Over The Shoulder....Rides through the Decades

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012....Long White Cloud__NZ Spectacular

March
2 weeks....which felt like 2 months. Yes, there was that much packed into it, despite the fairly short distances travelled each day.


What an absolute RIPPER of a trip!

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Things had taken a while, there was so much to do and dig up. Info wasn't too thick out there and in the end it was a bag of bits which had to be cobbled together into a 2-week ride on the spot and on the fly.


Nev and Jo came along....Tassie-Dave from Hobart...and Rob (RobbieB) from Launceston....Bernard (platypus121) lives on the North Island anyway and had just bought a brandnew, little XT250....having Latte-Dave along was a real boon (and hoon :wink:)....Goodie and myself, of course.

2 stumping weeks, that still get me into instant dreaming the second some NZ image flits past my eyes...it's all back there, right in front of me.

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The laughs, the valleys...the mountain ridges and endless water, clear as glass...the dodgy Clarks Junction Pub after the day on the Danseys Pass and the rivetting, boggy High Plains of the Old Dunstan Road.
That pub...and THAT sunrise!!

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The backroads into Waiau


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The stunning Port Underwood

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The "Molesworth"


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The one that wraps it all into one

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Until the next one comes around and leaves you gobsmacked again!

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The Maruia Saddle was a gem


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THe crew got me a new bike

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Up the McKenzies, the Haka, the Meyers....


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Big Sky Country

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The morning at Milford


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...and nature's most stunning at the Mavora Lakes


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...and riding past the brumbies into paradise near Walter Peak, to ship the bikes to Queenstown across the lake on the old Lady Earnslow steamer.
Christ, what a superb day!!


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Breathtaking stuff on the way back up north

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Nearly ran "the ton" on the Haldon Rd.


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Skimmed above the fog of the Canterbury PLains at Mt. Hutt


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...and yours truly nearly threw it into the Okuku River on the last day.


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Reckon, we all have one thing in common: we LOVED IT....every bloody second of it!!

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All the juicy bits and ALL OF THE ~1600 PICS
TO LEAVE YOU STUMPED!!


http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3990
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012...Strathbogies, again!

A late-May Sunday


Michael (Williamson) rocked up...and Steve (stevegt738)...Tim (Sir Francis) with his Tiger...and Doug (dougman1) on the comeback-trail !....Tim (TimC) and Rob (a86)...Pete (Vtwin) and Andrew (Hayesy) both on their DR's now...Goodie for the start until she was "quietly ditched" .....and "The Dishrack".


Damn nippy in the morning, but things cleared up.

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The yarns and more pics from everyone

http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4069
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012....The 'Hood #1

Early June saw this one kicking off, hopefully, a series of local rides, discovering the smallest and narrowest thoroughfares of the local neighbourhood.

Richard (K1W1) and Ian (squizzy) showed up for this one....and Derek(Crustyvarmint) and Michael (Williamson) and Peter on the 650 Dakar (doonap)....another Pete (Vtwin) and Steve (stevegt738) ...and Tim (SF) on the Scrambler....Cam (camstrom) ...and "the Dishrack".

The numbers were certainly a surprise.

Cold and grey turned into a great day.
Rode all day and were never more than 40km from home.
And barely knew half of it :glu

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Lots more here:
http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4082
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012....The'Hood #2

Only a few weeks after the first 'Hood ride, this late-June ride started off even colder, then also turned into a beautiful day as long as we stayed south of the northern hills.

Tim (SF) on the Scrambler, Steve (stevegt738), Derek (Crustyvarmint) and Tim (TimC), before adding the "Dishrack".

Not a bad start....

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....through a convoluted maze of backroads, tar and dirt, spectacular views and fantastic scenery under, sometimes, dramatic skies.



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A late lunch on a wind-blown ridge...


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...before Derek led us astray, sliding down some muddy hills sideways :bs


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Yeeha!!



More pics and tidbits:

http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4136
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012....Recce-Drive

Due to the previous bad weather and some flood-warnings and being one bike short for technical reasons, this early-July bash turned into a "recce-drive", scouting for new roads and through-routes for a later-in-the-year ride.

Certainly found enough "new material" for at least one day- ride!

Combined with some other "goodies", there's easily enough exciting stuff in the bag for a weekend, not far from home.



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More pics and route info:

http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4121
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012.....Yarram and Grand Ridge Mudfest

Late July....
....and what a weekend this turned out to be. An overnighter to Yarram, where "roadies" and "muddies" would merge again to bullshit the night away.

A whopping 20 rocked up for the weekend, pretty much a forum record for a weekend ride.



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The bleak skies abscured the views, but it was all hands on deck anyway as the slipping and sliding was pretty intense. To say the least.

Derek showed up on the "Tripod".....there was the Tiger Squad of Matt, Tim, and famous Rog....Big Rod on the GS pairing TimC... and a glitch-in-a-ditch-on-the-ridge, this time the lonely Strom in the pack.

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Discovered some brilliant road, doged and weaved to stay on the Grand Ridge and enjoyed the Sunday morning stretch immensely.
We'll certainly run this one again when things are a little drier through Spring/ early summer.



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Pinching Matt's shot here....he didn't really have to hurry to take the pic.... it was just about impossible to stand up straight, never mind lifting the "The Dishrack" back on its legs. :muahaha:

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More here:


http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4168
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012...Strath Creek Pub

Early August
Another ride to try and string together some of the roads and places we'd scouted on those rained-out Sundays in the cage.

Great to see some more new faces....and Moike, who'd de-cobwebbed the BM for this one, yeeha!

Some surprisingly good and dry dirt after the heavy rains...


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Cheers, boyz

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One of the best spots in Victoria on a sunny Winter-afternoon.


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Brilliant day, lots of fun and some choice backroads with hardly a soul around anywhere.

More pics and snippets:

http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4199
 
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