Top of the South
(January 2000)
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Our main Ulysses rides are scheduled quite some time ahead and the Top of the
South ride was no exception with preliminary plans drawn up some six months
prior. Our planned route was to take the ferry to Picton and then down the east
coast highway to Kaikoura. 
Then, cut inland for the first night stop at Hanmer
Springs. Others on the run were taking trail bikes and going down the centre of
the island over a road that was only open six weeks of the year. It traverses
Molesworth, the largest sheep station in the country but includes 150 km's of
unsealed roads, not the ideal environment for a hefty Vulcan, especially one with
a dicky clutch. The return journey (as always) was up to individuals plans but I
planned on doing the West Coast, not having been there since 26 years prior on
our honeymoon.
Early indications were for a great turnout. Probably about a dozen (maybe less) taking the inland route and a similar number (maybe more) cruising down the coastal road (my preferred option). Some were going down early Friday while others were coming over on the early ferry Saturday. I preferred to take the late ferry Friday, overnight in Picton and meet up with the early Saturday mob. I'd flagged the ride earlier with Jazzman a few times but his social calendar was quite full.
On the Thursday, I gave Jazzman another nudge and that was all it took. He got
clearance from Petal for a few days away and arrived at our place late afternoon
Friday. Packed the bikes and shot into town with plenty of time for a couple of
coldies at Chicago then onto the boat. The trip down was damned quick, almost
half the time taken by the traditional ferries and in considerably more comfort.
Highly recommended. Aircraft styled seats, good food and drink and a splendid
view. What more could you ask for. It felt good to go speeding past the
lumbering Inter-Islander in the harbour. As we got into the strait proper, we
copped a beautiful sunset lighting up the horizon. Bloody marvellous it was.
Off-loading at Picton was uneventful and we only took a couple of wrong turns before we found the motel which was right in the main drag. Very handy and well priced too.
The next morning we arose at gentlemanly hours and wandered down the street for a light breakfast prior to our meet with the rest of the gang scheduled for 10:00am. While breakfasting we saw the ferry arriving about 9:00ish so leisurely strolled back to pack the bikes. By this stage it started to drizzle and by the time we were ready to take off a steady rain had ensued. Wets were definitely called for. No problem though and with still a quarter hour to go we headed down to the terminal only to find it very quiet, just men in orange overalls trying to look busy doing nothing much at all.
We arrived at Hanmer a little damp but nothing untoward. At least it was warm,
in fact the lady at the camp office said it had been about 28c at 8:00am. The
rain had obviously cooled things down a bit by the time we arrived. Most of the
inland riders had arrived as had the main bunch we had been chasing all day so
we did our obligatory hello's dumped out gear in the cabin and got directions to
the nearest bar.
Sunday morning we decided to forego breakfast but hit the road and stop at
Maruia Springs for a rest and repast. Great choice. After gassing up we headed
off over the Lewis Pass. Now, I had never traveled this road before and I have
surely missed something special until now. What an excellent road. Long
loping corners and undulations, through beech forests, past meandering rivers,
climbing into the chilling mountain air. Bliss!
We carried on through Springs Junction and onto Reefton where we gassed up
and took another break. What a lovely town. Full of history being first town in
the Southern Hemisphere to be reticulated for electricity in 1888, only 6 years
after Edison invented the light bulb. Lots of quaint buildings that were just crying
out to have their photo taken with our scoots parked in front.
We stopped at Punakaiki for the obligatory touristy stuff. Wandered around the
well presented walkway giving access to the brilliant views of Pancake Rocks.
We had missed high tide by nearly two hours so didn't witness the blowholes
which was a bit disappointing but the sites were impressive none the less. Yes,
more photo's
Next morning we knew we had a decent ride ahead of us. We had to be in
Picton in time for the 4:15pm ferry which in turn required a check in of 45
minutes prior. Easy peasy we reckoned. I had to also stop in and see an Aunty
in Havelock so we phoned ahead and said we would see her for lunch. Fat
chance as it turned out. We packed the bikes in the pouring rain and headed off
in similar conditions. I did the wise thing of collaring a few plastic bags off the
motelier and taped a couple of them over my boots. Smart move I reckoned and
it worked quite well as it turned out, 'cept for the occasional time I had to put my
foot down and find plastic slips very well on asphalt. Careful now.
