Mapping The Route

My copy of the Hema Maps New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas arrived through the week and I've spent some time today going through it. It's a very detailed collection of maps covering all of the main islands, with detailed maps of major centers. While I'm still considering a motorcycle GPS, this will definitely be making the rounds with me as a reliable back-up.

As I said, I've spent some time going through the 30 road rides that are detailed for the North Island, and have, so far, logged the first 6 using Google Maps. Here they are (I've used Tiny URL to make life a little easier)

Ride 1: A quick Auckland city highlights tour. http://tinyurl.com/39nfnyl. I'm thinking this might be a brilliant first day as it will allow me an opportunity to get to know the bike I'll be riding, without putting me too far from (whichever) rental company I choose that operates out of Auckland.

Ride 2: Auckland to Wellsoford (via Piha). http://tinyurl.com/2ck36b9. This starts me on my journey north on what I imagine will be my second day, and puts me in Wellsford where I will find a place to stay before continuing north.

Ride 3: Brynderwyn to Ahipara. http://tinyurl.com/26ovja3. Day three would see me heading north to Brynderwyn where I'd start my next phase. I'll hopefully be staying at Ahipara for two nights to use as a base for the next day's ride to the tip of the island and back (Ride 4), and the following day begin Ride 5 to my next destination.

Ride 4: Kaitaia to Cape Reinga. http://tinyurl.com/25mgnrw. Day four would have me leave Ahipara to get fuel at Kaitaia before heading north to the Cape. Unfortunately I can't ride along Ninety Mile Beach as (even if I was 'game' enough) rented vehicles are prohibited. I can see why.

Photo by Henry-White: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7299552

Despite the mapped route ending at Cooper's Beach, I'll return to Ahipara after my trip to the Cape, and will stay the night before setting off on the next leg, or possibly staying a third night to allow me to explore some more. I'm tempted to go for a squirt down State Highway 1 toward the Mangamuka Gorge.
Ride 5: Kaitaia to Whangarei. http://tinyurl.com/2dmhjou. Though listed as Ride 5, I think I'll make this next leg in two parts. Leaving Ahipara, I'll take in Waitangi, and Russell, before heading along the coast to Whangarei. I'll stay there for a night before heading down toward Auckland via the Waiwera Hot Springs, and some of the beaches and bays along the way.

That's where I'm up to as far as planning the trip is concerned. Going off that itinerary I'm already looking at 7 days, and that's only the tip of the North Island!

I haven't researched accommodation at these stopovers yet – that will come. As it is, each stage is looking to take up to 5 hours to complete – and that's without time allocated for stops (going from what's listed in the Atlas). So, I don't really want to be riding any further than that in a day if I can help it. Also, I've family up near Auckland (I think at Russell, I'll have to check that) and I'll be stopping in for a night and a fluid top-up with them, so that'll probably put my plans out somewhat.

Finally, I've just finished speaking to my Mum on the phone, talking about parts of Wellington where we lived. I'm really keen to get my folks over to NZ to join me in Paraparaumu to visit some of the old haunts with them. My Dad was intending on going over to visit his brothers, and I think my Mum was hoping to visit her sister while there. I'm just hoping they're willing and able to hold out to make part of the trip with me.

On Order

I've just placed an order for the New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas by Peter Mitchell.

When I first learned of this book I started shopping around for it. Generally speaking it was priced at around $30 ($121 from Amazon), but found it for $23.96 at Dymocks online store (it had come down in price since I first started looking). I selected regular postage as, with New Years, and the weekend, it won't get here until Monday/Tuesday, and I go back to work on Tuesday anyway. So I decided to save some pennies and just get it sent the slow way.

In other news, I went for a 280+Km ride yesterday. I stopped at BP Logandale to fill up before heading along the back roads to Canungra for a coffee. Then out to Binna Burra and back to Beechmont before heading to Natural Bridge for a Bacon and Egg Burger ($10.40 and worth it, IMO). I got back on the bike and continued on my route to bypass Murwillumbah and head to Currimbun Valley and Tellebudgera, then onto the M1 at Burleigh, and home. I fueled-up at the BP at Mt Cotton Rd with 271km between fuel-ups, and an economy of 4.2L/100km. It was an awesome day, but some hard work.

While at Canungra I trialed the lock to see how convenient it is in practice. It actually worked quite well in securing my jacket, and it fit in one of the small internal pockets of my tank bag.

I got a lot of riding footage thanks to my VIO POV1, including a car merging into my lane at speeds of around 110Km/h. If I get around to it, I might post some footage on YouTube.

