Andy Day 1

Day One

After getting up at 4.45am, I had difficulty in coming to terms with the day. Everything was going smoothly – the taxi had turned up on time and the driver had even driven straight to the Wellington Aero Club building without hesitation – but I had had no breakfast. I sat in the Piper Chieftain aircraft and watched as Dave, the pilot, wiped the condensation from the instruments and struggled to see out of the windshield. The heaters were not yet working and there was only a small patch of dry screen through which we could see the tarmac upon which the aircraft was standing. Moments later he powered up the engines and we began to move slowly across the airfield to the end of the seemingly endless runway. Happily the windscreen began to clear. As we went for takeoff, the whole of Wellington appeared before us, in the pre-dawn light.

The sunrise was extraordinarily beautiful. The clear, blue sky was quickly drenched in gold and orange as the sun rose over the eastern hills of the North Island. The noise from the twin engines was too great to allow conversation, but I think everyone of the eight passengers was struck by the beauty of it all. On we went, over the Cook Straight to the South Island. The low mist hung like a soft covering in the Marlborough Sounds, the pink light touched the hilltops, and then turned to full sunlight as the day picked itself up and proclaimed itself to be a good one. Soon we were looking at Nelson and the airstrip (literally – we all shared the view ahead with the pilot on this flight) and we slipped down to make a perfect landing. It was still early in the morning and I was still missing my breakfast!

Suddenly I realised that there was a light frost over everything and I worry about the weather. I had none of my all-weather motorcycling gear with me - perhaps I had done the wrong thing?

Arriving at Nelson airfield with the newspapers

Soon after we landed all the passengers had gone on their way, by taxi, shuttle bus, or with friends. Dave the pilot spotted me standing alone as he finished unloading the morning newspapers and kindly offered a cup of coffee. By the time the coffee was made and drunk John Fitzwater arrived with his wife Shelley. We retired to a caf/ for breakfast and to get into some serious conversation about the proposed trip.

New Zealand is a fascinating country. The people may seem sometimes to be reserved, but introduce yourself and show some interest, and it is like turning on a tap. Warm friendship, kindness, and an intense but polite interest in who you are and what you are doing. After some six weeks working in Wellington (the capital city and cultural centre of New Zealand) I had realised I was seriously missing my Kawasaki GTR1000. I had considered shipping it out to New Zealand from my home in England but the cost was prohibitive. So, when I spotted a brochure in the Wellington AA Travel Centre offering a package deal in the south island I picked it up and took it back to the flat to read more carefully. For less than $200, the deal included a return airfare and two nights accommodation, plus the choice of one activity from eight. It must have been the four-wheeled motorcycle offer that caught my eye. Four wheels? Extraordinary, I thought! I couldn't resist it and called the freephone number.

Well, that started things rolling. Alan at Flight Corporation (the company offering the deal) could not have been more helpful. We quickly dealt with the four-wheeled motorcycle issue – they were of course referring to ATV hire (All Terrain Vehicle). On hearing that I was a frustrated motorcyclist he told me that there was a guy in Nelson who was starting up a motorcycle hire business. Happily, all concerned turned out to be on the email, and from here on in it became a simple exercise in emailing questions and answers, and building up a picture of what might be possible.

John Fitzwater is managing director of Thunderbikes - one of Nelson’s leading motorcycle dealers. They have a relatively small stock (by European standards) but it is all very interesting and powerful machinery, and it includes a selection of Triumphs, Harley Davidsons and Moto Guzzis. John could not have been more helpful, and within a few email exchanges he had planned and explained a four-day itinerary for me (see below), although in the end I did not stick to it.

