In Kaikoura

Te Anau to Kaikoura, 3 days riding.

We are in Kaikoura, a town on the east coast, a couple of hundred clicks north of Christchurch. It is situated on a small peninsular that protrudes about 5K out into the Pacific. The town is sandwiched between the ocean and the Seaward Kaikoura mountain range. This is an old whaling town but commercial whaling ended here in 1924. Now it is a laid back whale, dolphin and seal watching tourist town. One of the big activities here is to go out in a boat and swim with the dolphins. With the proximity of the mountains there is also some mountain biking and hiking. In winter it is a 50 minute drive to Mt Lyford Alpine Resort, a fairly new resort with 450m vertical ski terrain.

A glacial river, kayaking and jet boat rides
There are a fair number of tourists here but nothing like the crowds in Queenstown. The main area of restaurants, stores and accommodations is located on the beach front road that wraps around the bay and out along the north shore of the peninsular.

It is a beautiful sunny day but the temperature is only 18C and the on-shore breeze is cool if you sitting in the shade. The black sand beach is almost deserted. Not only is it a bit cool for swimming but it is also a dangerous swimming area.
There is a nice 12 to 13K trail around the peninsular with some interesting viewpoints and information signs describing the area and its history. We walked this morning. It takes about 3 hours to circumnavigate the peninsular and it was nice to get some exercise.

Yesterday was a long ride from Lake Tekapo. Rain has been threatening for days but we have managed to avoid running into any, that is, until yesterday. About ½ hour out of Kaikoura we could see the rain fall ahead. We went through one heavy shower but it only lasted about 5 minutes and we were almost dry by the time we hit the next one. This time it was a little heavier and mixed with some hail. Thank goodness for the helmet and jacket but that hail hurts when it hits the legs and hands! We slowed down but were out of the shower within minutes only a little damp.

We are staying at the Nikau Lodge, a restored heritage home that is now a very nice 7 bedroom B&B. Tomorrow we are heading back to Nelson to the Grampian Inn. Both these B&Bs are owned but the fellows from whom we rented the motorcycle and they have been two of the nicest places we have stayed.

The Nikau Lodge in Kaikoura

Tomorrow it’s back to Nelson to return the bike. We leave Nelson early afternoon the next day and fly to Auckland, LA, Calgary. We scheduled to arrive back in Calgary on the 21st at 8:30 pm. We will probably stay in Calgary overnight and drive back to Fernie on the 22nd.

Down theWest Coast and into The Alps

It's been a few days since I got a chance to blog. We have traveled from north end to the south end of the South Island and enjoyed excellent weather.

Karamea to Fox Glacier to Wanaka
Karamea to Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier to Wanaka

Another single lane bridge leaving Karamea.

The pancake rock formations along the coast.

Fox Glacier would be a good place to stay for a couple of nights if you are interested in hiking up onto the glacier or along many of the tracks that leave from Fox. It is definitely touristy but laid back at the same time. The population of the town is less that 300 but there are some good bars and restaurants, all within a few minutes of the hotels. Many of the cliental in the restaurant appeared to be local guides from the various guiding companies.

Mt. Tasman (left) and Mt. Cook

Fox Glacier.

After taking a couple of hours to walk into Lake Matheson and up to the Fox Glacier viewing point, we started our ride to Wanaka. There is some stunning scenery on this route, particularly though the Haast Pass and along the shore of Lake Wanaka. Wanaka is another place that we would like to hang out for a few days. It is a good place for hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and relaxing on the beach. This area reminds me of the Okanogan Valley.

We have been very fortunate with the weather on this trip (so far). The temperatures are cool in the morning and mid 20’s in the afternoon. There is some high scattered cloud this morning. We are heading for Te Anau soon via Cardona Valley. This road is the highest road in NZ and goes by several of the ski areas.

Wanaka to Te Anau
Wanaka to Te Anau and to Milford Sound.

The ride today was once again very scenic. The road between Wanaka and Queenstown passed a couple of ski fields. They must be called “ski fields” because they are exactly that... high bald fields with hardly a tree nor bush to be seen. The road, which is the highest in NZ, reached an elevation of 1100 metres at it’s highest point. The climb from Wanaka is fairly gradual but the descent toward Queenstown is quite steep and winding. Needless to say, there were several stops for photos on the descent.

Queenstown (on far shore of lake).

