Rockin' The Soul_NZ's South 2013

[platypus121]

Okay, I can just about stand it so far.

But, if you're going to be posting pics of impossibly beautiful Central Otago trails, I might burst an artery with envy .... or, at the very least, my extremities will spontaneously combust !

Don't stop - I'll take the risk.

 

[asphalt]

Okay, I can just about stand it so far.

Don't stop - I'll take the risk.

Yeah, platypus
.... want more, also!

 

[glitch]

But, if you're going to be posting pics of impossibly beautiful Central Otago trails, I might burst an artery with envy .... or, at the very least, my extremities will spontaneously combust !

Don't stop - I'll take the risk.

Get the pressure suit to hold it all together, mate....this could turn out real nasty

Barely a day-and-a-half in, and the highlights so far have been the unknown Mount Gay/ Gay Pass/ Rockwood Rd., and the crown of the Meyers, creeping out of the fog and then dipping back into it.

Previously never heard of: the Horse Range Rd. from Palmerston to Hampden/ Moeraki Boulders, what an incredible, little gem....rode it twice to make sure we didn't dream it the first time around!! ...the Ramrock from Waikouati on the coast across the High Plains to Middlemarch. Gold, whoohoo...and, and, and...

 

[twowheeler]

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 ...........
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.

Pete you're not paying attention are you. Speed Kills. Don't look for evidence to support that notion in isolation to anything else, and ignore your own gut feel. Our government is doing us a favour by protecting us from that spectre.


More importantly ! - some stunning shots in there, beautifully framed .

 

[glitch]

Oh man !!!
What a ride report again
Good shaked stretch selections along the SI.
Awesome picshoto:
I'm really jealous about these actions

Looking forward for the next tracks

Great stuff there boys and girls, keep it comimg ...

Thanks for looking in guys More to come....LOTS more to come.

Pete you're not paying attention are you. Speed kills
.....
More importantly ! - some stunning shots in there, beautifully framed .

One creates the other, mate...
Not having to deal with all the Vic "Safety" bull leaves free space to actually see, process and react to the surrounds. Once out of that dopey haze, one tends to be awake/ alert to everything....which naturally helps the pics along, too.

 

[glitch]

Up the Danseys in brilliant sunshine, shadows padding the valleys and craggy heights above, the road nice and easy, if a bit squirrely with tons and tons of that river-pebble stuff. AWESOME!

Andrew...on a mission (or on the way to the dunny, can't remember)

Having FUN!!

Eventually you drop through the saddle and down to the pub-in-the-middle-of-nowhere...the Danseys Pass Hotel.
The road runs straight past the front porch...

OI!! Don’t drink ALL the Monteith Black, aye?


Howzat for a KLIM-Ad?

 

[glitch]

The place really calls for a longer stay....

But, but....it’s only 11 in the morning!! Down-valley to Naseby we go then, it’ll be close with the fuel again...

Checking with the locals in Naseby, next’ fuel’s in Ranfurly, 20odd k’s further south.

At 230+k’s, things are getting tight, most DR-punters have switched to reserve some while ago.
A little stutter and fart... and all make it to the "line up" at the BP.

With nothing to worry about and back on asphalt, the spinnakers are up, tacking south towards Middlemarch through 25k’s of quickish twisties, a sweet rollercoaster of a ribbon of tar curled across the dry, brown countryside...then some of those weirdly-shaped, rugged rocks along the climb of the Macreas Rd. are just too much of an invitation.

What a perfect spot for lunch, sitting on the warm rocks, gazing across the distant hills and valleys, the hot exhausts ticking away...

 

[glitch]

Only 10mins further up is the huge, open-cut gold mine where they play with those humungous Tonka toys.

All of a sudden we’re out of the hills and back on the coastal strip, the brown slopes gone and replaced by lush green vegetation. Palmerston is a small town with nothing much but Hwy1 and the railway passing through.

Some 20k’s north, a pile of funny-shaped rocks on a beach is our next target...but using the Hwy1 to get there is below this mob....way below.

Horse Range Rd. is a squiggle on the map and gets us to Moeraki via the “inland-alternative”.
Jaaaackpot!!

Ducking and weaving like a balloon in a gale, this single-laner is a ripper. Sealed yes....but knarly, dirty and entirly unpredictable.
The dip through the narrow valley with its bare, pockmarked sandstone walls is too exciting to stop and get the camera out....you just HAVE to see what’s behind that next blind corner...NOW. And the next one...and....

Moeraki Boulders....

Andrew just had to hit one really hard with that stick there....

...and now tries to sneak away quietly.

Unanimous decision: back to Palmerstone via the Horse Range...”why are you asking?”



Out for a stroll and sorted by colour:

Palmerston doesn’t leave us much choice....the only other place is full, so it’s the pub (which seems to have some reputation, as we found out later) and its “chalets” out the back.
Oh boy...forget star-ratings, this is a front-runner for the black-hole ratings....which also goes for the tucker, the plumbing, ...the whole joint seems to be in “reverse-Ikea” mode...whatever it is you touch, disassembles instantly. No tools required.

The only window to the tiny room is screwed shut because of a broken latch...taking one screw out, I disregard the other (which hasn’t got a head and just seems to be a rusted pin) and try to lever the window open.....OOPS!!

At least we’ve got some fresh air now... nightynight, everyone.

 

[twowheeler]

Out for a stroll and sorted by colour:

Gold !

One creates the other, mate...
Not having to deal with all the Vic "Safety" bull leaves free space to actually see, process and react to the surrounds. Once out of that dopey haze, one tends to be awake/ alert to everything....which naturally helps the pics along, too.

Absolutely - completely agree. Victoria's Big Brother doesn't unfortunately though.

 

[glitch]

Just found an extra couple of pics of Day1, which somehow slipped through the cracks...
Memorial at the top of MacKenzies Pass.

Mt. Cook, from the top of the Hakataramea Pass.

....which is most probably what this Cloud-9er was dreaming off, busted window or not.

It’s a grey morning in Palmerston, the coastal fog covering everything like a wet blanket. Ready to go at the now customary 7.30, nothing’s open and brecky’s postponed until Middlemarch....
IF the desired route works out. It’s one of those finds on a map, which might exist...or not.

Down Hwy1 for a few k’s to Waikouaiti, nearly overshooting the turnoff to Ramrock Rd. in the fog.

Sometimes it’s even hard enough to see the road...or which road to pick at some local turnoffs and junctions....there’s certainly lots of ups and downs, but easy sailing.

UNTIL....!!!!

Until the muck parts and we find ourselves in fairy-land.

THAT pic just says it all....STUMPED!!