Bad Boys Do Awakino

[Murray]

#2107

It all started surprisingly easily. A text from John Forsyth while he was returning from the TT – “Need ride, Awakino Pub 23/24 June to meet bad boys from Auckland, you in?” Hang on, Sunday 24 is Jo’s birthday and it is only a week out, better be a good present me think.Short story is that after checking in with her she is okay with the plan and I fired off a short text back, “Count me in, will book room, meet Plimmerton Shell 8:00am”. Job done.Well, the week down South was not flash and most forecasts for the weekend coming through contained words like “polar”, “blast”, “gale” and “rain”, but after a few calls we all agreed that unless it was really chucking it down, we were going.Saturday morning and out of bed, things did not look too bad so headed off to Plimmerton to meet up with the others. Things started going badly on Haywards Hill, the HP2 coughing and spluttering and not really wanting to run the way it should. Made it to the Shell station and started the diagnosis over coffee. Plugs? Might be, there are four of them and one might be off but the bike has only just been serviced, so hard to think that would be the cause. Water in the gas? Hardly, all seems pretty secure up top. What else would cause engine to shut on and off (as that was what it felt like riding it)? Figured it could only be the side stand switch, so off with the cover. Unplug sender unit, cut brown and white wires (it is always some weird combination of colours with BMW), join wires and tape well, plug back in. Blow me down, runs like a dream and no problems for rest of the weekend.John checking out the handiworkSo, four of us - John F (Cagiva Navigator), Guzzi Tony (R800GS), Tony C and I (HP2s) head out of Wellington to pick up out fifth man, Chris (KTM950SE) at Waikanae. It was not raining but was very windy and quite a chill in the air.The plan was to head to Stratford on the main road, so won’t bore you with that part of the trip other than to say that the constant battering of the wind ripping in from the West was a real energy sapper. It was quite hard work just keeping the bike upright in some of the more exposed places. As we arrived in Stratford it started to rain, and very heavily, so we figured it was a good time to stop for lunch. Nice place Stratford and great that there are sheltered wide footpaths to accommodate the bikes  😀After lunch the rain had stopped and we headed out, but got wet in Midhurst again. Never mind, it was very on and off, as you get with strong wind. A right hand turn off the main road took us on to Old Mountain Road, a great piece of work and one I’m sure anyone with a bike in Taranaki would have done on any occasion they we able. We followed a series of back country roads out through Tarata and across the Waitara River before crossing the main road (SH3) at Motonui to do the short gravel run down to the coast for a look. I do love the West Coast, especially when it is as wild as it was on the day.Parked up on the CoastBad Boys, what ya gonna do  😎A breather at Urenui for gas and a drink followed a quick blast up the main road. Then it was on to Urutī where a right turn takes you up Urutī Road that separates the Miro Scenic Reserve to the South and the Moki Scenic Reserve to the North. It is here that we came across the Urutī tunnel.The Urutī tunnel is gorgeous, with it's sharply-angled roof, hanging chains to warn oversized trucks and unsealed floor that drops away at the far end. That big KTM with the Neptune pipes sounds pretty good in there as well  😀 At one time, all Pehu residents going out for supplies had to cross the Waitara River into the Matau and travel through Kiore to Stratford, or use the bridle track to Urutī. The tunnel was started in 1916 to make road access easier, though it wasn't completed until 1923, seven long years later. Hard men back in those days as it was excavated entirely by pick, shovel and explosives. Today, it's still the longest and most unstable of all Taranaki tunnels. Over the years, the fate of the tunnel has caused serious debate, leaving it closed on several occasions. The tunnel still links Urutī Valley with the main road to either New Plymouth or Auckland. If you stand on the road and look up at the towering bluff it was cut through, it's easy to understand why it was made.Nice views from the tunnel down the valley as well.Ureti Road segues into Moki Road just nicely, the only difference being the width and then you turn onto what is perhaps the most famous of all gravel roads, to the adventure