From Queenstown (the Whistler of NZ) you follow the east shore of Lake Wakatipu. The shore is virtually uninhabited until you reach Kingston at the south end of the lake. Kingston appears to be a small town with holiday cottages and a steam train. I imagined that it would be a place where a prospective author may abide long enough to write a book. Peaceful, quite, relaxing, few distractions, lots of time to reflect... in other words the exact opposite of the environment other end of the lake.

It is a good thing that we had some guidance as to where we could find something to eat. Cafes are few and far between in this area and in NZ in general. It is interesting that though there are few restaurants there are many nice rest / picnic areas. It is common practise to pack a road lunch and stop at these areas. Since we have little extra storage space and no way of keeping food fresh we have not done this as much as we would like. Hence we are always on the lookout for cafes along the way.

Te Anau is town on the north side of Lake Te Anau. On the west side are the fiords that extend to New Zealand’s south-western coast. Most famous and scenic of the fiords is Milford Sound.

Te Anau to Milford Sound and return

The forecast today was for cloud turning to drizzle and then to rain by the afternoon. We checked on our options and it is possible to catch a bus from Te Anau to Milford Sound. This was or backup in case of rain. As it turned out the forecast here was as accurate as it is in Fernie. We woke us to scattered clouds and decided to ride to Milford Sound early, before the rain started.

It is 120K to Milford Sound. The speed limit is 100KPH.The estimated time enroute is 2 hours. The first hours is through rolling hills and river valleys where you start thinking...”We will be there in just over an hour!” Then the mountains rise in front of you. At first there is a similarity with the Rockies. Then you realize that these mountains are different. They don’t roll out of the bottom of the valley and get steeper. They are steep, almost vertical, from the valley floor. They are absolutely stunning!

To reach Milford sound you ride (drive) to the end of a canyon. All that is in front of you is a rock wall a few thousand feet high. Suddenly a hole appears on the wall of stone. There is a 1.2 K tunnel though the barrier. The tunnel operates on a one-way basis, controlled by a traffic light that alternates direction every 15 minutes. As we approached the tunnel there was no waiting traffic and the light was green so we didn’t have to slow down much and there was no traffic in sight ahead of us. Because of this, entering the tunnel was quite disorienting. The tunnel is dark, even with our lights on we could hardly see anything for a few seconds and the wet road added to the uncertainty. Also the tunnel is adown hill curve and you can’t initially see the other end. As my eyes adjusted to the light, my heart rate returned to normal.

From the tunnel to the inland end of Milford Sound we were following some slow traffic. This allowed me to look around a bit more and soak in the phenomenal scenery. We had reserved cruise on the sound with Mitre Peak Cruises. We can highly recommend this cruise if you get his way. A 2 ½ hour cruise to the Tasman Sea and return on a stainless steel ship about 20 meters in length. A very entertaining and educational tour at a fair prices $69.nzd each.

Falls in Milford Sound.

A resting seal.

On the road to Milford Sound, prior to the tunnel.


As for the forecast rain, it didn’t happen. We had a very nice dinner at an outdoor Italian restaurant before returning to the Cozy Kiwi B&B.

Tomorrow we have a short day back to overnight in Queenstown. The forecast is still for rain so we may yet get to use the rain gear, but at least it’s only 200K.

I have edited the last 3 blog entries and added a Google Earth image of our route. My copy of Google Earth stopped working a few days ago. I finally discovered that the file the stores “My Places” data had been corrupted and hung up the program. Renaming the backup file solved the problem.

A Day in Nelson

We spent a relaxing day walking around Nelson. It was nice to take a day off riding. In the morning we checked out market and the downtown area looking for a few gifts and a replacement for the shirt I forgot to pack. No luck on either account. In the afternoon we hiked up to a lookout point in the hills above the city. I thought the streets in Nelson, BC were steep but the street we went up was much steeper. It is obvious that they don’t get any snow here! After a couple of blocks we started the 45 minute hike up a well maintained trail to the lookout point. It was a sweaty climb (the humidity is high here) but it was good to get some strenuous exercise.
Once again we stayed in a very nice B&B a few blocks from the center of town and ate dinner at a couple outdoor pubs in the downtown area. So far the food has been very good. There is a good selection and the prices are similar to Canada and there are plenty of good coffee places to keep Latte Linda satisfied.

Downtown Nelson and outdoor pub.

Grilling our shrimp and scallops on a hot stone


We are returning to Nelson and the same B&B on our last night in NZ, before flying back home.

Nelson to Karamea


Our route around the South Island takes us down the west coast , through the Haast Pass and as far south as Te Anau before starting north though the interior. We go back to the east coast at Kaikoura before returning to Nelson.

