pieces for dinner and were set!

Pictures below are in the wrong order. Haven't figured order and captions out yet. I'm doing the whole thing from my iPhone.