rider anyway – Kiwi Road.In 1896, after two settlement blocks were opened up at Rerekapa, an access track called the Tooi was diverted from the Okau Road at Putiki. Heading southeasterly, it traversed the Putiki Valley before following a ridge along the wall of the Tongaporutu Valley. In 1900, the track was widened to 2m so Rerekapa settlers could carry in supplies, but the make-do road was often impassable in winter. It continued to be used until 1916, when a new road, the Kiwi, was put in to provide better access. After the Kiwi Road opened, the Tooi became redundant. Whether tunnels were included in the original plans is not known, but tunnelling began on the Eastern Kiwi Tunnel in 1913 and took two years to complete. When finally, the road opened again, it allowed wheeled traffic into the valley for the first time. The Eastern Kiwi Road Tunnel is quite plain, just a half-round hole in a bank. The Western Kiwi Rd Tunnel is a handsome structure by comparison, with a steeply pitched roof and rafters at each end that don't travel its whole length. Both the tunnels and road remain much as they did back in the days when they were built. Nice!!Kiwi Road exits on the main road from Atihihi to Ohura. A left turn found us heading for Atihihi to the main road (SH3) again. This is one scary bit of road on a 105hp bike with knobbly tyres. There is absolutely no chip in the seal and the lashings of slick, shiny patches of tarseal appear on your line just when you think things are going well. The HP stepped out several times and all of us found traction a real problem. Stories of “spinning up” despite very judicious use of throttle and at absolutely no time were anyone keen to apply any brake. Safely to Atihihi though and from there it is on through Mokau and into Awakino for our stay.Was pretty good timing too as the Auckland contingent of Vege, Stretch, Campbell, Ian, Tomo, Big Dave, Pedro and Noel had just started dribbling in. Their ride down was apparently a lot wetter and filled with more drama that you could poke a stick at.Suffice to say we had a great night of entertainment, even a few beers were downed  😮Sunday morning dawned cool but clear. After breakfast, which was very good, the appropriate photo shoot was organised to commemorate the occasion……………… and Stretch pulled a bit of stunt work, on a Cagiva Grand Canyon no less, in front of the pub, as you do  🙄We gassed up and headed off to the Awakino Heads for a bit off a look and a thrash on the beach.AccessBit of funChris and his KTM making easy work of the trackMr Forsyth also makes it look very easyBack South along SH3 once again and a left turn at Atihihi finds us heading for Ohura. The road has dried out a bit but it still is a bit of a pig.Eventually it turns into gravel again, I am still thinking there is something very weird about having the confidence to travel at 120+ along twisty gravel, but being stressed out at 80K on the tarmac. I’ll get over it.Gorgeous views from the Ohura RoadOnce we got to Ohura, John lead us along a couple of great country tracks, as I recall these were Huia Road and Roto Road, which bought us back out on the Forgotten Highway (SH43). As we headed into Taumaranui for lunch, I couldn’t help thinking it was worth the trip from Wellington just to do these two roads (and Kiwi Road of course).My camera battery gave up the ghost just after a brief chat with wee Max, who has just had his 4th birthday. We have one potential further Register member for the futureWe headed off to Ohakune and the trip back South down Turakina Valley Road, then onto SH1 by Bulls for the run home.All up, a brilliant weekend away. Good mates to meet up with for a party and great guys to travel with. We covered 996kms from whoa to go, got muddy for the most part of it, didn’t come to too much grief and all got home safe and sound. Isn’t that what it is all about? We’ll be doing it next weekend as well with an overnight stay in the Republic of Whangamomona.Garry

[Jim Young]

#8037

Great report as always Garry,Keep them coming.  🙂

[Dave Ross]

#8038

Well done Garry, you make even miserably wet ride sound good. I won't make it to Whanga, got too many work commitments. I am sure there will be another opportunity. I a particularly keen on riding the Kiwi Road.

[Murray]

#8039

Thanks Alex, was really good. Want more pics, go here http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242185&page=4&highlight=Awakino

[aegis4805]

#8040

another top post Garry – cheers S 

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