New Zealand...Fire 'n Ice'05 part10

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G

glitch_oz

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Previous: part 9
https://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35039#35039


Dry and sunny? good stuff for a fantastic piece of road, the Queen Charlotte Drive...the start in Picton is a bit hard to find but after that...WHOW, what a road.

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TIGHT, TWISTY ...and THOSE views, it's just about to much to take in. Every bend gives another panorama or cut-out.

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It opens up at Havelock before some more real tight stuff 15km out of Nelson.
Through town to the turn-off northwest to Motueka.
Close by Kaiteriteri Beach is one beautiful place, and comes completely unexpected.

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Tim is stuffed and stays back in Motueka (great bakery on Main St) as the rest of the bunch tackles the famous Takaka Hill,

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which doesn't sound much, but?whoa!!!
30km of the tightest, most twisty stuff we'd seen so far, this is in a class of it's own. Fallen rocks add to the spice, as does the scenery and background.
Collingwood is the end of the line for us, black clouds hanging over the hills we just came from. Time to return.
The cloud above the small General Store looks like the place's on fire.

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There's brilliant sunshine for the morning's ride south through the market gardens of the Motueka backcountry. The "Motueka Valley Hwy" to Kohatu is a revelation, very scenic and great for a morning-tootle.

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Since we liked it so much, it's back up north towards the coast, through Nelson to Havelock, for a stop at the famous Mussel-Boys Caf�©.

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Compared to the morning, the afternoon ride to Blenheim via Renwick is a dull affair, but the little cruise around the outskirts of Blenheim more than makes up for it, some beautiful country between the town and the coast....and choked with vineyards.

Perhaps it was more the setting sun that made it so memorable, everything being painted red and pink with the long, black shadows in between.

The next morning the muck is pretty low, lead-grey and somehow sticky?
It's inland up the Wairau Valley, the road fairly straight, the valley wide...but that's only the start.

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50km into it and everything changes, big blue holes appear , the valley gets narrower and climbs, there ARE twisties around here, yeeha :)

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Through St. Arnaud and past the lakes, the road to Murchison is a beauty?as is the Rivers Caf�© and their venison pies.

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Route 65 south to Springs Junction is another nice one, open sweepers with the occasional tight bit it's more for speed than technique.
Time to head east one final time across the Lewis Pass towards Hanmer Springs, also time for a final "road-shots" session. Nothing like the Arthur's Pass , still well worth it.

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We're leap-frogging each other with the digicams all the way towards Hanmer and into some big, black clouds.
The weather has FINALLY caught up with us in Hanmer Springs, the mood is a bit down knowing that our time is nearly over.

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A "forced rest-day", we're mailing some of our stuff back to Melbourne, stuff we don't want to carry.
Enjoying some of the many walking tracks proves a different way of "moving" through the drizzle?


Next:
The final days....
https://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35041#35041
 
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