6-12 Feb: Nelson via Abel Tasman & Fox Glacier to Wanaka

Well this is one of the hardest updates to write, its nigh on impossible to make is sound half as good as this ride was whilst avoiding just repeating 'brillinat', 'fantastic' and 'curvy roads' over and over because that is essentially what happened between the 6th and 12th Feb. Life in New Zealand generally has been

remarkably trouble free and really quite easy. Now I've hit the South Island, the traffic is even lighter, tourist facilities including cheap well equipped campsites and backpackers places are everywhere. We basically get up each day, make some breakfast, find some petrol and a destination to go to, find somewhere to sleep then find some dinner and a beer and call it a night . As a 12 year old me would have said… class!

Riding to the Abel Tasman - stopping at a viewpoint

A roadside stop near the start of Abel Tasman

Leaving Nelson for Pohara and a Top 10 campiste near the sea, Matthias and I had about 150kms to ride, the first 100 being fairly straightforward, the last 50 being an awesome moutain pass (more later). We were aiming to meet up with John the Canadian biker and go for a wlak along the Abel Tasman costal track. The track is a 4 day walk, but up at the north end you can do a one day circular loop around a peninsula with some of the best bays there are to see, so we opted for this.

The walk was supposed to be 6 hours and we thought we'd blitz it in less, but unfortunately in this instance, they wereon the mark. John was running a bit late heading over from a week long festival so Matthias and I had to set off to finish it before dark. Whilst exhausting, the walk was stunning, a small well marked trail running up and down 100-200 metre high hills where the land just out between whity sandy bays. The whole walk was a mixture of pleasant pasture type land of long grasses, tropical type rainforest and sandy beaches. All in all it was a delight to spend an afternoon there and not for the first time in the period covered by this blog, we thought it had been a perfect day.

Camping in Pohara

Parked at the start of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track

Views of the Abel Tasman coast

Views of the Abel Tasman coast

Views of the Abel Tasman coast

Matthias taking photos

Views from the Abel Tasman coastal track

Beautiful tracks follow old 4x4 tracks

Walking down to the beaches

Golden Bay

Abel Tasman beaches

The track passes over little headlands between beaches

Coming to the end of the circular track walk

It's about 50kms over the Takaka pass that links the Nelson area to Pohara and the very top of the Abel Tasman track. It must be the bendiest 50kms I've ever experienced on perfectly laid tarmac that gives you the confidence to be touching the panniers on the tarmac around most corners. The road surface is grippy and smooth and the corners so tight you cant move that fast, but the fun factor is off the scale! By the end of the hill, I've learnt more about how to go round an uphill right-hand hairpin more smoothly than in the previous seven years. It's - I think - my favourite day's motorbikin' of the last seven months.

There arn't words (or adequate photos because my helmet cam battery died!)
to describe the Takaka pass!!

Packing up the tents nice and early, we hit the road for a long slog to Greymouth. The term slog only applies to the 300+kms distance, the actual ride was a dream. Riding on at a steady 100km/h most of the way scenery that included moutnain passes, ricerside roads and spray swep coastal twisties passed by. It was the third time I'd ridden the Takaka pass and it just doesnt stop being a stunning piece of road, I could do it every day and not get bored of a single strech. If I ever won the lottery I'd buy a house at each end and just ride form one to the other several times a day and not feel like I've wasted a moment of my life!

Riding to Greymouth - the road follows a cliff

Curvey roads on the way to Greymouth

Working out what to do if we run out of petrol, there
are few stations between Greymouth and Fox!

The Global Village hostel in Greymouth

Arriving in Greymouth, astonished we hadn't somehow run out of fuel on the way, we found a farly grey and drab town. We'd planned to stay an extra day to do some washing and visit Monteith's Brewery as they make our favourite NZ beer, a pilsner and a line called Radler - lime flavoured lager. The town itself put us off though, dead as a doornail after dark with no nightlife at all to speak of and not an awful lot of interest by way of architecture, its simply a functioning port servicing mining and fishing industries.

We madethe decision not to stay in Greymouth an extra day as the weather wasnt as bad as it could have been, overcast rather than rain, and people say on the west coast, when it's not pouring down, go for it.


The ride from Greymouth to Fox wasnt one of the most thrilling parts of the road, not helped by overcast weather conditions and a frustrating piece of timing that when we reached a funky little mountain pass we became stuck behind the only significant traffic of the day, a series of vans and 4x4's towing boats. The road was so twisty we coulldnt get passed and just had to follow at a snails pace through what would have been top notch swirly roads.

Arriving into the micro village at Fox, John looked up a free campsite out on the beach that fit with our plans to reduce our daily budget. It was a 20km ride down some dirt roads through a forest to a small secluded spot next to a pebbly beach. A few other campers had found it, most pushed there by the lack of cheap accomodation in Fox. We grabbed some dinner and a few beers to drink on the beach as the sun set, lazily talking about the days riding and what we might see tomorrow at the glaciers. A fitting end to a fantastic day.

