I took several pictures, then headed out again.
By this time it was quite warm, so I'd packed the rain suit up. For a good twenty or thirty KM north of Punakaiki, I fought through dozens of tight corners hugging the ocean hillsides. Great roads for a motorcycle! Along this stretch of road, I saw a school facing the ocean. I thought that it must be tough on the kids to sit in there and have to stare out the windows at the Tasman Sea.
I rode on through some of the best roads I'd ever seen. No, they WERE the best roads I'd ever seen. When I finally got to Westport, I saw yet another fuel station sign; this one warned of no more petrol for 80 KM. I'd put 97 KM on since the last fill-up, but I decided to play it safe and top up.
Another thing I saw: imagine one of the single lane bridges I wrote about before. Now pretend that instead of tar, the surface is made of wooden planks. And pretend there's also a train track running down this skinny bridge. A bit spooky riding a motorcycle down one of these - you know that if you get into an argument with a train, you're gonna lose.
I checked into the local motor camp. It was a little beat up, but clean, and best of all it was only $15 NZ. I wandered around Westport. The town is a port (obviously) that has served the local coal mines since about 1885. I checked out a local tourist trap called 'Coaltown.' This is a fairly good museum centered on the old coal mines. There used to be a track from the hills down to the port called the 'Denniston Incline.' Wooden wagons used to roll down the hill, dropping 500 meters over two kilometers in 4.5 minutes. They had one of the old carts mounted on a section of track inside the museum.
I walked around, but there wasn't much else to see here really. I grabbed a meal and a couple of beers. I had a couple of disposable-type cameras and had run out of film, so I bought another. My left knee is very sore: I must have banged it hard hiking on Fox Glacier.
Animal crossings: I'd had to stop a couple of times for sheep herders moving there stock. Just something to watch for in NZ. Also, there was much road kill on the roads - mostly Australian possums. A bad joke I was told by the Milford Sound bus driver: Why did the possum cross the road? To show his girlfriend he had a lot of guts.
Today's ride was 300 Km in four hours. I stopped at Punakaiki for an hour. Tomorrow I'd planned to ride further to Picton. I estimated 5.5 to 6 hours: the distance is only 325 KM by the shortest route but I'd been told to take the longer Queen Charlotte Drive as it is very scenic.
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I decided to leave Westport very early - 6:15 AM (This turned out to be a lucky move). As before, I wore the rain suit over my leathers. I headed out quickly into the morning twilight - the sun had not yet risen.
Ten kilometers east of Westport I saw a car pulled off the side of the road while a couple excitedly took photos of something. It turned out to be two Kiwi birds pecking for food on the right side of the road. They were the size of pigeons, with long pointy bills and dark grey feathers that looked like porcupine quills. That was the first time I'd seen Kiwis in New Zealand. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was very lucky: Kiwis are a nocturnal bird that are extremely shy. Most NZers I told about this incident said that they had never actually seen a Kiwi outside a zoo. Unfortunately, the sound of my motorcycle made the Kiwis run back into the tall grass. Oops! I hope those people got some good pictures!
Soon I got to the Buller river gorge. I'd heard it is very scenic but I couldn't tell - the gorge was filled with a thick fog. I had my hands full with the very twisty switchbacks here. My glasses and face shield kept fogging up due to the humidity. Almost 45 KM from Westport I saw a sign saying 'NEW SEAL.' I thought to myself 'Oh, new pavement; maybe I should slow down.' I dropped my speed to about 80 KM/H and saw a section of pavement with no white lines painted on it. I hit the section and suddenly realize that it's not pavement - it's loose gravel! The bike started squirming and fish-tailing. I thought I was going to lose it for sure. Somehow I managed to get over the gravel without dropping the Kawasaki. I pulled over once I'd reached the pavement because my breathing hard was fogging up my faceplate!
Once I'd caught my breath, I stuck to Highway 6 through the small town of Murchison. The road straightened out and I barrelled through a lot of cattle country. Later I went through some more twisty hills (unfortunately I got stuck once or twice behind a slow logging truck) and then reached the flat plains of Wakefield and Richmond.
When I got to Nelson, I had to slow down to 50 KM/H. Nelson is fairly big for NZ (perhaps 75,000 people) and I was not sure which way to go to Picton. I stopped at a BP petrol station and filled up while asking for directions. It turned out that the owner had a Honda CBR1000.
'Nice bike,' I said.
'Yeah,' he replied, 'but I'm selling it so I can buy a Harley.'
I eventually find the Hwy 6 and take it to Havelock. The next 100 KM were the most twisty I'd seen yet. I was struggling to wind through the tight hairpins at 50 KM/H, yet I got passed a couple of times by Kiwis in cars. How embarrassing!
