East Cape Extravaganza
This event was organised and enjoyed by our two New Zealand Ferrets, Davey (Freebird - Honda Blackbird) and Geoff (Honda Blackbird), and their good friends Martin Blandford (Honda Blackbird), Andy Lees (Honda X11) and John Pritchard (Suzuki V-Strom TL1000 - what became known as the Lounge-Chair!). This is Davey's report:
Southern Ferrets East Cape Extravaganza
Well, this is my first big trip with the Southern Ferrets and what can I say - fantastic about sums it up!!!! I had a day’s work in Auckland so I managed to travel up in work’s time and charge them for the travel. So I set off on Thursday 12 noon from Wellington and made good time up the centre of the North Island through Mangaweka, where there is a cafe in an elevated DC-3 by the side of the road (fantastic).
It actually extends over the desert road (not really a desert but a very isolated place at 800 metres altitude with large desolate plains and snow-capped active volcanoes).
Then on past Taupo with its beautiful winding road up the side of the huge lake and its geothermal powered power station, up SH1 toward Tokoroa where I hit roadworks which cost me half an hour. Stopped off at Tokoroa to see Geoff, then refreshed with a pint of orange juice (thanks Geoff) set off up SH27 to Auckland to stay with Andy. Beautiful evening cruising along enjoying the ride, then around 100kms south of Auckland I got pinged by the plod - 119kph $120 and 20 points…. DAMN!!!
Got to Andy’s at 9pm and had a few beers and a great toasted Sammie (thanks Andy). Up early and into Auckland where I was able to park in the basement of the ANZ tower, where Andy works, and get changed in his office (27th floor and stunning view over Auckland harbour). Then just a 5 min walk down to the water taxi which took me across to the works road show where I bumped into Martin (New Zealand is a very small place) who was also there in an official capacity.
The road show finished early so I set off to Geoff’s, it was a great day so I took to the back roads around Hamilton. Got to Tokoroa around 6pm and spent the evening catching up with Geoff.
Saturday started nice and relaxed for Geoff and I, getting packed and out for around 10.15am. From Tokoroa we had a short run to Rotorua (a very steamy place which smells of sulphur, locally referred to as Rotovegas, due to the number of tourists I think) where we waited for JP, Martin and Andy. After they turned up and we all had our fill of pies, we set off on the trip proper heading south down SH5 toward Taupo. We turned off east towards the Matahina earth dam down some great roads, when Geoff decided to give it some juice. Never one to be left out I dropped a few cogs and let the birdie fly (sorry for buzzing you Andy). We stopped at the dam for pics and then on to the Top Ten holiday park at Ohope. We hit around five minutes of rain before the campsite and that was all we saw for the whole weekend.
Saturday was a short day, but this did nothing to prepare me for what was to come that evening. After a lovely meal and a few wee drinks I headed for the loo. By mistake (honest) I walked into the ladies where I found a generously proportioned lady sat trimming her hair, but not the stuff on her head! (YIKES). To say I got out of there fast would be an understatement. After using the correct toilet, I told the lads of my distress who understandably found it as hard to believe as did I, and then the Mickey-taking and interrogation knew no bounds!
After the trauma of the previous evening, Sunday dawned bright and early and so to the main event. The first part of the run was great with everyone getting into the groove. With glimpses of the coast came views of White Island which is another active volcano you can visit by boat (Jo and I have and it is a fantastic trip). The guided tour takes you right up to the edge of the crater lake where you have to don gas masks because of the sulphur fumes. We then came to Opotiki where we stopped for breakfast and had a Mongrel Mob member on his Hog let us know, in no uncertain terms, that we were on his turf (what a noise that thing made). Then off again around the coast of the Cape. Unfortunately the local Macadamia Nut farm was closed, so we travelled on to a very quaint church right on the beach for a round of pics.
Further down the road we stopped at a neat set of bends with a great view of the coast and I did an impromptu run through the bends for the camera (thankfully not the police camera this time).
The mix of twisties and coastal views was intoxicating, and then when it came my turn to lead I could not contain myself (sorry lads). After a fair few k’s of spirited riding I had to pull over and almost pissed myself laughing from the sheer enjoyment of the road we had just ridden (my words as I recall were "I want to do that again!!!"). Carrying on was more of the same with the odd patch of road surface that was hard to read thrown into the mix, just to keep things interesting. We then came to Tolaga Bay where there was a very long pier originally established for shipping frozen meat to the UK. Again, stunning views and more pics.
We stopped to gas-up, and at the petrol station was a Maori chap with a full Moko (face tattoo). I thought about asking if I could take his picture but he didn’t look very friendly so I didn’t bother. Through the next section Andy and JP swapped bikes. I think JP was more at home on the X11 than Andy was on the V-Strom, as after 5 or 10 minutes JP came storming through the pack and took off into the distance. Having restrained myself for a little while I finally took off after him (Sorry Martin I couldn’t resist) and he took some catching.
Getting close to Sunday nights’ camp site at Gisborne we came to Tolaga Bay Wharf where Captain Cook had visited between 24 – 30 October 1769, the wharf itself was not built until around 1929 when it was used to ship wool and meat.
And so to the final 60 km of the joint run, when we got to Gisborne we rode up to a lookout on the top of a hill where we had great views of the bay and a sailing regatta taking place out on the water. We also saw a few classic bikes doing some form of treasure hunt.
Then we headed down to the camp site, unpacked and went round to the café for a bite to eat, before admiring some girls playing volleyball (well they weren’t actually playing, they were just trying to put up the net, but admire them we did). We then walked into town and got a taxi back to the camp site from the bottle store (good idea JP!!!). A quiet night was had chatting to fellow campers, then in the morning we went back around to the café for breakfast before filling up and going our separate ways.
I headed south while the other guys went north back to Whakatane, then Auckland and Tokoroa respectively. I had a great run home (albeit very painful - I think I’ve trapped a nerve in my right shoulder) south to Napier then over the Woodville Pass with its array of wind turbines to Palmerston North and a short run down the west coast back to Wellington. Time for a hot bath and to reflect on a fantastic weekend spent with a great bunch of guys.
After saying goodbye and safe riding to Davey, John, Andy, Martin and Geoff headed north through the Waioeka Gorge towards their respective homes. The Gorge road starts off in farmland and then comes the Gorge proper, consisting of about 80 km of really twisty roads – biker heaven! At least it would have been if the first half of it hadn’t been under repair with numerous road works and pea gravel scattered about and extreme caution was the order of the day. However, the last 30 km or so of road was in beautiful condition and some spirited riding took place for the rest of the journey to Whakatane on the coast, where a short stop was made for coffee and cake. After refreshments and farewells, the Auckland contingent headed up the coast and Geoff headed inland to Tokoroa.
If you’ve never been to NZ, it’s hard to appreciate just how little traffic there is outside the main population centres. The East Cape trip consisted of several hundred kilometres of twisty coastal road with stunning scenery and there were perhaps a hundred or so other vehicles seen on the open road in the whole trip. An absolute paradise for bikers.
Report & all photos courtesy of Freebird.
Page Updated
28/06/2008 23:54