Our bottom of the south motorcycle trip, 2017 by Tania and Ian Read.
Tania and I have been riding together for just over two years when I bought a Suzuki Inazuma 250 for her and I had Suzuki V Strom 650.
We’ve done a few road trips together, including Waipukurau, Karamea, Reefton, St Arnaud, Farewell Spit, Pohara and plenty of local Nelson roads.
With a pending move to the North island it was decided to complete a “Bottom of the South” riding holiday and with the weather in early summer misbehaving we decided on a late February ride for 2-3 weeks. Having been on plenty of holidays where we had prebooked and been disappointed with accommodation we decided that we’d “wing it” and pick where we wanted to stop. Also, with the tourist season over there’d be plenty of accommodation choices, “yea right”.
After a year of riding the 250, Tania was ready to upgrade and a search was undertaken to find a suitable bike where she could touch the ground with both feet but avoiding cruisers. Following thorough research a Suzuki Gladius 650 was chosen and a search undertaken to find the best one.
In Timaru was a spectacular looking unit and we hooked on the trailer and headed south to negotiate. Tania’s feet could easily reach the ground and with the same engine as the V Strom we’d be well matched. After a quick ride around the block we settled on a price, loaded her on the trailer and went to Christchurch to stay with friends. Another Gladius was on my watch list and I found out it was just around the corner from where we were staying so what harm could there be in having a look. The seller wanted a bit too much for it so I made a silly offer and wow, he accepted. Now we had two bikes to get home. Never mind at least we were now really evenly matched.
However after just seven months since buying the Gladius a feeling of the need for speed came on and I’d had my eye on a 1200 Multistrada. I phoned some sellers in the North Island and with surprising approval was allowed to go take a look. I thought I’d better do some more research and spied a Kawasaki Vessy’s at Filco’s and thought I’d take a look before flying north. Big mistake, or pure brilliance, not sure which, but I ended up buying a near new Yamaha 870 Tracer. Now I had four bikes, but only wanted two, one each.
Oh well, what’s better than a biking holiday? Riding a new bike on a biking holiday.
So, time off was booked and dates arranged and a general plan was instigated, which was to go down the west coast to Invercargill then head up the East Coast and meet up with the club overnighter booked in Reefton on the 23rd Feb.
We left Nelson around midday on the 9th Feb with Punakaiki being the first night’s target. The sun was out and the roads dry and we took our time enjoying the ride. First stop was a picnic spot beside the Red Barn Cafe just north of Murchison where we downed some YMCA. (Yesterday’s meal cooked again)
Traffic is fairly light considering this is now the new State Highway One. We sped through Murchison and continued through the wonderful Buller Gorge and stopped for coffee at Berlins Cafe. Some exciting riding through the Buller trying to over take a careless driver who thought the whole road was his and the centre line was just a joke. He/she must have had a vengence against motorbikes as he deliberately tried to run me off the road as I managed a quick overtake just coming off the traffic light bridge part way through the gorge. I waited for them to arrive at Berlins so I could instruct him on driving etiquette but they never showed up.
On the beach front at Punakaiki
Next stop was to be Punakaiki and to find accommodation. This we found out was going to be the problem for the next 3 weeks, finding affordable accommodation. We had budgeted $100 a night and we were quite happy to use cabins, on site caravans etc. The queue out the office door at the camp site gave us the clue that we weren’t stopping here for the night, so we skipped across the road to the pub that offered cabins and there was one left at $145 which exceeded our budget, so we mounted up and continued south to Rapahoe. The pub there have rooms and it’s right on the beach, but they too were booked out. They suggested the caravan park just down the next road. This is an old school and is now a campsite and we scored an old 70’s caravan with views over the ocean until the sites all around us filled up with campervans. Cost $47.
View out the caravan window at Rapahoe
It was warm and dry and a short walk away from the pub so we wandered down for a fabulous meal sitting outside looking over the sunset and rocky shoreline.
After the drama of finding accommodation and seeing just how many campers and holidaymakers were about we knew that we had to start booking ahead at least one night.
Fox Glacier was our aim for the next day and with free wifi we booked a unit with an ensuite for $120. We had a great ride down through Greymouth with some rain, but nothing serious. We refueled here and continued down to Kumara Junction for lunch. There is a fabulous cafe there with a live bee display, great food and spacious facilities.
The shared road/rail bridge just south of Greymouth has seen the odd motorcycle come to grief and was a little daunting for Tania, but with our intercoms working well I helped her, guiding her into the middle of the tracks and to cross them as straight as possible.
