Another big tour of the north and south island is now complete, 5600 odd kilometers in 14 days and some of the best touring Ive done anywhere.
We started on the 12th Feburary, the plan being that all riders would meet at nights at fixed overnight stops, make their own changes to routes to suit themselves, dive off here, join up there, whatever, if they wished to visit specific places, or to travel as a group, riders choice,  Id made requests during the year for any specific spots people wanted included, without a lot of response I might add, so I set a basic route seemed popular. I had assumed other riders would at least load the route into thier satelite navigations or at least take a map, but it seems only some did. So off we set riding from the north shore to our over night stop in Wellington.  Two routes in mind, depending on the weather either a straight SH1 run or basically zig zagging down the western side of the north island, no particular destinations in mind but rather to catch some roads I havent done for some time. its the ride thats important rather than the destination as they say  We stopped every 160 odd kms for fuel and Taumaranui for a refuel of riders and headed on to National Park and Ohakune, on to Waiouru.

This is where the first bike dropped out after having trouble with oil pressure,and sustaining open road speed, so after some discussion with Cliff He decided to  he could limp back at 80kph to Hamilton on the Harley for some TLC and maintenance. a real shame as Cliff is one capable tourer and enjoys the long runs.
Ive been looking back more than forward for the last 400kms but fortunately the wing has stepped up to take up point for a while. the rest just sit there until one of us takes point, Hunterville Bulls, Levin are soon past as we arrived in Otaki for a refill, only to find the Wing has run out of brake pads, its metal on metal, its already getting late in the arvo and most places are shutting soon so after some furious phoning by Dave near and far, it turns out a Honda dealer in Lower Hutt has can pick some up locally to fit the wing,  and will hang about for us if we can get there pronto, so we need to make some quick tracks to detour there because its getting to peak hour traffic in the wellywood area and its still a long way to run sticking to SH1,  So we take the Wing for a direct route down the Sh1 and over Paekakariki Hill road, over to Haywards. Ive decided to run without using brakes also so I dont take corners too quick for the following bike.. quite  an interesting ride over those hill roads. As any wellywood rider knows this is a highlight road for all bikers. Anyhow we arrive at MotoMart and the fellow not only has the pads in hand but agrees to open the workshop and pop the Wing on the hoist and fit em as well, even though his staff have knocked off and its well after hours.. brilliant service Motomart Honda.
So once again we eventually get on the move and we head off to the motel for Dave & Kirsty and Lo & I carry on our merry way off to our own overnight stop.. oops they have been holding dinner for a couple hours hours..

Day two, and 6:15 am we head off down to the motel to muster up the crew in Newlands and head off to the ferry and prepare for boarding, this all goes off like clockwork, plenty of other bikes (full house actually) and we head up to the lounge for a breaky and refreshments. Crossing was uneventful on the sailing  side, we had a early lunch just before arrival so ready to rock n roll.  but the group seems to have started bitching  about the fact we “left” em to go help Dave with his brake problems,  (Geez..) Im certainly more than dissappointed that the two riders I had depended on to take some of the lead & responsibility have been far from helpful.
We disembarked half an hour late  (what u expect from NZR) so once off the boat and it seems once again Im elected to lead. they all just sit there looking at me, so off we go again. The roads are wide open and easy to sit at just on legal speed 105kph even through the twisty bits,  a break in Blenheim for refuel  (only 20 klicks down the road) and once again it seems its up to me or  the wing to lead to the Kaikoura coast where its blowing like crazy, and we spend some time tilted to the wind but once  down  at the coast the wind is a little less and we truck on keeping in mind we have 450kms to complete this afternoon, lots of cops on the road as usual so apart from bouncing the odd car here and there we just amble along to a stop in Kaikoura town for lunch and refuel. Here we split in two as the Vulcan heads off to christchurch to pick up his pillion who has flown down to join him.
Once again we set off heading for the outskirts of chch and our next planned fuel stop and turn off.  On arrival at the planned servo stop on the outskirts of  CHCH,  we refuel and 6 minutes later the truck the rest were behind when we left them rolled passed. seems they stopped for a smoke or coffee or something way back. So we decided that we would truck on as the weather was closing in, it was getting late and we still had some way to go, Got a call from Trevor saying he is waiting in the Raikaia Gorge and its raining, so off we set to Glentunnel and the Raikaia Gorge where the southern rider was waiting to meet us. We finally got in to Methven on wet roads and a little short drizzle, checked in and the rest of the riders arrived not too long after.
A trip to town and the local restaraunt recomended to us by our hosts and a chat with our southern brother and then back to the lodge for a spa which our hosts had kindly cranked up for us. Lovejoy had also availed themselves, whilst the rest headed off to ensure the local brew was up to scratch, we headed off to bed, its been a long day and its the last leg Ill lead until one of em fronts up for their share.

