Burt Munro 2023

[Andy J]

That’s a bummer. I don’t particularly like late night/early morning crossings either but got two coming up next weekend.

 

[mauricejota7604]

Fuuuurk bloody rained all through the Waikato. Plus hot and humid, yurk. Finally fined up at Taupo so we stopped for a meal:
View attachment 69822
Now our ferry booking has changed due to one we’re booked on breaking down, so instead of a gentlemanly 8:45am tomorrow, they’ve put Dan on the 2am, and no word about my booking… oh well, ill trundle down there at midnight as well and see if I can blag my way aboard
If it doesn’t work, then sleeping in the waiting room will make for a good story

Aah the mighty Waikato region my wife’s home region, it would have been great riding from Taupo!!!!

 

[Andy]

Aah the mighty Waikato region my wife’s home region, it would have been great riding from Taupo!!!!

Yep good Napier turned it on!

 

[Andy]

Managed to get on the ferry at 1am for a 2:45 sailing. Grabbed a couple of catnaps sitting in a chair and rode off at Picton just before dawn feeling surprisingly fresh. The roads were still bone dry despite a dire forecast for later in the day so instead of playing “follow the leader” on the main route we turned right and took the Queen Charlotte Drive. So in dawns half-light we rode 35kms of 2nd-gear twisties around the tortured Marlborough Sounds coast. Beautiful

View attachment trim.5A481B5C-6B62-4083-8549-9478A9CF0F78.MOV

 

[Andy]

After that the rain started… oh well, “Rain” and “About to rain” was the forecast
There are lots of really nice sections of road to Reefton, some bits ruined today by rain on poor seal, but still plenty of fun to be had where there’s no shiny tar. Where the stones are still attached to the road they seem to be grippier than in the North Island, the crushed rock is harder and probably gets a lot less traffic so I guess stays sharper for longer. I have heard that South Island riders get a lot less mileage from their tyres. Makes sense to me, we were cornering pretty hard on very wet roads today with no “loss of confidence”
Very glad to be on the ‘Coast. Much more interesting roads and much less traffic. Still a few rozzas, but luckily we didn’t get anything more than a flash of the red-and-blues as a warning

 

[Vince]

So beautiful, it always surprises me how it surprises some that on camping trips on a bike, you need to actually carry camping gear.

 

[GregT]

I see by the forecast that the Invercargill locals will be doing the usual "should have been here last week"
If i had a dollar for every time I've heard that.......

 

[Andy]

I

I see by the forecast that the Invercargill locals will be doing the usual "should have been here last week"
If i had a dollar for every time I've heard that.......

Indeed! I’ve been watching it too. Seems to be getting better…

 

[sideshow]

Managed to get on the ferry at 1am for a 2:45 sailing. Grabbed a couple of catnaps sitting in a chair and rode off at Picton just before dawn feeling surprisingly fresh. The roads were still bone dry despite a dire forecast for later in the day so instead of playing “follow the leader” on the main route we turned right and took the Queen Charlotte Drive. So in dawns half-light we rode 35kms of 2nd-gear twisties around the tortured Marlborough Sounds coast. Beautiful

View attachment 69853

More beautiful than Bonnie doon!

“HOW’S THE SERENITY? SO MUCH SERENITY”!!!!​

 

[Andy]

More beautiful than Bonnie doon!

“HOW’S THE SERENITY? SO MUCH SERENITY”!!!!​

I’m afraid I may have affected the Sunday morning serenity slightly by roaring through it on a motorcycle

 

[sideshow]

I’m afraid I may have affected the Sunday morning serenity slightly by roaring through it on a motorcycle

then sticking with the castle theme , and modifying it ,” If there's anything Dad loved more than serenity, it was a big Laverda engine on full throttle!

 

[AJ]

I’m afraid I may have affected the Sunday morning serenity slightly by roaring through it on a motorcycle

I think everyone appreciates the sound of a triple on the overrun down a rocky gorge! I know I do.

 

[GregT]

Did you get down the coast OK ? i see reports of delays due to slips, trees down etc.

 

[hooksey]

So beautiful, it always surprises me how it surprises some that on camping trips on a bike, you need to actually carry camping gear.

That froffy with a handle looks luvverly

 

[Andy]

Did you get down the coast OK ? i see reports of delays due to slips, trees down etc.

Nup, closed from Ross to Haast, so there must be several closures. Someone said the Fox river was particularly high. Hopefully we can go back that way, but today we had to turn left and cross Arthur’s Pass then headed down the inland road. Just got in to Twizel a little while ago. So all good and back on track after a bit of reorganisation

 

[GregT]

I see the tribesmen going south hit trouble between Geraldine and Fairlie. Major crash and roadside fire as a result. Another harley or two gone.

 

[Andy]

Otira Gorge on the Arthur’s Pass route is pretty spectacular. The viaduct in the photo is fairly new, prior to that being built much of the steep climb was gravel and quite exciting. It was also constantly changing due to earthquakes and slips. Once I was driving up the hill and nearly got taken out by a bus sliding down the hill. I’ve never seen a bus driver with such an intense look of concentration as he guided the sledging bus between my wing mirror and the unprotected downhill cliff. I had all the time in the world to watch him, I was stopped with my left wheels against the uphill cliff.

 

[Andy]

The photos don’t really do this justice. For a small country there are some places that make it seem enormous.
You can see the slips which are typical of the Southern Alps, which basically consist of mounds of loose gravel. Some slips are truly huge and you wonder how the whole island isn’t flat, but amazingly the tectonic uplift is faster than the erosion.

 

[Andy]

And some cheeky keas looking for an easy feed

 

[Andy]

I see the tribesmen going south hit trouble between Geraldine and Fairlie. Major crash and roadside fire as a result. Another harley or two gone.

What time was that? We came through Fairlie about 6pm and there seemed to be a few cops around although they weren’t interested in us.