Realising we were running late I made a hurried call to Aunty and we saddled up
once more, motoring through to Nelson and eventually Havelock, Aunties home
town. The rain didn't let up at all during all this time but we battled on. The
section from Nelson to Havelock was particularly slow given the conditions and
also the slow traffic so when we arrived we barely had time for a quick cup of
tea, a peck on the cheek and off we set once more.
We made it to the terminal just in time to be ushered on board and lash down the
bikes. Upstairs in the lounge we found the rest of the Disgraceful Bunch to hear
a few stories of their endeavours. Apparently Bill Ackland had an excursion in
Blenheim where he had a close encounter with a local in a truck but came off
with only a few scratches. Badges of honour I call them.
Disembarking was uneventful but my friggin' clutch didn't make it any easier,
particularly with the deck being wet and slippery in places and my getting a bit of
a fright when I hit one of the deck rails at a slightly wrong angle. The sphincter
muscle puckered somewhat.
Eventually got home safe and sound to unpack and wring everything out. We
were all a little weary but all thoroughly enjoyed our run South, despite the wet
stuff we encountered. We'll definitely do it again, hopefully in drier conditions. This page has had 
Obviously the main bunch had arrived earlier than expected so took off earlier
than expected but it was no drama really. We saddled up and headed out of
town towards Kaikoura, our anticipated lunch stop. Over the hill to Blenheim
was uneventful but it would have been a bit more fun were it not for the slow
traffic and the damp surface. Once we hit Blenheim the weather stated to clear
and we hit the twisties again. Coming up to the double decker bridge over the
Awatere River we took a break to get out of our wets and also take a few photo's
which turned into quite a ritual over the weekend. We saddled up again and
Jazzman took off over the bridge (single lane so traffic takes turns at crossing).
Being a little nervous about my dicky clutch I suggested Karen wander down to
the sealed section at the end of the bridge and I'ld tip toe over the gravelly bits
to pick her up. Got there and she mounted only to find two huge trucks decide
they had precedence over us but two wheels are no match for eighteen so we
waited our turn. That's when I realised we were actually situated in the part of
the road these big behemoths need to use to turn out of the bridge. I edged the
bike back as far as I could but both truck drivers managed to just miss us as they
carefully maneuvered their steeds past us. 
On we went and had a glorious ride down the coast road. Once we got past the
salt flats at Grassmere and over the next twisty bit we hit the coast proper at
Wharanui and stayed within site of the sea for the next 80k's. Beautiful it was
too. We passed seal colonies with the seals clearly visible basking on the rocks.
Passed divers preparing to hunt out the local delicacy (crayfish, yum!). Also
passed lots of families who had just stopped to play in the rock pools or do a
spot of fishing. What an idyllic way to spend a morning. I loved riding through
the frequent tunnels, riding with the salt air filling the lungs, marveling at being
so close to the sea yet not 10k inland the Kaikoura Ranges rise to 1200 metres.
One memorable part was riding beside a train not ten feet from us as we
traveled a parallel path for a kilometre or so before we left it behind.
We pulled into Kaikoura and stopped to gas up where we heard the main bunch
were about 20 minutes ahead of us so hoped we might strike them at a local
eatery somewhere. It wasn't to be but we found a good spot to sit a while.
While finishing off our lunch the rain arrived so we downed the dampening
cream scones, donned our wets once more and hit the road. We decided
against the inland route to Waiau as it was rumoured to have anything from 10
to 30 k's of gravel, electing instead to carry on down the coast to Parnassus and
then head inland. What a great choice it turned out to be too. By the time we hit
Parnassus the rain had all but stopped so we took the Leader road west. 
What
a brilliant road it is too. Not knowing the road and it still being a tad damp we
took it easy but I can imagine once you get to know it, there would be a thrilling
ride to be had along the 30 odd k's to Waiau. It's well sealed and not too many
frightening corners to jump up and grab your goolies.
It was about 4:00pm ish by this stage and we had worked up a decent thirst by
the time we found our way to the bar containing some of the disgraceful mob.
The first one went down rather too quickly, followed swiftly by the second. I lost
count after the nth glass of Monteiths but I do recall that somewhere along the
way we had a lovely meal, solved the problems of the world and somehow
admitted that I had actually once paid good money to go to a Cliff Richard
concert. Damn, that Monteiths sure loosens the tongue. Sufficient to say, I slept
well.
We stopped for some more obligatory photo's and I passed the camera to Karen
who proceeded to reel off some action shots of the Jazzman in full flight. Some
came out well but sadly the settings I left for her to contend with didn't lend to
ease of shot and that combined with the movement of the bike, heavy gloves and
helmet meant we didn't get as many usable photo's as we would have liked.
