Riding the West Coast - Part Two

After a below average sleep I was up early and on the road at about 7am.  A quick fuel-up in Hokitika and the Connie was pointed southwards.

The morning was fairly cool and anytime I got near a river or lake I got caught up in fog.  Dropping down off Mount Hercules I spotted a great photo opportunity – hills poking out of the mist and the sun shining down on them.  Unfortunately there was no easy place to stop so I had to carry on until I found an easier place to stop.

 

Back on the road again, I carried on as far Franz Josef where I decided to go and visit the glacier.  Getting to the car park was fine but I didn’t fancy a 20 minute walk up to the glacier for photos so I simply took a few from car park and then headed back to the main road.

 

I skipped the next chance to see a glacier at Fox and instead stopped at the picturesque Bruce Bay and let ScooterBob out to soak up the sunshine.

 

From Bruce Bay I made my way to Haast and even had some two-wheeled company when I caught up to a BMW, two-up and loaded for bear.  At Haast they carried on while I fuelled up and then decided to take ScooterBob down to Jackson Bay.

 

Jackson Bay is pretty much as far South that you can go on the West Coast (a 4WD might get you a bit further but eventually a river gets in the way) and it was well worth the extra miles, although I could have done without all the sand flies…

After feeding the sand flies I returned to Haast and then turned away from the Coast making for the Haast Pass.  I had a great ride through to the Gates of Haast although did have to weave my way around a number of keen cyclists.

 

My next stop was at Makarora where it was time for a quick lunch break before the last leg into Cromwell.  This last leg involved a couple of stops to check out Lakes Wanaka and Hawea:

Wanaka

 

Hawea

 

I eventually got into Cromwell sometime around 2:30 so have had time to do washing and to walk into town for a nice tea (Thai).  A great way to end a fantastic day’s riding (approx 600km).

Tomorrow’s ride is a pretty short one through to Dunedin so I won’t be in a hurry and will have time to have a bit of a look at the city.  Hopefully the forecasted rain stays away…

Still more picks here.

Riding the West Coast - Part One

Apologies in advance for the picture heavy post but ScooterBob and I have had a great day starting our trip down the West Coast.  If there is not enough pictures in the post then keep an eye on this picasa folder.

After packing the bike and saying our goodbyes, ScooterBob and I were underway, cruising out of Richmond and through Brightwater and Wakefield before hitting the lovely Hope Saddle.  The weather was simply fantastic with brilliantly clear, blue skies but with a nice cool temperature to make riding truly glorious.

 

When we hit the summit at Golden Downs I nearly stopped to show ScooterBob the great views but he was enjoying the delicious corners too much and insisted that we pushed on.  Oh well, bye-bye chicken strips…

Rather than stop at Murchison for fuel, I (worked out we’d make it to Westport) we carried on and entered the Upper Buller Gorge.  This is just the start of some superb riding which eventually gets you to the end of the Buller River in Westport.  The pictures below are at the “Iron Bridge” which is basically the Western end of the Upper Buller with just a few more km to get you to Inangahua where the decision has to be made on whether to turn off and make for Reefton and Greymouth or carry on through the Lower Buller to Westport.  No prizes for guessing which way we went…

 

The lower Buller is simply magic and all roads should be this good.  It has everything: fabulous corners and superb scenery.  I managed to persuade ScooterBob into stopping for a few pictures and then hooked up my little camera to see if we could also snap some decent ones on the fly too.

 

 

Our next stop was in Westport to water the horse and then we were on our way South following the Coast to our lunch stop in Punakaiki.  Found a few things to look at there too…

 

 

Leaving Punakaiki, we carried on Southwards and eventually discovered Greymouth on our way to our stop the night in Hokitika.

 

In Hokitika we located our motel, unloaded some gear and then promptly disappeared in search for more photo opportunities in the Hokitika Gorge.  This was well worth the trip out (up a big valley, heading for the mountains) and the 1-2km of gravel to the car park.  ScooterBob made friends with a weka as soon as he got off the bike but then waited while I made the trek to the swing-bridge and beautiful river.

 

On the way out to the gorge I’d spotted a sign pointing to Lake Kaniere so thought that we should also check it out to.  It turned out to be well worth it too and we pretty much had the place to ourselves except for someone out learning to water-ski.

 

By now it was after 4 so we returned to base and are now getting psyched for another awesome day on the West Coast tomorrow…bring it on!