Middle Earth Concoured!

One of the world’s most beautiful countries, the ultimate hypertourer, butter smooth roads and landscapes projecting the fantasy world of Middle Earth into your real world. What else do you need for the ride of a lifetime?  Maybe a small introduction to get you there!

I was still under the influence of my ride in the country continent of Australia (theGreatAustralianRoadtrip.com) when under some very complex fortunate circumstances I got a chance to do the country right side of  down under – New Zealand. The vehicle in question was a 2007 Kawasaki Concours 14, and by no means was it to be taken lightly.  My biggest ride had been a Honda Blackbird, and this one outweighed (and outperformed!) it by a healthy 50kgs to put the marker at 279 kg, dry for my ABS equipped steed. And it comes with the works – an electronically adjustable windscreen, tyre pressure wireless radio sensors, an LCD console which displays almost anything except your pillion’s age, keyless ignition with a transponder, functional rear view mirrors, side panniers and the super smooth tetra lever shaft drive. Plus it easily takes my vote for the best looking tourer in its category. Now let’s come back to the day when I was bestowed upon the Concours from Kawasaki NZ in Auckland.  It was a bright Sunny day and I had just flown in from Melbourne the night before.  Australia and NZ have a friendly kind of rivalry, the one you would expect from two talented best friends. Australia was a behemoth of a heavyweight muscle builder packing mind numbing experiences and beauty, while NZ was that thin lanky ramp model with beauty jam packed at every inch and corner of that part of super continent called New Zealandia which has managed to keep its head just out of water for thus long. First impression of the country didn’t leave me with too many glaring differences between it & Australia. The road signs were different, roads were narrower (but by no means of a lower quality) and it was generally cooler. As I rode through and across the country more differences came to life, but none of them warranted a third world war.

My next coup d’oeil was for the mighty Concours standing inside the Kawasaki HQ in Auckland. It was big alright. It was a motorbike which you wouldn’t expect to support fast reflexes in the city, the u-turns and the roads of NZ which were 90% corners. But my first tête-à-tête with the 14 around the company compound dispelled any beliefs that I had about this.

Overdrive : The Great Indian Roadtrip Overdrive: April 2008 5 Pages feature article Download Zipped PDF (5 Pages)>

It was also the first time I was going on a solo trip. And that too all over a country on a hyperbike. I knew from the beginning that I would face problems in managing time for photography, riding and updating blogs daily. But it was a challenge which I had accepted and the road out of Auckland lay right ahead of me on the 19th of February 2008. On the 16th I had attended a MX event in Auckland which left me wondering in awe and dismay that will India ever reach the level of involvement of general public, media and most importantly – the government in motorsports.

They even had a category where 7 year old kids were racing round the track on MX bikes, they were fast and good! On the 17th I rode to a place called Paeroa to be a spectator to another motorsport event, this time a street circuit race called The Battle of The Streets. This was the first time when I saw a street race up close. The closest I had been earlier to such an event were the Isle of Man photos and the streets of Delhi.  The race featured sidecars, superbikes and MX too, all riding on the other side of sanity, on streets which would have a 50kmph limit applied on a normal day! Anyone try real hard and make a circuit out of India Gate?

I kept following the east coast before making my way inland towards Rotorua, a town where you need to have at least a day’s stopover to see what it has to offer, besides the Sulphur fumes in the air.  Live hot geysers, boiling mud pools, Maori art shows, buried village et al – but I had to do most of it in less than half a day.
The best places to live in NZ would be Holiday Parks. They are quiet, offer a single cabin for cheap and most of them allow you to park the bike right outside your cabin door. Log on to aatravel.co.nz to plan your accommodation.   

On my 10th day in NZ I was in the capital of Wellington, on the south tip of North Island. Alright, maybe time for a little geography lesson. New Zealand is mainly formed by two Islands – North Island and the South Island. There is one more notable island south of South Island – it’s called the Stewart Island. Legend has it that South Island was god’s canoe, Stewart Island was his anchor and North Island was the fish he caught. Have a look at the map and you would correlate to this visually. You have to board a ferry with your bike to hop between the three islands (unless you have your own private jet). One way ticket between the North and South Island would cost you around 110 NZD. Log on to bluebridge.co.nz to book your ticket in advance. Carry your own tie downs to make friends with bad weather on the vehicle deck. Electric plug points are provided on the ferry for your laptop.

The ferry from Wellington takes 3 odd hours and drops you off at Picton on the northern shore of South Island. Many had told me that the South Is. would be much more scenic than the North Is. I was here to validate that. My first night’s stop was at Nelson, which is just 120 odd kays from Picton. It was also my base to update the blogs for other people to see back in India. Nelson came across to be a very beautiful quiet town. Most of the towns in NZ and AU are quiet and very tidy. This one had flower pots hanging in unending rows from the shopping mall facades. It all gave it a wish-my-home-was-here look really.