Day Three, and today we were  meant to ride with some southerners across the passes but it didnt eventuate as they all had work commitments etc as happens with shift work, though our Glentunnel member did offer the northerners who didnt want to do the big 650km trek around the passes a shorter ride elsewhere. The locals decided the route I had planned to run should be reversed as the sights are better this way apparently, so whilst we did do this in the Garmin we had trouble getting the thing to forget the original route, but being the intrepid explorers we are, we didnt let it worry us !lol
Now the pattern starting to emerge is not looking good. no one bar myself  & Animal seem prepared to take lead for a leg, I  had made it plain before we left that I would lead one leg, maybe two, so im getting pretty pissed, its no fun riding thousands of kms looking backwards more than forward. But even after suggesting someone else take the lead in Amberley where a few were grumpy becasue we took a wrong turn, all it achieved was this fella throwing a tantrum  and stamping his feet in the main st. my patience has all but run out. so here we sit in the middle of the town no one moving, I know its been a long  haul and they are tired, but I didnt keep em up drinking!  nobody will move as no one wants to front up and lead  so Dave and I decided from here on we are on our own, so we head off into the Lewis Pass, settle into a easy pace and the Wing and I are in heaven, its a road that doesnt allow low flying but lends itself to laidback cruising and looking at the sights.  I spent most of the trip with one hand on the bar and the other by my side as I stared at the scenery, just stunning,  We stopped halfway to Reefton for fuel at a local servo,  plus a few other places to admire the view for a moment, and once again head off to Reefton where we stopped for Lunch.
Once again on the road heading for Lake Brunner for fuel and then the Arthurs pass, the trailing riders have caught up though it seems a bike is missing, turns out the Vulcan has split and is heading for Greymouth, (He did say before we left Aucks he would be doing his own thing here and there so we have no problem with them)
We got to our fuel stop, everyone refilled and once again we headed off stopping at the new viaduct to take some snaps of the tailenders coming up the hill and onto the viaduct, but the only tailender (everyone else was fairly close grouped) didnt turn up at all, seems they stopped at a pub or something so we headed off to the next meet point Arthurs Pass Cafe, where coffee and drinks were consumed while we pondered what to do about the missing rider.. no cell coverage here ofcourse, well we had next to no cell coverage anywhere in the south island as the XT network was out of action a lot of the time or text messages either didnt arrive or arrived two days later. Finally when the missing rider turned up we headed back to Methven via the Rakaia Gorge, Mt Hutt and finally into the spa pool, dinner at the local pub and a meet with a couple of southerners (trevor, Rob &  Susan) thanks for popping up fellas it was great to put faces to names :-0 . Once again four of us headed off for an reasonably early night  while others consumed  the local brews at the bar which our host had kindly opened and stocked.

