Days 85-86 - plane - Christchurch - Nelson - Arthur's Pass

The morning was even more tired than the previous one. I didn't manage to sleep in the plane. I landed in Christchurch very early in the morning. In the plane I had a nice chat  with Chris, who was visiting his son in Australia with his wife. He was the first New Zealander I met and I have to say - the first impression was very good.

Second and third impressions were nice too. Allan picked me up at the airport and took me to Kiwi Motorcycle Rental where I did the necessary paperwork with Andrea and off I went with a brand new Suzuki V-strom.

 I felt terribly tired and to be honest I can't remember some parts between Christchurch and Nelson. But I got to Colin's place in one piece and alive. I found Colin at advrider.com site's tent space discussion. In that discussion people offer their gardens or spare rooms for travelers tobstay. It's a great way to meet new people from all over the world. I had long and fruitful discussions with Colin and his family. My impression of New Zealand kept getting better.

On Friday I drove from Nelson to Arthur's Pass along via Westport and Greymouth. Along this route I found the first bad thing about New Zealand... Riding gets incredibly slow because one has to stop so often to take photos.

Here's a mixed selection of unedited photos along the way on a route Christchurch-Nelson-Westport-Greymouth-Arthur's Pass. Enjoy...
























Kommentit

Lähetä kommentti

Tämän blogin suosituimmat tekstit

Days 137 - 140 Toronto (- Guyra) - Toronto - Sydney - Los Angeles

Kuva
Sunday was unbelievably hard day. We started in the morning with Duncan to get the bike from Guyra. It was hit already then! And it got worse during the day. A lot worse! In that heat air conditioning would have been great. In addition to physical hardness the day was mentally hard as seeing the bike brought back the situation I fell. Let's see what it feels when I get on a bike again. John from Guyra Towing gave to give us the bike. Together we lifted it on the trailer and secured (yes, with ropes) it. We were extremely lucky that Annie was short enough to fit in without removing front wheel. And of we went to Toronto with no other trouble than the heat. Ivan from Bikes Abroad has a deal with a company called Pro Bike in Sydney. They pack customer's bikes in old BMW crates and deliver the bikes to the airport or harbour depending on the situation. At Pro Bike I faced bad customer service for the first time in Australia. Those guys really made it clear that...
Lue lisää

Days 173 - 176 Pensacola - Perry - Lake Wales - Florida City

Kuva
It was raining in the morning when I was about to get on the road in Pensacola. I attached the waterproof liner in my trousers - which turned out to be a mistake. No rain the whole day. I'm starting to believe that the waterproof liner is like an umbrella. Whenever you have it installed it won't rain. But leave it of and you'll definitely get wet. I've read a lot of discussions about best gear available. For me the best choice seems to be (based on my experience so far) some sort of easily vented trousers with detachable thermal liner and and a jacket equipped similarly. When it rains it's easy to wear external rain gear on top. Change of temperature isn't usually so dramatic during the day so installing thermal liners for the whole day isn't a problem. Back to the point. I followed the coast from Pensacola as much as possible. I even paid $1 toll to get to Pensacola beach. It was worth seeing. A bit wet sand felt and looked like snow. T...
Lue lisää

Days 150 - 152 Flagstaff - Tucson - El Paso - Terlingua Ghost Town

Kuva
I had planned to leave Flagstaff early in the morning. I woke up at around 6:30 and looked out of the window. No chance for early take off. It was dark and according to my phone way too cold. Around -4°C. So I ate my breakfast (couple of slices of pizza leftovers from previous evening) and packed my gear without any rush. So at around 8 it was light and only -2°C. After a while I was riding in the middle of snow. That reminded me of Finnish summer. The road through state park was lovely. Beautiful sceneries, pine trees, sunshine and snow. Fortunately not on the road. That would have been a bit too difficult for me. I managed to stay off the highways almost all the way to Tucson where I had a tent space place settled. Actually I was staying in Raven's home but she was somewhere working. Her friend, another traveler, Carmel was there to take care of Harry the Gingercat - absolutely adorable kitten who even has his own Facebook-page. Carmel gav...
Lue lisää