Nev & Jo NZ2018 South Island

nev

Super Térrarist
Day 12 Reefton to Mt Lyford

Just out of town on the way into Reefton there was a signpost to a lookout. First thing this morning we headed up that road. After a km or so the lookout was signposted off the bitumen onto a dirt road, which then let to another, and another dirt track, and at some point the track really deteriorated to the point where it wasn’t safe to ride any more, so we turned about. No Lookout photos, but here is one on the way back down the track.

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Then we headed out to lewis pass.

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Morning tea was a pie at a cafe at the interesection of Hwy 65 & Hwy 7. Then fuel at Hanmer Springs, and a lunch stop at a bakery in Culverden.
From Culverden we headed east over the hills. We’d come down this road in the opposite direction on our last trip here in 2012.

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image from 2012

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About a dozen gates to be negotiated on this road which runs over hills and through valleys and a few fords. At one paddock as I got off to open a gate I noticed a lamb which had attempted to jump a gate on the other side of the paddock to get away from the bikes. It had somehow managed to get itself hooked on the gate, with one of it’s hind legs stuck in the cyclone pattern from the far side of the gate and the other stuck in the cyclone on the near side. Lucky it was only a lamb and not a full sized sheep. Fortunately the poor thing stopped struggling as soon as I got there and tried to help it, and I had to lift the animal above the gate in order to be able to get it out of it’s predicament. As we rode off, the lamb abandoned the rest of it’s flock and started making a bee line to follow our motorbikes, so we had to make a hasty exit.

We visited the beach down at Port Robinson,

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Then we took the sealed Leader Road back from Hwy 1 to Waiau (pronounced Why-oh) where we stopped for an icypole and fuel.

This section of road I have ridden through on each of the 3 trips I have done to the NZ south island, and each time I have stopped to take a photo. You can see that a lot of restoration work has taken place reinforcing the road as it climbs up the hill. Many of the roads in this area were damaged in the 2016 earthquake. The epicentre was about 10km south of Waiau.

November 2018
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March 2012
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August 2009
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Our stop for the night was at the Mt Lyford Lodge. A big log cabin with bar. Restaurant, some motel type rooms and some bunkhouse accommodation. No telephone service or television and the wifi was quite flakey so it did become the one night of the trip when were were disconnected, resorting to reading books and sleeping early.

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nev

Super Térrarist
Day 13 Mt Lyford to Richmond

Today wasn’t a terribly exciting day. We rode up to Kaikoura and stopped at a roadside caravan for a whitebait sandwich. This was the highlight of the day. We’d seen whitebait fishing shacks down south and up the west coast, and plenty of pubs had whitebait patties on their menus, but this was our first taste.

The Whitebait patties are an egg omelete with tiny little whitebait added. Ours is served on fresh bread with butter. The whitebait pattie melts the butter into the bread. It’s the best breakfast I’ve eaten for a long time. The whitebait is not very fishy, in fact the taste barely registers.

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North of Kaikoura the road is damp in places and the sky is bleak, but it stays dry.
There are plenty of stretches of roadworks repairing stretches of earthquake damaged roads, and preventing further landslides.

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In Picton we stop to take in the view before moving on

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30km of twisties along Queen Charlotte Drive followed by a lunch of mussels in Havelock. After lunch we continue to Nelson, and stay in Richmond, which is part of the urban sprawl of Nelson
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
From Culverden we headed east over the hills. We’d come down this road in the opposite direction on our last trip here in 2012.

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A.k.a the Old Culverden Stock Route. What a nice, little cut-through.
Come to think of it, I've never done it North-to-South.
There's another worthwhile connector to/ from SH1/ Coastal Hwy.
The Random Spur runs from the Kaiwara Rd. to Cheviot on SH1.
Can be a handful for big bikes after rain, sections are just grass and earth.

Got some flashy panniers hanging off that DR !!





I noticed a lamb which had attempted to jump a gate on the other side of the paddock to get away from the bikes. It had somehow managed to get itself hooked on the gate, with one of it’s hind legs stuck in the cyclone pattern from the far side of the gate and the other stuck in the cyclone on the near side. Lucky it was only a lamb and not a full sized sheep. Fortunately the poor thing stopped struggling as soon as I got there and tried to help it, and I had to lift the animal above the gate in order to be able to get it out of it’s predicament. As we rode off, the lamb abandoned the rest of it’s flock and started making a bee line to follow our motorbikes, so we had to make a hasty exit.


What is it with you, sheep and the South Island? :bs


Our stop for the night was at the Mt Lyford Lodge. A big log cabin with bar. Restaurant, some motel type rooms and some bunkhouse accommodation. No telephone service or television and the wifi was quite flakey so it did become the one night of the trip when were were disconnected, resorting to reading books and sleeping early.



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More great shots! :clap:
 

nev

Super Térrarist
Day 14 Richmond

We had a rest day here, bummed around a bit and went for a ride up to Nelson. There was a vintage car/bike display day at an historic homestead so that was our destination. All of the cars and bikes arrived under their own power (no trailers).

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A quick stop at a lookout on the way back to Richmond, looking over Tasman Bay.

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nev

Super Térrarist
Day 15 Richmond to Motueka

Today we were going a long way to move a short way. Up and back to the northern top of the south island.

Our breakfast stop at Takaka was the highlight of the day. A breakfast pizza with bacon and poached eggs on top. What could be better. Probably nothing. Too busy eating to take a photo.

We carried on over the Takaka hills. Another place with plenty of roadworks. This is due to massive landslides which washed away many of the corners after severe rainfall 9 months prior. On the other side however, were spectacular views.

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We rode up to the end of the bitumen and then continued on more freshly graded road out to Cape Farewell. This bit was so freshly graded that we overtook the grader as he made his way down the road.

Photo taken from Cape Farewell.

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Fuel stop in Collingwood.

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Murals in collingwood depicting how the building probably looked 80 years ago.

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From Takaka hill looking down over Motueka.

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Motueka, the home of the happiest fish and chips

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asphalt

Tassie...where tyres are flat and nights are long
Thank You Nev and Jo for these exciting, and highly inspiring
ride report through the south of NZ.
I would like to use some of Your described stretches with pleasure,
when I ride the south of NZ next, from Wanaka via Milford Sounds
to Dunedin and Christchurch.
 
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nev

Super Térrarist
Day 16 Motueka to Greymouth
Leaving Moteuka we headed down the Motueka Valley, towards Kohatu.
As roads went on this trip, today was probably the best collection of roads of all. The roads we rode were magical, the scenery stunning.

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Breakfast stop in Murchison and Lunch stop in Westport, then down the coast road to Greymouth.

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At times the sky was clouded but we never got more than a few drops.

A few shots taken walking around Greymouth

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The Whitebait patties are an egg omelete with tiny little whitebait added. Ours is served on fresh bread with butter. The whitebait pattie melts the butter into the bread. It’s the best breakfast I’ve eaten for a long time. The whitebait is not very fishy, in fact the taste barely registers.


I always wondered what those things were and would taste like...seen the signs along the roadside but never had one through all those NZ trips of the past.
I'll make sure that things will change in March.
Who knows, I might become an addict yet W-)


Bummer to hear about all the roadworks @ Takaka Hill....that's one hell of a race-track when in good shape. :glu:
Good memories of trying to chase Tim on the Gix-Thou up there in 2005 with the Strom...(no hope ever, but hey! )

The "start-line" is the Kiwi-Farm on the inside of the first lefthander pointing UP, coming from Motueka....after that it's just balls-to-the-wall, good fun!:woot:
 
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