Today we rode south-west to the coast (Westport) and then back north to the end of the road at Karamea. The route took us through the Buller Gorge, a narrow mountainous river valley . The mountains are tree covered and the vegetation is more temperate now that it was in the Auckland area. There are still a few palm trees and fern trees but generally there is a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, many of which I don’t recognize.

There are plenty of “adventure” activities in this area, for the so inclined... zip line tours, jet boating, white water rafting, kayaking, etc. Hiking, or tramping as it is called here, is a very popular activity. There is an abundance of tracks, from short 20 minutes walks to 20 day hikes. Karamea is the starting point for several tracks in the Kahurangura National Park. We stopped to hike into a small lake about 20 minutes off the road, this afternoon. It was nice to get the exercise but it was a very ordinary pond in the woods. We are realizing that living in BC has spoiled us!


Tomorrow we head down the coast to Fox Glacier. It may have not made the news in Canada but a couple of days ago two brothers walked past a roped off area to have their pictures taken close to the edge of the glacier and were buried under tons of falling ice.

It’s Monday morning now and I’ll finish this entry off while having coffee. It is sunny again today but cool, only 10C. It is good thing that we brought our warmer riding gear.

Linda and I were discussing the pros and cons of this type of a trip last night and have come to the conclusion that a pre-organized tour is not ideal. We would prefer to have more leeway. Live and learn! We are still enjoying the trip. Three weeks is only an introduction to New Zealand. You need much more time than this to see what you would like to see. Next time?

Over to the South Island

Linda waiting for her latte in the dining room at Ormlie Lodge

Rapier to Martinborough


It’s a heat wave... 36C when we arrived in Martinborough. Could have used the mesh jackets today. We should be appreciating the hot sunny weather because, if the forecast is correct, we can expect a high of 19C and rain by Saturday.

We are surrounded by vineyards here in Martinborough, a small town 1 hour north-east of Wellington. We sampled some chardonnay, along with a few appetizers, with our hosts before walking downtown for supper at the pub in the Martinborough Hotel. As we walked up to the pub we bumped into another couple we had met a few nights before at the Clover Downs Estate. We had a couple of drinks with Don and Joan who were from Oakville, ON.

Tomorrow morning we have to get an early start to catch the ferry to the South Island.

Martinborough to Neslon


We left Martinborough at 8am for the 1 hour ride to the ferry terminal. The weather was cool but partially sunny. We didn’t know that in order to reach Wellington we had to climb over some high terrain. As we climbed the winding road the weather became cooler, wetter and the wind was quite gusty. We climbed to the bottom edge of the cloud layer before descending back to sea level. It caught us by surprise. We hadn’t dress warmly and it was cool ride but by the time we reached the ferry terminal we were back in partial sunshine.

At the terminal we were instructed to move ahead and park with the other motorcycles. We were surprised that there were so many... between 50 and 75 bikes. We have hardly seen that many in total since we started the trip! It turned out that most of the bikes were headed for Hammer Hot Springs and a 3 day adventure ride though the unpaved mountains roads. The ferry was very much prepared for motorcycles. There was a specific parking area complete with deck mounted cables and tie-down straps.

Getting ready to disembark

It is a 3 hour ferry ride from Wellington to Picton. We headed for the forward bar and coffee shop. While waiting in line to place our order we started talking with a local islander and ended up sitting and chatting with Beven and Colleen for the remainder of the voyage. They are the first locals that we have had a chance to chat with since we arrived.

Once off the ferry we opted for the alternate route once again. We selected the shorter but slower route along Queen Charlotte Sound. It is a narrow winding road up and down the cliffs along the shore. We had only gone a few miles before we encountered 2 stopped cars that had tried to occupy the same portion of pavement. No injuries but they didn’t look happy.

The road was not recommended for larger bikes. The corners were quite tight and because of the cliffs you can’t see around then at all. When approaching the corner it is difficult to ascertain how sharp it is. There is not much room for error so we took it easy.

Queen Charlotte Sound

Nelson is very nice. It reminds us in many ways of Nelson, BC. Mountainous terrain rises from a narrow coastal plain. The downtown area is on the coastal plain and the residential area extends into the hills above it. It looks quite artsy too and Linda is excited about the shopping prospects. Luckily we don’t have much space for additional items but I’m sure we will find room for a few gifts.

We are here 2 night then off to the west coast.

