We met up the following morning. Gerda and I had had a pleasant stay at the Anndion Lodge in Wanganui. Dion , the owner is also a motorcyclist, although he had to sell his Harly Davidson in order to install a sprinkler systWednesday 5, January 2006-01-24em in his lodge. Dion offered us parking in his garage and continued to entertain us with stories. One could tell that he missed his bike.
The ride to Wellington was uneventful, apart from the nasty westerly wind which kept us listing. We hit a rain shower in the Foxton area, but it soon cleared up again. Once in Wellington Tommy and Rosa had to get ferry tickets at the terminal. They had to pay $90 per ticket. Our pre-booked ticket had been $69.
Next we stocked up on groceries in the Kilbernie Pack and Save. From a previous visit to Wellington I knew that Seatoun was just around the corner. We made our way past the airport only stopping for a few pictures. This is where we caught our first glimpse of a ferry. Seatoun has a wonderful café just be the water. It must be one of the prettiest settings around. In fact I think it featured in a commercial not too long ago. The waiters have to wear visi vests, as they must cross the road in order to serve the guests. There was no sign warning of crossing waiters as there had been signs warning of crossing penguins just down the road. This made me think how a sign for penguin crossings would attract more attention than one warning of crossing children.
We continued on, doing the full loop around the headland back to Oriental Bay. We only stopped briefly to take a photo of the ship that took King Kong back to New York, it’s still berthed just down the road from Miramar.
Next stop was Te Papa. As we pulled into our non designated parking area we noticed an Africa Twin in typical around he world trip attire. We had bumped into another German couple on world tour, their website is http://www.enduroreisende.de. Tommy and Rosa had heard of them, but weren’t expecting to meet them. Of course they had to spend some time catching up. In the meantime Gerda and I went on to see Te Papa.
I must admit, that my first reaction to Te Papa had been prematurely negative. However, once I had seen it for the first time I knew that it had been money well spent. What an amazing building, it’s a must see and just because it houses a Britten and the fastest Indian �. It wasn’t long before Tommy and Rosa joined us again, they too liked what they saw.
Soon it was time to line up in the queue for the ferry. BMWs were definitely in the majority. We met a few other riders on their way to Flock Hill along with people just returning home from a North island trip. Time passes quickly when you’ve got plenty to talk about.
This was to be our first ferry crossing with the bikes and I knew we had to tie them down. Getting on turned out to be easy enough, but tying two bikes down turned into a bit of a mission. Let’s just say we were well underway, by the time I found my way onto the deck. I was I no mood for photos during that time.
Gerda much preferred t travel on deck, as her sea legs were almost non-existing. After a quick meal I joined her on deck, no good rubbing it in by eating in front of her. As we had the evening ferry and the weather wasn’t all that bad we had a reasonably good crossing. The bike gear came in handy for sitting outside, as the wind did make it a bit chilly.
Once we had entered the Tory channel the scenery changed quite dramatically. The sounds are very pretty, especially in the morning and in the evening. Soon enough we were in Picton. Leaving the ferry in the dark turned out to be a bit tricky. I had managed to get stuck in the middle channel of departure ramp, and it took me a while to get the front wheel back on track. That was not easy while riding in the dark. Gerda and I had booked a motel again while Tommy and Rosa went camping at a DOC ground 20 min down the road. You can tell the seasoned travellers… they book ahead.�. Finding the motel proofed to be more difficult than I had expected. Before I knew it we were on the road to Blenheim. This is probably a good place to mention that Gerda and I had outfitted our bikes with the Baehr communication system, so that we could talk to each other. This system was invaluable throughout the whole trip. That night in Picton it kept us from loosing each other in the dark, until we had circled the square 3 times and finally came across Kent Street. We had found the motel. That was day 2
Re: Ride to the Annual Rally, Flock Hill, South IslandDave Ross2017-02-03T00:08:22+13:00