To the North Island

I leave the South Island from Picton on Friday 10th March, and have to comes I will miss the South Island greatly, she has been a most rewarding travel partner and I'm sure in the future we will become reacquainted. I arrive in to Wellington at 5.45pm and ride up hwy 3 for two hours and stop at the one horse town that is Foxton. The motel is uninviting but clean enough and I settle in for the night, noting rain is coming in. I wake at 3am to rain hammering on the uninsulated roof and resign myself to a very wet ride and a poor nights sleep.

By morning the rain has not abated, so I make a slow start and head for the town of Whanganui where I stop for a coffee before taking the Whanganui River Road. This follows the valley cut deep in to the lust hills by the river of the same name and even in good weather is known to have high rainfall, but I'm dress for rain so what the hell. It's a worthy if misty detour and I pass through small Maori settlements and St Joseph's Church, a catholic mission built in 1892 and still in operation as a nunnery. I dropped in but no salvation was to be found! 

I rejoin hwy 4 and continue until I reach the small sky village of National Park, where I make the tactical decision to find a dry room for the night, it's pissing down. I should be able to see Mt Ruapehu standing 2792 metres above me at this point, New Zealand's highest volcano, but she is being shy today and hiding behind a thick vale of cloud.

By morning the rain has not eased , so after a quick visit to some hot pools to see steam and mud, I make a break for Auckland, the forecast for the next three to four days is exactly the same, so I won't see as much of the north island as I wanted, but you have to bow to nature and time, I need to get going and start preparing for Australia.

I arrive in to Auckland after an extremely blustery ride at around 6.30 , loaded with some cold beers and some wine, it's the least I can do in exchange for a hot meal and a warm bed for the night , also the good company of Brenton and Maria, my hosts.

The following morning I head out on the hwy 16 following the western shoreline, rejoining the 1 briefly and then the 14 to Dargaville where I stop for coffee and fuel. Heading north you encounter the Waipoua Forest, the last bastion of the giant Kauri trees, the largest of which is Tane Mahuta, a whopping near 14m across, she is a majestic giant. Simply sitting in the presence of such natural wonder fills you with energy and peace. She is possibly 2000 years old, it puts our own lives and human times scales in to perspectives; our lives that we can feel are so important, are just a blip on this planet.

From the lust rain forest at 350 metres, with in half an hour I reach the settlement of Opononi on the Hokianga Harbour, where opposite there are giant sand dunes. How you can go from rain forest to what is ostensibly a desert, is find unfathomable, I'm sure it can all be explained, but it is a wonder to behold. I camp up at a small holiday park and take a walk along to beach. The sun slowly sets over the bay and behind the sand dunes that are protecting the harbour from the ravages of the Tasman     

Sea behind.

Fjordland, Wanaka and the West Coast

 From the far south I head north west towards Fjordland and as soon as I turn from the coast the weather turns for the better and I am treated to a glorious sunny ride through the foot hills of the southern Alps. I arrive in to the town of Te Anau, which is the jump off point for Milford Sound, one of the most visited places in NZ, so accordingly it's a busy little town, full of camper vans, coaches and the obligatory Chinese, who are omnipresent as tourists.

The following day is taken as a rest day, as I have broken my golden rule of motorcycle travel which is, five days on, one day off. When you are on extended trips, I find this gives the right balance of not getting fatigue with the trip and keeps you hungry for the next stage. Of course having somewhere that's interesting and not in the middle of buttfucknowhere is preferable. Rest day consists of a long breakfast, laundry and a 5 miles walk around the banks of Lake Te Anau and I book a trip for the following day to Doubtful Sound. Bigger and much quieter than Milford, Doubtful is so named after Captain Cook when he passed this way, thought is "doubtful " due to the westerly winds, whether he could get his ship out once he had sailed in.

Words , I do not think are able to sum up such beauty, so I will simple let the photos do the talking.............I return to my tent satisfied with my days touristing and have a simple dinner as I 

watch the sun go down in a cloudless sky and feel the hot sun turn to a very chilly night.