Bits And Pieces

Yesterday, while out at Bunnings, I was killing some time by walking all the isles. I only really needed a couple of things, but with the crappy weather, I had no-where else to be so I figured I'd have a look around and see what was what.

I ended up in the padlock section and found 2 locks that look like they might come in handy.

Apparently it's summer here (though you wouldn't know it from the weather). The problem with riding motorbikes in summer is the safety gear. While on a bike, it's generally fine, even if a little hot. However, when I get to a destination, I don't really want to be stuck carrying my jacket everywhere, and I'm definitely not going to wear it. So I've wanted a way to secure my jacket somewhere. That's where the first lock comes in. As you can see from the image below it's a small combination lock that works like a small carabina, but has a steel cable attached. Fortunately it's small enough to be kept under my seat (with my disc lock and puncture repair kit), but the cable stretches out far enough to go through both sleeves of my textile jacket, enabling me to lock it directly to my bike.

Small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

Opens like a carabina to release one end of the steel cord.

Admittedly I haven't field tested it yet, but have tried it on my jacket and, though it's a tight fit, it's not impossibly so. Hooking it to the grab rail at the back of my CB400 should keep it on my seat and should quickly tell anyone that tries to lift it off that it's locked in place. Of course, if someone is determined enough, they'll only need a pair of cutters to get through it. But it's there to stop any potential impulse theft where someone walking past might decide to help themselves to my jacket.  One handy feature of this lock is that you can set your own 3 digit combination (the 1 2 3 was for demonstration purposes).

The second lock I didn't buy, but will do a bit more research on as its function is to secure much more valuable items and I'd want to be sure it does its job well.

Also from Master Lock, this combination lock is designed to hold keys and money when you're not in any position to do so yourself. Imagine going for a swim at the beach. If there are no lockers around, where do you put the keys for your bike? Something like this might help by providing a portable safe that can be attached to a solid/secure location (like a fence) where you can leave it relatively secure. Of course, this isn't something that I'd like to leave completely out of site – like locked to the bike (if the keys are inside), if the bike is secluded and out of sight. Again, this would stop any impulse theft, but if someone was determined enough, they could get it and get into it.

I also got myself a magnetic whiteboard to keep track of things. It'll be a place to store any reminders. Hopefully it'll keep me organized.

The ‘To Do’ Pile

I've been thinking about all the essentials for the trip, and a couple of things spring to mind pretty quickly. The first is a passport. I don't have one. I traveled to Australia on my Dad's passport all those years ago and never got around to getting my own. Although, I've never really had any need to get a passport before, so it's going to be right at the top of my 'To Do' pile. I've got the next couple of weeks off, thanks to the holidays, so I should have ample opportunity to get that ball rolling.

The second task will be my 'R' class license which enables me to ride unrestricted. Currently, on my 'RE' class, I am limited by a power to weight ratio, meaning I can't just jump on any old bike and take off. However, from March 1, I can get that sorted. I'm opting to go back to the Team Moto Q-Ride at Springwood as it's a one day course, pretty much what I had to do to get my RE. I'll have to update this post in the future when I find out what the cost is, but I do believe it's around the $200 mark. This will help when it comes to the next task…

Finally, I need to get myself an international license (I believe). I will have to look into this some more as I'm not 100% sure what's involved or if I even need to. With Australia being the "West Island of New Zealand" (so I'm told by some Kiwi's on a motorcycle forum I've recently joined), I'm hoping that my R class license will be 'good enough'. (I'll look into that today, methinks)

As I mentioned, I've also joined http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/ (KB) and have started posting there. There's really no substitute for local knowledge, so I figured I'd hit them up for tips and suggestions for my adventure. So far the community has been rather receptive and friendly, a stark contrast to the Netrider forums. I've also found a North Island route somewhat similar to what I had proposed which will give me some point of reference for exploring the whole island efficiently. spajohn from KB immediately pointed me toward the website of Peter Mitchell (http://www.mcycle.co.nz/books.htm) and has got me looking for a copy of the New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas. It looks like the average price is $30, but I'll keep a look out for a used copy if I can, or just a cheap copy. I'm in no rush, but it will definitely help me plan my route in more detail and, if I can't get a GPS by then, then it'll possibly be the one thing that gets me where I need to be.

