After leaving NZ last century have decided its time to go back and visit the few remaining relatives I have there and do another ride around the south island Airtickets booked and looking at hiring / acquiring buy and sell back arrangements for bikes - partly sorted in this area as friend has loaned me his bike for the trip however mate of mine who is coming over with me still on the look out for something Since I've left no doubt there have been many changes and looking for recommendations of places to stay places to eat at and just as importantly places to avoid Have ridden a bike around the south island in 87,88,89,90,93,94,95 & 99 so I know most of the better roads down there Will not be doing many of the tourist type things, its primarily a road trip taking in the scenery and the roads Also if it falls within the right time frame / location not adverse to taking in a bike rally en route or meeting up with other forum members over there
Did this last year on a hired Suzuki Vstrom 650. Paid around £700 for 10 days which was pretty reasonable. This included luggage and sat nav. If you're interested I'll try and find the contact details. Absolutely loved it and will return some day to do both Islands.
Value-for-Money Roadbikes This is the company I used. Excellent service and communication. I was able to pick the bike up at Brightwater(South of Nelson) which was ideal as my cousin stays near there. The bike wasn't new(It was about 6 years old) but had just been serviced/new chain sprockets, and ran like a dream for the 10 days. You will already be aware but be especially careful of the Traffic Polis and the sand flies. Both equally brutal in different ways. I did the whole tourist route, basically Henry Coles trip(missing out Dunedin). 1 days light rain in the 10 days and stunning scenery.
will be flying into Auckland have friends / family there that I need to catch up with, have a loan of mates bike for the 2 weeks however friend coming with me has still to sort a bike out Possibly wrong forum to discuss what I have a loan of but its one of Eric Buells less commercially successful designs Have ferry tickets booked and NI itinerary sorted, SI itinerary roughed out but dependant on weather and how far we travel each day
I'd be interested to know how you get on, after the event. I have in-laws over there and I really ought to visit at some stage. I always fancied doing a bit of a bike trip in NZ, but I've been put off by the fact that just about everyone I know that's been (in hire cars) has been caught speeding by the police. The limit is 100k and I get the impression that the limit is rigidly enforced and that it is a major source of income. Last time I had a hire bike in US, watching out for the cops all the time (and there are many) became such a bore, riding ceased to be a pleasure. I'm not a speed maniac, but I do like to ride the road at a speed suitable for it rather than one arbitrarily set. 100kph is too slow for decent empty roads.
@Ken Oaff bring back as many cans of watties extra cheesy spaghetti you can carry and i will pay you handsomely !!
as part of a 'decent trip' a couple of years back, i spent just over a month driving in NZ, from Pahia, via Auckland, Thames, Rotorua,Nelson, down to Wellington, and then blenheim, Kaikoura, over the top via Hanmer Springs to Greytown, punakaiki and then down the coast to Wanaka, queens town, te anau, dunedin, lake tekapo and c'church. two roads that i really enjoyed, the one over the top via hammer springs and down the other side, and the Crown Range road from Lake Wanaka to queens town( didn't stay long in q'town, moved swiftly on...), i liked looking for the backroad/country when i could as i wasn't in a rush. i recall the coast road from nelson to Wellington, was nice as well, as opposed to the main road sprint down to wellington. Coast road from punakaiki down southwards was spectacular as i recall, stopped for a drink and break by the coast, and blow me, a couple of ducati ST4s stopped to litter the place up. said hello, natch. didn't get done for speeding, only saw one police trap, did about 4k km, iirc. lety me know if you want me to dig out the map for any specifics, but as a local, i bet you know more than i did anyway.
p.s. i stayed in a whole bunch of motels mostly as i went round, can get you details of which specific ones if wanted. did a good wine tasting tour in nelson, car with couple of aussies, and nzers- immense banter as we went on/the wine flowed. i gave them plenty of centuries of British history - no quarter asked or given, much respect at the end of the tour all round.
probably, as i say, there was a wine tour involved....at one point. the one that got trashed by a quake in the 30s. also did go to nelson.
yea thats Napier. the art deco capital of the world as, like you say it was trashed in the quake and rebuilt all art deco. Nelson is more known for its wine for sure. only been past there by boat myself.
If you're down south all the way, The SSR - Home is worth a look as a whole or in part(s) The weathers a bit changeable tho', so be prepared.
never done Te Anau so I might try that Invercargill is possibly on the route I believe its main tourist drawcards are Burt Munroes Indian and the Largest Truck Museum in the Southern Hemisphere
Invers is a bit of a small town, pop. approx.50k people, not much to see or do here, it could be done in 1/2 to 1 day, it's more about the roads/journey/scenery etc. but E Hayes and Sons Hardware, Homeware, giftware and Engineering Supply Store in Invercargill Southland the museum, Bill Richardson - Transport World / Invercargill, New Zealand are a few of the local attractions.
G grew up in NZ... left 15 years ago and moved to the UK (mostly because I love Rain so much!!!!!) Driving in NZ during the late 80's 90's was great. All you really had to watch out for was pukeko's and possum's. You could probably say the same thing about the UK back then, and change-out for badgers and pheasants. Ive been in the UK for 15 years now, and driven back in NZ every 2-3 years whilst on holiday... some of the journeys (say between auckland and northland or auckland and bay of plenty) I might well add an hour on.. not from congestion but from speed restrictions in small towns or speed cameras on the open roads. The journey just seemed tedious and restricted compared to days of old. Im sure there are still many areas to really enjoy as you wish.. but I definitely noticed it.. .going back periodically.
Have you tried Auckland Motorbike Hire, NZ's top motorcycle rental company | Auckland Motorbike Hire for a quote? I had a DR650 for four days to do some gravel road riding when I was there last year. Randall is a real nice guy & has a good selection of bikes.
Been in contact with him and all the other rental companies Then contact in NZ offered me the use of his spare bike which was an offer I could not refuse Only issue will be the speed nazis and the wide open roads once you get out of the cities Maybe take a spare plate off the garage wall and evade them that way
Not recommended, they'll just wait further down the road. The cops aren't everywhere, you just have to pick your time and places, off the main routes and out of peak times.
