Tuesday, January 29, 2019

There are some strange-sounding birds here & I have no clue what these are...

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/13wi75e_qwn0Kc_1uwzElkj9KT2UuZRzU/view?usp=drivesdk

But one thing I know is I finally left that damned owl behind that was following me all around North America.

Sunday, January 27, 2019















Quite a contrast, with 6 inches of snow Monday... I escaped!

Monday, January 21, 2019






















I like where they put "caravan parks" here - quite convenient at times. I am on the east coast just north of Christchurch, south island's biggest city at 375,000 (about 1/3 of the population of the entire island!) I was headed to the west coast but changed my mind when I saw cold & wet for the entire coming week; I'll come back to that later. As always, you never get rid of your problems, just trade them for others - winds in the mountains on the way here were up to 35mph (difficult for both riding and tenting!) OK now, though.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

First thing about the South Island, it's mountainous. I took off down this road (Queen Charlotte Drive) which looks out over a bay where the ferry came thru. Now I don't have an airplane, so this is a Web pic - nice road! So the little bike does have its advantages.. & yes, it's much warmer now. Another public campsite right on the beach; albeit a rocky one, this time.
After takin' it easy for a week (not bad, that place had a hot tub!) I made it to the South Island today. It's been cooler last few days, accompanied by some rain at night - but I guess I shouldn't complain about low 60's - still not bad! Supposed to warm up a bit now that the sun is back. Ferry had a couple Harleys, made me wish I had mine here...

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Now near Wellington, where I am scheduled to take the ferry down to the south island on Wednesday. The mid-day run is popular and that's the first available for now, so that's when I start that part of the trip. It's rain again, anyway... Someone told me there are 4.8 million in NZ, only 17% of which live on the south island. For me, that means fewer cars & better riding!

Monday, January 7, 2019




















I camped here last night, at the Cape Egmont Boat Club with a view of Mt. Taranaki on the west coast. Nice place (camping to the right of the building behind the ramp) but no drinking water or shower. The Wikicamp NZ app is awesome in finding these places & also letting me know to bring water! A bit of rain in the morning but it cleared up - followed by lots of sun and even more wind. 

Thursday, January 3, 2019




On my way again, now that I'm done with those pesky holidays. Not to mention getting out of town... Shouldn't be too harsh on the BMW, it's a good bike. The only problem is lack of options for seating positions - I am used to a backrest where I can set my feet in several positions when one gets weary. This bike has lean forward, no other choice. I rode it without the gear yesterday & it really felt like a bicycle! I am glad for all the extra weight - pretty windy around here.

OK, not on the road again... I wrote that a few hour ago when I planned on packing up after a while. Well, that ain't happening - I have been gounded by rain & holidays, but today 20 mph winds gusting to twice that. Tomorrow should be better. Hey, it ain't snowing.