On a different note, I recently purchased a second hand VIO POV 1 for $250. (It might have been a little overpriced, but the deal is done, now, so there's no point complaining.) I've been after a POV camera since before I got my bike. The Loop feature enables you to have the camera recording continuously, but only saving a clip if you tag it with the small remote. This is a bit of an experiment to ensure I can, and do use it in my daily commute as a 'black box' recorder. I set it running as I leave for work, and as I leave work for home, should anything out of the ordinary happen. My intention is to also get the POV HD in the future. Currently it's available for about $650 online via international retailers – Australian distributors are pricing it at about $775, so unless they come down in price, I'll be buying from OS.


  EDIT:  It turns out that I won't need an international licence, according to one of the hire places I've been pricing the bike hire.  So that's a good thing.

The Plan Takes Form

I've never really done anything like this, so I've no idea how to go about it.

Sure, I could hit up a travel agent and say, "here's pretty much what I want; a motorcycle tour of the North Island of New Zealand. Provide me my itinerary."

But who's to say I'll get what I want?

No, really. Like I said, I've never done anything like this, so I can't comment on the quality of travel agents.

So instead, as I'm planning on going it alone, I may as well plan it alone. Of course, I'll be welcoming the input from others, but the final call will always be mine.

Right, so… now that the rules are set, what's next?

The way I see it, there are a few things that are interdependent; budget, time, and points of interest.

Budget: I've got to take into account the cost of the flights, the accommodation, my food, the bike hire, and the petrol.

Time: I've got to consider how long I need to take to see everything that I want to see, and everything that I can afford to see.

Points of Interest: I've got to think about what I really want to do and see while I'm there within the confines of my budget.

It's all interconnected, so that makes things a little difficult to work around. So, first things first; what do I most want to achieve from this adventure?

First of all, I want to spend at least one full day in my home town of Paraparaumu. There's no negotiating on that. Ideally it would be two full days, but one is the minimum. Secondly, I'd like to go as far as I can at the four points of the compass. I would like to get to Mt Egmont in the West, Hicks Bay in the East, Cape Reinga in the North, and Whangaimoana in the South. I would also like to visit Mt Ruapehu, Lake Taupo, and Rotorua. Everything else is negotiable.

So, that was the Points of Interest taken care of. Next I needed to look at the time frame.

I started playing around in Google Maps, looking at a possible route that will take me around the island, passing through (or extremely near) those locations. After a bit of playing around, I came up with a route that would take me across approximately 3517km, needing approximately 44 hours to complete – nonstop.

Here's the Google Maps route that I came up with.

So, on a diet of no-doze and caffeine (and without stopping for fuel or food) I could do the whole trip in under 3 days with one full day being spent in Paraparam.

Awesome!

Realistically, doing 6 hour days I could have it done in just over a week – 8 days. I can work with that. It's a starting point from which to begin working the budget.

Background: The first post.

The idea was spawned from a prospect to go to New Zealand to play Airsoft.

I play Combat Simulations (ComSims), a style of IR Skirmish that we've adopted in Australia. While IR Skirmish has a better range and accuracy than Airsoft (and, indeed, paintball), Airsoft has the best toys. Their 'weapons' are illegal here in Australia due to their extremely realistic look. However, it's the novelty that has made a few of the ComSims guys want to fly to New Zealand for a weekend of Airsoft.

To be honest, the thought of flying to New Zealand to play Airsoft wasn't that appealing. I really didn't want to go to all the effort to just spend a weekend in New Zealand doing a short-ranged version of what I can do in the Queensland heat. But, the prospect of spending more time there, exploring the town I grew up in (and still call home) spurred something in me.

I'm not a fan of traveling, and the thought of backpacking around Europe bores the tits off me, much to the chagrin of my best mate. He, and my sister, have been advocates of Europe since their (individual) visits years ago. I've always been more of a South America/East Asia kinda person. I'd much rather back pack around natural beauty and traditional cultures, than spend my time in castles and convenient public transport. But then I got my motorcycle license.

Things have changed since then. In February of 2010 I got my first bike and have been in love ever since. Now, with the proposed New Zealand trip only 12 months away, I've decided I'm going to focus on a motorcycle tour.

Here's a bit of info about me. I'm not a people person. I hate crowds, and I dislike social occasions. That's not to say I don't like people – I do! Just in small quantities.

When I was younger I did all the clubbing and partying that I could. But, now that I'm older, I'm more content to be in much more conservative surrounds. My motorcycle has helped enforce that as I can't even listen to the radio as I commute to work, so I'm comfortable spending time in my own head.

So, keeping that in mind, I should put it out there that I'm not against doing this tour with someone… but I'm not counting on it. Flying solo will give me the chance to spend time doing what I want (and need) to do. So, that's that.