April 6, 2012...Invercargill

This morning we traveled south heading towards the ocean town of Invercargill … It is exciting to be back on the road for a stretch!  We traveled through some incredible countryside called the Catlins, it is pretty much where the forest meets the beach and what a treat it was!  We stopped for a cuppa along the way at a quaint road side cafe, and got to chatting with the Robinson's and crew a great group on holiday from the North Island.  As it would turn out, we ran into this fun group of Kiwi's for the next couple of days…we would pull up to a store, and they would be walking out of the store….we would be riding down the road, and they would be on the same stretch….uncanny!    

We arrived at our Holiday Park Cabin, it was a fairly old cabin and come to find out we were bunked next to another couple of bikers that we had actually passed on the road in.  They recognized us and we them! We unloaded the bikes, off'd the heavy riding gear, rolled out our sleeping bags…linens were not included with the cabin, we could have purchased them but decided it would be a good time to test out the bags!  Then we decided to go have a drink…after all it was Friday night and maybe a few would help us survive the bags???…ha ha ha! We did not realize that it was Good Friday!!!…Well, we were out of luck, no alcohol was being served at the bars on Good Friday!!!  Oh well, we will do a run tomorrow!  Ahh the gods are on our side, we took a stroll in the other direction and came across a restaurant that would serve us a beer if we ordered some food.  We ordered wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce and tossed a couple back! Note to self…New Zealand will not be not serving alcohol on Sunday either!

Saturday we rode into the town to go and see Invercargill's most famous exhibition…The Worlds Fastest Indian.  Bert Munro's Indian was on display at the Hayes Hardware store, and what a hardware store it was!  They had all sorts of stuff on display from old hand made engines and antique woodworking tools to classic corvettes and Bel Airs!  Bert Munro was quite a character, and in this oceanside town of Invercargill his legend and record lives on.  Later we headed out to Bluff, New Zealand's most southern point, the weather and views couldn't have been more spectacular.  We stopped at a grocery store along the way to pick up some veggie's to have with hummus that night…and ran into the Robinson's Northern Kiwi Crew, coming out of the store!  Onward we traveled to Bluff, the lands end, and wouldn't you know it…there is that darn group of Northern Kiwis again!…we laughed! We exchanged info, it seems that this would be the only way not to run into them…ha ha ha…hopefully we will catch up with them for a bbq when we reach the North Island! 

Before we headed out of town we headed down to Ocean Beach where you can ride and drive straight onto the beach!  We had to try it out, even though we were fully loaded for the days trip ahead.  We managed to stay upright in areas of soft sand…it was a blast, although it did make my heart skip a beat!

April 3, 2012... Kuri Bush

Loosing track of time….  We are slowly starting to decompress, and finally get into the groove of our daily ventures.  It will be full steam ahead when we leave Kuri Bush, no more mucking around with these luxury 5 night stays in one spot  until we reach Auckland! 

So we have figured out that over any hill, through any corner there could be….a dirt road, gravel, men at work (not the group..bummer), cows, sheep, a foreign driver in a camper home driving on the wrong side, a water hazard…(woo hoo watch out for these), and the totally unexpected!  Watching for all the above while riding, listening to Navi, your tunes, and trying to brain bank this amazing countryside…is information overload!!!…

All's good, just gotta take it nice and slow!
 

When we were the Dunedin City Centre trying to get some sort of WiFi connection, we met a young German fella (Nick) that was into riding.  He wanted to buy us a coffee and hear about our plans, adventures and worldly travels!  So cool!!…He postponed going into work… bought us a cuppaccino and shared stories with us!!…Wonderful!…He told us about the Old Dunston Trail! (Thanks Nick!) 

Today we rode from our simple cottae at Kuri Bush to the Old Dunston Trail! We had so much fun!  En route we stopped at a road side pub for some tucker (food)…I know, corny, but I'm eager hey?  A lonesome old fella was running this pub in the boonies… Im sure that he was pleased to see us pull up!  He was bartender, cook, tour guide, and entertainment…I'm glad we stopped!  Kev ordered a chicken schnitzel lunch, and I had scallops and fish…both were tasty.  We washed it down with a Speights…pronounced Sss…Pee…eights… NOT …Spites, which I guess he heard and poured me a Sprite!…Ha ha ha, we had a good laugh.    

