Not the TT2000 - Intro

Alrighty then, the start of a few blogs totally unrelated to the TT2000...

Yeah,  The TT2000 was a few weeks ago and Colin and I were both supposed to be on it but stuff happened along the way...

This year we were repeating last years event by not only completing the TT but also taking the WR's down so we could investigate some more cool riding in the South Island that suited the little bikes.  Having a ute certainly helps...

Prior to us leaving the North Island, both ferry companies were having major dramas with most of their boats out of action.  A lot of people (including TT riders) were having their bookings cancelled and not being able to rebook as it one stage there was only 1 boat from each service running!

Somehow our booking (made last year) didn't end up being cancelled but after getting up at 5 to make the sailing we then had to wait 12 hours at the wharf before we could even board!  We did get to have a wander up town and grab a feed but because we still kept getting updated boarding times we ended up spending most of that time near the ute chatting with other travellers.  Someone even ended up with Colin as a friend for life...

Eventually (around 8pm) we boarded and headed out across the straights.  After a feed and chatting with other travellers inside the hot interior of the boat I started feeling a bit green so spent a good hour outside in the cold before we finally arrived (very late) in Picton.

Our original plan had been to drop the ute and little bikes off at a friends place in Blenheim (thanks Marty) but we didn't think it would be that polite to arrive at 1pm and wake everyone up...So our plans had to change.  

With no accommodation booked (and it being very doubtful that any was available), we decided to drive through the night (with the complete house and contents) and aim for Wanaka where we would be able to drop off the excess baggage, grab a sleep and then make our way to Gore on the big bikes for the start of the TT.

Well, it started off ok as we blasted off into the wet darkness but by the time we hit Kaikoura (maybe 02:30 or so) I was definitely not feeling too good.  We swapped drivers but this just moved the crook bloke to a different seat.  We ended up making a few stops along the way but I was getting worse and worse.

Once we hit Geraldine we stopped for a decent while and I wandered around the place pretty much just looking for a place to have a heave.  I wasn't coming right and really just needed to get in some serious shut eye.  So we ended up getting into a motel and I hit the pit.  

This pretty much ended our chances of being able to get to Gore for the ride as well still had way too many vehicles and the startline was still a fair way away but the start time was getting closer.  Colin called Shannon and we pulled the plug.  Hopefully we'll get down to complete the ride before next years one...

Anyway, although this seems like a crappy start to our holiday (and it was), we did manage to recover and ended up having some great fun on both the big and little bikes.  More soon...