Four Visit Treasure Island 2023

What a delight to pull on freshly laundered clothes and smell the wholesome goodness of cedar or some such scent. Shortly after we had the joy of a cool and surprisingly still morning to ride to Fairlie. The forecast was for gale north westerlies so I was delighted to move along in our own bubble of stillness. From Fairlie up to Burkes pass and then we cut across to MacKenzie pass.   Now the wind did arrive but fortunately mostly from over our shoulder. It wasn’t a problem and so we cruised through a planned leisurely short day. We had the best cinnamon roll in New Zealand in Kurow, also known for producing the best All Black in NZ. I can’t quite recall his name.  Settle down, settle down, I’m just winding you up. I think her name is Portia Woodman and she doesn’t come from Kurow.  A quick trip over Danseys pass and then an afternoon bike service. Fresh oil and air filters.  Good to go again tomorrow. I’m hoping the weather continues to be kind to us as we will be sp...

The northwester was blowing this morning. Warm and dry it was blessedly cooler than yesterday’s oven like temperature. It is also the harbinger of rain. We set off towards Arthur’s pass into an increasingly grunty wind and then turned south towards lake Coleridge. Before the lake we again turned west into the wind and headed towards the Harper and Wilberforce valleys. The scenery became progressively more dramatic as we approached the higher mountains. Rain and cloud was spilling over the main divide but so far we remained dry. The sentinels of the Birchwood range disappeared into the rain and mist creating a foreboding atmosphere but truly spectacular. Our trail heads up the braided Wilberforce river and rapidly became more challenging as we rode over rain slick baby head boulders. We crossed a few smaller braids but inevitably met the first of the deeper crossings.  Decision time. Bernie had a walk to be sure but in reality we had only one choice. Crossing meant a real risk of ge...

There seem to be 2 schools of thought around beetroot. For some it is a delight to be added to every meal, permeating it’s pinky earthiness into everything on the plate. For others it is the devil’s work. This evil is most exaggerated when placed on that culinary delicacy, the hamburger. Here it spreads its unnatural violent pink into the bun and turns a great joy into a thing of horror. This quintessentially New Zealand thing almost made me revoke my citizenship but then I thought there is more to this country than bad taste.  Feel free to guess which camp I’m in. It’s not often I would say this, but it turns out that Dave Mac is also on the side of what is good and right. The other 2 not so much.  Today we had two excellent beetroot free burgers for lunch. But a bit happened before that.  We had a slightly slow start to the day. We didn’t think we could cross the river on our own steam and the unimog was only going to appear mid morning. That meant a leisurely start. Yo...

What with delayed ferries and all of us catching up it was a late night for me and an early night for Dave Mac. As Bernie put it we are threading the eye of the needle in the weather context but the call was made to enter the Clarence valley. It takes a bit of careful thought as we need to cross the Clarence river to get out of the southern end of the the valley and the track that we follow through initially the Bluff and then Muzzle stations becomes impassable in the wet. So the wrong call can lead to an extended stay and one square meals only go so far as a calorie source. As we entered the valley it started to spit and with high humidity and high heat the real possibility of convection storms were on our minds   And when I say our I mean my mind of course   I like these guys but there is only so much time I want to spend with them. To be fair, if it got that bad, I think there is good eating to be had on Bernie. Dave Lear not so much   It would be like having a vegetar...

Today is ferry day. In fact I am writing this on the ferry , waiting to depart. We are delayed by 2 hours so it will be a late arrival in Blenheim where we will catch up with Dave Mac who crossed over in the middle of the night.  Transport day 2 passed uneventfully which is the way we like  it. The desert road was in low cloud but much to my delight Ruapehu appeared as we started to descend to Waiouru. Shortly after the sun appeared as well, something we haven’t seen for a while in the upper  North Island. Lovely el fresco breakfast at Brown Sugar cafe in Taihape and a beautiful ride through Rangitīkei before we were able to enjoy the new highways into Wellington. By then my bum was over it. I was riding like one of those young ladies you see on a sports bike, shoving my derrière out in a most inviting fashion. Bernie was behind me, poor man. It was a relief to all involved to arrive in Wellington and start the waiting process.  Good news for us is that the weather i...

Well well well. Finally on our way. I think Jennie will be thankful that I am out the house as the pacing up and down over the last 24 hours was becoming tiresome even to me. I mixture of pre ride nerves, anticipation and biblical weather meant sleep was light and conversation was boring (for anyone other than me).  Actually I was boring myself as well. I might get a job with Metservice after this though.  Of course once one heads out the door life is quickly left behind and existence is rapidly narrowed to a strip of road and passing sights and sounds. That lasted 100m when I realised I hadn’t done up my helmet strap, set trip meters and generally sorted myself out. I rode down to Whakamaru, the traditional place for Dave Lear and i to meet. The other 2 are somewhere but not here. We will see Bernie later and hopefully Dave Mac tomorrow. Don’t ask, I don’t.  Today was part one of our transport down south and thankfully it was uneventful. Lots of water falling so not lots...

Its time for our annual trip to the South Island. The planning is done, nerves are beginning to thrill. Sleep becomes fractured by happy little thoughts and dreams. Time starts distorting and stretching out as anticipation disrupts the laws of physics. So here I am, a week before we leave, waiting... Our planned trip has familiar bits, always nice, like visiting an old friend where the passage of time leads to subtle change in which familiarity brings joy, but enough change to keep things interesting and fresh. Of course it would be no surprise that the bits we repeat are what we consider the best from previous years. Much to look forward to. Then there are the new bits. They bring excitement and interest. They place the adventure in adventure riding. On this trip it is the mountains of inland Canterbury where the exploring will happen. Previously we have treated Canterbury  as a place to traverse, with as little pause as possible, largely due to our eagerness to reach the mountain...