So, on the trail.  This was challenging for me, I don't know about Kev, he looked like he was in total control…looks can be deceiving though??!!  All I can say is there was a lot of loose gravel, many tight banked corners…with gravel,  and unpredictable kinda angry looking cows every now and again!  After about 30 minutes into the trail I radioed Kev…"All righty then!  Have you had enough?"  He had and we turned around.  What a challenging venture…I was pretty stoked that we rode it! 

On the way back we saw this somewhat shallow river…I knew what Kev was thinking!!!…I've gotta cross this… AND… I have to video myself crossing this!!!  We set up the camcorder, and I positioned myself with my GoPro cam on my bike…and off he went!  He made it, and, actually it was pretty cool!!  I wanted to try but my bike rides lower, and I was afraid that I would get swept away in the current…ha ha ha, not really, but it makes a good story!! 

We decided to make our way back home…Navi took us in and out, around and about…really…she is pretty cool!  (She is a SHE right??)  She keeps changing her mind, so I'm figuring…FEMALE!

I have to tell you about one more exciting snippet though!  So I mentioned that we  need to look out for "Water Hazards"!  It is an actual posted sign in fact!  Riding along I did see this sign and my brain said…"Ahh probably a dried up creek?"…AHH… NO MATE…over a steep crest we went and right down into the drink.  Splash!  My brain was thinking…

can I do this?…SHIFT, SHIFT, SHIFT..milli seconds later…

I made it, Kev made it…Woo Hoo…We stopped and looked at each other…Pretty Gnarley…WOO HOO…WHAT A RIDE!!!

 

 

 

March 30 - April 1, 2012

Today we rode to the Otago Peninsula.  It is our first venture out to test weight ratios, communications  and basically just overall comfort. 

We pulled out from our flat and old habits are hard to break…right off the bat I hit my communication button and said "Ahh Kev, you're on the wrong side of the road!"…left left left!!!  So this time I could talk to Kev, but he could not talk to me…still more tweaking to do!

The road to the Otago Peninsula Headland was purely amazing, we took it nice and easy as it was a narrow road right against the water.  When we arrived at the conservation area we headed up a heavily graveled steep road….Wow nothing like throwing it to us all at once, hey?  We took a tour of this privately owned sanctuary and what a treat it was.  We had warm, clear, happy weather and the ocean was smooth as glass, it was pure paradise!  The whole experience was pretty surreal. We toured the property in an 8 wheeler which was darned exciting in itself!   The owners have done an amazing job of removing domestic predators from the area.  The owners and staff are otherwise completely hands off with the wildlife and let mother nature do what she does best.  The New Zealand fur seals, sea lions, little blue and yellow eyed penguins live in harmony are their numbers are rapidly rising.  Just down the hill from Natures Wonders is the Royal Albatross Center at Taiaroa Head here the conservation rangers intensively manage and assist in the overall growth of the Northern Royal Albatross population which is a much different approach to the santurary up the hill.  It was not a windy day, and since the albatross need wind for flight (they are gliders, not flappers) we were hoping that we would get lucky!!  Bingo…luck was on our side.  We were able to view a 6 week old chick on the hillside, and then without warning this massive Toroa (Maori for Albatross) glided in off the sea to feed its chick , another amazing sight!  The Toroa's wing span is up to 3 metros (9'6") long, and they can fly at speeds of 120kph (75mph)!  They live all their life mainly at sea, fishing and sleeping on the water and only return to land to nest every 2 years.  The Toroa's population growth is naturally slow and with the help of the Conservation Centre many albatross chicks fledge successfully.  You didn't know that you would be getting a nature lesson today hey??

 So now we have arrived at our Kuri Bush pad just outside of Brighton on the South Island of New Zealand.  By the way it is only about a 40 minute bike ride from our last pad…ha ha ha, don't want to move too far too fast.  Out here there is no WiFi, no telly, no phone, no microwave, just the plain and simple pure innocence and beauty that mother nature has to offer.  We are in awe of this coastline and still can't believe that we are experiencing this…it does not get much better!

After unpacking our heavily loaded bikes…really they are way over packed, (we have to seriously shed some of this stuff) we started to check out what Kuri Bush had to offer.  We found the path down to the beach just outside our front door…woo hoo loving it, walked down onto the beach to check out the water.  It was low tide and in the rock pools I spied massive mussels…I know what we are having for dinner!  We collected a bucket full in about 2 minutes it was unbelievable, took them up to the house washed and steamed them…dinner was served!   Feeling so lucky :)

 

 

 

Arriving in New Zealand...March 27, 2012

The flight from SFO to Auckland was great!  When we checked in at the Air New Zealand ticket counter, the clerk offered us lounge acess...WOW what a treat!  The food and wine spread was really nice, is was a great way to chill and kill 4 hours before our flight.  

