G
Geotraveller
Guest
“Why don’t you go to the Brass Monkey?”
10 pm on a sleety freezing Christchurch night. Sitting in the lounge watching some game on the tv my boet comes up with this.
Well, in the warm comfort of a livingroom with heat going that did not seem like a bad idea.
The next day I hauled out the chomputa and found this:
https://www.brassmonkeyrally.org.nz/
Brrrrrrrr I thought but why not? Surely not many Saffa’s have made it down there. A lot of folks camp but my brother advised against it. He did not have enough winter gear for camping and to buy once off would be costly.
Ranfurly was the closest town I could find so I sourced accommodation there. By the time I booked (two weeks before the event) I managed to get the last room at the Ranfurly motel. Seems like the place was going to be packed.
I started watching the weather as the last thing I wanted was rain/sleet/snow for the 4/5 days I was down there. All seemed good.
Thursday night the temp in Christchurch dropped below zero, eventually bottoming out at a cool -4. I decided to leave with the sun and waited for it to peek up over the ocean.
Friday 30 May 2014.
I hit the road at about 8:30 and filtered out of Christchurch and cruised down the coastal highway, heading south. At Rangitata, I turned off for Geraldine and Fairlie.
I had chatted to rider via email and was going to try his suggested route.
Geraldine – Fairlie – Mackenzie’s Pass – Hakataramea Pass/road – Danseys Pass – Ranfuly.
Passes marked in pink:
By the time I reached Fairlie I was freezing, even with layers and heated handgrips I was stunned by the cold. Just beyond Fairlie is Burk’s Pass and I turned off onto gravel here.
It was about 4 km on loose gravel to the turn off for Mackenzie’s. Just at the turn off, three bikes passed me going the other way.
Mackenzie’s was closed.
Snookered, I turned back and headed back up the road past Burke’s pass towards lake Tekapo. The GPS directed me to turn off at Dog Kennel corner, so I did.
The road narrowed and gave way to gravel and I saw two orange lights appear in the mirrors and soon a KTM 690 and BM800 scooted by. I was cruising, trying to warm up and around a corner, here was the bm.
A conversation of sorts occurred.
“Yeaguddayhowyadoinmaait?”
“Hi?”
Gotbustedatmakenziesdidcha?”
“Umm yes?”
"Wellihopethebloodibrigdeatkurowisopeney?"
O
“OK?”
Gudonyerseeyaatthemonkey”
And he was gone leaving me to try and sort out what had just been said.
Anyway, onward and the gravel got quite challenging with ice patches on the road.
I have a drift 170 action cam but this failed me miserably and the only image I culled for it for the entire trip is this
The road became narrower and muddier and I could see the tracks left by the bikes ahead of me. A few water crossings later I got to this
Top of the pass and cold
The sign said 62 to Kurow so I headed on, skating around icy patches, through a few water crossings and then a great bit of gravel which became sealed road just before the “bloodibridgeatkurow”
Well, they were working on it but the bloody bridge at Kurow was open.
In the little town, I stopped at the info centre to ask about Dansys Pass. I stood in the heat of this kiosk for about 10 minutes in a stupor, thawing, before enquiring.
“Sorry mate, Dansys is closed. Washout and icy conditions”
By this time I was cold to the core. Looking at the map it was still around 200 km to Ranfurly, via the coast and then inland from Palmerston.
I hit the road, and when I hit the coast at Omaru, that was it. I was lucky to find a cheap place to stay as the town had a festival on. Could not be bothered. I was asleep by 8 pm.
Saturday 31 May 2014.
Omaru was cool but not cold the next morning and I was on my way by 9 am (notice, later starts!). It was only 134 km on sealed roads to Ranfurly, and by 11.30 or so I was in town.
Still cold and getting colder
Checked in with Cindy and Mark at the motel and then headed on to the Monkey. Lots of bikes on the way.
Turned off here:
And reached the site just beyond Oturehua
The Brass Monkey is a lot lower key than your standard ralleys in South Africa and I got to see just about everything in about two hours. It is filled with a heap of characters as at all Ralleys and is open to all bikes and bikers. No cars allowed on site. They had to park across the road! :biggrin:
Some pics.
I got back to the Motel around 5 pm and had a good yarn with the owners and arranged to stay on the next night. It was in the back of my mind to attempt Dansys’s in the morning and then go west up towards Twizel.