My second in the South Is. saw me get fined for a 120NZD for overspeeding at 119kmph in a 100km zone. The police car was unmarked and was coming from the opposite side. After that incident even the oldest car seemed like a patrol and did not exceed 105kmph anywhere but the deserted of roads.

I got a hint of South Island’s impending beauty as I strolled through the Paparoa National Park with its natural pancake rock formations and blowholes. National Parks are free entry in NZ and offer a great deal. While being on the road I did not get much time to explore many of the parks, but for what I could see from the main roads, I knew that unspeakable beauty waited on the roads less travelled aka dirt tracks. And the 14 wasn’t really a good bike to do those kind of roads in a hurry.

Going further down the west coast of South Island unfolded stunning landscapes, beauty that many of us only seen in postcards. Forget expensive Switzerland I say. This was especially true near Queenstown, which sported bluw and green lakes of Wanaka and Wakatipu nestled middle of high jagged mountains and lush green valleys. It was too surreal to process all that. It was like Ladakh with butter smooth roads on a hyperbike. A Porsche coming from the opposite side only added to the overall movie experience! Thankfully, the skies were sunny for all this while until I reached the town of Te Anau. This town is a base for exploring the world famous Milford Sound. This Sound (geographic feature : strait of water inland) is rated amongst the most beautiful places in the world. It is a 120km dead end ride from Te Anau, and incidentally it also sports almost 7000 mm rainfall 180 rainy days per year. One is said to be lucky to catch the place under the sun. I wasn’t amongst those chosen few. For 2 days I waited in te Anau for the heavy rains to stop. And when they did I head out for Milford experiencing the best ride of my life. Low lying clouds rolling down green mountainsides, thousands of instantly created post rain water streams, snow capped mountains – all added to the 120kays of bliss to Milford. My patience was rewarded, but it also meant that I had only a week to get back to Auckland to catch my flight. I had to cover half of South Island and catch a ferry to North Island and then cover the west coast of North Island too!

From Te Anau it was the city of Dunedin on the south east coast of South Island. I had paid a customary visit to the world’s steepest street (Baldwin Street) with a gradient of 35%! Continuing north I reached the city of Christchurch, country’s second largest city. Around Christchurch there is the Banks Peninsula with the village of Akaroa. This region provided me with incredible landscapes, specially the sun playing hide and seeks with the green earth through the clouds and blue waters as spectators along with me.

The last day on South Island saw a stone hit the radiator with a fissure resulting in coolant spurting out all over the road. Incredibly, I found a service station which fixed the puncture with a sealant! So remember to have a radiator guard installed on your bikes before you set out!
I got from Picton in South Island to Auckland, North Island in one and a half days. My last tryst with roads in the South Island was on the stunning Kaikoura Coast (East coast) which would rival The Great Ocean Road in beauty and quality of ride any day!   

I was back in Auckland on 6th March without any mishaps. The next day I was given a Ninja ZX6r to ride for my remaining three days. I took it to Coromandel Coast again, but this time it was sunny and the blue waters made a pretty background for the green Ninja. The bike was a stark contrast to the gargantuan proportions of the Concours. It felt featherweight and handled sweet on the corners. The best point for me was the deep exhaust note of the ZX6R and the majestic presence and power of the Concours.

So, if you have got some leaves, good camera equipment, holiday cash and have a penchant for riding fast bikes on world class roads, where should you head to? Australia or New Zealand?  I would say New Zealand. It will cost you less money and days, plus most importantly you will return with a grin so big that you didn’t even have when you might have secured your first date at school! The downside? I am afraid but Australia will leave you wanting for more once you have trotted this land. But if you like uncannily inexorably long straights and alien encounters along with beautiful green countryside, then Australia should be your home for at least two months…

Visit www.theGreatNewZealandRoadtrip.com for hundreds of pictures and detailed blogs.

Trip Facts

Bikes Used : 2007 Kawasaki Concours 14 and 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R
Kilometers done : 8100kms
Days : 22
Route : Auckland – Rawene – Cape Reinga – Paihia – Auckland – Coromandel – Whangamata – Tauranga – Roturua – Opotiki – Gisborne – Napier – Dannevirke – masterton – Wellington – Picton – Nelson – Greymouth – Fox glacier – Queenstown – te Anau – Milford Sound – Clifden – Invercargill – Waikawa – Dunedin – Timaru – Akaroa – Christchurch – Waipara – Kaikoura – Blenheim – Picton – Wellington – Wanganui – Hamilton - Auckland
Accidents : None