1/28 - Hamner Springs to Christchurch

Mileage: 183

And so it ends, as all things do.

I couldn't believe today was the last day of the trip.  I have had the most amazing adventure.  Ok, so maybe I didn't think so WHILE I was riding through the freezing rain cursing and wanting to shake my fist at the sky, but even that only added to the experience and I could now look back and laugh at how miserable I was.

1/27 - Hokitika to Hamner Springs

Mileage: 156

The world disappears when I ride...

The upside of having a really crappy day yesterday?  I was ecstatic when I walked out of the hostel this morning to the sun smiling down.  The rain had turned torrential throughout most of the night and I was worried for today's ride.  I woke up around 6:30 but slept in until 7am.  I know, I can't believe 7am was sleeping in for me!  Back in the States, I'm lucky to roll out of bed by 8:30.  I had gone to bed around 10pm so felt pretty energized this morning, especially with the beautiful weather.  We saddled up and head towards Hamner Springs, a mere 156 miles away.

1/26 - Wanaka to Hokitika

Mileage:  265

My (very) brief love affair with rain.

Remember when I posted I didn't mind rain?  Yeah well, I take it all back.

1/24 - Canyoning

Mileage: 86

LOTR Part III: Return of the King

The canyoning brochure said: Relative Fitness Recommended...riiight...

1/25 - Bungy Jumping

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Mileage: 86

Bungy jumping - hands down, the most unnatural thing I've done in my life.

1/23 - Wanaka to Glenorchy to Wanaka

Mileage:  253

LOTR Part II: The Two Towers

1/22 - Horseback Riding

Mileage:  86

LOTR Part I: The Fellowship of the Ring

Since New Zealand was where they filmed LOTR, I thought it fitting that I watch all three while I was here.  The timeshare had all three and the extended versions no less.  Tonight was Part I.

1/21 - Milford Sound to Wanaka

Mileage:  213

The most beautiful road in the world, according to the Motorcycle Atlas.

1/20 - Wanaka to Milford Sound via Invercargill

Mileage: 341

The Zone

*Note:  I just realized I broke the 1000 mile mark on this trip yesterday and at the conclusion of the trip, this would be the longest most number of consecutive days that I would have ridden.  Go me!

1/19 - Twizel to Wanaka via Mt Cook

Mileage:  165

Wind wind go away, come again another...actually, I don't care when you come back, just not when I'm riding.  Thanks, much appreciated.

1/18 - Methven to Twizel

Mileage:  173

Some views are not worth the risk.

Matt and I hit the road this morning around 10am after a quick breakfast at a nearby cafe/antique shop. I had bacon again this morning, ugh.  I didn't mean to.  I'm actually sick of it.  After five straight days of the stuff, I don't even want to smell it.  However, it was the only breakfast on the menu that came with eggs and I always want eggs.  I pawned half of the greasy strips off on Matt.  He didn't seem to mind.  Hamish, the Scottish bloke that owned the hostel, warned us that a storm was going to plague the South island and there would be no escaping it.

1/17 - Westport to Methven

Mileage: 221

Breathtaking views.

Yes, I know my previous post said that I rode through the most amazing roads and views but today took my breath away.  I started the day cooking bacon (BAAACON!!!) with an egg and potato scramble.  Toss in some fresh mangos and the day was looking pretty damn good.  My allergy/cold was starting to dissipate.  It had toned down to a dry hacking cough with occasional sinus congestion.  Ok ok, I know how much you all LOVE hearing about what's going on in my sinus cavity but I'd really get back to talking about my trip if you don't mind.

1/16 - Pohara to Westport

Mileage:  250'ish

This morning, my eyes popped open at 7am.  Bah...

I cooked up the bacon (BAAACON!!!) that I got the night before to accompany the eggs, fresh rasberry yogurt and crumpets.  I think a long time ago, a pancake mated with an english muffin and voila, the crumpet was born!

1/15 - Picton to Pohara

Mileage:  250'ish

Getting My Groove Back

Guess what my breakfast was this morning?  Yep, french toast with bacon, plantains and warm fruit compote and honey drizzled on the bottom.  Be very very jealous.

1/14 - Christchurch to Picton

Mileage:  245'ish

A rough start to the trip.

My eyes popped open, it must be 7:30am.  Yup, on the dot.  Checkout at the Dorset House was 10am.  If my body would let me sleep in for once, I’d argue but seeing as how I was already hopping around like a jack rabbit, it was a moot point.  The “concierge” recommended a terrific café called Vics that was a block from the hostel.  I could kiss this woman.  The café was also a bakery and just looking at all the fresh baked goods, bagels and assortment of the others goodies made my eyes cross.  I was actually considering changing the name of the blog from “The Road Less Travelled” to “Eating My Way Across New Zealand”.