Day Four. We got an early night and so feel ready to rock n roll, others who imbibed a little late didnt look too hot !LOL (no I dont mean pissed just tired or knackered OK)  a normal morning observation , (I dont normally see them this hour of the morning maybe its a normal look but its a short easy ride today, and we four have a few places we want to detour too on the way, whilst the others want to visit a salmon farm so once again we are cruising at 105kph, throttle lock on and just cruising the short hop up the road to Geraldine (where some stopped for refreshment I think) then we hit Beautiful Valley, Fairlie, on to the Burkes Pass where a little mist lent a eerie feel. and up onto the plains, the view in the pass going from misty to clear sun and blue sky, we stopped to take in the magnificent views, visability for miles, and then cruising on to Lake Tekapo for a bite to eat and drink & fuel. Dave found himself a beaut white sheepskin which he had the girl come out and fit to his bike for him.. very obliging she was & came out with scissors and all  Mounted up again we head on to Lake Pukaki and a detour right around the lake to the base of mount cook. man its spectacular here riding through forest and alongside a beaut blue lake.  the lake has receded here a lot and the rivers are  dry, the mountain only holds some ice at the very tops. Plenty of foto stops later we head back to the main route and on to Omarama and our Motel. We are in perfect sync with our riding buddies, swapping lead without a word,  every where we stopped we had admirers who came over and chatted, its been good to get back into Touring mode we have been able to ride at open road legal speeds 99% of the time, whenever we saw any signposts of interest we headed off. brilliant.  We finally got to the motel, while the girls checked in we stripped the bikes of luggage and15 mins later the rest arrived. I was feeling pretty crook today, my lungs playing up a mite, but after a short relax we head off to have a look at the airport where gliders and biplanes are available for rides. my lack of breathing capability forced us to give it a miss so headed down to the pub where the rest of the crew were dining. Whilst the crew relaxed in some great hot tubs I headed back for a bit of a veg out to let my lung recuperate. (Found out later that I had succumbed to Diabetes which was part of the problem and my one & only lung was also stressed)

Day Five, Feeling great again today and It seems the disgruntled ones want to travel with us again (but only to follow) and its off to to the Lindis Pass, through the Lindis Valley, very stunning, on to Tarrass and Cromwell where we detoured to the old township and had a bite to eat and drink. a few foto opps playing tourist and then headed on to Lake Dunstan and down to Clyde, onwards down to Alexandra, stopping at the Dams for pics etc, its getting a little monotenous today so we are giving it a little punch now and again, down through the dams to Roxborough, Lawrence for Gas and on to Milton for another break and refreshment. would you believe it one of em actually did a stint out front for a few klicks then followed again. (bugger I had hoped it was a sign  Finally off on the final leg for the day to Portobello in Dunedin. We had planned to pop into Lanarch Castle but after a little problem with a goldwing where Dave wanted to check the bottom of his engine We were on a very very tight right hander on a 35-40 degree camber when at around 10kph or less  he dropped it into first and hit neutral, the bike rolled to a stop and he put his foot down.. well I could see there was nothing but a foot of fresh air between his heel and the ground so it slowly toppled right and over it went, the engine bar took the load and Kirsty stepped off and ripped out her camera for a FOTO OP… what a girl.. After making sure no one was stuck under it I shot up the road and parked the bike on the next corner with Lo acting as pointsman incase a Wicked Camper should roar around. and I ran back down the road. the darn bike was wheels up because of the camber / slope of the road /so Dave and I picked it up put it on its wheels and found only a scratch on the pannier and a cracked mirror, unfortunately Kirsties arm rest took the weight and cracked which Dave tried to straighten only to find the casting was not THAT good . anyhow we shot off up the road to the castle only to be told it would cost to park the bike and they were only open for 7 more minutes, typical scotsmen so  we decided we werent that keen to see this Castle again and we headed on to Portobello Motels.
Most of us had requested to be put in the Chalets when we booked so we had bikes parked out in front of the unit. All bar one couple were together in the chalets, We four trundled down to the local fish & chip shop and the rest to the pub for “supplies”  and headed back to the motel to consume same. I dont know why but I agreed to change my route (which was originally through a bit of coast and then through centre of Caitlins)  to go around the entire scenic route through the caitlins coast rd (10 odd kms of which is gravel so we found out at the end.) so off we set, (not leading ofcourse but they followed once again the garmin didnt want to let go of the original route  I took a short 4 minute dirt road back to the main route to get my bearings, finally after waiting on those who took there own route, we regrouped and dave and i  just trucked on following road signs, stopping at a roadside cafe for a bite and drinks, eventually getting to the corner &  gravel bit. I knew many couldnt ride this section so I went to the end of a dead end street to see what was there, a camping ground,  I turned the bike on its gravel access rd and stopped with my front wheel on a slight ledge thinking it would roll back off but it didnt, it just sat their so I put my foot down to push it back only to find my reach was a mite short and the bike slowly leaned right..to a point I could hold it but NOT lift it vertical with both of us on it and the pack on the back,  so here I stand holding the bike on a weird angle for a minute or so, knowing I cant hold it up at this angle for ever and telling Lo to get the hell off  :-) As Lo slid off the downward side in an endeavour to get off, the extra weight was too much for this old bloke, and I just let the bike slide on down, Lo caught her foot and sat down hard on the road. Well bugger…. We picked up the bike with the aid of Kathy who rushed over, hopped on (not even a scratch, tho Lo got a bruise from the backrest on her leg as we noticed later that night) So off we  headed back up the road, back the way we came, had another thought about whipping down the rest of the scenic route (gravel) and decided to backtrack a little and then on to Invercargil. we have things planned for this afternoon and we need to get to the museum before the shops close. its been fantastic weather all the way, the roads in brilliant condition, and temperatures just right for riding. We put some distance between the rest through the twisties, and then rode on to our fuel stop, the bunch rode past  on their merry way and we came across them on the outskirts of Invers, though we took the direct route thru town to the motel and arrived a few mins before em.
A quick check in and unload and we were off again to Mark & Jo’s place and then on to the Bert Munroe Display, and after waiting for DV & Jo to roll up on the bike Mark rode us out to Bluff and lands end. Took all the usual end of the world pictures and partook of the hot scones jam & cream with a cappachino at the famous cafe before heading off again.
The trip back into town with DV in the lead saw us all arrive safely and to the now common procedure of two bikes going off for dinner whilst the rest hunted out the liquor stores for the nightly session.