Franz and Fox were buzzing and our upstairs room meant lugging heavy bags up, but other than some party goers late at night waking us up we had a comfortable sleep. The meal at the adjacent hotel was a write off!! We wandered around the town and then spent some time looking for accommodation in Queenstown. We booked an ensuite two room unit at Frankton for two nights as we wanted to do some tourist activities.
Fox accommodation and the place NOT to eat at.
The ride through the Haast Pass on a fine day is stunning. The roads south of Fox are through forested woodlands and follow crystal clear rivers. This is one of the best rides in New Zealand by far. There are plenty of places to stop and admire the scenery. We had morning tea at a salmon farm before Haast, but do not recommend it. It’s quite dated and I felt for the pallet fed salmon swimming round and round in small pens.
Haast Pass River Salmon Farm Ponds
Lunch was eaten in the main street of Wanaka where we met some Romanian dentists two up on a hired BMW. They were heading to Queenstown also.
There are two roads to Queenstown, one up and over the crown range which is covered in snow in winter, but a true gem in summer, and the other the longer way round. It was to be up and over for us with the tourist and photo opp at the Cadrona Pub. Usually you can stop in for a meal or drink, but today it was closed for a function so we took a few pics and headed up the Crown.
Cadrona Hotel, closed for a private function
The view from the lower carpark, not the very top, is best. There’s plenty of parking and you can watch the planes flying past below you into Queenstown Airport. From here to the bottom is a series of switchbacks where you crawl along behind cars, trucks and campers. Some fool in a huge furniture truck decided he would go this way and was swinging right over to the other side of the road on every corner causing havoc. Such fun!
The Frankton Motor Camp is fun to find, but after going around the block a few times we eventually found the entrance and checked into our room. For the price, it was awesome.
Instead of taking two motorbike covers I had a small tarp that covered both bikes nicely with some bungee cords. Kept the seats dry and prying fingers away and packed down to store easily on top of the back pack. I’d just park the bikes close together each evening and pull out the tarp to spread over the bikes.
We went for an evening stroll to the supermarket. There was a function on in the huge sports park which turned out to be the end of a bicycle race from Christchurch over five days. The plan was to bus into Queenstown the next day and spend the day as a tourist. That night the local foreign workers decided to hold a full on party in the common kitchen just beside our unit. Pack of inconsiderate @#$%^. Kept us awake most of the night.
After a sleep in we walked out to the main road to catch a bus but thought we’d give hitchhiking a try. It’s been quite a few decades since I’d done any hitchhiking, but it only took 30 seconds and we’d scored a ride into town. We wandered around the town and lake shore, purchased a gondola ride, buffet lunch and luge tickets in the centre mall where there was no queue.
Off we walked up the hill to the gondola base, skipped the huge queue waiting to purchase tickets and rode up the hill. Rain was expected later in the day so we decided to get up to the top quickly, get our luge rides in, have lunch at the buffet and then head back to camp.
The buffet lunch is simply the best. It took us nearly three hours with spectacular views over the lake, town and hills. The luge ride is fun and even at our age we raced everyone we could getting airborne a few times. Do this before you have that hip operation!!
We didn’t need any dinner that night. We tried to hitch back to Frankton but we must have looked too fat or something, so we walked along the lakefront track which turned out to be a great idea. We met some locals, watched the wildlife and the submarine thingy that kept leaping out of the water. There was also one of the water jet things that run off a jetski with a bloke who was obviously new to it, having a go. The walk took a good couple of hours but I did feel like I had walked off that huge lunch.
We had a much quieter night and slept well. Tomorrow was Te Anau and the plan was to arrive early and head straight into Milford Sound for the 5pm BBQ cruise. We had an Air BNB booked which was a container on a small farm. The weather forecast was not looking great but as we headed south the sun was shining and we rode along at a steady pace.
The roads and journey are now quite boring with long straights and brown flat paddocks. As we arrived in Mossburn the black clouds are brewing and it’s time to get out the wet weather gear. As we rode into Te Anau the rain and weather is making it feel like a mid winter ride. We stopped outside a restaurant and waddled in to remove soaking wet gear and enjoy a hot lunch.
We needed to replan our Milford trip as we weren’t going in with the weather like this. We left our helmets and jackets with the kind folk at the restaurant and we walked down to the I-site to check the weather forecast and plan for a Milford journey. We had purchased a grab one deal back in Nelson for the evening BBQ cruise which was open dated, so we decided to leave Te Anau the next day, skirt the rain and go to Invercargill for two days. We booked accommodation in Manapouri for Thursday as Te Anau was booked out, and then a night at the camp ground in Te Anau for Friday. The weather forecast for Thursday and Friday looked great.
