and here...
oo, and here...
Feckin awesome!
Trip was amazing, did about 4500kms roughly, and with no itinery as such just went where the roads and nice weather took us
You can be forgiven for thinking it might have been Scotland, NZ ranges from glaciers, rainforest, alpine, snow capped mountains, pastureland and soft sandy beaches - I would describe it as having lots of different countries, all less than a days ride away! NZders are warm generous and sincere people, I would so easily go back. Superb place for bikes! Barely any traffic even on the main routes (no motorways) and really good road surfaces on the whole. We were told to not worry about leaving stuff on the bikes, lids gloves tankbag etc, that took a bit of getting used to!
The bike was great, not ridden a 9er before but makes sense for touring NZ cos of the distances between fuel opportunities esp on the West Coast (did about 50kms one day and didn't pass a single vehicle ). For me, it felt slightly wider and a bit heavier and while great on more open windy roads, I found it a bit hard work with some of the 15kph hairpins and mountain roads (more to do with me than the bike I'm sure!! lol) Great fun doing a trip like this on a bike (something I've wanted to do for years!) but tbh, my 6er gives me more grins so she stays
The last pic is on the road to Milford Sound, which had one road in/out and a long tunnel through a mountain, with 8-9 hairpins the other side! Its 122kms from where we stayed and I overtook all the traffic getting there - 2 cars and 3 campers. That was a busy road.
Hope you like the pics!
lol!
