Rockin' The Soul_NZ's South 2013

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The usual pic at the highest point of the Haka-saddle...


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...and time for lunch, that we bought in Geraldine on the way up.


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Things are already falling into a rhythm.
Logistics are helped along a great deal by TimSF playing banker for the group-pot (and a BIG THANKS HERE!!)
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from which all common items are paid, like accom, fuel, entry fees etc. Filling up 7 bikes at a single-bowser country servo takes mere minutes, everyone helps to open and lock fuel caps, pushing bikes through to the schnozzle and out of the way afterwards.

Some of the shop-owners can’t believe their eyes.
Their apron stays clear for other traffic, 7 bikes in + out in no time and only one single bill to deal with...same for accommodation.

Roll up, strike a deal for the whole mob, pay cash... and hit the bar for more important things.... like a stone-cold pint of the good stuff.
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Haka Pass, dropping towards Kurow. An easy ride, the gravel isn't too deep, nothing steep and rocky, any water crossings are short and shallow.



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Just ouside Kurow we're back on a main road.


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Home for the first night on the road....like most pubs at least on the South Island, the Kurow Pub is owned by one of the main breweries, which tend to display their colours prominently.

The other pub down the road is bright-orange, which could make it a Tui-owned joint. Sure makes it easy to pick where you want to stay according to what beer you favour.
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All plain Berger Off-White (approx 1933 vintage by the looks of it) around the back though.


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It also seems to be the Kurow Rugby Club HQ (obviously sponsored by someone else, going by the colours)

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Typical country-pub décor....the classic hodge-podge.
The lounge is rumpus room and broom cupboard all at once; housing a few old TV’s (most going), a crusty-brown 1960’s kettle and the odd assortment of Bean43 sachets... there was even a bed and cot to the left somewhere.


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Let’s have a look around the place, starting with that truly impressive single-lane timber bridge across the wide and fast flowing turquoise waters of the Waitaki River. And what a magnificent river it is!!
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From the times when Kurow Main Street was aiming for Wall Street....



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Showing the colours



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Day1 in the bag!! What a cracker!
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dougman1

Part of the furniture
Ok, thats enough now, we get the drift. So thats day one, done and dusted. How many more days are we to be tortured??? :bs
 

Sir Francis

Displaced person
Ok, thats enough now, we get the drift. So thats day one, done and dusted. How many more days are we to be tortured??? :bs


But Doug, we haven't got to he gallons of black beer (as an aside, they publications thought we were a little strange as every drink for the night had to be black...well except for Hayesey, there's alway got to be one who don't wanna be a team player...) and the deep fried salads and.....:whistle:
 
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banditrider

Long Timer
Heh, heh, been over that bridge in Kurow - it was on the news the other night, they're actually gonna fix it up (or build a new one or summit like that). Did 16km of Haldon road myself when I was down for the TT - stopped when it went to gravel...wrong bike, wrong time...
 

dougman1

Part of the furniture
But Doug, we haven't got to he gallons of black beer (as an aside, they publications thought we were a little strange as every drink for the night had to be black...well except for Hayesey, there's alway got to be one who don't wanna be a team player...) and the deep fried salads and.....:whistle:

:box: Ok thats enough....:upyrs: I'm off to find solace with some Montieths dark ale.:scull: That'll cheer me up...:bs
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Ok, thats enough now, we get the drift. So thats day one, done and dusted. How many more days are we to be tortured??? :bs

Hmmmm....looks like it'll be bloody slow and painfull.
Might stretch it out to the 12. Sept :killingme





Heh, heh, been over that bridge in Kurow - it was on the news the other night, they're actually gonna fix it up (or build a new one or summit like that). Did 16km of Haldon road myself when I was down for the TT - stopped when it went to gravel...wrong bike, wrong time...



LOVE that bridge in Kurow....and all the other ones like it. When we took the shots we squashed ourselves to the railing like a wet sponge... but any car going past nearly took the seat outta the shorts.
For a major hwy bridge, that thing's damn narrow! :eek:

Haldon Rd.....the best part's further south!!
Wouldn't be much fun on a Big ADV-bike (parts were steep, rocky, channelled and rutted last year) but the Black Forest Station and Lake Benmore Rd. are just unbelievable!
Think it's $10/ bike nowadays for the code to the gate, but it's one of those roads you 'll never forget.:glu:glu
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Trying to fight our way out of the trampoline mat-called-mattress while still dark, takes all of the 50.000 calories breakfast dished up in the dining room...the day’s routes are decided upon while the baked beans and spaghettis tunnel their way towards the other end...

Back up the Haka Valley for a bit, but taking the gravel route on the eastern side of the river this time.


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Then the Meyers Pass...tacking east to the coast and Hwy 1 for another bridge across the Waitaki River...then straight west via the dead-straight and super-fast farm roads to hook into Hwy 83 near Georgetown, a little hamlet that’ll open the backdoor via farm roads to the Danseys Pass and across to Naseby.

200k’s worth of bliss before much needed fuel, the DR’s are starting to suck fumes not much past the 200km mark.
After that.....we’ll see.
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Now THAT’S a wood splitter!!
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Using more hydraulic oil than Diesel, the fossil is drenched in black, sticky goo top to bottom.


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Nippy, wet fog and a layer of fresh 2-3” deep gravel keep the speeds down to 60-80 along the Hakataramea River to the start of the Meyers Pass Rd., but things stay grey.


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Suddenly, the world opens up above the fog blanket....and it’s PURE GOLD from here!!

FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC!! Oh momma!!
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Nothing much left to say, eh? That shoves the fuggin bung in...
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Crawling across the top, we’re back to fog-level.



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...and some other surprises.


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Tacking east on Serpentine Valley Rd.




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Talk about riding on ball bearings....





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A navigational goof-up gets us into Waimate for a coffee and a Supermarket, to grab some take-along lunch.
Doubling back to the Waipua Rd. turnoff is worth it any time for the twisties- run through the gorge alone....before ever more twisties on narrow, single-laners into the river flats near the Waitaki River mouth.
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Some quick dirt along the southern banks, then the foothills and single-laners, barreling down tiny gorges and along the spines and spurs of the Danseys Pass foothills....oh yeah, that’s right up my alley, baby!!
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The "bandits" are lurking everywhere...

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asphalt

Tassie...where tyres are flat and nights are long
Oh man !!!
What a ride report again:glu
Good shaked stretch selections along the SI.
Awesome pics:photo:
I'm really jealous about these actions :mad:

Looking forward for the next tracks :chug:
 
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