Our BNB was back out of town a wee way so we geared up and rode out to the farm where a warm ensuite container room was waiting for us. This is on a small farm where goats are milked to make soap and the cow is milked for the family. This place was amazing. We awoke to fresh snow on the hills all around us and were offered a farm tour where we could pat the cow and Tanai had a go at milking the goat.
We weren’t in a rush as we had booked for two nights in Invercargill, which took and hour and a half online to find. We left Te Anau and headed back towards Mossburn with huge black clouds building. We hadn’t put on our wet gear but soon regretted it as the heavens opened and down it came. A quick pull over into a farm gate saw us kitted up and continuing on.
The rain didn’t hang round for long but it was a wee bit cooler so we left them on until we arrived in Invercargill. The last time I’d been down this way was for the Burt in 2015. It was blowing it’s tits off then and it was doing the same again now. They’re moving the Burt to later February but I am questioning why?
The central caravan park has some great rooms and facilities and it’s not far to walk into town. Our friend and fellow Ulyssian Dave from Invercargill took time out to taxi drive us around, taking us to Bluff and pointed out the longest curved road in New Zealand. Man was it blowing at the bluff lookout.
Bluff
After our car tour we walked around town visiting motorbike shops and Haynes Hardware of course.
The next day dawned clear and we chose to ride to Manapouri via Riverton and the coastal road. This is a much better ride than going back up to Mossburn. We arrived just before allowed check in time of 2pm so we had lunch at the adjacent pub. After unloading our gear we had a walk down to the marina, then along a track beside the lake until we found our motel which has stunning views over the lake.
View from our Manapouri Motel Manapouri marina
After a very quiet night, we rose early as this was our day trip to Milford Sound. It’s only 20k’s to Te Anau so we arrived too early to check in. Tania didn’t want to ride in as the stories of the road made her nervous, so we dumped our gear in our room and headed two up into Milford Sound. The road and trip was stunning. Clear blue skies and very little traffic. We left Te Anau at 12 and arrived at the village at 1.30pm. We didn’t stop at any of the amazing sight seeing spots as getting on and off with two people, top bag and panniers was an effort.
We had a brief stop at the entrance to the tunnel, which is a highlight of the road. Take your time and the tunnel is fine. Tania exclaimed that the road was no problem and wished that she’d ridden her own bike. After our short wait to get through the tunnel we arrived at the car park in Milford Sound, took off our bike gear and decided on a coffee. Our cruise was booked for 5pm so we had a few hours to kill. Milford Sound was basking in sunlight. Even the sand flies seemed to be away enjoying the day elsewhere. There are a number of short walks you can take, but not much else to do other than take a cruise, eat, drink and people watch.
There were a bunch of Yamaha Tracers with Queensland number plates parked next to us. Having my tarp with me meant the Keas and prying fingers were kept away from our bikes whilst we visited this unique piece of New Zealand.
Our cruise was awesome, taking in all the sights of the sounds with a BBQ meal provided. Following our excursion we mounted up and sprinted back to Te Anau as the camp office closed at 9pm and we needed to get into our room.
The ride out was as pleasant as the ride in. Again we only stopped briefly to wait for a green light at the tunnel. I certainly wish we had booked a few more nights here so we could have taken in the other fabulous sights on offer. Riding a bike, you need to pick your days to visit Milford/Te Anau as rain is a frequent visitor.
Our next stop was to be Dunedin and we had all day to get there. After the fabulous roads around Te Anau the ride to Dunedin along the main route was nothing special. I know there are other routes we could have taken, but we were quite content to dawdle along and stop at the small towns along the way.
At Balclutha we thought we’d look and see what accommodation was on offer in Dunedin. It’s a big city and would have plenty on offer, yea right! We couldn’t find a room anywhere. Well, what to do, just head on in, there’s got to be something, even at a campsite.
After battling strong winds from Balclutha we arrived to ever darkening black clouds around 5pm. We headed straight to a campground only to have it confirmed that due to orienteering week at Uni, nothing was available. We needed some fuel so headed to the nearest fuel station and directly opposite was a motel. Tania went over to ask about a room but was told, no vacancy. The owner phoned around and found us a pub room in Balclutha!!
We looked very dejected back at the service station and we even stopped several people filling up if they wanted some paid guests for the night. People were very sympathetic but none had any room. I thought, hang on, we’re members of Ulysses, we’ll phone the local coordinator and sure enough we were invited to come stay, however at that exact same time the motel owner walked over to the fuel stop and said he’d put us up in their private residence. Thanking the coordinator for the very kind offer we accepted the motel as it meant a 30 second ride versus trying to find our way around Dunedin.
