Rockin' The Soul_NZ's South 2013

One photo. That's it?
We send you to NZ for 10 days and you come back with one photo. Why the heck didn't you just get a plastic Tiki made in China and be done with it?

:lao
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
One photo. That's it?
We send you to NZ for 10 days and you come back with one photo. Why the heck didn't you just get a plastic Tiki made in China and be done with it?

:lao

Argghhhh, quit whinging and crack another bottle of Pinot Noir :chug:....15 days total, too.

And you'll kick yerself black 'n blue for not hitting the buzzer when the ride was on the boards :bow::bow: ....once the pick of the ~6000 pics roll along :drool::drool::drool:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
This one might take a little time :doh:...but when stuff like these don't survive the first round of sorting... :wot::wot: :eek: there's something real-good in the making :glu:glu
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
:bees:

not that I'm getting impatient or anything...:whistle:

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!! (POOOOP goes the finger...)


_______________________




And so it started.
The forecast was on the money.... and then some, whoohoo!!
clap.gif



NZ_Feb13_0002.JPG


The motley crew
L -> R Jeez-it-was-a-load-of-fun-Yours Truly....Jimbo (dusty), the poor, lonely Yank amongst the coop of ‘Strayns, aka “Hiroshima”- Jim due to the glow-in-the-dark-helmet...TimSF (Sir Francis...or is that “Pope Francis” now?)....Tim (as if one wasn’t enough) sitting and trying to look sort of serious for a minute....Roger (lodger), who had no idea what he was in for....Goodie, now leading the AT Diving Team....Andrew (hayesy) in front of those 2 empty brown bottles.... which pretty much says it all.
icon_gulp_.gif



NZ_Feb13_0003.JPG



Holy Mackerel...what a RIIIIIDE!!


It just couldn’t have come any better...the main tourist throng out of the way, incredible weather for the whole 2 weeks with only the odd cloud cover in the mornings and a total of maybe a lonely hour of rain...way too little to wash off the thick sheet of dust and muck, flush away the bug-cemetery up and down the whole front of jackets, pants and boots or maybe clear the ton of crap off the fronts of the bikes.

Shows the importance of picking the right time for a given place...and with roads and tracks to ourselves, there was plenty of opportunity to sample much of the best the place has to offer.


And what’s on offer is simply !!!!!!!!!! BREATHTAKING !!!!!!!
glubsch.gif
glubsch.gif
glubsch.gif





What’s also breathtaking is the “Aussie-Phenomenon”.
The white-knuckled, shitting-themselves cross-wise Aussie tourists in their Juicy Rentals Hyundais, scared witless by broken white lines EVERWHERE, real intersections instead of the strings of roundabouts and the near total absence of the forests of signs, regulations and pointers every 10meters to tell them how and where and when to fart, blow their nose and scratch their arse.
banghead.gif


The lack of the entire regalia of moronic “we-think-for-you-every-millimeter-of-the-way Big Brother numbing + dumbing-material and the need to actually be awake, alert and aware, actively participating in traffic and going-ons by the NEED TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES and being forced to make decisions on those thoughts is by now such a foreign concept to the poor, pathetic buggers, they’re sticking out from the international tourist-soup like a turd from a soufflé.

No wonder some Aussies visit the place just for a good, old drive through the countryside where driving actually involves some action and thought, participation in your surrounds, judgment and skill rather than the dopey crawling from sign to sign in doze-mode while watching your speedo every inch of the way.

And guess what...no piles of corpses lining the corners of all those twisty roads and passes, which is a loud and clear “up yours” to those Australian rent-an-expert road safety clowns.
dollars.gif
dollars.gif




Let’s have some fun then.

Rog and SF...still laughing while thinking of a last-minute bail-out?

NZ_Feb13_0005.JPG


Approaching Christchurch
NZ_Feb13_0005a.JPG


Made the 4pm pickup by a smidgin...once more, Hakan was absolutely fantastic, all the bikes good and with brandnew hoops! One awesome operator...hats off, mate!

NZ_Feb13_0005b.JPG


Kitting out with the “personal bits”...like....Airhawks and lambswooly gel pads for the DR’s....and other “arse-saving” measures.


NZ_Feb13_0005c.JPG



First round on Jimbo....he’s coming along in a hurry, yoho!
icon_beerchug_.gif



NZ_Feb13_0005d.JPG


SF put a deposit down right-away....new curtains coming next week.
mwink.gif



NZ_Feb13_0005e.JPG



Nifty Kiwis...why fix the brickwork; just build a fence to suit over the top...



NZ_Feb13_0005ea.JPG



Tucker for champions
drool.gif



NZ_Feb13_0005f.JPG




The Middlepark Motel
in Southern Christchurch proved an ideal stay....and Vaughan, our host, is one of those super-friendly Kiwis, always happy to help. Great folks!!
laola.gif




With a full belly, the first bagfull of laughs and a generous helping of some local dark brew we even found a long-ish, laneway-and-park riddled route home which had absolutely nothing in common with the way we took to the pub....exactly what this trip's all about, ey?

Onyerboike in the morning then...
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
No mucking around the next morning....ready to pull out at 7.30, which became a bit of a standard despite a couple of barely avoided mutinies.

Rog straining at the leash...


NZ_Feb13_0006a.JPG



Maps?? What maps??


NZ_Feb13_0006.JPG




Aren’t they nice when they’re clean?
icon_demon_.gif




NZ_Feb13_0006b.JPG



And near new?
Not that it’d last for long...not with this mob.


NZ_Feb13_0006c.JPG



The commute through the Canterbury Plains south towards Geraldine in a foggy/ hazy morning is a bit of a dreary affair and best done quickly.
A quick brecky and it’s off towards Fairlie...


NZ_Feb13_0006da.JPG



Not far and we’re off the highways, pretty much for the rest of the first week.
clap.gif



NZ_Feb13_0006e.JPG



Mulvihill Rd. offers a great entry into the backblocks with their myriad of farm roads, alternating gravel and tar, slowly climbing and weaving up the plateau towards Winscombe, south of Fairlie.
NZ_Feb13_0006f.JPG



NZ_Feb13_0008.JPG





NZ_Feb13_0007a.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0010.JPG



NZ_Feb13_0008a.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0011.JPG





map1.jpg
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Perhaps a bit too early to call it the find of the day, but Gays Pass is a sweet little climb into a saddle, leading into the plains to the west.
drool.gif



NZ_Feb13_0010a.JPG



Crossing the hwy, Cricklewood and Limestone Valley Rds. continue the gentle climb towards the McKenzies Pass...sun’s out now, the fog of the coastal range behind us....man, it’s turning into a pearler!!
2thumbs_up.gif
2thumbs_up.gif




NZ_Feb13_0011a.JPG



NZ_Feb13_0012.JPG



Up the McKenzies then...


NZ_Feb13_0013.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0014.JPG



NZ_Feb13_0015.JPG




Looked too tempting,, eh mate? Saw ya!!
bt.gif



NZ_Feb13_0015a.JPG



DR-Power!!

NZ_Feb13_0016.JPG




Onto the Haka (Hakataramea) Pass next, one could hardly call it a Pass, it’s long and shallow, an easy ride between those stark, bare hills.



NZ_Feb13_0017a.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0017b.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0013a.JPG





NZ_Feb13_0019.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0018.JPG




NZ_Feb13_0020.JPG
 
Top Bottom