Ya know...it is such a small world!!!  We were chatting with a Kiwi there in the lounge, and he proceded to tell us about a business associate that had shipped his Harley over to the States, rode to Sturgis, then onto 18 other states.  Kev and I looked at each other, we could not believe what we were hearing!!! We shared drinks and stories with this group of Kiwis when we rode out to Sturgis from California, just amazing.  We hope to catch up with them while we are here in New Zealand.  

It was a fantastic flight!  The staff was just awesome, there was hardly any chop...gotta love that! 12 1/2 hours later we were landing in Auckland.  No hassels through customs...all I had to declare was dried miso soup, no worries!!

In a wobbly daze we caught the connecting flight to Dunedin.  Who has time for sleeping, this is all too exciting!
We managed to stuff our 4 boxes into a taxi, and enjoy the ride to our flat located in the City Center of Dunedin. 

It was a bright beautiful crisp day, perfect for riding!  We have to go and pick up the bikes...I'm nervous though! If we have to, we could ride a couple blocks then stop...just take it slow and easy...we are going for it!

We turned on the bike nav that had traveled with us and started to walk towards the docks where the bikes were being stored.  Robbie (the guy that had arranged our shipping) picked us up as we were walking.  It was great to put a face to someone we that we had just trusted outright with our bikes!  The bikes cleared customs and agriculture with no problems...I was kind of expecting one violation??

The bikes looked great and started right up!  The only word that was on my mind now was LEFT!

LEFT LEFT LEFT!  A tad jet lag challenged, we slowly pulled away from the shipping yards...Man did it feel great to be back on the bikes...Left left left!!!....Left, left, left!!

I cannot believe that we are here!  I cannot believe that our bikes are here!  Are we crazy??

Leaving the U.S...March 25, 2012

The day has finally arrived......

We are sitting in the International Terminal at San Franciso Airport people watching...so many interesting people all on their own exciting adventure! 

We are beginning ours!!

The airline counter does not open for another 4 hours so here we sit with our 4 boxes no larger than 62 inches, measuring height, length and width, and no heavier than 50lb.  Boxes were the way to go.  We can throw them away when we arrive in Dunedin, as everything will be loaded onto our bikes, or our bodies.  I still cant believe it!

Im going to work on this blogging program, and learn how to operate this mac!!...they are very diffrent ducks to pc's!

PINCH ME!..Woo Hoo  

The Delivery...February 5, 2012

After several months of ordering, outfitting and prepping our bikes...the dream is becoming a reality,  and the adventure is beginning!

Lake Tahoe, Nevada to Compton, California

Despite the occasional chattering of teeth, Highway 395 was the perfect delivery, equipment test and dreaming route.  Our communications were not functioning properly, I could hear Kev, but he could not hear me...(I'm sure that Kev would say they operated perfectly...ha ha ha).  

We rode through some incredible country side, and I resisted the urge to pull over to take pictures. I had it covered, or so I thought!  I set up digital video (Hero) on my windscreen and was meticulously capturing the sweet spots...yeah!  We were excited to see what had been captured...come to find out I had not properly turned on the device...bummer.  

All said and done minor snafoo's in the big picture, easily solved!

Manoeuvring through rush hour LA traffic, we enjoyed the energy and warmth of the air, that smelled like dyer sheets...ha ha ha.  That energy is also at times just pure craziness, some drivers should pop a "chill pill" and maybe use that stick by the steering wheel called an indicator?!

Riding up to the shipping warehouse we knew that we had several hours of meticulous bike cleaning ahead of us, per strict Kiwi standards.  We got on it.  Armed with toothbrushes, micro fiber towels and orange degreaser we scrubbed away in the parking lot.  The bikes had never been cleaner!  We handed the bikes over to what seemed to me, a slightly shady warehouse worker in Compton, a suburb of LA.  Nervously we walked away, leaving the pink slips and keys in the bikes!!

Our bikes will be arriving in Dunedin, New Zealand in early March and we will not be far behind.

I'm sure that we will be pinching ourselves as soon as we are reunited with our bikes.  Mine a 2011 BMW f650gs twin and Kev's a 2010 BMW r1200gs...can't wait!!

On our journey down we actually rode through a town called Independence...how appropriate!