The Long-White-Cloud Spectacular__NZ South Island 2012

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
OOOOPPPPs, the preview looks like a ride out into the heavy mud,
and an extravagant circus trapeze number by Tassie Dave

He's good at that :bs
He was actually responsible for both circus-numbers :guff
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Rainbow Rd.

Something just got me worried when looking at this pic.
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I think it’s Bernards devious grin…and there’s always something up when Rob folds his hands like that…
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Had me tossing and turning since long before daybreak…or was that the thought of the coming day, imaginery images of what the Rainbow Road might bring mixed with all those impressions of the Acheron/ Molesworth??….I don’t know.


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Another brilliant local brew!


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Finally, it’s a sparkler of a morning…and pretty nippy, too. A typical Indian Summer morning, the way into town is framed by autumn colours.


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Obviously, we’re on the early side, just check bustling downtown Hanmer Main Street.


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Rob proudly shows off his new joint (he wishes!)


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Picking up Bernard from the Med. Center after he got bitten by the camp-moggy the night before and needs a tetanus-shot, better safe than sorry.


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The turn-off to Jacks Pass is just a short stretch down the road and it sure is an easy climb…but COLD!


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Above Hanmer


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Back in the High Valleys towards Lake Tennyson and the road is quite a bit rougher and slower than yesterday.


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Around 120k’s of gravel before “the Rainbow” will spit us out at the northern end near St. Arnaud.




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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
More BIG SKY country up here, oh yeah!!
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Similar to yesterday, and just as insolated.
If it wouldn’t be for the powerlines in the distance you might as well be on the moon. The lack of trees and shrubs is eerie; the sharp-folded mountains feel austere and intimidating.
What an incredible place!
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About 50k’s in, the Lake Tennyson turnoff



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The tall clumps of grass make Bernard and the 250 just seem to float across the landscape.



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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Many of the hills and mountains are just rubble-heaps, loose stuff continuously flowing down…
Perpetual movement brought by wind, rain and snow….and the occasional earthquake, I guess.


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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Another of Bernards Pano's!! Just click the bar to enlarge.

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Hey, is that one of us out there? Looks a bit funny…



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In the search for some “better shots”, Dave sank in the DR….oh shyte!
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Going no-where, this thing is just stuck in a huge bog, every step squelches around the boots, the black muck is like quick-sand.



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The way it always goes
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….the lightest gets the easy end and the twistgrip, while the ones at the rear get sprayed head-to-toe with sticky black shit while trying to tear the bastard out of the mud.
Finally the DR is moving ever so slowly….go go go go go!!!



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Christ, that’ll look after the morning’s exercises.




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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Back on the main track…and the northern end turns out another total GEM!!
It’s a gobsmacker… the riding getting trickier, the track bumpier and narrower, the scenery closer and steeper.
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Click the bar to enlarge.

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Fresh and juicy is best…



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
One of the “every-10km-stops” to make sure all are there and ok.


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And further north we go….the hills are getting closer, the valleys steeper.



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From here it’s a toll road….and more than worth every penny.
Apart from that….who’d turn around after ~80k’s?



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The side-valleys are even prettier!!
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Gladly paying our dues to the lady from the Hydro-Company.

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Just look at that water….like liquid glass. And MASSES of it!!
The Wairau River.


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
And there’s the suspension bridge across the upper reaches of the Wairau River that the toll-collector-lady told us about.


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A little further north still, the valley floor rises in one big step…




Jo

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Bernard

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Goodie and Rob, approaching the rough patch



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Then panic hits….Latte Dave, pulling double-duty as “group-banker”, has left the topbox open at the suspension-bridge carpark and dribbled bits and pieces along the track ever since…. amongst it, the “group-pot” with nearly a grand of accommodation-funds in cash, yikes!!
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Half the troops rush back towards the carpark while the other half starts a slow, methodical search to find stuff that the quick ones might miss.
The excitement only lasts 15 mins, all’s found.

A few k’s later, we’re back on single-lane asphalt, leading out to Hwy63.
 
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