Exploring New Zealand: Two Weeks in Te Waipounamu

In the Tyre Tracks of Burt Munro – or ‘Two Weeks in Te Waipounamu’

Words and photography: Alan Towt — first published in Motorcycle Sport & Leisure, issue 793 (pages 74–79).

“Let’s face it, Dad”, said my son James on Christmas Day, “You’re not going on your usual escape to Maui this winter. If you step over that border, given your social media profile, ICE would have you picked up before you could say ‘Mar-a-Lago’ – let’s go riding around New Zealand’s South Island.”

He then muttered some feeble excuse about needing to go to work and left me to organize it. The Maori name for South Island is Te Waipounamu and I chose the rental/tour company of that name and booked a BMW F750GS for me and a R1250GS for James.

We arrived in Christchurch on February 1, but the bikes weren’t available for a day and a half so we settled in to the lovely New Zealand culture. Friendly people, great food, beer, and wine, lovely small family-run restaurants, and few chain-stores. We HAD to explore the local Guzzi dealer – I love dealers that also have a display of older cool rare bikes and we admired the Bimotas, Ducati 750F1 and Paul Smart Replica, Honda NS400, Suzuki RG500, and a Yamaha RZ500.

The next evening we picked up the bikes and rode back to our motel in 29° Celsius sunshine. It was not to last. By morning it was 10° Celsius and raining as we headed north on Hwy 1. We had been told that the coast ride up to Kaikoura was boring so we turned inland on Hwy 7 and had lunch at Hanmer Springs, finding great roads and fields full of cows and sheep. I’ve been told that a large field of New Zealand cattle can produce more flatulence than the whole of the Oval Office – but I’m not sure I believe it.

Then cross country over to Kaikoura and up the coast past black sand beaches to Blenheim – New Zealand is full of placenames that hark back to Britain’s Imperial past. The rain truly defeated our raingear that day but the friendly motel manager helped us dry out.

The next day, Feb 4, made up for it as we rode in sunshine through the Marlborough wine-growing area passing the Matua and Stoneleigh vineyards whose Sauvignon Blanc has given us so much pleasure in recent years. Then the roads got wonderfully twisty and I smiled at the stickers on our windshields telling us to ride on the left side of the road. Also helpful were the speed-advisory signs on each corner. They do let you plan ahead – if it says 80kph then maybe gear down to fifth, if it says 60kph gear down to fourth etc etc. I needed reminding to let the engine rev. After Nelson we carried on down Highway 6 to Springs Junction and east over the Lewis Pass.

Feb 5 was sunny as we headed back west over the Lewis Pass and had brunch at Reefton. Then, on the run down to Westport – disaster! I made the novice’s mistake of staring at a rock in the road on a corner instead of where I wanted to go. Of course I hit it with my front wheel and, seconds later, felt the tyre deflating as I pulled safely over. I sat with my head in my hands while James contacted Te Waipounamu and got the F750GS trailered to Westport. Bill, who came to our rescue, was hilarious. He insisted that we stop for his afternoon tea. It’s the first time I’ve seen tea that came in a brown bottle with the label ‘IPA’ on it.

They decided that the rim couldn’t be repaired so we borrowed an old rental car and doubled its value by filling it with petrol then retreated to drown our sorrows – it seemed to work, especially after Chris, from Te Waipounamu, phoned to say he was bringing an older R1200RT out from Christchurch the next morning.

He was setting out at 5.30am on a public holiday, Waitangi Day, which celebrates the 6 February 1840 signing of the treaty between the British and the Maori Chiefs – he really went above and beyond to get us back on the road. The only things that were hurt were my pride – and my wallet!

The next morning we were thrilled to be on the road by 11am. I wasn’t looking forward to riding the 2017 R1200RT but it felt like new and, once I got it into ‘Dynamic’ mode, handled like a dream. We took Bill’s recommendation and rode up to Denniston Mines before heading down south on coastal highway 6. The rain and cloud didn’t matter as I hid behind the superb R1200RT fairing. We enjoyed a break at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks but, sadly, we couldn’t see Mount Cook nor the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. The road was superb fun and we were in high spirits as we pulled into our motel at Haast. And I wasn’t missing the F750GS.

On Saturday Feb 7 we reluctantly turned away from the coast and headed for a superb brunch in Wanaka – the ride past the lakes was spectacular. We were impressed coming over one mountain pass to see a Regional Jet flying down the valley way below us as it prepared to land at Queenstown. We didn’t stop in Queenstown, it being a busy long weekend Saturday, but pressed on with rain returning and winds blowing down the valley as we turned west at Five Rivers. I had been warned that the R1200RT’s fairing could act like a sail and they weren’t kidding! We were glad to arrive at our lakeside motel in Manapouri and walked down to dinner at the great little pub which was in a converted chapel.

The evening view from our Manapouri motel

The next day gave us perfect weather for the run down to Milford Sound. Even on the busy Sunday of the long weekend it was a totally magic ride and the stump-pulling power of those flat-twin motors pulled us quickly past all the campervans as we headed back north on highway 94 for brunch in Te Anau before continuing on towards Milford Sound on this ‘pinch yourself’ section. We didn’t stay too long – we had some distance to go so it was back to Highway 6 and down into Invercargill.

