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Thirteen adventurous souls met up in Featherston on Saturday for a run out to Cape Palliser and through White Rock Station. Good to see quite a few Register members involved in this as well. Joe had organised a key to the gate at the northern boundary of White Rock, which meant we could continue around the coast without backtracking. It also meant we had unfettered access to one of the best coastal tracks on the east coast – nice!!
The DR650 seemed to be the weapon of choice although there were a couple of KLR650s along with the bigger BMWs – Pablo’s X Challenge, Jim’s 1150GS, Gerard’s 1000Gs and me on the HP. Michael had the idea, trucking his 2 stroke Gas Gas over the Rimutaka Hill for the day.After coffee and a chat we headed off for the run out to Lake Ferry, with a quick regroup at Pirinoa.
Mark. Pablo. Jim and I decided it would be a good idea to whip out to Lake Ferry and try the beach track that links up with the main road the others would be travelling on to Ngawi.Lake Ferry is a small settlement between the shores of Lake Onoke and Palliser Bay. Settlement in this area dates back hundreds of years. Archaeological research suggests that there were people living here from the 12th century until about 1600. Later, Maori settlers came to live mainly around Lake Onoke and the adjoining lakes. Today Lake Ferry is a mixture of holiday homes and permanent residents.It’s a nice piece of the Wairarapa coastline.
The sand was pretty deep, but the HP managed no worries.Mark was doing well on the KLR.
Jim also did well to get the big GS through, only one rescue required.
Rejoining the main road the four of us lit out for Ngawi to catch the others before heading out to the lighthouse at Cape Palliser.
The light shines from an 18 metre-high white metal tower painted with distinctive red bands, and is 78 metres above sea level. It flashes twice every 20 seconds, and can be seen for 26 nautical miles (48 kilometres). The light was lit for the first time on 27 October 1897 and, before steps were built in 1912, the keepers would have to walk up the 58 metre diffusing an old dirt track -a dangerous task, especially in stormy weather. Oil and kerosene were hauled up the cliff face to the light station on a railway using a hand winch.In 1954 the light was converted from oil to diesel-generated electricity, and in 1967 it was connected to mains electricity. There is a diesel-electric generator for standby emergency power. The light was automated in 1986 and the keepers withdrawn. It is now monitored electronically from Wellington.Onto private property now, and we’re heading over towards White Rock. The last time I rode this piece of coast - in reverse direction to today – was on the last Pukemanu Adventure Ride, sometime in 2006 I think. Anyway, I knew what we were in for; tight rutted tracks for a short while, massive shingle scree to get across followed by a tight, rocky track around up over the bluff with a very steep descent to the first of the locked gates. The key to the whole thing was momentum, so I headed off third in line and basically didn’t stop until I was over the scree.
Four of us waited for a while. We didn’t know at the time but Dave had punctured the sump on his DR. Fortunately someone was carrying metal putty so he was able to make repairs and continue. We had a time limit to get to the boundary gate so elected to keep going to make sure the gate was open when the others, who’d kindly stopped to help Dave, made it through.Mark on the KLR
Gerard and Jim on the big GSs
It really is like a giant lunar landscape
I’d forgotten just how steep the climb over the bluff and descent was. Fortunately no serious problems although Eddie got a bit tangled.
This gives you a bit of an idea how steep it is. The original paper road is now under the bay.
From there it was around 50kms of gravel and twist sealed roads back to Martinborough for lunch. A great way to spend a Saturday with some good guys to ride with - and I got hom
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