Actually, it was completely bike...
Excuse the slight deception but I figured a few people might prefer to know that it was an adventure on 2 wheels, after I'd returned the bike! So I can now come clean, having handed the bike back to the rental company after 28 days riding around NZ. Here's a little recap now I can mention the bike!
For the aficionados: a BMW f650GS Single, complete with luggage panniers, top box and, of course, all the necessary clothing. Brilliant!
I quickly discovered that NZ is a big destination for motorcycle tours, predominantly for one reason... Their roads which really are out of this world for two reasons. They pick their way through the most incredible scenery and they are beautiful on a bike, twisting and turning all day long. The roads are also relatively quiet. Fantastic! NZ lays claim to a number of the "best motorbike routes/roads in the world", and I rode nearly all of them, sometimes turning around just to ride the road again!
For the interested: look on Google Maps - Start at Picton, NZ; Destination of Nelson, NZ. You need to zoom in on Picton to see what the road is really like but it will give you an idea of one example of a great road! Queen Charlotte Drive.
The hired kit also came in handy when not on the bike...
I won't bore you with lots of motorcycle stories but here's a summary...
There were a couple of downsides (but none great enough to make me regret being on 2 wheels). It's impossible to carry any meaningful food and so the last month has seen far too much in the way of Fish & Chips and the like! Secondly, the famous NZ weather... 4 seasons in a day is an understatement sometimes. I've got wet a few times more than I expected but nothing too troubling beyond the two occasions when I was wet through to the skin, however the wind was from time to time a bit of a pain in the derriere!
The positives, however, were right up there. A motorbike gives you total immersion in where you are. You are much more connected to, and involved in, the moment so an eagle flying along side you feels magical. You feel almost part of the mountains, coastline or wide open plains of Otago. The smells of where you are feel like they are being injected into your nostrils... You smell the ocean before you see it and smell flora as you pass by (the same is true for dairy farms unfortunately!) it's an amazing way to get around a new place and a very different experience to driving through... You are much less able to look around whilst going along but that makes you stop much more often. Also, the journey itself is so much more a part of the experience and not just a means to an end... Sometimes I'd end a day's riding feeling like the bike had barely been upright all day... Just so many turns!
Here's the bike waiting to get on the Inter Islander ferry with my 'new mates'. Actually, being Harley Davidsons, the riders aren't "mates" with anyone beyond other Harley riders but they were actually really helpful once we'd ridden onto the ferry... you are given an assortment of ropes, straps, ratchets and hooks and have to tie-down the bike to 4 points on the floor to stop it falling over with the boat's movement. Hadn't anticipated that and the Harley boys really helped me out!
I must admit to sleeping in the tent only about a third of the time... Weather, tiredness or aching muscles led to motels or campsite cabins being very tempting!
Here's my little cabin that I stayed in whilst in Karamea (from the left of the door on the left to the right of the righthand window). £15 per night. Perfect! Bed, desk, chair. What more do you need? And with this on the other side...
On the previous subject of meeting people. Kiwis stop to chat at any opportunity but I think a bike like this with panniers etc, that looks like it is obviously on a journey, attracts even more interest. Stopping at a fuel station nearly always resulted in a 20 minute chat. Arriving in a couple of the more 'out of the way' villages saw a near 'minor-celebrity' welcome. Although I suspect they may have been hoping for Ewan MGregor or Charlie Boorman! Still, they hid their disappointment well when I pulled off the helmet...
There's lots more to say about the bike but it will probably only mean something to one or two so I won't bore the rest of you. Needless to say it was an amazing opportunity and the roads... Ah, the roads!
Incredibly I've now been in NZ for more than 5 weeks and only have a week or so left before heading back to Oz. In shortening the whole trip, I cut a fair bit of time out of the NZ part and whilst I could easily spend the same amount of time again here, I've seen pretty much everything I'd originally planned to and lots more besides. Having fled the south east corner of the South Island last week because of pretty serious gales (which I ended up riding through anyway!) I'm heading straight back down there to see Dunedin, the Catlins and a couple of other things. My transport now is a little less exciting... A 1999 Nissan Sunny with 250,000km on the clock. Can't complain though as it's costing me £16.50 a day!
Finally, some conspiracy theories! I've never really spent much time on such topics beyond the ones that claim the moon landings didn't happen and the CIA shot JFK. Anyway, I recently got talking to a very nice, intelligent, guy who looked at me with the same incredulity that I viewed him with (because he couldn't believe that I didn't subscribe) when he told me, with complete conviction, that the following are true...
1. "Chemtrails": the trails of condensation from jet airplanes are in fact clouds of chemicals being sprayed on us all by the authorities. Normally the US govt.
2. The London Riots recently were an 'experiment' in civil unrest, instigated by the US govt.
3. The Christchurch Earthquakes were all man made and were created by the US govt using a weapon they have called HAARP.
4. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the US has more power than the govt and has hundreds of concentration camps in the US.
5. New World Order: I can't even begin to explain. Read about it on Wikipedia!
They all feature on Google and YouTube...
A-MAZING! Utterly amazing.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment