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Biking Trip Of A Lifetime - Nz17


Skids

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So, less than a week until we depart for Singapore and then Christchurch. I’ve completed all the sat nav routes and transferred them onto the netbook and the TomTom. The bike doesn’t come with a sat nav or mount so I’m taking my own plus a power socket and they’ll be fitted when we go to collect the bike.

You might think that we’re being very rigid with our planning, and perhaps we are (we’ve booked a place to stay every night) but we have flexibility to stop where we want and we can cancel many/most of the motels/b&b at short notice should we decide to.

The long range weather forecast, unreliable though it is beyond 3 days, looks pretty decent with lots of >20 deg C days and I’m confident we have the kit to cope. 2 huge bags are awaiting our kit to be packed; Wendy has had a practice pack for the first, 12-day part of our trip and is happy she can get enough kit into my Honda panniers. Luckily, the bike we’re renting has larger Givi panniers so shouldn’t be an issue.

Itinerary hasn’t changed significantly, unless we have to do the inland route to Kaikoura because they’ve still not managed to open the northern coast road into Kaikoura, but it’s only an extra few hours on the bike so it’s not an issue.

Have NZ $ and Sing $, and we are steadfastly ignoring the exchange rate (thanks Brexit!!!). Afternoon Tea is booked at Raffles in Singapore, followed by one or two Singapore Gin Slings in the bar afterwards too!

Getting really excited now!

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14 hours ago, Skids said:

So, less than a week until we depart for Singapore and then Christchurch. I’ve completed all the sat nav routes and transferred them onto the netbook and the TomTom. The bike doesn’t come with a sat nav or mount so I’m taking my own plus a power socket and they’ll be fitted when we go to collect the bike. 

 

Good grief Gareth, what have you done to the font. my eyes hurt trying to read it.

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3 hours ago, Woodie said:

 

Good grief Gareth, what have you done to the font. my eyes hurt trying to read it.

 

It worked then! :goofy:

 

Actually, I dunno but probably copying it from Word didn't help.

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16 hours ago, Skids said:

 

It worked then! :goofy:

 

Actually, I dunno but probably copying it from Word didn't help.

 

Hope you have a good trip... I'm from Auckland and the weather has been great over the past few days, usually it stays nice towards late Summer :)

 

Just took a look at the VFR New Zealand website - awesome! I'd be booking them if i wasn't already in NZ :)

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Oh yes! Great weather here (finally!) so hopefully your timing will be good.

From last weekend:

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Taxi to the airport arrives in a little while (after the 6-Nations England vs France rugby match) then it's 24 hours to Tulsa Christchurch.

 

I'll try to post the odd pic & update but will probably do majority when we're back in March.

 

Cheers.  :beer:

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Collected the VFR today....they gave us a 2001 800Fi with just over 40k km on the clock. Runs really well, light clutch, new rear tyre and voluminous luggage.

 

Took her out around the Banks Peninsula east of Christchurch for a shakedown plus a trip out on a boat from Akaroa to see dolphins/seals/penguins too.

 

The area reminds me a lot of Scotland (on a rare sunny day), with seemingly never-ending bends! Fantastic day, can't wait for the run up to Mt Cook tomorrow.large.1000075.jpg.7cbb9c4fa0c15dc61a3aeb12f050325d.jpglarge.1000071.jpg.7bf1ccb8729b752382689e816afe3969.jpglarge.1000070.jpg.6032467ae79bd2a9ef48744d78878703.jpglarge.1000069.jpg.9b590937bec7369c0176835e25aac699.jpg

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Collected the VFR today....they gave us a 2001 800Fi with just over 40k km on the clock. Runs really well, light clutch, new rear tyre and voluminous luggage.
 
Took her out around the Banks Peninsula east of Christchurch for a shakedown plus a trip out on a boat from Akaroa to see dolphins/seals/penguins too.
 
The area reminds me a lot of Scotland (on a rare sunny day), with seemingly never-ending bends! Fantastic day, can't wait for the run up to Mt Cook tomorrow.large.1000075.jpg.7cbb9c4fa0c15dc61a3aeb12f050325d.jpglarge.1000071.jpg.7bf1ccb8729b752382689e816afe3969.jpglarge.1000070.jpg.6032467ae79bd2a9ef48744d78878703.jpglarge.1000069.jpg.9b590937bec7369c0176835e25aac699.jpg

Welcome to my time zone Skids! Enjoy!


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Ha Ha.. you beat me to it.. I was going to say that looks like Scotland. reminds me of the road from Tyndrum to the Black Lakes.

 

 

Have Fun.. looks like you've got the right bike

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Ha Ha.. you beat me to it.. I was going to say that looks like Scotland. reminds me of the road from Tyndrum to the Black Lakes

Yes it is just the same, but without the roaming herds of wild haggis!


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Nah, it is reminiscent of Scotland (and Wales....and the US/Canada) but not really any of them. Anyhoo....

 

We ran out of superlatives today. Lost count of the number of times one of us said "wow". Truly, this is a land of wondrous landscapes, on a scale I'm not used to, comparable with parts of the US/Canada in scale and crammed full of wondrous sights.

 

West out of Christchurch, to Windwhistle, coffee stop at Staveley, Geraldine, Fairlie, onto the Mount John Observatory then along the shores of Lake Pukaki  to the base of Mount Cook and back to our digs in Twizel. 273 miles took us from 9am to 5.30pm; 60mph limit was pleasant on those roads and we had a few stops. Bike ran really well and we're both knackered!

 

South to Dunedin tomorrow!

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Not quite the southern-most point of the South Island mainland (that's up a dirt track I don't want to take the VFR up), but the furthest south I've ever been or will likely be again!

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Nice breakfast at Kaka Point.

 

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A day off the bike today so we took a cruise up Doubtful Sound. Stunning scenery.

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Having a weekend off at some friends of Mrs Skids' in Rangiora, west of Christchurch. They used to live a couple of doors down from us but emigrated here about 11 years ago.

So far we've been very lucky with the weather which has improved as we moved north and west. Not that it has been bad, just an occasional shower, cool first thing in the mornings but warming up nicely into the 20s by afternoon. The sun is really hot when it's out though.

The roads are quite a mix, mostly all very good and when it does get twisty, they are superb. Combine that with ever-changing spectacular scenery and you get a quite magical riding experience. Minimal traffic (1 car every 20 minutes or so), polite drivers who are at pains to move out of your way, grippy tarmac except for the inevitable roadworks....it's a biking paradise.

Gave ourselves a coupe of treats whilst in Queenstown:

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On ‎19‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 4:36 AM, Skids said:

Gave ourselves a coupe of treats whilst in Queenstown

 

1000509.jpg

 

 

Did you kick the driver out and ask if you could have a go !  ! :goofy:

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You just gotta love New Zealand! The helmet hides a big smile.

 

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Have I mentioned that I've never worn out the centre of a tyre?

 

Glad you're having fun Skids.

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10 hours ago, Terry said:

Have I mentioned that I've never worn out the centre of a tyre?

 

Glad you're having fun Skids.

You are a very, very lucky man. This country is fantastic.

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