Day Six & Seven. the mold is now set, we head off at 8am so we basically get an extra couple of hours on the road each day, (usually arriving only 10 -15 mins ahead of the rest) oddly enough the four of us are not feeling any effects of the long days riding, arriving each night quite relaxed and comfy and wide eyed and bushy tailed each morning. We have been running into lots of Harleys in our travels, apparently around 1200 congregated on CHCH for the rally, tho many didnt go to the night do / get together they tell us, it seems they all rode in small groups of two or three, got together that day and then the group split after the rally day and headed off in ones, twos, or threes and carried on their tour of the south, I think the biggest group we ran into on the move was around 7-8 bikes. In some towns they stopped chatted and roared off in their bunches again. Some of these boys & girls do some huge kms each year it seems, mind you some also “fly” down and pick up a bike Anyhow back to the cruise… We set off from Invers on a great morning, a cup of coffee under our belt, has not been cold anywhere  on the whole trip to speak of, and for it to be so warm in Invers is amazing, so we head out of town to visit DV at his work place, Hell Mark, you have one hell of a sweet job there m8, 30mins later we are on our way to Riverton, checked out the town and beaches and had breakfast at the only cafe in town, fueled up at the cheapest gas around (20c below others) and just as the others arrived we headed on around the coast to Tuatapere. on the way as we overshot the Gemstone Beach turnoff we turned around and headed to the turn off, well bugga me, a storm wind blew in from  the  strait and rain fell so we doned wet gear and continued on at a 30 degree lean in a straight line right along the southern coast, but once turning inland to Tuatapere we left it behind, we stopped to look at the oldest wooden bridge in the region, and then headed north, detoured left to lake manapouri had a gander and finally headed off to Lake Henry then onto Te Anau where we once again checked out the town and surroundings and checked in, dropped our luggage and headed out again. Had a fantastic meal here, smorgasboard, roast everything, desserts to die for, Im  sure Dave went back multiple times to sample it all. the girls of course were eating sensibly, the boys…. well….
Its a two day stop here, so tomorrow we have set aside a bit of time to veg out, We had breakfast at 8am and set off at 9am for Milford, Ive loaded a bit of extra fuel in case and off we set to Milford. seeing this is a dead end road and we will return via the same route mostly we have noted on the way through any places we have not stopped at for attention on the return trip, the ride though was stunning to say the least, not a lot of traffic, just tour busses, campers and idiots “walking” with huge packs on their backs.. and the odd push bike. The Gps  had a hard time keeping track of the satelites in amongst these monster mountains, not that one can get lost here.  but the altimeter is showing us up around 2500-3000ft at the Homer, we waited a mere 10 mins and we were heading down the black hole, an amazing bit of work cutting that out of solid rock. The  small iceblock at the top of the tunnel still remains and is drawing the tourists to break off a peice to “take home”  they will have a wet lap soon enough
Arriving in Milford we meet Kevin & Kathy who are riding back by themselves , seems a couple of the others have taken a boat ride. so we partake of some food and refreshment, we have so much of the Bushman Insect Repellant on that NONE venture our way at all.. we did however run into Peter The mad Butcher in the street so we went over and had a chat with him for a few minutes. In typical Pete mode, he treats everyone like a long lost m8, He is in for his op a week or so after we get back so we wished him health and success. It seems our Dave had a chat with him in the Loos not realising who he was
Food consumed I dropped a couple of litres in the tank, my guage is showing more than half empty, and we headed back up the mountain to the base of the Homer, waited for the lights and we were off.. Dave in the lead, his light tuning night into day.. and boys being boys we made a hell of a noise sitting on the air horns trying to bring the mountain down,  the cars parked at the other end sure heard us coming. at the top end of the Homer Dave went for his obligatory pic on the ice and we then headed down to call in on the mirror lakes, Lake Gunn,  etc, We stopped at The Chasm on the way down but the drop was too much for one of us
On arrival back at the motel I set about giving the bike a wee clean, it was looking more grey/brown than black, the owner offered us the firehose out front of our unit so the task was made simple. We arrived back with 2.5litres left in the tank so I would have made it “just” on a tank full.

