Travels to Governors Bay

I realized its been quite sometime since I posted, and that I am greatly behind. I still haven't finished posting about the rest of my spring break! Well, I'm going to send it all to you at once, and just get it all out of my system and up to date. So I apologize for the flooding in of randomized posts from the last month and a half of my travel/adventures.

On a current note, I have 2 more classes left of the semester! I can't believe it, and I am scared to death. Finals are shortly around the corner, which leaves me with a little over one week to study four physics courses worth of material from this whole semester. I have already been studious enough to turn down (although very hard to do) a four-day hike to Milford sound, one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. Ellie has been out and about, taking great photos which I'll be posting soon.


Here's a post about one of my short motorcycle travels out to Governor's Bay, near Lyttleton.




My Trip Governor's Bay, and a few lesson's of motorcycle riding I've learned.

1. Take off sunglasses before entering NZ's longest tunnel.
After school, I decided a great way to experience the gorgeous days of spring which keep getting better as the days go on, was to take out the bike. I decided to try a few roads along the bay near Lyttleton. I decided to head out to Lyttleton and follow the coast stopping in various places. It was a bright sunny day, and I decided to try out my new 4$ sunglasses I used for a "greaser" costume a few nights ago. Approaching the tunnel I forgot I had been wearing the sunglasses, because the glasses made the sunny day look like a typical cloudy day in Christchurch. Aaand pitch dark. Crap. Well, just follow the brake lights ahead of you, follow its speed because I cant see the speedometer. You have to give me a little sympathy, as this tunnel is much darker compared to the United States' tunnels. Back in the States I remember playing "disco" from the bright orange lights flying past you at such a fast rate, as they were spaced probably five feet apart. Here in the NZ, lets say 25 feet. Once my eyes were adjusted I discovered other horrible features of riding a motorcycle through a tunnel like:
2. Stand back from vehicles ahead of you, as exhaust gasses tend to accumulate in tunnels 3. British Motorcycles are better suited for "Tunnel Travel".
This is extremely true! My Honda has no tachometer, and with the deafening roar from the acoustics in a tunnel, I had no idea of how my poor little Honda was handling certain gears. Now if I had a Triumph, this would be ok, no need for sound, or a tachometer, because I could feel how the engine was working based off how quickly my legs were turning numb. I'm pretty sure Edward Turner had this exact reason in mind. Mr.Honda had it all wrong, with no engine vibration.

So after traveling through New Zealand's longest tunnel (2km) coughing on exhaust fumes, blind, deaf, and two gears away from what I should have been, I turn away from civilization and head out
to motorcycle paradise. And, as usual of New Zealand, I find it, again. twisty, winding roads which touch the coast and then shooting back up hundreds of meters was a great time to test out if I could get away without having 3rd gear. I had a blast on these roads, and although I thought I was going fast, a young woman driving a Miata convertible didn't thinks so. She passed me, and I decided to see if I could follow her moves, as she had obviously done this road more than I have. It was a fun game of cat and mouse, She seemed to take off on the straight-aways more than my 250cc could handle, but I would catch up to her on the corners. Once she pulled off to I'm guessing her village I proceeded until I found a nice place to pull over. See that itty-bitty pier at the center of the picture to the right? I decided to going there. After going through a village of around twenty houses I walked to the pier, and took in the surroundings. The colors of the fresh green grass, yellow flowers on the mountainside and the almost Caribbean blue water can't do you no wrong. Butttt, I get to excited for more, so I proceed to my next destination. I reach Allendale Reserve, where I walk the dried up portion of the bay, find a little box stuck in the mud I call my treasure chest, and enjoy a peanut-butter and jelly with gummi bears that somehow got shaken into the honey of my sandwich. not good.


5. As usual, always be on the look out and never trust any other drivers.

On my way back from Allandale Reserve I was going my merry way when I saw a van approaching the other direction. I keep to my motorcycle training taught at MSF and stay closer to the center of the road rather than the far side. It's supposedly makes you more visible, deters drivers in the other lane from drifting over in your lane, along with some other defensive driving skills. As I am just about to drive by I noticed the van slowly turning into a nearby parking lot. I quickly swerve to the left, missing the van, and notice the van in my mirrors completely stopped halfway between both lanes, he must have never seen me til the last second!

6. You may navigate though the middle of the desert without a map, but in the city, its impossible.
To get to Lyttleton, as with most of my short trips, I don't bring any maps. It makes things a little more exciting, and full of adventure. I have all day to go wherever I want, and I like when I run into places I probably never would have seen if i hadn't gotten side-tracked(not lost, side-tracked). So going out to Lyttleton was a piece of cake, head east out of the city to the view of the Port Hills, take the coastal route or tunnel, and then keep the bay on my left as I tour around. That, I can do great. I can also get back to the city limits from sight, a vague recollection of the sun and all the signs pointing to Christchurch (these are slightly better than my sun-gazing skills). But once I get to the suburbs of Christchurch from a different direction I came out of (which i always do, because I do not like back-tracking), It's impossible. It's worse than a corn maze, and I'll tell you why. Corn mazes, usually have 90 degree turns so after turning a series of turns, I can say, hmm my new direction is 0, 90, 180,270 degrees off from when i first entered. CHRISTCHURCH SUBURB ROADS DO NOT DO THIS. They have slight bends in the road, which you hardly realize, and before you now, after taking a few slight bending turns, you hardly realize you've turned around. This is my main reason why I get lost coming back to Christchurch. A typical way for me to get out of this is going to a bus stop, looking at a bus route map and then finding a familiar road name. So who needs maps?