Day-2    16 December (Twizel  to  Mount Cook  to  Wanaka)

Assorted ride videos from Day 2

Waking up & looking out of the window, it was a fine & sunny day. Especially with a planned helicopter ride to Mount Cook (highest mountain in NZ) today, I was screaming to myself we are going to have a glorious day to enjoy up in the air as well as on the ground.



After making the best of the buffet breakfast at the Mackenzie Inn, we roll out of the hotel parking with the warm sun gently hugging us. We tank up at a nearby gas station and head towards Mt Cook.













Soon the tranquil blue waters of Lake Pukaki is accompanying us on the right while the imposing jagged mountains with their majestic snow covered peaks in the background makes for a picture perfect riding day…what more does a rider want with a powerful 1200cc boxer engine under his command, while the pillion is happy with the fantastic scenery & sunlight for her camera shutter. With unending long curves and dips and rises, this ride only gets better with every kilometer.











After some more enjoyable riding, we arrive at Glentanner Park, which is a major Helicopter & scenic flight base for aerial views of Mt Cook. We buy our helicopter tickets (ouch pricey!) and to make a wonderful day even more wonderful, they decided to merge 2 trips into one so we get a 45 minute trip for the cost of a half hour trip. Ofcourse, Mrs Adventure smiled at the prospect of getting the bonus, but inside I am sure she was saying “15 additional minutes of misery for someone with fright of heights!”.









The helicopter takes off and from inside the cockpit it looks like we are moving very slowly. It hovers over the edge of lake pukaki and then starts its ascend over the massive mountains just going close to their tops. Along the way the deep gorges, jagged razor sharp edges make for spectacular views and also are sometimes scary especially with lots of turbulence in air pockets the helicopter keeps dancing around a bit!! Not for the faint hearted…under such circumstances I notice that Mrs Adventure has perfected a technique of clicking pics without looking at the viewfinder or even looking below….(for obvious damn reasons!)





That’s a brave girl….









Soon we are seeing only snow that has blanketed the mountains all around below and the bright sun on top. Moments later the skilled pilot makes a soft & perfect snow landing. We disembark from the helicopter onto the snow and to our surprise our feet are going into the soft snow losing our balance. But the experience of being surrounded by the snow & the massive mountains gives us the full appreciation of our tiny existence amidst the vast expanse of nature. Farzana I think wanted to play out her fantasy to lie & roll on the snow, but was detested by the fright of sinking in soft snow & freezing off.















After spending some unforgettable moments to cherish for a long time, and clicking as many pics, we get back onto the chopper and it lifts off taking us over all the main peaks- Mt Tasman, Mt Cook as well as some of the prominent Glaciers, each view even more breathtaking than the previous one. After some more turbulent flying we safely land back at the base. This was a truly extraordinary, spine tingling & fully engaging experience.

















We recoup our senses and soon get on the bike and continue on the same road we came, towards the base of Mt Cook. Some more fun filled spirited riding with long sweepers and nice dips & climbs etc.





However this delightful ride was briefly interrupted half way with extremely hard & brutal cross winds due to the vast open space between mountains on either side. Me, Farzana & Naomi were dangerously drifting across the road. It reminded us of our painful cross winds ride in South Africa the previous year. I tried all combinations, maintaining higher speed, lowering gear & maintaining a higher rpm, body positioning into wind etc., but it was a really hard wrestling match with almost 500kgs of bike, riders & luggage. At one point with beautiful scenery, we stopped for a short photo op and I had to sit tight on the bike to avoid the bike flipping over in the wind while my co-pilot took the pics. Nonetheless, the ride was still nice & ‘adventurous’, surely something cagers don’t get to see often! We rolled into Mr Cook National Park, a world heritage site and enjoy a nice lunch at the restaurant on the foothill of Mt. Cook.















With stomachs full, we started the trip back and fortunately the cross winds had subsided and I blasted thru those empty roads at good speed as there was no civilization or men in uniform in sight for many miles ahead. Absolute biking bliss with the blue lake on the left and grass carpeted mountains on the ride.













We pass Twizel and proceed further on Rte 8 crossing Omarama and then negotiating the very enjoyable & engaging twists & turns of the Lindis Pass. After that we are riding thru lush green farm lands on either side and the irritating cross winds are again in full force necessitating me to wrestle with our darling Naomi. Some more miles later and we land at the small & beautiful town of Wanaka, a town of roughly 6000 inhabitants which is our stop over point for the day.

















The all too familiar ‘one way bridges’ of NZ







Our GPS takes us to the Montrose B&B where the owner Barbara takes very good care of us. An absolutely wonderful home that Barbara & her husband Phil have built. She recommends the McGregor restaurant where we finish the day with some NZ food- Blue Cod fish & Chips with salad and Burger.





Making use of their pantry



Mrs & Mr Ride for Passion with Phil & Barbara







At 9:00pm after dinner, the sun is still bright, but there is not a single soul anywhere in sight, so we enjoy a lonely peaceful walk back to our B&B!



Strolling back to our B&B at 9:15pm (yeah sunset is very late)