Sunday 1 June 2014.
This day was to turn out golden.
I filled up the bike and spotted these guys across the road.
Filling the inner man for the road home.
I headed towards the Kakanui Mountains and Danseys
These two:
Told me that
I hauled out the maps and plotted a random meandering route and lucked onto this road
with some geese
And gates
And a narrow windy road next to a gorge
And another gate past
An underwater intake
Some snowy patches
Which led to a water crossing or two
and a few sheep
more snow
And some ducks doing weird stuff, like walking on water?
And eventually back onto the road to Ranfurly
Despite the ice and snow, there was no wind and the day was mild. Maybe also because I did not go much above 80 and stopped often I did not get overly cold.
I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
Monday 2 June 2014-06-04
This was to be the coldest day of the trip. I left at around 9 am, putting on the one piece rainsuit a mate had lent me over all my kit. At Otehurua I turned left and headed down the Ida valley. It was all downhill
I found this cemetery about 10 kays down the road. The Kiwis are inordinaraly proud of their men who have served in the two World Wars and especially so of the “diggers” who fought and died at Gallipoli.
As I descended the valley, it got progressively colder and I could see thick mist in the distance. I hit sealed road and the mist simultaneously around 20 km out from Alexandra.
Within a few km’s I had ice forming on the rainsuit and my visor was freezing with hoar frost so I had to lift the bloody thing. The bike was skittish on the road as I navigated between patches of ice. In Alexandra I had to make a choice. Downwards into Queenstown or upwards towards Twizel. Twizel won.
I was so cold I was shaking in all the gear I had on. At Cromwell I stopped and got some coffee at a fuel stop to warm up. As I left town, a cop stopped me. Friendly chat only. Warned me of Lyndis Pass and more flippin ice on the roads.
Just peachy.
And sure as poo as I headed up Lyndis I saw another of these
Heading up the pass, I saw sheet ice across the road which was fortunately broken up by vehicles that had passed before. Just before the crest I passed a trailer and truck in the ditch, scattered canoes brightening the snow. I stopped and wanted to take a pic but a cop shooed me away.
Over the pass it eventually warmed up enough for me to take of the rainsuit at a fuel stop.
The last 30 km into Twizel was lekker and I past this on the way
the water was a freezing blue from glacial melt
Found a place to stay in Twizel and headed up the road towards Mount Cook for some snaps
Mount Cook or Aoraki as the Maori call it stands 3,724 metres tall and was first seen by Abel Tasman on 13 December 1642. The English name was given in honour of Captain Cook who circumnavigated these islands in 1770. He did not even sight the mountain! It was officially given it’s original name back on the 1998 in a settlement between the Maori and the Crown. Romantically the name Aoraki was said to mean “Cloud Piercer” but this is unfortunately untrue.
I retreated to my abode for the evening
You cannot get away from the Lord of the Rings over here
And had a great curry while watching some Junior World Cup rugga
Outside it was getting dark
And here is the joke. I had some peanuts left from a bag I had steadily been munching my way through on the trip. There were maybe 6 left and I was finishing these when I felt my tooth go! Hmmm. Had a look in the mirror and it seemed the enamel wall had weakened and broken away. I must have swallowed it with the nuts.
There was no pain as the filling remained firmly seated. Counting my blessings that this is a “civilised” country I got hold of my boet, who gave me a dentists number. When this happened to me in a remote part of Turkey, they gave me enough painkillers to stun an elephant and broke the offending tooth out with an instrument that resembled a flat screwdriver.
Tuesday 3 June 2014.
The next morning
Was a little better and I hit the road back to Christchurch.
What I did realize is that winter riding here is challenging. My layers were as follows
Feet: Thin socks, covered by plastic bag (trick I was taught in the mountains, but have spare socks available if you take your boots off during the day!) with merino wool socks over this. Offroad boots
Legs: thermal long johns, Oxford thermal unders with thicker patches on the knee and groin, Triumph adventure pants
Torso and neck: Thermal long sleeve times two, First ascent windproof shirt, rain jacket, riding jacket with inner lining. Buff for the neck
Head: Balaclava and helmut
Hands: Surgical gloves and Triumph winter gloves, heated hand grips.
I am watching the weather again, hoping that MacKenzie’s and Dansys’ passes will open.
