The Long-White-Cloud Spectacular__NZ South Island 2012

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Here we go then!!!
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5 Aussies, 2 Taswegians (YEAH,...they're different!! )
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, 1 Kiwi (who the hell invited him, Christ!
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)..... a cluster of XT660R’s, a lonely DR650, an even lonelier BMW F650GS single and an XT250 which stumped the crap out of everyone, what a weapon the Midget is!!
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The only one missing... and we sure missed you, mate!!...was Jimbo from Oregon, who'd had to pull out for personal reasons.



2 weeks of New Zealands finest backroads, old postal routes, farming roads, power-distro service roads, dirt, rock, twisties and “shingle”... lookouts, stumping vistas, a landscape to die for, local flora and fauna, pubs in the middle of no-where.....before adding ankle-deep gravel to plough through, river-crossings, endless “brown” moments, steep inclines and drops that make you gasp at the thought of placing a wheel wrong by only a few inches, mud-bogs that look like they’ve already swallowed a few Landcruisers.

The “roof-for-the-night” spanned from grotty country pubs which had last seen a broom 20 years ago to luxury-digs with spa-tubs…while there was no real shortage in the “tucker-and-brew” department.
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Come along for an absolute BLINDER of a ride!!



We have some mighty-fine pictures for you, there's some fingerlickin’ stuff in that lot, Yessir!

As for who took the shot, just check the watermarks.
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With 5 days to go, the dramas are in full swing…Tassie-Dave discovers his passport is “6 months over” and had transformed to the value of dunny-paper.Shite!!

The airlines shuffle flight-times back and forth, there’s always one wary eye on the connecting flights for our 2 Tassies…and how’ll that brandnew, lil’ XT250 go, which is supposed to carry Bernard and gear the 1000km south from Auckland to Christchurch….1000k ‘s just to start a 2 week ride!!!
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Awesome, aye???

“And you better be here at the office before 4pm on Sat, mate…otherwise we’ll have to sort out something else”…says Hakan, Chief-Fantastico of the bike-rental mob. Which comes down to losing a whole day in Christchurch and picking up the bikes on Monday, yikes…please, Jetstar, PLEASE!!....get that shitbox up in the air and into Christchurch, PRONTO!

Nev and Jo are already over there, sending emails about some clown at Airport Security in Melbourne, who’d kicked up some fuss about having batteries in checked luggage, rather than in the cabin bags. That’ll be right….the whole world wants to have it the other way around, while Melbourne doughnuts have to be square, arrrgghh
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Ahhh…overseas travel and all its little pitfalls, never short on some sort of glitch.

The reason, Ducky is along! The Good Luck Charm which has been along on every trip and ride for the last 10 years.
And the First Aid Kit…. in case Ducky has a shitter of a day.
And duct tape….to hold together whatever still wants to come adrift after the First Aid Kit’s been raided.

Got it all covered? Good …off to Tullamarine then for a few hours of Jetstar’s Poverty Pack delights.

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All the while, Bernard and the Piccolo-XT are having a cracker of a time, making the most of the fine weather after coming off the ferry in Picton, bumbling south at leisure.

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The historic bridge (the one in the background with the massive timber supports) near Blenheim.

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Ohhhh yes…they grow some cracker-drops up here
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. The northern end of the Awatere Valley is just chockers with vineyards.


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As the rest of the crew bumps across the ditch, Bernard prefers to set his own arse on fire…
Dropping the mesh drying-bag with the only other pair of underdaks he’s brought dangling in the breeze from the top of the rear pack to in-between exhaust and bike-frame (the more common furry loincloths around here are too bulky, he reckons...and would’ve reduced numbers even further
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The lil’ XT happily welded the whole schamozzle into the indicator as well.

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Gives a whole new meaning to “shithot”, aye?
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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Re: The Long-White-Cloud Spectacular…NZ South Island 2012

Burnt jox or not, he’s having a perler of a time.
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What a great day on the road….lights off!





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3000km further west...



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2 hrs. delay in Melbourne….the oldest and fastest of the bunch, Tassie-Dave on the left…checking his pockets is RobbieB “ if I can’t ride it, I’ll dive-bomb it”…in the background “Nobody Loves Me”- Latte-Dave….Goodie on the right, talking shit with Tassie-Dave… quite a pair those 2.
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As usual, they check mental capacity here…. still not measuring up after 50odd years.

