Whilst celebrating successfully completing 7 hours in the rain, and reliving the last final fling into Cardrona, we agreed that because the next leg was a short one, just over 250km to Bluff then back to Invercargill, a bit of a deferred start was in order. Those who stayed up a bit later than others appreciated the opportunity, but there were still one or two slightly seedy souls at the breakfast table. Whilst I had little reason to feel righteous, I did commend myself for forgoing that last round. These old pubs appear to offer a continental breakfast (so no bacon and eggs), but no one was complaining- a bit of roughage can’t hurt occasionally. Our weather forecasts were many and varied, but the consensus was that the later we departed, the better off we’d be - what rain we did come across was intermittent and short lived, but it was cold - quite cold in fact. The Pub was in the throes of setting up for a wedding later today, and I’m quite confident that the departure of 8 noisy Harley guys was a relief to everyone, especially those cleaning our rooms, and the wedding party, early arrived and keen to get underway. In deference to a traffic cop spotted passing the hotel shortly before we departed, but more realistically because of the long line of slow moving rental cars, our progress over the Crown Range was very subdued, although we did manage the obligatory stops at tourist spots. Progressing down the final stretch of hairpins, I felt Beyoncés rear end getting a bit loose, and upon later inspection found my near new Avon to be just about shot. Mel to the rescue - He was riding shotgun in Mickeys Mazda (and Nev enjoying a spell on Mel’s hot-rod Harley), so I asked him to get on the phone and try to locate a replacement tyre for me in Invercargill. Because my bike is a fairly unique model, it has an unusual tyre size shared by few others, I rated our chances as very low, but Mel did a marvellous job, found that the single tyre of appropriate size in the lower South Island happened to be in Invercargill, and arrangements were duly made. The tyre guy was surprised that last week’s service did not note that my Avon was well and truly shagged, and see a replacement fitted, so something to follow up next week. According to him, there is obviously an issue with the tyre wearing out so quickly. Having said that, responsibility is mine alone, and no amount of finger pointing will change that. While Mel was doing his thing, we ticked off a few quick kms around the back of Lake Whakatipu, enjoying roads that were not too busy, and whilst quite cool, there was no sign of rain until we were within 60 km of Invercargill. After dropping Beyoncé off at Terry’s Motorcycles, we progressed on to the obligatory visit to Bluff (with me in the back of Mickey’s Mazda, quietly enjoying the comfort and respite from the cold wind. Looking forward to Bluff oysters, we stopped for lunch at the Anchorage Hotel - unfortunately inclement weather has kept the oyster boats in port for the past week, so everyone had to resort to their respective Plan B, with Nev’s chowder looking especially good. We’re now settled into the Ashlar Motel, enjoying a few minutes of relaxation before heading to a local pub for dinner, and as we wait the temperature is dropping very quickly. Tomorrow, St Patrick’s Day, with St Bathan's our destination, and the final night of our tour. Comments are closed.
|
Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
|