10 pm on a sleety freezing Christchurch night. Sitting in the lounge watching some game on the tv my boet comes up with this.
Well, in the warm comfort of a livingroom with heat going that did not seem like a bad idea.
The next day I hauled out the chomputa and found this:
https://www.brassmonkeyrally.org.nz/
Brrrrrrrr I thought but why not? Surely not many Saffa’s have made it down there. A lot of folks camp but my brother advised against it. He did not have enough winter gear for camping and to buy once off would be costly.
Ranfurly was the closest town I could find so I sourced accommodation there. By the time I booked (two weeks before the event) I managed to get the last room at the Ranfurly motel. Seems like the place was going to be packed.
I started watching the weather as the last thing I wanted was rain/sleet/snow for the 4/5 days I was down there. All seemed good.
Thursday night the temp in Christchurch dropped below zero, eventually bottoming out at a cool -4. I decided to leave with the sun and waited for it to peek up over the ocean.
Friday 30 May 2014.
I hit the road at about 8:30 and filtered out of Christchurch and cruised down the coastal highway, heading south. At Rangitata, I turned off for Geraldine and Fairlie.
I had chatted to rider via email and was going to try his suggested route.
Geraldine – Fairlie – Mackenzie’s Pass – Hakataramea Pass/road – Danseys Pass – Ranfuly.
Passes marked in pink:
By the time I reached Fairlie I was freezing, even with layers and heated handgrips I was stunned by the cold. Just beyond Fairlie is Burk’s Pass and I turned off onto gravel here.
It was about 4 km on loose gravel to the turn off for Mackenzie’s. Just at the turn off, three bikes passed me going the other way.
Mackenzie’s was closed.
Snookered, I turned back and headed back up the road past Burke’s pass towards lake Tekapo. The GPS directed me to turn off at Dog Kennel corner, so I did.
The road narrowed and gave way to gravel and I saw two orange lights appear in the mirrors and soon a KTM 690 and BM800 scooted by. I was cruising, trying to warm up and around a corner, here was the bm.
A conversation of sorts occurred.
“Yeaguddayhowyadoinmaait?”
“Hi?”
Gotbustedatmakenziesdidcha?”
“Umm yes?”
"Wellihopethebloodibrigdeatkurowisopeney?"
O
“OK?”
Gudonyerseeyaatthemonkey”
And he was gone leaving me to try and sort out what had just been said.
Anyway, onward and the gravel got quite challenging with ice patches on the road.
I have a drift 170 action cam but this failed me miserably and the only image I culled for it for the entire trip is this
The road became narrower and muddier and I could see the tracks left by the bikes ahead of me. A few water crossings later I got to this
Top of the pass and cold
The sign said 62 to Kurow so I headed on, skating around icy patches, through a few water crossings and then a great bit of gravel which became sealed road just before the “bloodibridgeatkurow”
Well, they were working on it but the bloody bridge at Kurow was open.
In the little town, I stopped at the info centre to ask about Dansys Pass. I stood in the heat of this kiosk for about 10 minutes in a stupor, thawing, before enquiring.
“Sorry mate, Dansys is closed. Washout and icy conditions”
By this time I was cold to the core. Looking at the map it was still around 200 km to Ranfurly, via the coast and then inland from Palmerston.
I hit the road, and when I hit the coast at Omaru, that was it. I was lucky to find a cheap place to stay as the town had a festival on. Could not be bothered. I was asleep by 8 pm.
Saturday 31 May 2014.
Omaru was cool but not cold the next morning and I was on my way by 9 am (notice, later starts!). It was only 134 km on sealed roads to Ranfurly, and by 11.30 or so I was in town.
Still cold and getting colder
Checked in with Cindy and Mark at the motel and then headed on to the Monkey. Lots of bikes on the way.
Turned off here:
And reached the site just beyond Oturehua
The Brass Monkey is a lot lower key than your standard ralleys in South Africa and I got to see just about everything in about two hours. It is filled with a heap of characters as at all Ralleys and is open to all bikes and bikers. No cars allowed on site. They had to park across the road! :biggrin:
Some pics.
I got back to the Motel around 5 pm and had a good yarn with the owners and arranged to stay on the next night. It was in the back of my mind to attempt Dansys’s in the morning and then go west up towards Twizel.
