Christmas is over for another year and we are all full. Full of Turkey, full of gifts, full of relaxing! So I ventured back to my work station to firm up my route plan for New Zealand starting on Saturday 5th January 2008.

Here is the planned route:

Saturday 5th January 2008.

The longest journey starts with the first step! Our journey to New Zealand started years ago, maybe when I visited New Zealand as a blue eyed engineer apprentice on the SS Hima in 1969, maybe in January 1973 when Jen and I got married or maybe it was looking on the MTF (Motorcycle Tourers Forum) and getting the wonder lust for Motorcycle Touring, but who knows. Today could easily be seen as that first step as we prepare to go to Newcastle Airport for leg 1 of an epic journey to the far side of the Globe. Here is our itinerary, it opens in MS Excel. First holiday bonus received today in that Emirates, our chosen air carrier, gave us a free hotel room for our 8 hour stopover in Dubai at the Millennium Hotel, a short free shuttle bus ride from the airport

 

 

Sunday 6th January 2008.

Travel!

Monday 7th January 2008

Travel! We got into Auckland early afternoon and tried the trick of just staying awake to normal bedtime and although a very long plane ride and a 12 hour time difference we managed to stay awake and it all appeared to work. Here are a few shots of Auckland:

Tuesday 8th January 2008

Bike collection accomplished by 08:00 in a seamless administration process and we were heading out of the largest Polynesian Capital in the World. We had a beautiful Electra Glide Ultra. Day one from the itinerary was down to Rotorua where we had pre booked the Wylie Court motel and what a fantastic decision that was. First to welcome us was a 13 year old English Springer Spaniel who's tail wagging gave away the unabashed joyous welcome only topped by the welcome from Mark & Alison (only been in post 4 weeks). But on the way we met a character in one a classic Motor home! Piesy travels New Zealand's craft fairs selling her own copper creations in a 1950's converted Leyland Fire Engine. She was parked up in Paeroa; the main street matched Piesy's style in that the street was full of quaint shops full of what I'd describe as Paraphernalia!

Wednesday9th January 2008

04:00 and wide awake! Wonder when the body clock will get its act together? You'll see from the itinerary that Wanganui is today's destination with the added excitement of no accommodation booked. Before we leave Rotorua we intend to do the Mud Pools and Geysers at Te Puia; bring it on. Mark and Alison came to our rescue and offered us a lift to the best thermal experience and we could have a late check out so that we could wear civvies rather than bike gear. Mark took us to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village and for $NZ25each we had a guided tour. We took a boiled corn on the cob direct from the hot water pool and were entertained by the villagers with traditional dance and ceremonies.

Leaving Rotorua after lunch and 200 miles to Wanganui we had to get a move on and at every turn our sensory preceptors were in overload; especially the largest lake in NZ, Lake Taupo and through the Tongariro National Park. We avoided one dog, one cow and one sheep on the road other than that an uneventful fantastic ride.

Thursday 10th January 2008

We were on the road by 06:00 and had a fantastic sunrise ride (except for the detour due to the road wash out!) towards our objective of the day to hook up with John Busby, my friend Peter Busbys 1st cousin. Being a shy retiring type I was not sure if contact with a 'stranger' was a good idea but of course we all know that a stranger is just a friend you have not met yet; it was so with John and Dawn. They welcomed us into their home with open arms. View from their home on a fault line above Wellington was magic. The early afternoon ride to Martingborough we rode over Rimutaka Hill; which is a misnomer as it was easily up to most Alpine Passes, wow!

Friday 11th January 2008

Today's focus was the Interisland Ferry to Picton, but before we could do that we had to negotiate the Rimutaka Hill for the second time in 2 days, but this time we knew what to expect. Setting out at 07:30 meant we had the sun behind us for a shot of the South Side of the pass from the cafe at the top; it may even make it to the MTF monthly competition. Arriving at the terminal we managed to transfer to the 10:35 ferry which made more sense and met with Alistair and Neo a couple on BMW's who'd been touring the North Island for a couple of weeks from their Christchurch home. I mentioned the Rimutaka Pass and Neo showed me the missing material from her bike trousers where the tarmac had removed the top layer during an off on the very pass I was in awe of! She managed to find a diesel patch in the wet on one of the hairpins; no lasting personal damage but a bent Funduro 650 and a requirement for a new pair of trousers, apparently local motorcycle shops were making a nice profit from Rimutaka Hill, at least four a week in the BMW shop and there were four other shops in town.