As I write, there is a chainsaw idling away in the room next to mine, one of the lads obviously sound asleep after a long day.
We arrived at our motel in Kaikoura late afternoon, after a fairly long ride (680km or there abouts), leaving Cardrona in the low teens, and seeing it peak at mid 30’s for most of the day. Jeff and Chris kept in the pool, while I took the cool shower option. Last nights “Farewell Dinner” was a great success, lovely meal, good wines, fabulous company, and even a delightful young French waitress - perfect. With the two Mike’s opting to truck their bikes home and join the ladies on Air NZ, we were down to four die hards, and at 8am we were off. The early start was intended to bash out a chunk of the journey before we had to complete with too many tourists on the road, and to that end we were largely successful. I was very surprised as we passed enclaves of dozens of beat up vans parked up in the middle of nowhere, obviously relegated there by towns people frustrated with their frugal and sometimes primitive habits. The Lindis Pass was awesome, both in the riding and the scenery, both perfect on what was proving to be another day out of the box - in contrast to last year when we experienced lots of rain, this year we’ve suffered very little. Gas at Tekapo then through to Fairlie for coffee and a snack (hmmm), and of course, the obligatory pit stop. I made mention a few days ago about being surprised to have seen a wallaby on the side of the road - as well as seeing the same on in a much worse state there were a few others, so obviously a few about. Enroute to Geraldine and the halfway point in our journey, we appeared to surprise a young European tourist with what appeared to be a very nice backside - she had apparently just finished having a pee as we flashed past, chuckling. The traffic cops that we saw again caused little concern, other than one who shot off in the opposite direction as we approached- I looked back hoping that Craig was not going for broke to catch up after our recent stop for gas - false alarm. The long straights across Canterbury were tough going, rather featureless after Central Otago, the aforementioned heat, exacerbated by strong, hot wind, like being blasted by industrial hair driers, but we stopped periodically for drinks and gas and chewed through the kms as quickly as we could. Our passing coincided with the Coast to Coast, and our route conflicted for a short while. We were impressed with the dozens of kayakers (in what looked to be ideal conditions), the river leg finishing and who’d yet to transition to cycles - hopefully they would be able cope with the heat and wind they were about to experience on their bikes. Our final and much needed stop for the day was for an ice cream - a respite from the heat and to help restore concentration before the last push up the coast. As always, it is the smell of the sea that makes the first impression as the wild coast appears, soon followed by the sight of boulders and waves. Whilst the route has been largely restored, there are still roadworks and speed restrictions, and unfortunately too many camper vans unprepared to offer any modicum of courteous behaviour. Kaikoura, our stop for the night eventually appeared, and we were there, pleased to have completed the days ride, knackered. Tomorrow back on the ferry, and into the North Is. Comments are closed.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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