John Fitzwater's suggested Itinerary (received by email) >Friday, ride down to Westport via the Buller Gorge (the best "Speed Triple" road in the world) and spend the night there. About 2 hours riding time at a fast clip. I'd strongly recommend you do the extra 100km up the Coast to Karamea and stay at the Last Resort. Take a ride (4 wheel drive or helicopter) into the Kahurangi National Park and do the cave walk. Saturday, A bit of a longer ride today. Ride back toward Nelson, but take SH61 to Motueka at Kohatu and then on over the Takaka Hill (an oversized lump of limestone riddled with caves and underground rivers, and covered in twisty stuff) on SH60 to Takaka. Stay at the Tukurua Lodge for the night, 15 minutes ride past Takaka toward Collingwood. You've just ridden about 350 km. Tukurua Lodge is a small luxury homestay. The Boutique Lodgings of NZ book rates The Tukurua Lodge as excellent value and rates its setting and location as superb. Sunday, up for an early breakfast, and back over the Takaka Hill to Nelson - it'll take you about 1.5 hours back to Nelson. And it's more fun the second time. Riding down off the Takaka Hill overlooking the whole of Tasman Bay and Nelson as the sun rises is a real treat. Then off into The Marlborough Sounds for a night at The Portage Hotel - about 150km, but very twisty. About 2.5 hours ride. Really neat little bays, unspoilt natural bush etc. If you strike good weather, you'll wait a long time before you'll find a nicer ride. The Portage Hotel is a pub with good quality accommodation and restaurant, spa pool, sauna, gymnasium, and it's nestled in a nice little bay with good views. plenty to do - kayaking, fishing, diving, boat trips, bush walks....you name it. Monday, either spend the day messing around out in the Sounds and then toodle off back to Nelson, or take the long way back to Nelson via Picton and Blenheim. Probably a total of 250km. If you'd like accommodation booked at any of these places, let me know (probably essential for Tukurua Lodge) and I'll get it sorted, though I will need a credit card number or your Cayman Islands bank account number...

Even on the most powerful bike the South Island of New Zealand is too large to get around in four days. It is also suffused with a natural beauty that is varied and largely unique to the country. It is a huge problem to decide what to see. Basically, John proposed two round trips based on Nelson, and he even offered to switch bikes halfway through on the grounds that the Triumph Tiger 900 would suit the tight bends better than the Sports Triple. And so, this is how I found myself getting up at an unspeakably early hour, sitting in a small plane, wondering exactly what lay before me.

John Fitzwater kitted me out with everything that I needed. Helmet, gloves, jacket and over trousers. We had a slight problem with sizing as I am at the large end of the scale of acceptability (in almost all senses) but we managed. As the business develops he intends to offer a much wider range of equipment and accessories.

A proud new Sports Triumph awaits - but is rejected in favour of the Tiger 900

In the event we chose the Tiger 900 Triple. Having ridden a GTR 1000 for over six years I found the Triumph sports machines just too demanding on my back and, although I have never taken the enduro style of bike seriously, the Tiger 900 immediately impressed me with its sit-up-straight riding position and comfort. Not quite what I had expected. We reviewed the route again, John showed me a wide selection of guidebooks and maps, and I chose the Lonely Planet Guide.

One of John's mechanics gave the Tiger 900 a final check and I set off to the south west towards Murchison. After more than two months without riding a bike I had been concerned, especially with a strange machine and in a strange country. In New Zealand there is one strange rule of the road: if someone coming the other way is trying to turn right when you are trying to turn left, you have to give way. (There may be other strange rules, but this is the only one I became aware of). A very strange feeling! Being in a built up area I concentrated hard but very soon I was out in the country looking at fertile farmland and a clear sunny sky. Perfect for getting a better feel for the bike. Soon I was much more relaxed and the countryside started to slip by effortlessly. By the time I reached Murchison I was ready for lunch and I stopped on the far side of the town at an excellent caf/, for an excellent lasagne.

As a rule food in New Zealand is cheaper than in Europe, especially quality meat dishes. There are many take-aways in the towns and cities many of which are operated by Chinese folk. Petrol is also cheaper. Filling the tank on the Tiger 900 cost about NZ$11.00 (£4.40), which was good for at least 240Km (150 miles). That's under three pence per mile for petrol costs.

The weather in New Zealand is moderated by the oceans that surround it, and so at sea level it is very rare to get a frost. In the mountains (of which there are many and which are all strikingly beautiful) there is snow throughout the winter and for many of the summer months. The down side is that the weather is very changeable and so you have to be prepared for anything (as I was to discover!).