Day Eight, and its off to Mossburn, Five Rivers, Athol, Fairlight and Queenstown, and ofcourse lunch where all bikers stop, the famous “Joes Garage”, Once out of there and we again run into the Mad Butcher, who comes galloping over with a large white envelope, promptly proceeds to extract a pici of him and our ex PM Helen receiving her Order of NZ Medal, proud as punch he is.. 10 Mintes later and his BMW goes past us and he is waving and pointing us out to his lady as he goes past
Its time to introduce Dave & Kirsty to the Chairlift so we purchase tickets for the chairlift and the 800m Luge and a very nervous Dave is not looking happy as we start to climb the mountain, he must be improving tho, hes nowhere near as white as some of the cliff edge roads we have had him on. must be a real bummer to have this fear of heights, but Dave aint one to give in easily and he makes it to the top only to realise the building at the top is on stilts on the side of a mountain… well he heads for the nearest bit of terra firma and latches on the the bolted down seating and aint letting go for ANYTHING. the luge is a definete no no, he has seen the 800m climb of the luge chairlifts… but we manage to get him back on the main gondola, he seems much better on the way down, eyes fixed firmly on the mountain peak opposite, not looking at the fella bouncing on a bungie cord  beside his gondola.. Well we head down to the bikes and take a trip though the township checking it all out, and park our bikes down on the waterfront, they become a local attraction while we wander the markets that are set up all around the waterfront, wish i had some room in the luggage for some grouse paintings Finally we head off via the back route to Arrowtown, through Arthurs Point, stopping off at the Shotover Jet for a looksee, on to Coronet Peak View Rd and finally into Arrowtown, parking our bikes on the lawn under a tree outside the Library. We  headed into town and visited a few shops, bought myself a sheep skin at a discounted price, had some brilliant icecreams, had a look at some of the miners cottages, the old police station, etc etc as ya do in these places. Lo didnt buy any gold this trip, but did stock up on sweets ofcourse. Just as we were getting ready to leave the rest arrived, and we headed on back around the lake and onto to the Crown Range, another spectacular peice of scenery, we stopped at the lookouts and sat for some time staring over the plains, just majic. On to Cadrona and the pub ofcourse where we bought a cool non alcoholic drink and sat and enjoyed it in the garden out back, checked out the old model T Chevy truck that they had in a stable. Took the obligatory Pic outside the pub ofcourse. Suitably refreshed and Dave with blood circulating again after the crown range sheer drops, we  headed on to Lake Wanaka, did a bit of an excusrion around the lake, some brilliant homes going up around there and then off to the motel, got changed as the rest arrived and we headed off for dinner, Dave in his usual fashion par-took of a Rack of Lamb that we thought would have him beat it was that big, but he managed it. suitably sated we wandered back to the motel and made a brew, another briliantly full day.