On the East Coast of the North Island

Before leaving Clover Hill Estates we went out with Lloyd again. It is facinating to watch the dogs work the sheep. The littel black and white dog (Pino), on the left, is only 2 years old.


Linda feeding the male ostrich.

Rotorua to Gisborne

We had a choice of routes today. We picked the longer route around the north-east coast. It didn’t look like it was too far but we are learning that there aren’t many straight roads in New Zealand. It turned out to be 468 kilometres of constant turning. We only averaged 56K per hour. The longest straight stretch of road we saw was perhaps 300 metre in length. We didn’t have to worry about squaring the tire. It was a fun ride but it required constant attention!

We are getting more accustom to riding on the left side of the road. It is not uncomfortable now but it requires constant vigilance and concentration, especially when turning onto another road. The New Zealand Road Code conforms strictly to the rule that the vehicle on the right has the right of way. It works well. Round-a-bouts (traffic circles) make sense here and they work very efficiently. They are especially useful when you need to make a U turn, as we have discovered on several occasions.

I always find in interesting to analyse the various driving habits, rules and road markings in the different counties in which we have ridden. One thing that is different here is the centre line marking. As in Canada, a dashed centre line means that is legal to pass the vehicle in front of you. However in Canada the broken line changes to a solid line when the highway department (or whoever) decides that it may be unsafe to pass. In NZ the solid lines are not used except at intersections or other selected locations. The centre line on the two lane highways here are dashed lines. Around corners, over hills, it doesn’t matter. It is up to the driver to decide if it is safe to pass. Also the posted speed limit on these highways is 100K. The fact that the road is so twisty that is difficult to exceed 50K seems immaterial. I prefer this over the constantly changing speed zones that I have seen on curving roads in Colorado.

Enough about driving... It is much warmer and dryer here on the east coast. As we rounded the northern tip of the peninsular the lush green vegetation turned to yellow. When you couldn’t seethe ocean you felt like you could be riding in the Kamloops area, dry, rolling and somewhat mountainous, cattle and sheep country. The temperature also jumped several degrees higher. We are staying in fancy hotel on the water front in Gisborne. Tomorrow we are off to Napier.

Gisborne to Napier


Today was a shorter day on the bike, even taking the longer route though the higher lands west of Gisbourne. We stopped at Te Reinga Falls and then in Wairoa for lunch. We reached Napier by 3pm and rode to the centre of the small city. Napier is a nice place to visit with is ocean front spa (ie. Multiple swimming and hot pools), parks and Art Deco architecture.

We are staying tonight at Ormlie Lodge. A renovated 1899 residence just outside the city. All the accommodations in which we have stayed have been very nice. Definitely a step above our normal level of holiday accommodation.

Today we are heading to Martinborough, not far from the Wellington Ferry port. The next morning we will catch the Ferry to the South Island. So far we have been lucky with the weather. The forecast doesn’t look to good for Nelson though, but the weather here is changeable.

Waihi to Rotorua

After a wonderful breakfast with John and Marg we reorganized the bike packing and rode to Waihi and then to nearby Waihi Beach.

We planned to park the bike at the beach and to hike 45 minute up the coast to secluded Orokawa Bay but signs posted in the beach parking lot warned about leaving items unattended. While we were discussing our options a woman stopped and chatted about the bike and asked how we liked travelling by motorcycle. She and her husband had just bought one. After chatting for a few minutes the subject of the hike came up and she offered to lock our helmets, jackets and tank bag in their car while we went for the walk. We took her up on the offer and got some needed exercise walking to the bay and back. Here is a photo of the beach.


It was then a short ride (150K) to Clover Downs Estate located just outside of Rotorua, which is the centre of the Maori culture. We are staying here 2 nights. Clover Downs Estate is small hobby farm now. The owners, Lloyd and Lynn are semiretired from farming but they still have an interesting operation. They breed hybrid livestock. The male is 100% Elk and the females are 50% Elk and 50% English Red Deer. The resulting offspring, who are 75% elk and 25% Red Deer, are sold to larger operations that raise these hybrids for meat. These are the 50-50 doe with the 75-25 fawns.

Lloyd and Lynn were also in the Ostrich breeding business for a while. The bottom apparently dropped out of the Ostrich business but they kept couple of them, just to entertain the guests. They also have sheep, and cattle and white Fallow Deer. We went out with Lloyd this morning on a farm tour. It was interesting and great fun. We forgot to take our camera so I think we might go out with him again tomorrow.

We just returned from a sightseeing trip to Lake Tarawera and Rotorua. This area is situated on a volcanic fault line and there is an abundance of thermal activity. There are geysers, bubbling mud pools, hot springs and many beautiful lakes in the rolling farm and forested terrain. We stayed away from the tourist attractions and instead walked around one of the smaller lakes (Blue Lake). Much of the vegetation here exists nowhere else in the world. There is an incredible variety. The growing season is 12 months long so things grow quickly. The pine forests here are harvested every 25 years instead of every 100 years or so in Canada.

That’s it for now... back to the wine and cheese.

On the road: Auckland to Waihi

After a great breakfast we headed over to Triple X Motos to pick up the bike. It took a while to organize our packing and finish the paperwork but we were on the road by 11am or so. With the help of Mr. Zumo (our GPS) we were able to easily navigate out of town while remaining on the left side of the road.



We are very pleased with the bike. It is a Triumph Tiger 955i. Comfortable riding position, good power and handling. We don’t have quite as much luggage space as we are used to but with some reorganization it will work just fine.

Waiting to cross the one lane bridge

Our planned route covered approximately 350K. from Auckland to Thames and then around the Coromandel Peninsular. The destination was Poets Corner B&B near Waihi. At the entrance to the Coromandel Peninsular one has to cross a long single lane bridge. Single lane bridges are quite common in NZ. Usually one direction has priority over the other. The priority in indicated by sign as you approach the bridge. Some bridges are controlled by traffic lights. Since the end of the Christmas / New Years holiday season was approaching, there was much more traffic than the bridge was able to efficiently accommodate. It took over an hour of stop and start traffic to make our way across. We were later told that some drivers have experienced up to 5 hour delays returning to Auckland!


The late start and the lengthy delay meant that we would not be able to complete the planned loop around the peninsular and make it to the B&B in time for dinner. A check of the map indicated that there was a gravel road shortcut though the hills from Tapu to the east shore road. We thought we would give it a try and it turned out to be a good solid road and interesting trip.

About 45 minutes before we reached our destination we encountered some rain showers. We decided not to stop and put on the rain gear. We just pushed on to the Poets Corner B&B. It rain off and on but we stayed warm and got only a little damp. Once again the GPS was a big help finding the B&B along the narrow winding network of country roads.


Waihi Beach

The Poets Corner B&B was a real treat. A beautiful house and yard, perched on a hill 300 metres above and 2 K from the Pacific. Our hosts John and Marg made us a fabulous dinner of grass fed beef, vegetables from their garden and some great local wine. We are not exactly roughing it!

The Long Way Down (by air)

Thirty hours after leaving the Radisson Hotel in Calgary we have arrived at the Great Ponsobey B&B in Auckland, NZ. We flew from YYC to YVR to LAX to AKL. We had a rather long stopover in Vancouver but my old air force roommate, now retired AC pilot (Mike Marynowski) came out to the airport to meet us for breakfast. It was nice to see Mike and catch up.

The flight on Air NZ from LAX to AKL was definitely a step above average. The 747 400 series was new and roomy (by today’s standards) and the service was excellent. Two nice meals, free wine and champagne ( since it was New Years Eve) served in a real glass wine glass, blankets, pillows and a very good entertainment system. We slept most of the flight, cleared customs with no delay and met our ride to the B&B.

Since our room was not yet ready we left our luggage at the B&B and explored downtown Auckland and the waterfront on foot. We soon discovered that Jan 2 is also a statutory holiday in New Zealand and not many stores and restaurants were open. Those that were open had signs up saying that since it was a holiday, a premium would be added to the prices. The premium varied but 15 or 20 percent was standard. While enjoying a 20% more expensive beer on the water front we received an explanation for the additional charge... The employees are paid time and a half for working on a holiday plus they must be given an additional paid day off in lieu. The additional costs of staying open on a holiday are therefore passed on the customers. An interesting concept that I think would not easily be accepted in North America. On the up side... it was very good beer!

We got to bed at our usually early hour so we are up early waiting for breakfast and reorganizing the luggage. The bike shop where we are to pick up the bike doesn’t open on Saturdays until 10am so we will be off to a later start than we had hoped. The trip to tonight’s B&B is about 350K but we could shorten it considerably if bad weather and time are a factor. The weather forecast today is for showers this morning but the forecast looks better for tomorrow.

I’m excited about the challenges ahead today. I’m a bit nervous about riding on the left side of the road on an unfamiliar bike. Fortunately we pick up the bike on the outskirts of Auckand and ride away from the city.