Motorcycle Trip Through New Zealand

Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand – Burt Munro Challenge PART 3

Welcome back to Part 3 of our Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand.

If you missed Part 1 and 2 of the trip through New Zealand, click here…

4.2.19

After we visited Aoraki/Mt Cook, Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and the Lavender Farm, we headed over to Omarama where we split into two groups.

Michael, Sue and Jason headed over Lindi’s Pass and through Cromwell, Clyde, Middlemarch and Dunedin to Port Chalmers and the Buffalo Lodge, our lodgings for the night.

Ash, Bryan, Mario and myself headed out towards Oamaru, Palmerston, Waikouaiti and Dunedin to Port Chalmers and met the other group at The Buffalo Lodge.

Before we got to the beautiful Oamaru, we went over the Benmore Power Station in Otematata. Wow what a view!

Otemata Power Station New Zealand

Otemata Power Station

Construction on this power station began in 1958 and was opened in 1965. It is also “the power source for the high voltage direct current link to the North Island.”

How impressive was The Power Station and dam? There was no-one else there and it was huge!

Then we arrived at Oamaru. I am so glad that Ash was able to show us a bit of this quaint little town. This is another place I need to explore more of.

Steam Punk HQ-OAMARU

Steam Punk HQ’s

Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand and is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin.

There is the Steam Punk HQ and a beautiful Victorian Precinct with beautiful heritage buildings. Of course there are many more things here but we were only passing through.

Lonely Planet dubbed Oamaru, New Zealand’s coolest town and I am definitely coming back to explore this funky place.

After a quick visit we were off to Dunedin and through to The Buffalo Lodge in Port Chalmers!

Buffalo Lodge

Buffalo Lodge – Port Chalmers

The place was huge! There was only thing that was weird about the place and that was that the two toilets and two showers were in two of the bedrooms so we all had to traipse through the bedrooms to use them. But in the greater scheme of it all…. nobody cared.

Buffalo Lodge New Zealand

Buffalo Lodge – Port Chalmers

The place was comfortable, there was parking right out the front, the view was brilliant, was reasonable priced and had everything we needed. Happy campers!

5.2.19

Today was still pretty damp and we made our way to Te Anau via, Milton, Lawrence, Gore and Lumsden.

We found the YHA Te Anau Backpacker Hostel which is 4-star, extremely comfortable and very, very affordable.

This relaxed hostel is a 4-minute walk from Lake Te Anau, 1 km from Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre and 6 km from Kepler Track Trail Head.

4.5/5 for my review.

6.2.19

After a comfy night, we were off to Milford Sound. It was decided to reduce the amounts of bikes as there were so many tourists. So Sue and myself played pillion on the back of Jase’s and Ash’s bike – to save time.

I HAVEN’T BEEN PILLION FOR 8 YEARS!

Now, I had to shout that cos that’s just to let you know where my head space was. I trust Ashley with my life, which is just as well. There were hair pin corners, long straights and lots of tourists. (who didn’t know how to drive!)

Once I got my head into pillion mode, I was able to check out the scenery on the way there…stunning! Babbling brooks and rain forests and waterfalls etc etc…..boring! Ho hum! NO WAY!

Milford Sound New Zealand

Milford Sound

Milford Sound is a fiord on the west coast of the South Island. You cannot go to the South Island and not go and see Milford Sound. There are so many natural attractions in New Zealand and this is just incredible (OMG moment and that wasn’t just the ride in!). A must see on everyone’s itinery.

We took a day cruise up Milford Sound which was quite calm until the fiord opened to the Tasman Sea, but fortunately it wasn’t too choppy.

Good job as we had one member who gets quite sea sick, but she was fine. More info about tours and cruises here…….

The fiord is known for being the home of fur seal colonies (which we saw sunbaking), penguins and dolphins. There is actually Milford Discovery Centre and Underwater Observatory to check out.

Milfor Sound Snow Peaks

Milford Sound

Oh and I forgot to mention the Homer Tunnel!

Homer Tunnel New Zealand

Homer Tunnel

Yes….Homer Tunnel. 1270 m long, 970 m above sea level, leaks water and made of solid granite. It has passing bays but during busy/avalanche season they have the traffic lights. As a WHS person….I shuddered! But it was pretty cool going through.

I made a little video to show you what riding through Homer Tunnel is like.

Check it out here:

Then it was back on the bike as a pillion to Te Anau for another night. It was nice not to have to pack up and unpack again, even for just one night!

Not sure I can get used to being a pillion…..but we did get there quicker and less bikes to find parking.

7.2.19

Today was the day we were arriving in Invercargill and meeting up with Ash’s friend Deb (who has now become a life long friend of mine) and to watch the Burt Munro Hill Climb .

Ash went and met with Deb whilst we carried on to watch the Hill Climb. It was amazing! So many people, so many awesome bikes! I can’t explain to you the feeling! And Invercargill weather certainly turned it on for us. All I can say is PERFECT!

Ok…I can’t believe I thought I could write our Motorcycle trip through New Zealand blog in one post.

But I now have to leave it here until Part 4 as I have so many pics of the Burt Munro Challenge that I can’t fit it in this post without some issues.

I promise in the next post, we are actually there! lol

Motorcycle travel through South Island of New Zealand

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/new-zealand/south-island/

To read the final Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand to the Burt Munro Challenge PART 4 – February 2019, click here….

