18th February 2017 (later)
What a great day!
I sleep well and wake just after 0700. I'm out of bed, showered and dressed and ready to go by 0900.
What is it about putting a crash helmet on that signals "Hey - this guy's ready for a long conversation!" to some people?
I chat to the middle aged German couple for a few minutes - they live near Munich.
"Ah" I say, "Where this is built".
"Ja" says Helmut, "But I ride the Kawasaki".
"Well, it's important to keep old alliances alive, isn't it?"
He looks mystified and I start the bike. I'm on the road for 0915...
It's a gorgeous morning - 70°F and hardly a cloud in the sky. It's about two and a half hours to Queenstown - almost due north of Invercargill.
The route north leads through some pleasant outskirts of Invercargill - some great parkland and (I should think) some extremely expensive property...
I spot this old girl advertising something or other...
How long since you saw one of those?
This old chap is for sale...
...although I feel a sale would be more likely if he was painted a better colour...
Onward! I head for the hills on the horizon...
I reach them surprisingly quickly...
There's some mist lying in the valley, but it never becomes an issue...
There's very little traffic about and I concentrate on keeping to (roughly) the speed limit - it was near Queenstown where I got nicked...
At about 1045, the fuel light comes on and I stop at an automated pump in the village of Atholl and fill up with 95 Octane...
Lake Wakatipu comes into sight, and the ride gets much more interesting...
I'm thankful for the light traffic. I can imagine that being stuck behind a camper van in a car on this road would be dreadful...
...but I'm able to maintain 100ish kph quite comfortably, picking off the occasional overtake as I go...
Bollocks to that...
There are worse ways to spend a Saturday morning...
Actually, most other ways, come to think of it...
Eventually I get to Queenstown, my target for the day. They are replacing the bridge on the south side of the city...
I follow Bettie's directions onto the heart of town - the traffic is
awful...
...but eventually I manage to find a parking slot opposite somewhere a work colleague of mine has ceaselessly drilled into me that I
must visit...
Ferg Burger - WARNING - link auto-plays music!
After queuing for five minutes or so, I am served by the lovely Olivia and Katrina. I order a Ferg Burger with cheese, with fries and a shake. I am given a number and they take my name and I take a seat at the counter...
The place is absolutely buzzing, despite it being 1130...
My order arrives after about ten minutes. The staff behind the counter are working at an incredible rate, just to keep up with demand. It's great - as good a cheeseburger as I've had.
For scale, it's probably twice as large as a Whopper or a Big Mac...
By the time I've finished, the queue has extended to about half a block...
I take a short stroll up Shotover Street to catch the bus for the Shotover Jet Boat ride I booked last night. You're not allowed to take cameras onboard the boat (excepting head-mounted Go-Pros and similar), so I have no pics of the ride...
But let me tell you - this is definitely something you want to do...
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/163602633?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
If I have done that right, it should link to their promo video.
If I've done it wrong, click
here...
I didn't buy any of the video and stills they offer (for one thing you can't view them for 48hrs, to allow them time to upload etc). To note - they ask if anyone has any neck or back problems. I don't - but don't even
think about doing this ride if you do - I haven't had my spine jolted this badly since Schtum gave me a lift in his Golf GTI...
We are deposited back at the dock, drenched, after 25 minutes - it's completely exhilarating and I recommend it thoroughly...
I catch the bus back to town and sit my soggy arse on the Adv's sheepskin seat and start making my way back to Invercargill...
What a great way to spend a day...
I'm soon blatting down the eastern shore of Lake Wakatipu again...
...being sure to keep below about 110kph...
It's now about 80°F - just about perfect riding conditions...
Eventually, I run out of lake...
...and start on the slightly less scenic leg of the route back to Invercargill...
...stopping at the Brown Trout in Atholl for a coffee and a scone (which disintegrated into its component parts as soon as you touched it...
)
...and then it was a short trip back to the hotel.
What a good way to spend a Saturday...