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!
The morning dawned hazy and cold. Again, I gave a silent thanks to getting my new textile gear. The road turned into lovely sweepers that wound upwards through the mountains until I got to this view:
The lake in the middle of the photo (Lake Wakatipu) was going to be part of the ride, I couldn't wait! The route headed South and took me on Crown Range Road. This road puts Lombard Street to shame. If you've never had the pleasure of driving or riding Lombard Street in San Francisco, it's the curviest street in California. Crown Range Road was a series of insane 10 mph hairpin turns that had me white-knuckled all the way down.
But you sure can't beat the view...
The first destination was Invercargill, where Matt wanted to see the Fastest Indian in the World. This was an Indian motorcycle that was rebuilt by Burt Munro to be a streamlined beast. The road took me along the Eastern side of Lake Wakatipu (see photo above). The road snaked along the side of the lake, hugging the side of the mountain. Each view was more breathtaking than the last. I didn't stop much because the lookouts were on the other side of the road and were all gravel, thus I had to content myself with only a few shots.
Matt and I had split up again for the ride. My priority was scenery, then ride. His was the ride, then scenery. I enjoyed my relaxed, leisurely pace that gave me time to take in the scenery. We met up again down the road and headed to E Hayes & Sons, which was a hardware store but also a museum for old bikes. We had lunch at an Irish Pub first. I ordered the lamb stew, yum! It was perfect, especially for a cold day such as today.
After lunch, we headed into the hardware store in search of the Fastest Indian in the World and to check out the other bikes. Too cool.
We also happened across the fetish side of NZ. Apparently, they're obsessed with French Maids and Schoolgirl outfits.
After Invercargill, we headed East then North towards Milford. The clouds stubbornly persisted and I was chilled to the bone. The heated grips were my savior today. We rode through Riverton, then Fiordland National Park.
I believe this was taken around the Riverton area. Should’ve made more notes. We headed into Te Anau and paused to take photos of Lake Manapouri.
As you could tell, the clouds insisted on hanging out. Continuing North, the road opened up into Englinton Valley, which was lined on both sides by mountains. The clouds, as much as I was cursing them, were stunning as they covered just the tips almost as if the world was under water. I’d never seen anything like it
This road, heading into Milford, was noted in the Motorcycle Atlas as the most beautiful road in the world. As we road further in, I could see why. The road wove through Eglinton Valley, through the edges of the rainforest then wove out again into the valley.
The Zone
For me, when I talk about being "in the zone" while riding, it is when everything disappears except me, the bike and the road. I am completely and utterly focused, the body and mind are relaxed and acting as a single unit. My body moves without conscious thought, almost like a dance where the bike and I are in perfect rhythm.
That’s where I was today, although I didn't know it until later. It all began with sore shoulders. I didn’t realize how tense I’d been and my shoulders and neck were aching. I focused on relaxing them and it hit me that I tended to tense them going into turns. As I consciously relaxed, my shoulders naturally dipped into each turn and I focused on unweighting the handlebars. My lines started to smooth out. I stopped fighting the handlebars but rather rested my hands lightly on them as a guide and used my body to lean with the bike. This was what I was supposed to be doing all along but wasn't. I took deep breathes and continued to focus on relaxing and I found that by relaxing my shoulders, the rest of my body followed suite. Soon, I found my rhythm and began gliding effortlessly through each curve of the road. It was incredible. The only downside to being in "the zone" was that the beautiful scenery flashed by and I barely notice until the few times I stopped for photos. Luckily, we took the same road back to Wanaka and I took my time to appreciate the views the second time around.
As we road deeper into the forest, we gained elevation and the trees grew dense. Through the gaps between the mountains, I could see the glaciers peeking through.
I couldn’t take enough photos. The air dampened with humidity from the rainforest and the road wound its way through the mountains. Sometimes, the mountains opened up to a beautiful view of the valley, then show us the glaciers again.
I tried to stay away from gravel as much as I could. The road continued through a tunnel in the mountain. It was a 15 minute wait as it was only a one lane road so would alternate directions every 15 minutes.
The inside of the tunnel was crazy dark. The only lights were the headlights of the cars in front of me and I could barely make out the ground at all. The road was wet from the water dripping from the roof of the tunnel. I crept along, hoping to hell I didn’t hit a slick spot. The tunnel went one for about a quarter of a mile, maybe longer. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally exited. We got to the turnoff to the Milford Lodge and the road turned to pure gravel. I made it down very carefully without incident but was promptly attacked by sand flies as soon as I started taking off my gear. However, a few bug bites was worth the view.
I rode two up with Matt to go eat since the only restaurant within 75 miles of the lodge was about a mile away and I was done being dinner for the nasty sand flies. We headed out and had a meatlovers pizza with BBQ sauce and three cheese risotto. Yummmm...
Meat!!!
Three Cheese Risotto
There was a lot risotto. I had forgotten to take a photo before I dug in and ate most of it so I piled what was left onto a clean plate to take this pic. :)
Tomorrow is the cruise around Milford Sound.
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