Sunday 1 June 2014.
This day was to turn out golden.
I filled up the bike and spotted these guys across the road.
Filling the inner man for the road home.
I headed towards the Kakanui Mountains and Danseys
These two:
Told me that
I hauled out the maps and plotted a random meandering route and lucked onto this road
with some geese
And gates
And a narrow windy road next to a gorge
And another gate past
An underwater intake
Some snowy patches
Which led to a water crossing or two
and a few sheep
more snow
And some ducks doing weird stuff, like walking on water?
And eventually back onto the road to Ranfurly
Despite the ice and snow, there was no wind and the day was mild. Maybe also because I did not go much above 80 and stopped often I did not get overly cold.
I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
Monday 2 June 2014-06-04
This was to be the coldest day of the trip. I left at around 9 am, putting on the one piece rainsuit a mate had lent me over all my kit. At Otehurua I turned left and headed down the Ida valley. It was all downhill
I found this cemetery about 10 kays down the road. The Kiwis are inordinaraly proud of their men who have served in the two World Wars and especially so of the “diggers” who fought and died at Gallipoli.
As I descended the valley, it got progressively colder and I could see thick mist in the distance. I hit sealed road and the mist simultaneously around 20 km out from Alexandra.
Within a few km’s I had ice forming on the rainsuit and my visor was freezing with hoar frost so I had to lift the bloody thing. The bike was skittish on the road as I navigated between patches of ice. In Alexandra I had to make a choice. Downwards into Queenstown or upwards towards Twizel. Twizel won.
I was so cold I was shaking in all the gear I had on. At Cromwell I stopped and got some coffee at a fuel stop to warm up. As I left town, a cop stopped me. Friendly chat only. Warned me of Lyndis Pass and more flippin ice on the roads.
Just peachy.
And sure as poo as I headed up Lyndis I saw another of these
Heading up the pass, I saw sheet ice across the road which was fortunately broken up by vehicles that had passed before. Just before the crest I passed a trailer and truck in the ditch, scattered canoes brightening the snow. I stopped and wanted to take a pic but a cop shooed me away.
Over the pass it eventually warmed up enough for me to take of the rainsuit at a fuel stop.
The last 30 km into Twizel was lekker and I past this on the way
the water was a freezing blue from glacial melt
Found a place to stay in Twizel and headed up the road towards Mount Cook for some snaps
Mount Cook or Aoraki as the Maori call it stands 3,724 metres tall and was first seen by Abel Tasman on 13 December 1642. The English name was given in honour of Captain Cook who circumnavigated these islands in 1770. He did not even sight the mountain! It was officially given it’s original name back on the 1998 in a settlement between the Maori and the Crown. Romantically the name Aoraki was said to mean “Cloud Piercer” but this is unfortunately untrue.
I retreated to my abode for the evening
You cannot get away from the Lord of the Rings over here
And had a great curry while watching some Junior World Cup rugga
Outside it was getting dark
And here is the joke. I had some peanuts left from a bag I had steadily been munching my way through on the trip. There were maybe 6 left and I was finishing these when I felt my tooth go! Hmmm. Had a look in the mirror and it seemed the enamel wall had weakened and broken away. I must have swallowed it with the nuts.
There was no pain as the filling remained firmly seated. Counting my blessings that this is a “civilised” country I got hold of my boet, who gave me a dentists number. When this happened to me in a remote part of Turkey, they gave me enough painkillers to stun an elephant and broke the offending tooth out with an instrument that resembled a flat screwdriver.
Tuesday 3 June 2014.
The next morning
Was a little better and I hit the road back to Christchurch.
What I did realize is that winter riding here is challenging. My layers were as follows
Feet: Thin socks, covered by plastic bag (trick I was taught in the mountains, but have spare socks available if you take your boots off during the day!) with merino wool socks over this. Offroad boots
Legs: thermal long johns, Oxford thermal unders with thicker patches on the knee and groin, Triumph adventure pants
Torso and neck: Thermal long sleeve times two, First ascent windproof shirt, rain jacket, riding jacket with inner lining. Buff for the neck
Head: Balaclava and helmut
Hands: Surgical gloves and Triumph winter gloves, heated hand grips.
I am watching the weather again, hoping that MacKenzie’s and Dansys’ passes will open.
