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Blog entry: 20th December 2016
#SouthIsland2016 #SouthIslandNZ #KatsMotorcycleDiaries
Once again we were blessed with a beautiful morning so packing up camp was quick & easy. The campsite had a great view of the Alps so before heading off to continue our journey, I spent a few moments soaking up the view.
We departed Wanaka heading north west along SH6 towards Lake Hawea which gave us a beautiful water view as went followed the path towards Haast. The route took us to the tail end of Lake Wanka giving us an almost continuous view of beautiful New Zealand lakes before hitting Mt Aspiring National Park.
Entering the national park gave us some beautiful climbs and our scenery changed from stunning water views to some fantastic mountains views. I must say every path we have taken on our journey has been amazing in regards to the scenery and not to mention the riding.
We left the national park and soon entered Haast which brought us to the coast. We continued up SH6 where the road twisted between the coast & slightly inland until Karangarua where we started to climb up to near Fox Glacier. We tried to find a road which would give us a view of either the Fox Glacier or Franz Josef Glacier but the only road that promised a view was closed. If we wanted to see the glacier, we would have to take a 15-20-minute walk. This was not practical given we had our gear on our bikes which I wasn't prepared to leave & it was not possible to carry on a trek. So, we didn't get to see the glaciers ‐ I'm sure Manny wasn't too pleased with that decision.
The ride to the glaciers was through another national park, the Westland Tai Poutini National Park which borders Aoraki/Mt Cook National. As we entered the national park, the air changed & had a dampness to it plus an icy chill to it. The sky had also become overcast with a hint of potential rain but the weather held so we made it throught the park without any rain.
Our ride remained inland pretty much all the way to Hokitika then it was a coastal ride to Greymouth. The ride from Hokitika to Greymouth was beautifully sunny & as we arrived in Greymouth we stopped at the Speights Ale House for a cold pint. We enjoyed our pint & soaked up the afternoon sun.
While we had our drink we tried to decide where to sleep that night. Manny had it in his mind to camp so he ended up staying at Rapahoe Bay Holiday Park while I ended up staying at the Bella Vista Motel.
One thing I did find really frustrating was when I was checking into the Bella Vista, the woman there, once she knew I was riding around the South Island & I was checking in on my own, made a big fuss about me riding until I mentioned I was't alone. The idea that a woman riding around a country on their own was a concern really annoyed me.
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