Difficult not to stop for roadside breaks when the scenery is so good

We chatted to motorcyclists returning from the Burt Munro Rally – I wasn’t too sorry that we’d missed the Rally itself when they told us that the rain never let up during the weekend’s events. And an added bonus was that we had no problem finding a motel for the two nights we planned to be there.

Now one day isn’t really enough time to do justice to Invercargill, but it’s all the time we could afford if we were going to ride all the major scenic roads in Te Waipounamu. Priority was to see the Burt Munro exhibits in Hayes Hardware Store, and I was amazed that there is no entrance fee to the wonderful display – and it wasn’t just the Burt Munro content that interested me. I loved the 1951 Triumph Thunderbird with the sprung hub that was Triumph’s early attempt at rear suspension. A Kiwi friend of mine related how, as an apprentice aged 16, he was tasked with the dangerous job of repairing a sprung hub – he’s still in therapy! I also loved the Trident T160 – it was a ride on one of these in 1982 that persuaded me to get back into motorcycles after 12 years away.

We then moved on to ‘Motorcycle Mecca’ – the rare Moto Guzzi V40 Targa caught my eye but I’m a sucker for early Hondas. The lovely dry-sump 305 Dream looked just like the wet-sump 250 Dream I owned in 1969, and I’m fascinated by torsion-bars whether they control the valves on a 450 ‘Black Bomber’ or the front suspension on a Morris Minor. Bill Richardson’s ‘Transport World’ is absolutely amazing if you like old English lorries – it was like revisiting my childhood Dinky Toy collection – well worth a visit.

Then lots of rain on our 392km ride from Invercargill to Oamaru. James did an awesome job taking us to the southernmost point of New Zealand at Slope Bay along lovely twisty coastal roads. We didn’t hang around – the winds were so fierce that it actually felt dangerous. We powered on up Highway 1 in driving rain – apparently Dunedin is beautiful but it was totally forgettable in rain and heavy traffic at 3.30pm on that Tuesday. The rain lessened as we reached Oamaru and dinner was washed down by Monteith’s Hazy Ale. Magic as we prepared for a 590km ride back over Arthur’s Pass to the west coast the next day.

On Wednesday morning it was cloudy and misty at the start – and rather boring along Highway 8 until we got past the enormous dams – then placenames like Peebles, Duntroon, and Aviemore identified the heritage of the first white settlers. The sun came out as we stopped for brunch at Omarama and chatted to a chap who was riding his BMW R75/5 up to Picton to get the ferry to North Island enroute to Auckland – a long ride! We then had magnificent views of Mount Cook to the west while the mountains to the east looked like they had a white horse-blanket of cloud on them – pictures wouldn’t do it justice. Then, sadly, the weather closed in again as we headed over Burke’s Pass through Fairlie, Geraldine and up to Mount Hutt before we cut over to Sheffield which allowed us to turn west towards Arthur’s Pass – by which time the sun had come out again. Our spirits were dampened when we heard about the school tragedy at Tumbler Ridge BC and we were subdued as we rode into Greymouth.

After our 590km day, the 344km ride from Greymouth to Hanmer Springs felt like a breeze. We doubled back along the road to Arthur’s Pass then turned left onto the scenic route past Lake Brunner. We then joined the old Highway 7 through Blackball and rejoined the main road at Ikamatua as the sun heated up and we took layers off while we had coffee in Reefton where we were exactly a week earlier – what a lot had happened since then! We were still hot as the temperature rose to 28° Celsius and I put the electric screen down to its lowest position and it felt much better. Mind you, the bugs were out so they were now hitting my visor rather than the screen! Then a nice run back east over Lewis Pass to now very familiar Hanmer Springs – this place felt like home.

Friday 13th February, our last full day, gave us good weather, good roads, light traffic, and lovely scenery. We didn’t expect to ride 304km that day but it was a great ride over a lot of very twisty roads under repair. I was a bit nervous on some of the gravel but the NZ warning signs were so clear that it always felt safe. We did get our superb helicopter ride at Kaikoura but sadly saw no sperm or other whales as we’d hoped. We did see a very playful pod of dusky dolphins and, later, some sea lions and cormorants who looked like skinny penguins from a distance. Then back to Hanmer Springs, with the temperature reaching 30° Celsius, ready for dinner and our last superb Monteith’s IPA.

Saturday morning we had no rush – just 130km to get the bikes back to Te Waipounamu – Highway 7 to the coast was lovely but, as expected, the run down Highway 1 to Christchurch was dull. We were nervous, wanting to return the bikes before anything happened to them! Nothing did and we said our farewells and hopped in a Uber to get to the airport.

We’d ridden over 4000km in just under 2 weeks – we planned the routes together each day but son James led every mile and it was so relaxing for me – apart from my expensive mistake. I pinch myself when I think what a great time we had. Invercargill was special but it’s the ride down to Milford Sound that will stay in my memory forever. I had to stop and stare at the mountain tops that were straight out of Lord Of The Rings. As I rode behind James I wished that his two brothers were with us and I thought of my dad who so generously bought me my Honda 50 for my 16th birthday. I’m 76 now and my son is 41 – sadly my dad passed away at age 71 but I’m not thinking of stopping riding anytime soon – in fact, maybe Europe is calling.

I am indeed very lucky!

Just passing through - it's Arthurs Pass