We stopped at Maruia Springs for almost an hour I guess. Enough time to take
in the idyllic spot, feed the inner man (and woman), check out the local cat (I
don't think it fancied me too much) and prepare for our next section.
On we traveled again meeting up with another train, this time a scenic
passenger train traveling from Christchurch to the West Coast. We almost
caught it as it disappeared into a tunnel but then lost it. It appeared to cut under
the road we traveled but when we looked to the other side, all we could see was
a big deep river! Then we realised the train was actually right below us, on the
other side of the road running along the river bank (or slightly above) and all we
could see were glimpses of the carriage roof through roadside vegetation. It had
us puzzled for a while.
We stopped in Greymouth for a late lunch and kicked back for a while. Over the
road from the eatery was on old building with a long bare wall, which the locals
had used to cover in murals of historical events. Yet another photo opportunity
and while we parked the bikes a young Israeli couple (with strong American
accents) took a great interest. We took our snaps and then stood back while
they took great delight in taking each other's photos while astride the bikes. He
was obviously quite nervous but she had no problems straddling Jazzman's
beast, easing it up off the kickstand and squealing with delight as her boyfriend
snapped her picture. She had obviously ridden before (and would likely again
soon methinks).
We then cruised around to find the Monteiths Brewery where I just had to have
my photo taken. I wasn't going to come this far without seeing the birthplace of
my favourite brew. It too was covered in an excellent mural so more snaps were
taken before we headed off up the coast, planning on stopping at Punakaiki.
This road too was excellent. Some very slow corners (some as slow as 15 k's)
but also some lovely sweepers and hill climbs. Great scenery along all this
rugged coastline and the incoming weather made it even more eerie as the mist
got blown inland. 
We could see the weather was starting to set in but it still
remained relatively dry, not wet enough to demand the wets be donned.
As we were coming out of the walkway the rain started to hit so we put on our
wets once more and headed off in search of Westport. Just before there we
took a turnoff to head for Cape Foulwind hoping to find the seal colony but got
there only to find a couple of busses full of Japanese tourists and the cardigan
brigade in their motorhomes.
Stopped only briefly then headed into Westport to find digs. Found the main
street and pulled into a nice looking motel. He quoted us one price but we
settled on something lower, realising every motel in the street had a vacancy
and he would be grateful for some income, even if it wasn't his asking price.
Very comfortable it was too, almost new. We wandered down the street to find a
feed but most places were shut however we found a local eatery prepared to
feed a few disgraceful bikers if we promised to behave and not scare the locals.
We made it to Murchison about 11:30am having to take it real easy through the
Buller Gorge. Now, that is another absolutely brilliant section of road, just made
for motorcycles. It's just a shame that we were travelling through such a
picturesque area during the second highest 24 hour downpour in the past 50
years. Apparently the region experienced 70 millimetres (that's over two inches)
of rain in a two hour period, 140 mm overnight, four waterspouts, thunder,
landslides and floods. A good test for the wet weather gear.
I stayed relatively dry but poor Karen didn't fare so well. Her new jacket wasn't
entirely waterproof (which one is) and by the time we got to Murchison she was
getting quite cold. I rescued our bag on arrival and hunted out some dry
polyprops for her as well as a warm polar fleece sweater to wear under her
jacket. That kept her quite warm for the rest of the ride. We sat down for an
early lunch just as the Wild Bunch arrived. Two loud trikes and an assortment of
bikes. They had left Hanmer about 7:30 that morning and were making good
time, despite the conditions. Apparently they also had to play rescue for some
poor couple that had come a cropper in a VW van through the wet twisties.
We had planned on taking the scenic coastal route around the Queen Charlotte
Drive which is only about 35kms but Uncle assured us the inland road, despite
being about twice the distance would take us half the time. Huh? Thankfully we
took his advice and headed off towards Renwick, turning off just as we crossed
the Wairau River. It was quite weird at this point as travelling along Rapaura
Road (about 10k's, all straight), it was perfectly dry. We sped past fields laden
with ripening grapes, the air thick with the pungent smells of side crops like
onions and garlic plus lots of roses interspersed amongst the grape vines.
Beautiful. Got to Spring Creek and headed towards Picton, our final destination
when the rain hit once more. I thought it was too good to be true.
visitors since November 12th 2000