I've got a relativity easy day following, but I'm up at 7am to start getting the bike packed and get the tent in the sun to dry off the heavy dew. I walk to the supermarket for supplies and grab a flat white 

as I amble back. The one great thing about NZ, you can get a good coffee in almost any town and not a Starbucks or Costa in sight, thankfully.

I eventually leave around 10am , as I don't need to be in my next stop of Wanaka until 6pm. I still on 

the banks of Lake Wakatipu for some refreshments, laze in the sun and take a very short but
refreshing dip in the inviting, but extremely cold blue waters. By now it's blisteringly hot, or at least
the sun is. The sun in NZ is intense, in part due to the thin ozone layer that is this part of the world.Which means when your in the sun it's burning, but can feel quite cold in the shade.

I dry off and remount the BM , happily cruising with a full belly through the sun shine and clear Kiwi
air, this country is a delight to ride a motorcycle in. I briefly stop in Arrowtown, which is an old gold mining town dating from the 1850's, as has been done in much of these kind of small historic places, it has been turned in to a tourist shopping centre. That is to say the buildings have been refurbished and modern shops places internally. Someone has to pay for it, but the term "historic" now seems
somewhat out place.

I head over the Cardrona Ridge and pass one of the stranger things I have seen on my travels; a Bra Forest. Now I've seen a tree forest, but not a bra forest. It's all in the name of breast cancer and in good humour.

I arrive at Sophie's house at 6pm laden with refreshing beers, it's been 
ten years since we last met, in eastern Turkey, where she was running a raft trip for Water By Nature. She is quite the spirited women and at only 31, has now 
been a raft guide on rivers all over the world, sat a law degree and is 
now a lawyer and has just finished 
builder her own home! I have to say 

I'm impressed with her drive and intelligence, not expressions you normally associate to raft guides. 

I spent a couple of days with Soph and her partner Darren, a nice lad from Kendal in Cumbria and their extremely loveable dog Moss. Who I have the pleasure of spending a lazy day walking round the banks of crystal blue Lake Hawea and wearing my arms out throwing sticks in to the water for Moss to swim after. I dip in a few times myself, but honestly it's just too bloody cold to enjoy. We finish the day in true Kiwi style with fish and chips, washed down with a couple of cold beers, while the sun slowly slip behind the mountains.

After catching up with Sophie's "Crew" who include Justin Venable who I first meet in Jinga , Uganada back in 2006, leave for the Haast Pass and the wet coast. The ride over is through alpine landscape, interspersed with sapphire blue lakes and when you hit the coast it becomes clear that the prevailing westerly wind is today only a gentle breeze, as the shrubby vegetation is combed up the hillside and tree grow in one direction, bent by the force of nature that is pressed upon them relentlessly.

Further up the coast towards the glaciers of Fox and Frans Josef, the turns to rain forest at coastal level, with the land running up to the highs of Mt Cook where glaciers still cling, but only just about, to their rocky slopes. I take a ride to near both glaciers, but the hoards of tourist being unloaded from their busses and the fact that the most remarkable fact of the glaciers is how far they have receded in 
the past five years, help make the decision to move on to tonight's camp. If you have never seen a glacier, I'm sure it would be worth the hour or so was, it used to be a 10 min walk, that how far they 
have moved back.

Okarito is as small as small town NZ gets, it is best described as a settlement rather than a town, consisting of around twenty houses, some very basic and other bordering on the extravagant, owned by people from Christchurch who want a bolt hole from the city. One house has an extremely large garage door, which seems to make no sense, until I see the sign "danger aircraft". Loving above your own hanger, that's cool! But what this town does have is a great beach  and views back up the mountains to Mt Cook, so you can sit and listen to the surf crash as you look up nearly 4000 metres and watch the snow turn orange as the sun sets.