Then I got to some straight country roads and saw something interesting. On a perfectly easy road where the speed limit is 100 KM/H, an old plodding van was bumbling along at about 70 KM/H. There was a car stuck behind him signalling to pass, but every time the car pulled right, the van pulled right too and blocked hi m. Finally the car snuck by. I was stuck behind the van and he did the same thing to me! It couldn't be a Kiwi driving; they *always* pull over to let others pass. After a few miles, I got pissed off. I faked like I was passing on his left shoulder, then red-lined it past on the right. I gave the driver an angry glare. I don't know what his problem was.
I got stuck going uphill in first gear behind a logging truck. I passed him and found myself in another very 'hairpin' set of curves. Reaching the small town of Havelock, I watched for the small black sign the CBR1000 owner had told me of. Sure enough, there it is: Queen Charlotte Drive.
After a short stretch of 200 meters the hills were reached and the road then climbed rapidly in a zig-zag. The drive was spectacular - there were many hairpins. There were lots of small islands offshore, with great views of Queen Charlotte Sound. Just before Picton, there was a great lookout point overlooking Picton's port. Arrgh! I'd run out of film again! This drive was obviously very popular with motorcyclists: I saw at least twelve or fifteen bikers on this stretch.
I got a room in Picton, grabbed a shower and a meal. I dropped off my old film and bought more. I then bought a ticket for the next day's Interislander ferry to Wellington. Uggh - it's at 5:40 AM. It was either that or wait until 12 noon. I discover that I can get a cash advance on my VISA credit card: what a lifesaver!
When I got my film back I was a bit disappointed. My photos are not bad, but snapshots don't do justice to the beautiful scenery I'd encountered. The colors seem so drab on the photos.
I would get into Wellington at 9:00 AM. It would be day 13, leaving me another eight days until I needed to be in Auckland. If there was a lot to do in Wellington, I might stay for an extra day.
I checked out the 'Edwina Fox.' This is a teak-hulled ship built in 1853. It was used to bring colonists to New Zealand. About twenty years ago it was scuttled after being used as a coal barge for many years. Six years ago the hull was found to be seaworthy and was raised. The beat-up hull is open to look at while the society saves up the money to completely restore her to the original shape. She is 747 tons and has an overall length of 160 feet.
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Friday Nov. 5, 1995 (Guy Fawkes' Day)
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I caught the Interislander ferry 'Aratika' at 5:40 AM to Wellington. It was dark out still. When I got to the ferry there was a Moto Guzzi 1000 and a beautiful Norton Commando waiting to get on as well. I played dumb and followed them into the ferry. We entered the 'train' deck. This was the bottom deck and had very old beat-up wooden planking and train rails for freight cars. Iron rings were set into the wood planks to tie motorbikes down. Luckily they had ropes on the ferry - I hadn't thought of that. I then walked up to the top decks.
The 'Aratika' looked to be about 25 or 30 years old and about the same size as the British Columbia ferries from Victoria to Vancouver. As I sat and waited for the sun to rise, the ship listed several degrees to port - they were loading freight cars. Eventually, they finished loading and we got underway. I went outside to watch the South Island disappear: who knows when I'll get to see it again?
What a view - the sun was just starting to rise. There was much red in the clouds. I took a picture of course! The view of the small islands in the Queen Charlotte Sound sliding by was truly great - easily as good as the ferries through Active Pass or the San Juan islands in Washington state.
A small cloud of terns flew with the ferry. The terns here are smaller than Victoria's seagulls. They're the same size as a crow, mostly white with black-tipped wings and bright orange feet and bills.
I met a couple who had been at Milford Sound. They were from Auckland and were visiting the South Island. I spent much of the voyage (three hours) sitting outside watching the view. The weather was very good - slightly patchy clouds and a light breeze.
When we docked at Wellington, I unhooked all the cables and squeezed the bike past the rail cars. The guy on the Norton was about to take off when I noticed that he still had a tie-strap with a metal hook dragging on the ground! I yelled 'Norton!' and pointed. Sheepishly, he hit his forehead and untied the strap. Pretty lucky I noticed: we had to ride over train tracks to leave the ferry! One snag and good-bye Norton.
The nearest motor camp was thirteen KM from downtown so I splurged and spent $40 NZ on a cheap motel room right downtown. I had to park the Kawasaki out back, so I made extra sure to put the cable lock on.
I first walked north and checked out the Parliament buildings. These consist of a Victorian stone building, an early 1900s building, and a fairly new building called the 'Beehive.' The two older buildings are being renovated so I checked out the Beehive. It's eleven stories and is circular, and each story is slightly smaller than the one below (thus the nickname).
I then walked over to the Kelburn Cable Car. This is a plain cable car that rises up the side of a large hill about half a mile to the botanic gardens. These gardens give a superb view of the entire city. The city of Wellington is located on a number of small hills. Unlike Christchurch, the hills still have a lot of native vegetation. Quite a green city, although not as pretty as Christchurch. I'd compare it more to Vancouver than Victoria. I also went into the Carter Planetarium - pretty so-so.
I then worked my way to the National War Memorial. This is a very tall tower dedicated to NZ's fallen soldiers of both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. Inside is an enormous plain white hall. Very quiet and dignified. |
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