Day Nine, and we are up at our usual 7am (hey its a hour sleep in to our normal workday) had a coffee and a rice cracker and we were ready for the road packed and loaded by 8am, the day was brilliant, so we headed off around one side of lake hawea and then around the side of Lake Wanaka, the roads were perfect, clean and dry the run around the lakes stunning. we stopped at Makaroa and topped up with fuel incase Haast was closed ( it was weekend) while there we found the wee shop at the back of the cafe  so we parked around back and had breakfast of eggs bacon hash browns tomatoes and coffee, brilliant and cheap, Lo bought herself some more gold / jade here and we set off for Haast, the mist just lifted in the pass it was a brilliant run through Pleasant flat and detour through the main township then back out to the Haast Servo, here we ran into the MG club for a roadside chat.
Off again through Gunn Lake, Stopping at the Knights Point Lookout, planning to use the loo;s but there were bus loads of punters queued for miles so we shot off again around Lake Moeraki then Lake Paringa and finally turning into Fox Glacier Access rd where we rode right up to the Loos at the end, popped in and out and then wandered up to the Glacier track. (we couldnt quite get he bikes up the track otherwise we would have) With the pics taken we headed back out and on to Fox township which was full of tourists. a short run and we arrived in Franz Joseph, filled with fuel, checked in at the motel, dumped the gear and headed straight back out to the hot pools to book a couple of  private hot pools for later, and then headed back to the Franz Joseph Glacier. parked the bikes and took the walk up to the glacier area. Totally stuffed from the walk we remounted and headed back to town, the rest of the crew had arrived and were partaking of refreshment so  we headed off to our hot pools, these were very cosy, each was set in a forest setting amongst huge trees, each consisted of a clamshell style pool with decking around, and a full ensuite of showers, toilet, changing area and drying area with huge dryers in the ceiling, well worth the $80, which also included use of all the other public pools as well if ya wished. So there we lay with nothing but trees and bush surrouding us and looking up into the clear skies above. the pools were lit and the lighting from the ensuite automatically switched off so it left you totally secluded to search the evening sky whilst the water coursed around the body. The pools are refilled with fresh mineral water for each client, and when we hopped out and lept into a fantastic shower that massaged the body even more, stood under the dryers and got dressed fully relaxed. We wandered back to the motel, dropped the gear and headed over to the restaraunt for a slap up meal.

Day Ten. and we are off on a great morning, the mist hanging around the hills was like riding into a scene from the lord of the rings, we had about 5 minutes where it was really thick as pea soup though a small valley, some of the lakes on the way had this magical eirie look as a thin mist hovered over it in places, but then the sun poured through and a brilliant day emerged. On through Whataroa we sailed past Mt Hercules, around Lake Mahinapua  and into Hokatika where we visited our old pitstop “Stumpers” for a feed and refreshment, Once again we headed off and tikitourered the town around all the Jade factories and shops thinking Dave & Kirsty might be tempted we have jade from all over the world so didnt want anymore, but this is the place to shop if ya do from one of the street traders or even the factory shops. its overpriced of course but its aimed at the tourist punters  dollars and quality is reasonable. Once again off down the track and on thrrough The Junction and on to Gladstone & the Shantytown detour. Locked up the bikes and spent a few hours here, did all the touristy things, sent some postcards to the grandkids, its mid afternoon and the temperature is soaring here so we stripped down further, had some icecreams and drinks  and headed off to Greymouth, checked out a few tyre places to see if we could get a tyre for the wing, an underinflated tyre since wellington had made its mark and left the sides cut out whilst the centre was as new. no luck though, they can get one in for around 700 plus fitting, we give it a miss, refilled and and head on to Runanga, Paparoa & Punakaiki where we dismount and take a hike around the blowholes and pancake rocks, followed by a refresher at the cafe across the road. Once again on the road and heading north along the coast to Mitchels Gully Goldmine where we head inland  to  Westport, Checked in to the Bella Vista, refreshed, changed  and then off to dinner where we unwound after a great run. we were here  for a couple of days so we could do the run to the further most town of Karamea and the Heaphy Track, but first we visited Coaltown, a great little museum well worth the visit, then onto Karamea, what a brilliat road along the coast and the sleepy town of Karamea was like stepping back a few decades, good food and great people even though fuel was $2 a liter. Back to Westport with a 5 km BLAST along the straights where we could see for 10kms easy,  then settled into our cruise mode, locked the throttles and headed south. via the hill climbing Twisties which was a blast, and finally a well earned rest.