The next morning I wait for the dew to be burnt of my tent by the early sun, then head up the coast to Hokitika for fuel and food. Hoki is an old gold mining town and has the feel of old prosperity, a music hall a town centre clock, I'm sure it was quite the swinging place in its day and it still retains an air of relaxed confidence. At Kumara Junction I take the 73 towards Arthur's Pass, a pleasant ride up and over the saddle of the southern Alps  and descend in to a stunning broad valley cut out by the ......... River. The sun is shinning and I feel the urge for some wild camping, the terrain and weather are too good to refuse. I cross a small bridge, 1km off the main highway and have the valley to myself, not even a sheep in sight. I pitch my tent next to the river and while there is still heat in the day, plunge in to the ice cold waters. It is a brief but exhilarating bath, by the time I clamber out, my feet are turning blue and I have begun to shake. That's cold!

The freedom to camp up when you see somewhere beautiful is one of the great pleasures of adventure motorcycling, having all you need with you and be surrounding do by great nature. When you are surrounded by nature you feel like you have more in your life, more energy, more richness and the need for material items and comforts are secondary. It fills you with energy and fulfilment. 

I watch the sun set and retire for the night , content with everything in life. I wake at around 2am as my sleeping mat has developed a puncture and requires some air. I take the opportunity to pop out of the tent and take a look at the star filled sky, as I do so two shorting starts fall through the sky,perfect timing. I wake to a cold but sunny morning and watch the mist roll off the far off mountain tops and wait for the sun to climb over the peaks to the east and start to warm the valley.

Life can turn on a sixpence and as I ride down the valley I feel my phone vibrate as I again reach coverage. I stop after an hour to view some lovely rock formations and take a moment to read some of my messages. One stops all my thoughts as I read the news that a close and dear friend has taken her life. I'm simply stunned at the news and the beauty of last 24 hours seems to drain from my very soul. I ride off and find a cafe to try and compose myself and my thoughts and make calls back to the uk to speak with mutual friends and find out what's happened, but nothing seems clear, just a feeling of sadness and loss.

I arrive in to Christchurch and spend a couple of hours wondering the streets of this quake torn city, observing the destruction and rebuilding, the loss and the hope. Clearly these people are not giving up on the city they call home. I meet up with an old friend Julie at her mothers house and we start on the G&Ts, it seems appropriate as she is here for her step fathers passing, there is a lot of life loss in the air.

The Abel Tasman and sea kayaking

Abel Tasman National Park is one of NZ's newest and is its smallest NP. Sitting on the north west corner of the South Island, it is blessed with more sunshine than any other place in NZ. The surrounding area has long been a haven for hippies and artists, plus the odd dope grower, with rolling hills of lush forest and valleys filled with apple orchards and hops, it's an easy place to kick off your ridding boots and take a few days off.

My travel buddy Julie was in a past life, a sea kayak guide in the marine park, so we head off for a three day watery adventure along the verdant coast line. I'm the first to admit that water is not my 

natural environment and frankly I feel uncomfortable on anything other than mill pond conditions. However our heavily laden tandem kayak makes good progress through the slightly choppy early morning sea. 

We stop for lunch on a beach of yellow sand flanked by lush native bush. I say native as the NZ government is putting a great deal of effort in to eradicating introduced species of trees and bushes, that have been introduced over the years. We paddle along the coast entering still lagoons and spot the odd seal lounging on rocks warming up after a long day feeding in the deep chilly waters.

Our camp for the night is in a delightful little bay, know incorrectly as Mosquito Bay, no mozzies, just sand flys! We make camp, then head for a swim in the inviting blue waters, which after a long sweaty days paddle is a delight. With a bottle of red wine opened, we get to cooking up one of my favourite foods, green lipped mussels. And they don't get freshers than these, before entering the marine park, we simply paddled up to a rock in the ocean and plucked off a few. Cooked in just some sea water, they are absolutely scrummy 😉🍷

Hong Kong

 I arrive late in the evening of Sunday 5th February and take the shuttle bus to my hotel in Kowloon. After a limited amount of sleep I shuffle down to breakfast famished after not eating any of the inflight food, it really did look unappetising. I spend a good hour grazing over a buffet ranging from dim sum and seaweed , to eggs and bacon. Washed down with three cups of coffee, I'm starting to feel human once more ,though I'm not sure I look that way.

