Natalie's Wedding - Overview

Odometer start distance 49662 km
End of day 1 Wellington 50450 km 788 km 828 km
End of day 2 Springfield 51120 km 670 km 1458 km
End of day 3 Geraldine 51315 km 195 km 1653 km (rain affected day)
End of day 4 Dunedin 51553 km 238 km 1891 km (rain affected day)
End of day 5 Dunedin 51553 km 0 km 1891 km (rain affected day)
End of day 6 Bluff (St.I)51976 km 423 km 2314 km
Speedo cable broke on day 7 so distances calculated off google maps from here on.
End of day 7 Te Anau 239 km 2553km
End of day 8 Haast 589 km 3142 km
End of day 9 Wellington 809 km 3951 km
End of day 10 Tauranga 945 km 4896 km

All up cost about $1650 + tyre wear (approx $100)
Rear Tyre had 6.5 mm of tread left out of 14mm when new.
Rear tyre was fitted at 48365 km and odometer would now read 54558 if speedo cable had not broken. So 7.5mm of wear over 6193km = 825 km/mm of tread wear. This is slightly better than the prevoius Mitas E-09 rear tyre that wore at a rate of 775 km /mm.

The front tyre wears the knobs on an angle so it is more difficult to calculate the wear.
Front tyre fitted at 45750 km and now at 54558km = 8808 km. The tyre is now pretty much toast. But it was a very good tyre.

The XT 400 performed well. Only problem was a broken speedo cable. Not bad for a 5000km trip.
The weather played a bit of a role in this trip. It rained during the course of the wedding.
Days 3 and 5 were shortened considerably due to rain. Otherwise I would have ventured out to Lake Tekapo and Cromwell on day 3. Day 5 was just a day lost waiting for the rain to clear.
Also, when at Haast I became aware if the incoming rain so decided to "high-tail" it back home. 1750 km in 2 days. Otherwise I would have ventured up into Takaka and possibly hiked in the Abel Tasman National Park. Also I would have covered the rest of the Dusty Butt 1000 that I had not yet completed.

Rain cannot be helped, and I had a great time overall. In particular it was great to travel Arthur's Pass and the Milford Rd again. These are my 2 favorite roads in New Zealand.
I was also extremely impressed with the Gentle Annie Highway from Taihape to Napier. I love riding twisty hilly roads through "big country" with massive panoramic views of mountains, lakes and rivers. There is a certain magic to it that just makes you feel good.
The bird life on Stewart Island and the nature walk on Ulva Island were also highlights.
Another 2 minor highlights were the eastern Waiarapa roads and the back road from Cheltenham to Mangaweka.

Natalie's Wedding - Day 10 - Wellington - Tauranga

Friday 27th February 2008

Woke up to Coffee and Croissants. "On ya" Pete.
Headed off over the Rimatukas to Featherston.
Then went out to Martinborough and on to Gladstone.
Checked out the Cliffhanger uphill track. http://www.cliffhanger.org.nz/hillclimb/hillclimb.htm
On to CastlePoint via a forestry road. Trucker unlocked gate for me.
Tinui Pub had restaurant removed by Mrs in marriage break-up ah-lah Speights ad. The eastern Wairapa roads were great little tight twisty things. Encountered a lot of motorcycle police due to cycle race.


Then over to Ekatahuna via Tinui - Alfredton Rd. This was freshly graded in parts and was quite marble-y as there were no wheel tracks to ride in. I started to show first signs of fatigue and the road really was quite challenging mentally.
On to Woodville, Ashurst, Fielding, Cheltenham. Then right onto back road to Mangaweka. This road was great. Really twisty with incredible papa cliffs in the last 10 km. Dangerous and a bit freaky.
Along Highway 1 to Taihape.

Then over the "Gentle Annie" highway 38 to Napier. This road deserves special mention. It is the most "South-Island-esque" road in the North Island in terms of panoramic views. It felt like you were riding up in the sky! Very good section of gravel in the middle section. I think the sign said 27 km of gravel but it felt like about 50-60 km. Towards the end of the gravel I did have a near miss with an SUV that was drifting through a corner uphill towards me. I was feeling totally rejuvenated cranking the XT along this twisty, hilly skyroad. Super fun fun yippee yahoo!

From Napier I headed over to Taupo. It was now dark and I was getting quite tired. Had a bottle of "V" and a snickers bar. Arrive Taupo approx 9:00pm.
Then on to Rotorua and Tauranga via Pyes Pa Rd. Was starting to drizzle. Mental concentration was getting hard in Pyes Pa twisties. Almost overshot a couple of tight wet corners.
Then on to Whakamarama and home. Got to bed at 01:10 am.
I was definitely feeling the effects of just having ridden for 14 hours covering 950 kms, on top of a previous day of about 14 hours riding covering 800 kms combined with a late night ferry trip and only 5 hours sleep.