We settled in, met the pet turtle and wandered off for a walk to find some food. Whilst enjoying our meal I jumped online and booked the next night at a campground with ensuite room. Our host cooked us a wonderful breakfast and charged us only $80 for the room. Going to Dunedin, make sure you stay at Best Western 555, handy to everywhere.
The black clouds were still hanging around the next morning, but after we’d unpacked at the campground we headed off out the Peninsula to be buffeted by strong winds and fog so thick you had to crawl along. We went along the summit road and then out to the Penguin colony which although shrouded in fog was a pleasant ride. Then back along the coastal road to Portobello for lunch. A few bikes around and next we were being asked if we owned the bike from Filco’s. Yes, sure was us, and our fellow Nelson Ulyssians introduced themselves. Small world.
After lunch we thought we’d head into the city and we found ourselves in bright sunshine outside the Cadbury Factory. Might as well do the tour. We were parked in the countdown car park and a very aggressive looking parking warden was eyeing us up and marking cars. She kept looking at us as if to say “I know exactly what you guys are thinking”. So being brave I sent Tania over to ask if it was Ok if we parked here, do the tour, then come back and shop for some food.
Turned out, she was a motorbike enthusiast and happily agreed we could park here.
The tour was great, too much chocolate however had us feeling a little tummy sick.
After a quiet night in the unit we headed into Dunedin as my visor had fallen off and I needed a replacement. We headed to McIver and Veitch and ended up with two new helmets and a Senna intercom which they fitted whilst we went for a city walk. Goodbye to $850.
We arrived back at the bike shop after 1pm and mounted up to ride to Mouraki for the night. Heading up and out of the city into the fog we arrived at the Mouraki Motels and was given a room right opposite the bay with uninterrupted views. The famous Fluers place was closed, so we went for a walk down to the village and then around the point where we could get up close to seals basking on the rocks. We thought we’d try and see sum Penguins, but nothing seen.
Dinner was had at the local pub, which was enjoyable. That evening the fog rolled back in and it was so thick we couldn’t see the bay just 20 meters away.
Moeraki walking track view View from our unit.
Next morning we loaded up and rode down to look at the Boulders before heading off to Timaru.
State Highway One is a good road but nothing spectacular. As we arrived in Timaru there was light rain starting. We booked in and went for a long walk down to the beach, then up through the town. We were fortunate that the motel had garages and our bikes were out of the rain.
From Timaru we were heading to Christchurch. Light rain was falling as we rode out of Timaru. We stopped in Ashburton to visit friends, then continued on to Christchurch arriving in warm sunshine.
As we both hate riding in city traffic we went two up on the Gladius to visit the Gondola and had a wonderful day out. That evening we went out to dinner with friends and visited the new memorial to the earthquake victims, that was a real moving experience.
Lyttelton Harbour
Our tour is coming to an end. It’s off to Hanmer Springs and it’s a great ride there. We opted out of a swim and just walked into town for dinner, then walked back the next morning for breakfast.
Nelson branch was having an overnighter in Reefton so we thought we’d join them and headed off over the Lewis, through the Rahu and into Reefton. Allan Smith had organised a ride up to some forgotten mining town and we joined in for this ride which had 6k’s of gravel road with locals collecting firewood and blocking the road. This was a very enjoyable experience apart from the gravel. We have both enjoyed all the places being in Ulysses takes us.
We joined in with the Nelson troops for dinner and a few laughs and then headed back for bed.
Chris and Sara enjoying ribs in Reefton.
The next morning we checked out the local information centre which is well worth doing. Reefton and the surrounding area is well worth visiting for more than a day.
Sunday saw us packing up for home. We took our time and headed off back through the Buller Gorge in clear blue skies. Tania’s brother from Christchurch had been touring the North Island with a mate on their bikes and were getting saturated in constant rain. We had tried to meet up around Murchison or St Arnaud but timing didn’t work out.
Low and behold we were just coming over the bridge at the end/start of the Buller and we spied two biker fellas heading south. They gave us a wave and we instantly recognized Tony and he us, so we stopped and had a catch up. Ten seconds either side and we would have missed each other.
Total k’s were 2920, amount spent, way too much, could have a full on Aussie holiday. Fun galore, scary drivers, yes!! Would we do it again, in a heartbeat.
Next adventure, lower and mid North Island as we relocate to Central Hawkes Bay in April.