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Made the bike pickup by 15 minutes, it’s all quick and easy, Hakan is a gem.
“Just bring ‘em back in one piece, willya?”
Hmmm, there’s some hope. Little, but some.


Jo…

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Man...they breed 'em TOUGH here!!

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Time for some group-hugs at the local Monteiths Brewery Outlet


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L-to-R: Latte Dave….no idea why Nev’s “crushed” (as the sign proclaims)…Jo, obviously not believing a word Nev says… Tassie-Dave and Goodie at it again.
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Essentials of any successful trip….good tucker and a healthy sampling of the local plonks…and that Monteiths Dark went straight to the poolroom: mighty-fine bubble juice indeed!


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And if the ground ain’t shakin’ here, some mysterious stuff pops out from it!!


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That’s it!!!
Were here, we’ve got the bikes, we’re packed and re-jigged for tomorrow morning….let’s hit the sack, then hit the road.


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robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Hehe,

Still packing on the Friday, lucky I've taken the day off to finalise all the crap!

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Just to catch the quick hop to Melbourne and meet up with Tassie Dave. Luckily the bag only weighs 20.5 kg and they don't bother stinging me for the extra 500 grams, unlike some others who try and smuggle tools in their carry on....

Steak and Guinness pie for dinner at the Irish pub in the airport where we get the text saying the flight is delayed by an hour. Call up Pete to give him the heads up, have a sleep in!

The morning arrives and after losing Tassie Dave for a supposed cavity search for more tools, we finally all make it through immigration and customs with Dave's Bum (bag) checked in with no extra charge and some sweet talking to the burly security folk.....
You just can't take some people anywhere...

Shame I have an aisle seat, as I'm stumped by the mountains to the left and the flatness of the farm land extending all the way to the ocean to the right, and no way of taking any decent photos of it on the approach to Christchurch airport.

The search for the first ASB atm begins as soon at we're out the door....
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
:guff:guff
Already forgot the "Dave-The-Tool" bit...had us worried there for a while.
The search couldn't 've been too painfull though....his lenses weren't fogged up and he was smiling in the end :guff:guff
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Well he got out of it for free! :woot: Apparently $150 is too steep an asking price...:wow:

Mind you, mate, going up to a security guard and asking where they conduct the cavity searches in an international airport is a bold move!:eek:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Mind you, mate, going up to a security guard and asking where they conduct the cavity searches in an international airport is a bold move!:eek:

Shoulda seen the face of that security-blondie....priceless!! :rofl:

Looking at the notes here....also forgot to mention Tassie-Dave's movie night, which became part of the regular off-bike entertainment.
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But once he started rolling the last days of the 2010 NZ ride that first night, I was waiting for Clark Gable and Ava Gardner next....or Elvis!
Ahhhh...bloody fabulous!!
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The belly-ache from last night’s laughs keeps growing this morning…Bernard and Latte-Dave make a formidable pair bickering the crap out of each other. It’s a pre-cursor of things to come…
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Despite the drizzle, everyone’s chipper…or rather: most are full of it and big grins everywhere and everyone’s rearing to crack into the first of the 36 routes on offer.

Checking the local weather patterns against the forecast for the next few days, it looks like a small window of better weather up near the north-east…opening the North later on and possibly extending to the WestCoast by mid-week.
Let’s see if that old “feel-it-in-the-bones” still holds true…north it is!!
Into the drizzle, up Hwy1.

Tassie-Dave on the DR on the left, Goodie with the "Loompy" jacket and Bernard holding back the 250 from smoking up the rear.
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The suburbs peel away after the first half-hour….then finally the drizzle stops at Greta Valley, 80k’s up the coast….time for brecky and a quick map-check.


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Oii, mate!!! Watch that egg!! Latte_Dave just had that jolt of inspiration “Let’s go down the beach!”


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…and so we do. A little diversion from hwy-droning always helps….and there’s a dirt road leading out and back to the highway, could be interesting.


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That flat rock out there sure looks a little like “The Nut” at Stanley in Tassie….


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“Mate….a rock just dropped outta the cliff over there….straight onto your DR!!”
Tassie-Dave: “WOOT??”


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