I slept in til 10:00am and was still feeling pretty fly-blown after a morning shower.
As predicted, the weather had turned very nasty. Strong winds and heavy rain. I was glad to have put in that extra effort to get home and beat the rain.

Here is a GoogleMaps link of the path travelled:

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=-41.294317,174.770508&daddr=martinborough+to:Gladstone,+Wellington+to:Wainuioru,+Wellington+to:Te+Parae+Rd+to:castlepoint+to:Castle+Hill+Rd+to:Alfredton,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:Mulgrave+St+to:Bunnythorpe+to:Peep-O-Day+to:Ruahine+Rd+to:Taihape,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:Erewhon,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:SH+2B+to:Taupo,+Waikato+to:Whakamarama,+Bay+of+Plenty&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3B%3BFQa5jv0dtLd6Cg%3B%3BFXuokv0dLu98Cg%3B%3BFacqmf0dncN5Cg%3B%3B%3BFSufoP0dLsF6Cg%3B%3B%3BFchTpf0d3uGKCg%3B%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=7&sll=-39.053318,176.066895&sspn=5.195413,11.601562&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=-39.053318,176.066895&spn=7.69532,16.347656&z=6

Natalie's Wedding - Day 9 - Haast - Jackson Bay - Wellington

Thursday 25th February 2008

Woke up about 7:30am and packed up the tent and loaded up bike. Fuelled up at Haast Beach Mobil station. The petrol was about 30 cents per litre more expensive than usual.

Rode out to Jackson Bay. The road was sealed all the way. There was not too much going on at Jackson Bay.

A couple of burned down houses, a "Talley's" cray/fish factory, a lot of cray pots stacked up, and the "Cray Pot" restaurant. Clearly the wharf here is the main functioning part of Jackson Bay. It seems like a lot of crayfish are caught around here. There was some sort of marine farm out in the bay as well. Oysters maybe?
Then rode about 5 km back toward Haast and turned right into Jackson River Rd (20km gravel) [ Greenstone, Red Hills]



The Jackson River road was almost a 4WD track in places. It came to an end at a private gate. It is possible to contact the owner and travel on almost to the coast, but the track becomes very difficult and I doubt my bike would get through. The Mobil petrol station man had been along it. He told me that it is very boggy with lots of cording across the bogs. A mission for another day perhaps.


On the way back to the sealed road I was tempted to walk the track to Lake Ellery. Someone had scratched into the DOC sign that it was 40minutes one way. This was just a bit too much time so I continued on.

Then back to Haast.
Got weather report and decided to make a bit of an endurance event of getting home. Heavy rain was forecast over much of the South Island for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I figured I could probably get home in 2 days and beat the rain.
Bought possum/merino socks at Haast Visitor Centre. (great socks!) ($32)
Rode up west coast to Greytown then across to Blenheim and Picton.

I had to stop in Blenhiem to clean the visor on my helmet. The number of insects that I killed travelling into Blenhiem from St Anaud was unbelievable. At times it seemed like about 10 per second.
Caught the 10:35 pm ferry to Wellington.
Crashed out on Pete's couch in Thorndon approx. 2:00am.


Here is a googlemap of the trip. Note it talkes about 20 seconds for the route to show.
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Haast+Beach&daddr=Jackson+bay,+West+Coast+to:Jackson+River+Rd+to:Taylorville+Rd+to:Atarau+Rd+to:Nelson+St+to:SH+1&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3BFazeXv0ddK0LCg%3BFWNUeP0dizY1Cg%3BFXwZev0dihU5Cg%3BFTijhv0dDGheCg%3BFdIKiv0dNhpfCg&mra=ls&via=3&sll=-42.956423,171.419678&sspn=4.719955,6.196289&ie=UTF8&ll=-42.70666,171.276855&spn=4.739044,6.196289&z=7

Natalie's Wedding - Day 8 - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Haast

Wednesday 25th February 2008

At about 8:30am I rode out to Milford Sound and back to Te Anau.

This road is possibly the most scenic of all NZ roads. The rainfall in Milford is about 5 - 7 meters per annum. That is a LOT of rainfall. Luckily however, it was a fine day and the clouds were high so that the views were magnificent. The stop lights on the Homer Tunnel change every 15 minutes. Usually this would be a bit of a pain to have to wait so long for the lights to change. However, it is quite nice to take a bit of time out at the tunnel entrance and look around a bit. Thsi was the 4th time I had been out to Milford Sound, but the first time with dry roads.
Then headed off toward Mossburn but turned left onto Manorva Lakes Rd (gravel).