Perhaps I should not have been surprised, but many people walking over to the caf/ paused to look at the bike. No time to chatter, I thought, and set off again. Beyond Murchison the road begins to wind its way into the hills on the way to Lyell and Inangahua. As I approached a rise in the road that would take me over into the Buller Gorge (the one that John had insisted was the best Speed Triple road in the world) I spotted a sign that suggested views, or a viewing point, to the right. No sooner spotted than visited.

Admiring the view,
mountains in all directions

The small car park sat just below the top of a hill which offered splendid views in all directions. Deep green forests, snow capped mountains and lush valleys. A young German couple chattered with me, admired the bike and admitted that they both had motorcycles back home in Germany. I could read their thoughts, but on balance the camper van that they had hired offered significant home comforts and they were travelling for six weeks, not four days. They also looked like they might have been on honeymoon.

The sound of another bike filtered up from the lower approach road, and a Kiwi biker slipped off an old Suzuki and walked straight past us heading (I realised after a moment) for the toilets.

When he came back the Germans had left but we talked about bikes, and about all his woes and problems. He seemed to know a good deal about the police, and I asked what they were like. "OK in Westport" he said without much conviction, and without elaboration. What an accent! He could have aimed his tight vowels at a clock and they would have wound up the mainspring. I am still not sure I understood much of what he said. Finally we both hit the road again heading for the Buller Gorge and Westport. I never saw him again. Perhaps he knew the road better than I, or perhaps the old Suzuki had more guts than it seemed, but I was not interested in racing him to the coast. I pressed on at my own pace towards Inangahua, the Buller Gorge and Westport.

The visitor to New Zealand needs to understand that every corner of this beautiful country presents a different vista. The Buller Gorge has it all: winding roads, silent mountains, sweeping boulder-strewn rivers, long slender bridges and even a dramatic horizontal slot in the vertical rock (Hawkes Crag) which "houses" the road – which is at this point suddenly single width and cantilevered over the river.

Stunning natural beauty just beside the road

You need to plan how you are going to deal with all this natural beauty! I learnt to stop frequently, and to just sit down beside the road and let it all soak in. There is very little traffic on the roads and there may be only one vehicle every five minutes. Later in the trip, I was to ride nearly 100Km and see only three cars and a single van.

Much of the South Island is given over to national parks which are basically inaccessible except on foot. Where the hillsides have been logged and given over to fresh stands of timber there are logging trails. Some of these trails are stark gashes right along the sides of a mountain and they offend the eye greatly. Others are less visible as the new forest grows, although after a while you get to realise the differences between the new forest (uniform pine trees) and the virgin forest (differing mixtures of trees, all shapes, sizes and shades of green). There is a good deal of the latter although the lobby groups around the country would have you believe that it is all under threat and needs to be protected more carefully. To the outsider (especially a European) this at first seems astonishing, because there is simply so much natural woodland that it beggars the imagination of one who is more used to the urban or industrial landscape.

New Zealand traffic problem revealed - there ain't none

Suddenly I was out of the Buller Gorge and onto the flat plain between the mountains and Westport. In no time I was in Westport, easing my way up the main street but struggling to keep down to the regulation 50kph. It seemed to be characteristic of many small New Zealand towns, with long rows of low shops on either side of the road. Many have canopies over the pavement to keep the rain off pedestrians. There seemed to be all the shops you might ever need, and I made a mental note to stop and look more carefully on the return trip. On this occasion I still had the bit between my teeth and I went on through the town and took the road north up the coast towards Karamea.

The road north out of Westport goes to a dead end. At Karamea I had been told that there was a motel and a small resort complex, and then nothing. This is not strictly true. The road continues for another 15Km beyond Karamea and terminates at the point where the Kohaihai river meets the Tasman sea. There is a small car park, toilets, visitor information and – most significantly – the start of the Heaphy trail which takes the walker all the way back over the mountains towards Collingwood and the road back to Motueka and Nelson. This is one of New Zealand's "must do" projects for the serious walker. There are huts along the trail about five or six hours apart and the whole trek takes three or four days. It is possible to explore just the start of the trail (as I chose to do), but people I met spoke enthusiastically about the fulfilment that one achieves by walking the whole route. I am prepared to believe them.

