When the trip begins with road signs like this, you know it could be a fun jaunt:
We went up the east coast of the South Island along a good biking road (with lots of neat twists and sweepers) that runs beside the ocean around Kaikoura. However, as events would have it, no one will be experiencing that road again for quite some time (check out google for images of the road now
)One of the guys invited his lovely ladt along for the adventure so set about recommissioning a suitable bike to take her. It is a 1300cc Kawasaki that they converted to a sidechair unit a long time ago to be used for family transport. It has only done just over 20,000 Kms and the motor purrs like a (very powerful) kitten. Man, could he throw that beast around and it has so much grunt that overtaking cars was no problem at all. His good lady got into the spirit of things and refused to have the roof up when it rained; as we were all getting wet, she felt she should as well
The ferry trip across took about three and a half hours and was smooth as glass - most unusual for that stretch of water, I tell you.
Once in the Northern Isle, we had a plan to ride a 4-day route planned out to take in some of the top biking roads. The traffic was minimal to non-existent most of the time, so we could blast along and take full advantage of the twists, undulating route and lovely sweeping corners that led to fun, fast straights. On day one we went over a hill range that is renown for its wind gusts and yours truly (riding the RE5) was almost sent over the edge as I rounded a tight bend at the top of the hill. Then, just for good measure, we were rained on - and this proved to be a bit of a pattern in that land. You can see from the pics below just how green the place is as a result
One of the days took us along the "Forgotten Highway" and this had us going through amazing bush, on roads that swept up over hills and down around farm land. Along the way (as usual for our group) some of the bikes took a different turning and ended a couple of hundred Kms away from the rest of us. As punishment, the gods sent a deluge down upon them and they got soaked riding along the coast road to our final destination. Meanwhile, the rest of us had a fun filled day, which included the poor owner of the Goldwing dropping his beast as he slowly took a downhill bend. No damage to the rider except for his pride but the bike was worse for wear, including a smashed speedo and busted rocker cover;
We take a back up van with us, so the bike was loaded in and we continued along a wild and unknown route. This took us through forest during a downpour that lasted a couple of hours, via tunnels in the hillside that had dirt floors and no light whatsoever and then we cam across an 8 Km piece of dirt/clay-type road. The poor bikes were sliding around as it continued to rain but we all made it through unscathed (check out the once clean RE5), arriving at a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, that just happened to have a pub that was open
Luckily the rain washed the bikes pretty clean but we took full advantage of the dry spells to enjoy the open roads. However, the RE5 is a thirsty beast, so we had to stop often to refuel it and ourselves.
Around midnight on one of the evenings, we were all awoken by the hotel swaying back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. As we are from Christchurch (and are very experienced in such matters) we knew immediately that this was a good sized earthquake. It turned out to be centred down in the South Island but we were feeling it pretty well thank you up North. It measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale
and made a hell of a mess of the earlier mentioned road along the Kaikoura coast. As some of you may have seen on the news, the seabed rose a couple of metres in places and the main coastal highway plus rail route are knackered. Sadly, a couple of folk were also killed and many have had their lives turned upside down.For us, it meant that our return ferry crossing was cancelled as the ports at both ends had been damaged. What ensued was a master class in what not to do by a so called professional business (Not keen at all on the Interislander company
). They cancelled our booking home by text then only communicated by their facebook page to say those cancelled would have to rebook for sailings planned for some 4-6 days time! Not flash when the troops were due back at work in a day or so. We learned that they would take bookings for earlier sailings if you attended in person, so a cunning plan was hatched to ride the 3 hours down to Wellington the next day and rebook. Simple, huh?? Well, the next day saw a downpour of biblical proportions as we headed along the highway to our capital city. All was going pretty good (very soggy but still pretty good) until we found the motorway into Wellington was closed due to slips from the hills above it and flooding across other parts of the road. The good officials were turning traffic back and we were only about 20 Kms from our destination 
and the cunning plan called for an arrival around 1.30pm to try and squeeze bikes onto the afternoon ferry south. Undeterred by rain, slips and officials in cars with flashing lights, we found a paved cycleway that ran through bush and towards our destination, so we took advantage of the flexibility of two wheeled conveyance and headed along there 
- much to the surprise of the locals walking along there. Unfortunately, this didn't quite get us past the flooding and brought us out just where the Police were positioned - with another firm suggestion that going back was the appropriate option. Now, Kiwis are a resourceful race and one of the gang knew of a road over the hills that led down to the outskirts of our destination. Ignoring the "Road Closed" sign, we headed up the hill past mud slips, flowing water and a roadway festooned with tree branches etc until we encountered a major slip at the saddle of the hill. There we found a couple of guys in their four wheel drive vehicles who ahd been thinking along similar lines but they had become stuck in the mud and slush. Lucly for us, they had been using their shovels to make a way through and this gave us the chance to oush on. Feast your eyes on a CB1100R doing things that Mr Honda had never dreamed of for his beautiful creation
Things were a tad smoother and cleared when I took the Rotary through and we continued down hill with our confidence ever increasing - despite the valley being flooded and houses cut off from the road and the real world. Anyhow, we rounded the bottom bend of the hill with only one bridge to cross before we could run towards Wellington ... only to be greeted by
Stymied in the extreme and time was disappearing to get to the Ferry. Still, things could have been worse, we could have been the owner of the Blue Toyota you see in the background
This place was only a small hamlet, with a couple of shops and we were now marooned until the tide turned. Luckily, the cafe had a pot bellied stove burning away and we stripped off the wet gear (socks and boots as well 
) to get dry. After about three hours there, the water dropped enough for us to sneak through. The only remaining barrier were two Police cars blocking the road and their occupants standing across the tarmac to prevent any passage. However, they could clearly see the glint in our eyes, so they quietly turned the other way for a couple of minutes as we roared through on the final run to the Ferry terminal Oh, you may remember I mentioned the ineptitude of the Interislander company. Well, their staff gave half of us tickets for a sailing that left the day before and the other half for a vessel that was laid up due to mechanical failure
Anyhow, we eventually got back to the mainland and had to take the alternative route home, as the coastal road is completely stuffed and will be for months to come - arriving home two days late but all in one piece.So, the best laid plans of mice and men... Despite the troubles, we had some awesome riding and everyone kept a great sense of humour plus approached the unfolding events as simply an adventure. Biker blokes are fun to head off with and bugger all stops us from enjoying our two wheeled passion. Looking forward to next November