I had a quick look at the Manorva Lakes, they were very clear, and then went back to Mount Nicholas Rd and on to Walter Peak Station at the very end of the road. I probably covered about 80km of gravel getting to Walter Peak Station. It was mostly flat and straight but got a bit more interesting near Walter Peak Station. At one point I had to pull over and let about a thousand sheep go past. This road reminded me quite a lot of the roads in the Molesworth Sheep Station. I also came across about 10 keen cyclists cycling from Walter Peak Station to Te Anau.

Walter Peak Station had an area set up for tourists where they could get up close to tame sheep and cattle. There were shearing demonstrations etc, and a tourist shop.

Fantastic pub here. Excellent grounds and view.
I caught the Ernslaw steam powered ship across to Queenstown ($49)
Then on to Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to Haast. Fantastic road. I particularly like the section near the bridge known as "The Gates of Haast".

On arrival at Haast (about 7:01pm) I pulled into the Petrol Station to fuel up. The attendant told me that they had just shut. I asked were the nearest petrol station was and he said Fox Glacier or Wanaka. He was VERY unhelpful. I couldn't help but suspect that the Haast petrol stations close early in an attempt to increase the income of other services in the area (food and accommodation) while at the same time not really missing out on any business themselves.

I rode down to Haast Beach. There were a few people camped on the beach and others in campervans. I went for a bit of a spin up the beach but found the sand quite soft and it was quite tricky going. I was worried that I might get stuck in the sand and so made sure to keep my momentum up.




I pitched my tent for the night in the dunes just back from Haast Beach. The mozzies soon found me. I was glad to have some insect repellant and a can of fly spray. I was pretty tired. I had just traveled about 600km in about 10.5 hours. I had a great sleep.

Route Part One:
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Te+Anau&daddr=Milford+Sound+to:-45.431226,167.720032+to:Mavora+Lakes+Rd+to:Mount+Nicholas+Beach+Bay+Rd&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3BFQM5Tf0dWCIGCg%3BFXiaT_0doaALCg&mra=dme&mrcr=1,2&mrsp=2&sz=9&via=3&sll=-45.096791,168.255615&sspn=1.13812,2.120361&ie=UTF8&z=9

Route Part Two
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Queenstown&daddr=Haast+Beach&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=-45.096791,168.255615&sspn=1.13812,2.120361&ie=UTF8&ll=-44.414164,169.024658&spn=2.303321,4.240723&z=8

Natalie's Wedding - Day 7 - Stewart Island to Te Anau

Tuesday 24th February 2008

Got up at 2:30am and went for a walk down Fern Gully Track hoping to see a kiwi in the bush. I walked off the track into the bush about 100 metres. I stood still and waited for about 15 minutes thinking that I would at least hear some bird life scuttling about. I didn't see or hear a thing. It was pitch black and raining very lightly. I was back in bed at 4:00am a little disappointed.







Caught a water taxi from Golden bay to Ulva Island at 11:00am. Walked Ulva Island for approx 3 hours. There is a pamphlet on the Island ($3 honesty box) that shows the birds you are likely to see and has many other points of interest. I found it very useful and interesting. I saw a kiwi about 2m off the walking track. I was pretty happy about that. I also saw South Isl. Saddlebacks, Stewart Is. Weka's (very friendly), Stewart Is. Robins (on my shoe), Tui's, Kaka, the NZ Parakeet (Kakariki), a flock of Brown Creepers (Pipipi), fantails, and more. It was pretty cool for birdwatching and the 3 hours went quite quickly. I didn't get to see a rifleman, NZs smallest bird.
At one time I was alone on West End Beach on Ulva Is. and I heard a loud snorting sound come from some bushes where the sand met the bush line. I turned around to look and saw some bushes swaying. This was a bit scary as there was obviously a large animal in the bush quite near me. I tried to think what animal it could possibly be. Ulva Is. is protected and there wouldn't be any pigs or cattle on the island. I cautiously crept a little closer to the area of interest. Again I heard a loud puffy grunting sound, and the bushes swayed again. The sound was very base and seemed to indicate a possibly very large animal. OK, now I was quite scared and thought about getting the hell out of there. However, I just couldn't let it go,.. I wanted to know WHAT kind of animal this could possibly be. I crept even closer to the source of the sound. I stood at the bush line and looked around in the bush. I was ready to run for it at the slightest sign of danger. Again I heard the noise and this time I saw the head of a sea lion swaying up and down in the bush about 3m from where I stood. I also caught a slight whiff of a fishy smell. The sea lion's breath no doubt. I watched the sea lion for about 30 seconds then moved away.




Caught the water Taxi back to Stewart Island at 2:10pm. ($25 return) Then on the ferry to Bluff at 3:30pm. Much smoother ride this time. Took a photo of the "Wet Fish Dept." sign at Bluff. It just seemed to appeal to my sense of humour.