Out of Westport the road ran as straight as an arrow up the coast. At some points the ocean breakers were just to my left, and the hills rose nearby on the right. But for the first 30Km or so it was a question of head down and straight on. The Tiger 900 lifted its nose effortlessly and I realised to my horror that I was greatly exceeding the speed limit! By a wide margin! I slowed down again and reassured myself that the young biker with the accent had said that the Westport police were OK. I did not really wish to test this theory.

Into the hills around Karamea Bluff

Before the half way point the road swings into the mountains in order to get round a more sever section of coastline. It rises to a high section of road that cuts straight across a long traverse of the mountain side known as "Karamea Bluff". The young biker had warned me not to go off the edge and I went very carefully. Although there were sections with a low barrier it would have been very easy to misjudge a corner and simply tumble over the edge hundreds of feet to the valley below. And no one would ever know. As if to confirm my fears, as I came off the bluff I misjudged a tight hairpin bend to the right and slammed on the brakes hard for the first time. The rear wheel of the Tiger 900 demonstrated the sort of hop-skip-and-jump that is normally associated with exhibition unicyclists. Enough of that, I thought to myself, as I eased back onto the correct side of the road. 350Km is perhaps just a little too much for the first day! I determined to take the last 40Km much more carefully and as the daylight waned I found myself looking at the entrance to "The Last Resort" where I hoped to spend a couple of relaxing nights.

Karamea is a very small town with a scattering of small houses, one motel, a couple of bars and a unique small resort developed by Tony Ibbotson and his wife. Calling it the "Last Resort" was something of a master stroke, because it conveys almost exactly the right impression. They provide a variety of accommodation from back-packer dormitories to self contained two-bedroomed units that can be shared by two couples, or taken by a family. I chose a straightforward motel-style ensuite room for NZ$75. It was well furnished, generously proportioned and very comfortable indeed.

"The Last Resort" at Karamea

The structure of the resort is unique. From the extensive photo display in the reception area I learnt that the buildings were constructed from almost 500 concrete sections all cast on the site. It also boasts double glazing which I had not seen anywhere else in New Zealand (the Kiwis are indeed a hardy race; no double glazing, no central heating and many wearing shorts in the middle of winter despite temperatures hovering around the 10^oC mark, or lower). The extensive timber used in the structure was recovered from old logging sites. The ceilings were all supported by massive timbers, and the lounge and dining room each have a huge section running the whole length, supporting the larger area of the roof. This is necessary because the roofs of all the original buildings are covered with 100mm of earth and sods of turf! Something that Tony decided to do right at the start, to blend better with the natural surroundings.

I took a short walk and found the Karamea river just over the back of the resort, with several hopeful fishermen casting nets for whitebait a speciality of the west coast and highly profitable on a good night! The sun was setting and there developed the most dramatic sunset of many that I was able to enjoy on this trip to New Zealand. It was then time to sample the dining room and I could not resist the steak the quality of meat being so high and the price being no more than that of any other main dish. It presented itself as two steaks, each at least as large as we are used to in the UK! I learnt that Tony and his wife hang their steak for a good while, and cut portions just before cooking them. Delicious. That night I slept like a log until I was awoken early the next day by the unmistakable sound of a helicopter at very close quarters.

Karamea sunset

Sunset over the Karamea River

Tony offers guided tours and helicopter rides. This might sound incongruous and bears a little explanation. As well as the road to the Kohaihai river and the Heaphy trail, Karamea offers some remarkable natural assets. There are caves, limestone arches, hidden mountain tarns and endless activities involving every form of explorative transport you can imagine. Take kayaks and 4WDs for a start … add the helicopter and you have every option for exploring the trails and rivers around the township. With the helicopter it is possible to get around most of the natural attractions in one day but Tony can be quite busy and it is somewhat more expensive than ordinary transport. On the morning of the following day I believe he had ferried at least three parties to different destinations around and about. I was therefore glad to have the bike. I decided to let the day take care of itself as the mood took me. What a day it turned out to be!