I stroll out on to the streets of Kowloon for the first time and your head is instantly drawn upwards to the emmense apartment blocks that abound and then back to ground level to take in the sight of men pushing barrows competing for space with new Mercedes and Masaratis. 

Hong Kongs Victoria Harbour has loomed large in my travel mind for many years and even though it's a slightly foggy day, it does not disappoint. The rickety Star Ferrys slill ply the waters between the mainland and Hong Kong Island as they have done since 1888. With the iconic back drop of the multiple skyscrapers that line the shore of the island, there are few sights that are quite as enigmatic.  

In any vibrant city , parks are an oasis of calm and Kowloon Park is an island of lush tropical vegetation, punctuated with the sound of bird song that drowns out the busy traffic, but not th banging of drums! In a hangover from last weeks Chinese New Year celebrations, there are some dancing dragons taking part in a theatrical dance through the park; it doesn't get more Chinese than this.

After an afternoon nap to try, unsuccessfully, to recalibrate the sleep pattern, I head to Temple Street market to buy some reading glasses, as I left mine on the plane and grab some food from the plethora of street side restaurants. I indulge my hunger with salt and chilli squid and some pokchoi, washed down with a local beer 🍻. 

Take off

Finally the day of departure arrives and I get to Heathrow with plenty of time to spare for my flight to Hong Kong. I've always wanted to visit the last outpost of Empire, I would have preferred to see it pre 1997, but this is the first opportunity I have had to spend a few days here.

Airports are now just a way to sell you more shite you just don't need and it's almost impossible to escape the cocktail  of multiple perfumes as you walk through to your departure gate. It's a force feeding of the nasal passage , to try and make you buy the must have aftershave or perfume of the day. And I've only just go through security ..... Long haul flights are something I have come to loath, I love the excitement that lays at the end , but the process has zero glamour, despite the best efforts of the advertising industry; it's an awful experience. 

The answer,  large gin & tonic and a sleeping pill 😎

Bike arrives in New Zealand

After two months at sea or at least in a container somewhere around the world, the BM has finally arrived in Auckland. This is when the argument between flying a Nike and shipping comes in to play. Port charges and handling fees! These can make or break the cost saving of shipping and this instance , it's not working out much cheaper at all. Mainly due to a poor shipping agent, however I yet to find a good one. So there is a small battle being played out for a refund of port fees (I must stress this is from the UK side, not NZ). There is one thing that pisses my off to a huge degree, not returning calls or emails. So I was greeted with a not to small amount of shock when I turned up in person at their office. I think they hadn't worked out I live less than half a mile from them.

All of a sudden we have emails............

But most importantly, the bike is there, safe and ready to be ridden. I simply can't wait to re-establish the relationship 😉

Cheap Way Round 3 - the begining

Every journey starts with an idea, a desire, a sense of adventure. Its been almost 10 years since I first started the wheels turning on this little adventure, but there has been a long, long break and its time to get in the saddle once more.  The world has changed a lot recently and as seems the direction at present, arguable not for the better. I don't pay much heed to the mainstream media or at least, you are a fool if you don't read between the lines of what you are being told.

To believe all that we hear would be folly and we would never leave the comforts and safety of our own privileged worlds. So I have chosen my next destination with this is mind, a land full of creatures that would take your life as soon as look at you and these are only the ones with two legs! Where giant rats roam freely, where tiny spiders can kill you in a moment and women will eat a man alive - Australia!

But before I depart for this Godforsaken land, I will be calling at the calmer shores to visit Hobbits and Elves; New Zealand. I`ve long wanted to visit the lust country and to see it on two wheels has to be one of the great travel experiences, one which I am greatly looking forward to.

Everything is organised and today I dropped the BMW at the shippers, fully prepped and ready to go. Its a two month voyage for the old queen, so she should be there sometime in January 2017 and I intend to fly out early February. The plan is to be here for 6 weeks, then organise shipping to Oz, there Ill be doing a clockwise navigation of the enormous island, taking in the red heartland and many dirt roads, as well as skirting the coast in the more remote northern regions.

Apart from that plan Ill be making it up as I go, no real plan, no real agender.........