Cheers and Stay upright.

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Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand – Burt Munro Challenge PART 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of our Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand.

If you missed Part 1 of our Motorcycle Trip through New Zealand, click here….

1.2.19

Ok….. heading down on State Highway 1 through Kaikoura. Onwards bound through Waiau, Reefton and finally stopping for the night at Greymouth. It rained from Waiaua to about 20k’s out of Greymouth. Had to rain sooner or later. We were incredibly lucky with the weather as New Zealand was having a heat wave and it only rained a couple of times.

Somewhere between Waiaua and Reefton.

2.2.19

After a huge breakfast at Greymouth, we were off to Kumara and up over Arthurs Pass.

If you have never been through Arthurs Pass, you gotta go. You have to make it part of your motorcycle trip through New Zealand. Arthur’s Pass National Park is situated between Canterbury and the West Coast in the South Island of New Zealand and Arthur’s Pass runs straight through the Park with a quaint little Alpine Village nestled amongst the Alps.

Arthur’s Pass Store

I can’t explain how incredible it is. It is rugged and mountainous and the weather can change quickly with little warning. Though we had perfect weather on our day…

Do your research and read up on Arthurs Pass before you go so you know what to expect. There are a few websites about this magical place but I like this one as it gives you all sorts of information and helpful hints. https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/arthurs-pass-national-park/

Be warned though, petrol that day was $2.54 ltr!

Arthur’s Pass National Park

Otira Viaduct, Arthur’s Pass

From Arthur’s Pass to Darfield Hotel for the night. What wonderful staff! They even let us do our washing…they could probably smell us coming. No, seriously we didn’t have to put undies on inside out once!

The rooms were comfy and clean and so, so friendly.

3.2.19

Today we rode on over to the magical Akaroa. OMG! (I had a lot of OMG moments.)

Akaroa is a historic French and British settlement and is nestled right in an ancient volcano. It is amazing! The roads were twisty and the view was incredible.

Akaroa

One of the main attractions here are “swim with the dolphins” Tours. It is truly beautiful.

Check out the video I made for the ride into Akaroa….click this link here.

And it is only 84 kms from Christchurch. The day that we were there for breakfast so were about 40 other bikes. What a wonderful sight!

Akaroa

It was quite a windy ride to get there which was fine and I was getting used to the wind…that is until we went to Mt Cook…but I will get to that!

After having breakfast at Akaroa we then went back over the hill through Lincoln, Burnham, Ashburton for lunch, Geraldine, Fairlie, over Burkes Pass to Lake Tekapo.

Ahhh Lake Tekapo….another OMG moment.

Lake Tekapo

The turquoise coloured lake gets it’s intense colour from the glaciers. The glaciers grind rock into a fine dust which travels down towards the lake and then is suspended in the water giving it’s magnificent colour. Photo’s just do not give the colour justice. I have never seen anything like it.

Lake Tekapo

After Lake Tekapo we rode into Twizel for the night. We get around don’t you know! Twizel is the largest town in the Mackenzie District and is a handy place to base yourself if you are out exploring Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

There are so many things to do around this area like mountain climbing, hiking, horse trekking, kayaking, mountain biking and of course skiing.

We stayed at Twizel Holiday Park. It was comfy, well priced, clean and really close to Aoraki/Mt Cook. What more could you ask for!

I would definitely recommend it for a cabin. And if my little mate Kian is there, say hi to him. He has the best attitude! You can check prices and availability on this link here….Twizel Holiday Park.

4.2.19

Today we headed off to see Aoraki/Mt Cook. (OMG moment). It was sooooooo windy getting there. I had to lay on the tank to stop the front wheel lifting and you felt like you were being pushed from one side of the road to the other, which you were!.

Truly an experience. But such an awesome, sunny day. I couldn’t believe we were so close to the snow.

The road to Aoraki/Mt Cook

Aoraki/Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and runs the entire length of the South Island.

You can’t visit the South Island without checking it out..I didn’t know but this mountain helped Sir Edmund Hillary develop his climbing skills in preparation for the conquest of Everest. Wow!

And then there is the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre which showcases the Aoraki Mt Cook region and consists of a cafe and bar, the world’s southern most digital dome Planetarium, a state-of-the-art 3D Mount Cook Magic movie, a museum and of course, you can’t go past the mountain views through the floor to ceiling windows. You should take a visit to it… here is the link ……

Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre

On the way back from seeing Aoraki/Mt Cook we stopped off and had a lavender icecream at the New Zealand Alpine Lavender Farm. I have never had a Lavender icecream before…..interesting!

New Zealand Alpine Lavender Farm

This Lavender Farm is in the middle of nowhere on Mount Cook Rd, Ben Ohau, which is on the way to Aoraki Mount Cook. It was fun place to stop at as they had heaps of lavender products and it was great to try the Lavender icecream ‘cos it was a bloody hot day!

We rode on to Omarama and at this point the group split up. But I am going to stop here as the page is getting too long with lots of pics and it will take forever to load in your browser.

There are heaps more things to tell you and pictures to show you so I am going to put the rest of the pics into a little video for you to peruse through. As soon as it is up, I will add it to the blog.

If you haven’t taken a motorcycle trip through New Zealand you should really consider it! All these words and pictures just can’t explain how awesome it is.

This is a map of the South Island and the route we took.