Depart Bluff about 5:00pm
At Invercargill I went out to Oreti Beach and had a quick blat down the beach as per Burt Munroe. There was a bunch of bikers on Harley's and tourers that were gathered on the beach having a beer and paying homage to Burt. They cheered me on as I blasted past.
Also stopped at the gate to Teretonga raceway.

Then north to Lorneville and left onto highway 99 to Manapouri and Te Anau. Near Tuatapere I noticed an on coming police car and glanced down at the speedo. At that very instant the needle on the speedo dropped from 100km/h down to zero. I thought that this was particularly weird and for a split second thought that the cop may have played a part in this. However I very soon came to the realisation that my speedo cable had just broken. It seemed a weird coincident that the speedo cable should break at exactly the same time as a police car appeared.

I stayed the night at a backpackers In Te Anau. I shared a dorm with two German girls and a Kiwi girl. The German girls had been in NZ 3 days and had just come from Queenstown. Already there were quite annoyed with the way NZ (esp. Queenstown) had "processed" them as tourists and taken their money. They asked me what I thought they should do while in NZ. I suggested buying a campervan and just driving around the South Island camping out where ever they fancied. It was difficult to give definite locations and or events off the top of my head. For me it is the journey that is fun. I guess motorcyclists are fairly well misunderstood by the general public.

Here is a link to Google Maps showing the route I travelled.
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Shannon+St&daddr=Dunns+Rd+to:Tweed+St+to:-46.143686,167.695313+to:Lakefront+Dr&hl=en&geocode=FTUAOf0dVIgICg%3BFQFoO_0dJQcHCg%3BFeK3O_0d8MUICg%3B%3BFZj4Sv0dRRf_CQ&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=9&via=1,2,3&sll=-46.0999,168.066101&sspn=1.117955,2.120361&ie=UTF8&z=9

Natalie's Wedding - Day 6 - Dunedin to Stewart Island

Monday 23rd Feb 2008

Woke up this morning and it is STILL raining.
Has been raining continuously now for 4 days.
Rode to Balclutha.

At Balclutha Subway I got a couple of subway plastic bags and put my feet in these so that the bags were between my socks and my boots.


Rode along Catlin coast to Kahuika.




Turned right into Mouats Saddle Rd and on to Tahakopa Valley Rd via Dewe Rd.


At Mokoreta I turned onto Slopedown road. This was quite scenic and the weather had cleared now. I rode on to Clinton, Waipahi and Tapanui.




At Tapanui I saw Mark drive by in a truck while I was fuelling up.
I chased after him on the bike and we ended up pulling into his work yard in Tapanui. He was just out taking the truck for a test drive. We chatted for a while, mostly about Stewart Island fishing.
Then I rode on to Gore and Bluff.



At Bluff I was just in time to store my bike and catch the 5:00pm ferry to Stewart Island. ($60)
It was very rough seas for the first 15 minutes of the trip. I was loving it. The skipper was having to alter course dramatically to take the waves head on. About a 4 metre swell in a medium sized alloy Catamaran. The bow was diving under the sea and large washes of water were coming up the front window and over the boat.
The stewardess was talking to scared people assuring them it was quite safe.
I had 2 cans of Speights during this first part of the journey. I was quite parched after a longish ride.
About 25 minutes into the trip I became queasy and had to waste my Speights over the side of the boat. Watching about 10 other other passengers throw up into sick bags didn't help. It was a fun trip overall.
Arrived at Stewart Island and had a good walk around and bought some fish and chips.
The bird life on Stewart Island was the stand-out thing for me. Lots of Wood pigeons and Tui's in the trees throughout the Half Moon Bay town of Oban. The Wood pigeons were very large compared to the ones I had seen on the Mainland. I asked the lady at the fish and chip shop if they were a different species. She said that they were the same species, it's just that they get a lot more food on Stewart Island. I can understand now why the Moari ate them. The larger size ones would give a good sized feed and apparently taste very similar to chicken.
Stayed overnight in the pub. ($62)

Map of the road travelled today:
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Dunedin&daddr=Balclutha+to:Kaimataitai+to:Mouats+Saddle+Rd+to:Mokoreta+to:Clinton+to:Tapanui+to:Invercargill+to:Ward+Pde+to:Foreshore+Rd&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=-46.464349,169.3927&sspn=2.221138,3.098145&ie=UTF8&ll=-45.977878,169.140015&spn=2.2409,3.098145&z=8

Natalie's Wedding - Day 5 - Dunedin stopover

Sunday 22nd Feb 2008

Still raining!
Stayed an extra night at hotel hoping that rain may clear up.
Went to after wedding function out on Otago Peninsula.
Dropped sister off at Airport.
Went out to dinner at Speights Bar with Doddy, wife Jacquie, and her brother Charles.
Rained all day.