SUMMARY

2019-02-23-

As I have been on the road in New Zealand for a week I thought I would give you all a summary for the trip so far.

I have been trying very hard to reduce the number of miles I ride a day, and start to slow my life down a bit. I am not very good at this. I find I get restless very quickly. So I have made a point of staying multiple nights in places when I can. Finding accommodations in New Zealand during this, their busy season, is difficult, so when I find a place, spending a second night seems like a good idea.

I have had disagreements with every type of blogging and social media system I have tried. I just cannot get them to do everything I want. It doesn't help that I require the systems to be able to be used off-line on all my devices. So I am back to my old style of writing stories. I will provide these summaries occasionally, since the rest of my writing is really geared for my purposes and may not be what others want to read, or they might have lots of photos and be slow to download.

Now, where IS Bob L? You can see a map of my actual route on this page: WHERE IS BOB L NOW ?

You can also see all posts at WHEREISBOBL.com The newest are in a list near the top, with links to ALL of 2019 travels. There are numerous posts there already about where I have been and what I have done.

I started in Cromwell, and headed west hitting Arrowtown and Glenorchy before going to Te Anau. Lots of great scenery and roads. The next day I went to Milford Sound for more great roads then down to Manapouri where there is a trip that goes to Doubtful Sound. Getting accommodations was nearly impossible, but I eventually found a place for two days back in Te Anau. Since I was talked into taking the Doubtful Sound trip, staying in Te Anau was a good idea. Te Anau is a nice tourist town, but it was a bit crowded and lacked enough hotels for the crowds.

The next stop was Invercargill to see the World's Fastest Indian, and Motorcycle Mecca, and Transport World. Great museums. A trip out to Bluff was recommended by all, but I found it to be a bit of a disappointment. Nothing really special compared to other things to see. They are famous for their Oysters but they were out of season, as a Canadian Couple from Montreal found out. I first met this couple at the Transport Museum. They started talking to me, and I recognized the French Canadian accent. The couple has ridden all over the world, some of it on an old Honda Gold Wing in South America. They had just finished most of a year in Australia on a Victory and will have two months here before heading home. That Victory has been all over Alaska prior to the Australian trip. Good people.

My new French Canadian friends.

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A French Canadian Bike.

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I am trying to avoid the places I will be riding with the group in a week, but it is impossible. This is a small island. I would have had plenty of time to do everything I want to do in both the north and south islands if I was not trying to slow down. Now I have too much time and am trying to find ways to slow down even more.

The ride up the coast had awesome bits and boring bits but was pretty good all in all. I stayed at a weird hostel in Oamaru north of Dunedin and found a super weird place that billed itself as the Steampunk Headquarters. Steampunk being a weird science fiction that features Steam Power. Think HG Wells, but weirder. There is a great video on that page.

Steam Punk HQ - You Have to see the video on that page

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The ride up to Christchurch was nothing special, but there were some good bits, and there was an inland road I missed that is supposed to have good views.

East of Christchurch is the Banks Peninsula and the town of Ankoroa. This peninsula is fantastic. Great roads with incredible scenery. One could spend all day there just trying new roads. Fantastic. Unfortunately the day is only so long and I had to get to a former co-worker's house where I stayed for two nights. It is always fun to see someone you know far away from home. Great hosts.

Banks Peninsula

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I am so glad I am retired.

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While staying in Christchurch I rode out to Arthurs pass, where I saw some more great scenery and some good roads. It did start to rain at the pass so I headed back. The pass is not what I normally think of as a pass. It was mostly wide and flat and rocky. I think of a pass as being a narrow V between mountains.

Castle Rocks near Arthur's Pass

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Arthur's Pass Area

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There was also the Air Force Museum and the Antarctic Museum where they had Penguins and a storm room where they make it dangerously cold. Well, that's what they like to call it. In NH we call 17.5 'F a decent January day. That a POSITIVE 17.5, still good riding weather in my book.

New Zealand Airforce Museum

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Antarctic Museum - They call THAT cold? Really?

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I took the Inland Scenic route to Kaikoura. Fantastic scenery and roads. Think Dry Alpine Black Hills of South Dakota, or something like that. Hard to describe.

A New Zealand Traffic Jam

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Inland Scenic Route

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In 2016 there was a severe earthquake in Kaikoura that raised the sea floor as much as 8 feet. You can now walk along the seafloor, and look at Seals close up. You can also see plenty of Albatross and seals.

Lots off cute little seal pups

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Sitting on the Seafloor

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Kaikoura is a nice enough Seaside town. I am trying to slow down, but I really cannot do it. Unless there is SCUBA diving, I just feel better at higher elevations. So.....

Can't be in a Seaside town and not dive. Can I?

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First was some Whale Watching. Look for that story shortly.

A little Tail. Sperm Whale, see the entire story on my site

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Then some SCUBA

The Viz was less than desirable.

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OK, I didn't actually go. The morning visibility was about a meter, and it had gotten worse by the time I was to go out. Not really worth it.

Instead I visited a neighbor of the B&B I was in. Nothing like a garage of old bikes to make a man's day. Good time talking old bikes and riding.

How many blokes does it take to fix a Triumph?

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Then it started Raining. Time to start another week of wandering.