Day-6 20 December (Fox Glacier to Greymouth)

Assorted ride videos from Day 6

After a simple breakfast served in the room, we loaded up & fuelled the bike and made a late start. We continue to head northwards along the west coast accompanied by an old friend- the Rte 6, which is determined to stay with us for a while.









Along the way we pass Franz Josef, Whataroa, Harihari with lots of beautiful & thick foliage flanking either side of the road. The roads are mostly straight with a few twists & turns thrown in to make up for an enjoying ride for yours sincerely & his long haired general who is busy with her cameras.































We continue further and land at Ross where we stop for a quick bite at the Roddy Nugget Cafe. While I was busy looking at the menu, Mrs Biker suddenly whispers, “you are going to really like the adjacent place”! I turn around and to my surprise I see thru a locked glass door a nice collection of old British bikes, WOW! Sadly the place is closed, but I try and take as many pictures I can thru the glass door. The old classics were a feast to my eyes. Some restored, modified, chopped, some work in progress and some left alone. Seems half my hunger was already fed!









Bikes from Great Britain











After a ‘hearty’ feast on food & bikes, riding further we pass Hokitika, an elegant little town that looked like one big perfect Hollywood movie set. Rte 6 continues ahead taking us to the town of Kumara, where it crosses over the Taramakau river thru a unique narrow single lane bridge sharing space with a functional railway track running thru its middle!! Naturally the train has a right of way and you better watch out for any oncoming train before entering the bridge… With the wide sidecases of the RT, I decide it’s a better idea to ride bang in the middle of the rail track rather than the sides. But with wet tracks due to the rain, it was a careful maneuver to get the bike over the slippery railroad track into the middle of the rail track.













The unique single track rail & road bridge!





A few kms after Kumara we take a side trip to the right to Shantytown, which is a re-creation of an old gold-rush town from the 19th century with attractions including a running steam train, gold panning, chinatown, sawmill, holographic theater, museum and church.



























After a good hour of living in the past, we get back on the saddle and head further north to Greymouth. Although it’s the halt over point for today, we cross Greymouth and continue on another spectacular piece of tarmac hugging the mighty Pacific Ocean on the left with some jaw dropping vistas and a ride to remember for a long time.











This heartwarming ride takes us thru Runanga, Barrytown and deposits us at one of the prominent attractions of the southern hemisphere - The Pancake Rocks & Blowholes. After parking our bike, whom do we see again…? Mr. Sato and his merry band!































Ride along the Tasman sea from Greymouth to Punakaiki


We soon embark on the 20 minute well marked pedestrian loop walk that takes us thru this attraction. The spectacular rocks look like giant pancakes stacked on top of each other, while the blowholes are a series of rock cave formations thru which at high tide the water gushes & splaches creating a blow-up effect. The sights & sounds of this place is a heavenly treat to the senses. From the high vantage point, simply watching the massive Pacific Ocean in all its glory itself is so gratifying.





















After this soul soothing experience, we head back to Greymouth on the same beautiful road (it was like one giant action replay) and check into the Kingsgate Hotel in Greymouth.









We end another wonderful day with a nice dinner from Room Service. While my lady enjoyed a Fresh Garden Salad, yours sincerely got adventurous and feasted on a yummy Venison Pie (for those not familiar, that’s deer meat). Yeah in India, deer being a game animal I can be arrested for that! Off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzz.



A standard fixture in many hotels we stayed. One tap for hot & one for cold. I still don’t get it, how do you mix them!!!!