1/13 - Sydney, Australia to Christchurch, NZ

The flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was 13 hrs + but it flew by...haha...pun intended.  ;p

The airplane was a 777 and had a full freaking bar!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take the pic when I boarded and the bar was fully stocked but you get an idea what it looked like.  Too damn cool.

1/11 – First Stop – Sydney, Australia

I didn’t realize until late this afternoon that today’s date was 1/11/11.  Ok, Matt just reminded me that we actually talked about this when we first booked the ticket.  Still, it’s fun to entertain the idea that this rare date just so happened to coincide with the day we leave on the trip.  I decided to take this as a positive omen, that we’re in for a special and rare adventure.

1/10 – Banana Pancakes!

Why is it that on a normal workday, I can barely drag my ass out of bed, regardless of what time I wake up, and am not completely human until after my first cup of coffee, yet when I’m on vacation and have every right to sleep in, my eyes pop open at 6:30am?  It’s so unfair!  I forced my eyes closed until 7:30, which is still ungodly but a tad more respectable.

1/9 - Lounging in Cali

Albuquerque, NM to Phelan, CA - 730 miles

We hit the road a little after 7am to get a head start on a long drive day.  The goal was to make it to Brandner Palace in Phelan, CA by 6pm.  After a quick breakfast at McD and grabbing a cup of coffee to go, we were back on I-40 to Cali.  The drive was beautiful as we said goodbye to New Mexico and entered Arizona.  There was a smatterings of snow that grew more dense as we got closer to Flagstaff until I was surrounded by snow covered trees.  The views were breathtaking, especially with snow-capped mountains peeking through.  Unfortunately, I was so taken with the scenery I forgot to take pics until the snow started to dissipate.

1/8 Day 1 - Getting to California

It's launch day!

Dallas, TX to Albuquerque, NM - 630 miles

The first leg of the trip was driving from Texas to California.  We packed my luggage into MattW's already overloaded truck and trailer and hit the road around 8am CT.

1/5 - The Gear

3 Days to launch!

A new year deserves new gear!  At least that's how I justified my (very) recent purchases.  As I debated which jacket/pant set to wear on the trip, I realized I was sorely lacking decent all-weather touring gear.  I've toured in all my gear (leather/textile/mesh) but none of them truly served me well for multipurpose touring, especially knowing I'll be getting rained on...ugh!  Those of you that know me know just how intensely I dislike riding in the rain, with or without rain gear.

1/3 - The Schedule

5 days to launch!

MattW was solely responsible for putting together this schedule.  My only requisite was that we visit some of the sites where LOTR was filmed.  :)

Also, kiwi_outdoors from the Ninja 250 forum recommended some adventure caving.  Heck yea!  Hopefully I'll be able to get in some adventure caving as well as canyoning (see links on left).  Where better to do this than in beautiful Kiwi country?

1/2 - The Bike

After much research, I decided on renting the BMW F650 GS from NZ Motorcycle Rentals & Tours.  She's the little sis to the bike ridden by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in "Long Way Round".  It's also one of the few dual sports...ok the ONLY dual sport they had where my feet could touch the ground.  :)

And here she is, ain't she a beaut?  Best part is, she's red. *drool*

1/2 - The Idea

The idea for this trip was planted during a roadtrip from Dallas, TX to Deals Gap, NC in May 2009.  We were toting our bikes up for the annual Ninja 250 riders meet.  The mind flips through many topics during long drives and this was just one of many.  My travel companion, MattW (mattwood1221) from the Ninja 250 forum, and I were indulging in some casual conversation about I-don't-remember-what when he mentioned just how awesome it would be to take a motorcycle trip through New Zealand.  Another forum member had returned from a trip to the Kiwi islands and posted a wonderful recount of his adventures with some pretty stunning photos.  It was one of those spur of the moment, "Hey, you wanna go?", "Sure!" scenarios.  We briefly mulled over the timing for such a trip and surmised that the month of January would be ideal.  January would be summer for NZ and MattW was graduating in December 2010.  What a way to celebrate!

MattW reminded me of the trip around March 2010.  I have to admit, I wasn't sure how serious he was about this idea when we first discussed it the previous year and it had slipped my mind.  We finalized the timeframe for taking the trip in January 2011 and started planning.  Okay okay, HE started planning.  Thank you thank you thank you!  I was drowning in work and couldn't breathe much less think about something almost a year away.

Well here we are, 6 days from departure and I'm a little shell shocked to say the least.  How the heck did it sneak up on me?  I'm excited, I'm giddy, I get to see where Lord of the Rings was filmed!  That reminds me, I should probably starting thinking about what I need to pack for the trip, especially the outlet converter.  I'd hate to blow the fuse in whichever hostel we're staying the way I zapped the power in the hotel in Greece trying to blow dry my hair...ahem, that's a story for another time.  After almost a year of pre-planning, 6 days suddenly feels right around the corner...