Trio of bikes parked up outside a cafe in Fox

Setting up camp by the beach
ready to go to the glaciers tomorrow

The beach at our free campsite nr Fox

Spray blowing in off the ocean

The beach at our free campsite nr Fox

Everyone from the campsite sitting on the beach
enjoying the spectacular sunset

Me having a beer with Matthias and John after a good day
on the bikes

The sun sets on a great day

A beah full of couples enjoying the fresh air

Sandflies were already out and biting as we were packing away the tents so whoever was finished first jumped on the bike and rode into Fox, no waiting around to ride in a group! After a quick breakfast at the only open cafe we rode a short distance down State Highway 6 to a gravel and dirt road that follows a picturesque river to the glacier car park. The ride was worth it alone without the promise of what was to come. They only thing that delayed us hopping off the bike was bumping into an Aussie on a 900cc Hornet who could talk the legs off a pony, he really wouldnt stop so Matthias ended up having to do the manly thing and just say yeeeah ok and walk off.

Leaving the campsite on a 20km dirt road to the Fox glacier

Leaving the campsite through thick trees

Following John along a river of run-off water from the glacier

Riding the gravel road to Fox Glacier car park

The Fox glacier, a few hundred kms south of Greymouth, may well be the most freakishly cool thing I've ever seen. They could charge hundreds of dollars a look and I'd pay time after time to go back. The road up to gralcier car park and a short 45 min wlk to the foot of the glacier is free but worth a fortune! We were all starting to watch the dollars a bit so turned down the change to do a 'glacier walk'. I'd love to learn to walk on ice but think it would be better done on a proper mountain skills course rather than the mass tourist ramble around on the bottom bit of the glacier. Chunks of ice constantly shearing off (calving) from the front which explains why there is a huge exclusion zone through which you are in no circumstances allowed to pass.

John was feeling sore after some walking so decided to ride on ahead whilst Matthias and I walked to the foot of the glacier and stood in awe for a while. We notice also a small oddity on a mountain face high up to one side of the valley which using the camera's zoom lense we saw was a viewing platform.

Exhausting our time stood in the sun at the foot of the glacier, we jumped back on the bikes and rode to the car park for the viewing platform, a 1hr30m walk which was worth every second. That someone had carved a track trhough dense forest and mountainside rock to get to the best possible viewpoint (all free to do) was so typically New Zealand, the effort required was mindblowing, but the reward millions of tourists have gained makes it well worth it.

Arriving at Fox glacier

Starting the walk to the bottom of the glacier past lakes
made from run-off water

An enormous ice face at the end of the glacier

Me at the Fox glacier!

The walking trail passes huge valley walls

Looking down from a viewpoint
high up on the valley walls

The Fox glacier valley from up high

If you're planning a trip to Fox, Wanaka, or NZ South Island generally (if you're not, rethink your plans!) you'd better firm up your eye-sockets otherwise you're eyes will end up popping out and be bouncing off your chin like squishy ping-pong balls. The road from Fox to Wanaka just took our breath away. Somtimes riding in a small group you feel the need to keep going instead of pulling over all the time to snap pictures. In this instance, there was just no question. Each time we stopped all three of us were bouncing around like young kids high on sugar, the scenery was just mind-blowing. After watching Lord of the Rings you realise how fantastical and other-worldly it can be, they couldnt make more awesome scenery starting from scratch with computer generated images, so they just filmed around here. Were Tolkein himself been riding with us, he'd have been driven to madness with some of the sights we passed under clear blue skies.

It's one of the main joys about motorcycling, these 'in-between' moments, we're never concerned about what's at the end of our days ride, because the road between point A and B is all you need for anawesome day's entertainment. . It's these gaps, these "empty" times, the time spent between places that seem to bring back the most memories. Like the smell of the soap that your grandparents use,you'll never forget certain lay-byes and the feeling of being on top of your game rolling past cyan blue lakes and rugged peaks. The details of the churches, museums and towns you pass through can fade away or become blurred, but the road always stays there.

John, Matthias and I stopping at an awesome viewpoint

The view without our mugs in the way

Lakes, mountains, blue skies and twisty roads:
Welcome to New Zealand!

Taking 10 mins to appreciate how good the riding is

Chatting about how much we enjoyed the last 100kms

Riding to Wanaka with blue skies and awesome roads

The beach at Wanaka, the perfect end point to the perfect days ride

At the end of our greatest day on the road (so far - you say these things and tomorrow invariably beats it!) we rolled into Wanaka under bright blue skies and hot sun to a beach-sdie car park where we booked two nights at the YHA hostel. We needed a rest and to look at the maps because there was some serious planning to do. The day we had was only the indroduction to the south west coast and we needed a plan to fit more in before the weather turned! More details on some awesome off roading and the ride down to Queenstown, adventure capital of the south and a perfectly stunning little town.

If you happen to own a motorcycle, as I thankfully happen to, you owe it to yourself and your bike to come to New Zealand and just ride, any direction, either island. You will find quiet roads in great condition that curve and swerve as if they were made for our sole pleasure. It is in short perfect biking country and the best part is, you'll never see it all in one go, so there's always more to come back for!