Day Eleven and its a really easy run down through the buller gorge, no rain, but it has been overnight so the road has a little dampness here and there but easy riding, once again we have our cruise controls locked in at 105kph slowing only for the tight twisty bits along the Lower & Upper Buller and we are just sweeping though Te Kuha, Berlins, Inangahua Junction to Murchison where we pull over for a refuel and then head to Glen Hope, BelGrove, Brightwater and Nelson where we head to town for a coffee and bite at the Boat house Restaurant and then check in and drop off the luggage at the Bella Vista and head right back out to head west on toward Takaka  way to Tasman & Motueka, we have now nearly exhausted every extremety of the south island, just the short but difficult stretch around the coast and sounds tomorrow. So its a trip back to town, park the bikes and wander up the road to check out the restaurants for dinner.

Day Twelve and we have rebooked our ferry  to the 10am to allow Dave & Kirsty time to visit Te Papa in the afternoon on thursday so we head off early for the 120 odd klicks to Picton, we knew it was winding but this was really twisted. ie 15kph corners for miles around the sounds, its not for the faint hearted, but its also a ride ya cant miss, the views are stunning and puts quite a different prospective on the sounds you see from the boat. we didnt spend much time in the vertical position, an accident we happened upon had us wondering if we would make it in time but as it turned out we made excellant time and joined a group of harleys on the wharf, and waited for boarding, LJ arrived as well having rebooked, This ferry is a bit of a rust bucket with poor bike housing but we managed to strap them down quick enough and headed up to the lounge for some breaky , a brilliant run across the  ditch, flat as a pancake and once into wellington we rode in with the Harleys to oriental parade, dropped off Dave & Kirsty and then headed out for a coffee and on to our overnight stop north of wellington.

Day Thirteen and Dave has his wing booked into lowerhutt for a tyre fit so we head on north to palmerston north, detouring via the Pahatanui Inlet and Pakakariki Hill rd because state highway one is blocked at Pukerua Bay due to a truck accident, we get to Kimmys via the back roads of Levin and Shannon to Opiki to Palmy, for Coffee and Fruit loaf and home made bickkies, yumm.. a couple of hours later and Dave and Kirsty have made their way north and head off to meet in Bulls and head on up to Auckland to complete our 680km run home, Shot through the Dessert Rd, (roadworks everywhere as usual, such a change from the south island roads where we found very few) Stopped at Taupo for a meal and refreshment and the headed north and home.

Saterday I Cleaned the bike so it looked a little respectable for the  Toy run in Cambridge on Sunday.

All in all a brilliant tour (admittedly it started a bit poorly after being let down by a couple of riders)
Shame really, if they had of had the balls to say something to me direct instead of bleating amongst themselves, and all then “telling tales on the other”  I would have discussed it and no bad blood would have ensued, but Im not into running a schoolyard, life is too short. This is a stunning tour to do, I have toured the world on many occassions and the south island is like a small microcosm of features all in one island, well worth the $5K odd investment, time to start saving for next years run

We already have a posse of tourers ready to do this tour again next year anticlockwise, but we might start off with two or more groups, one group who are prepared to share the load, and the others can break into packs to suit their riding style and ability.

A fantastic journey on some of the worlds best roads, best views and great local people, Dave and Kirsty, lo & I enjoyed the tour and your company emensly, my apologies for the carry on you were forced to endure.