Touring New Zealand ???

[Kristi]

I have just recently started riding a road bike and have decided to give myself a goal...

I want to get comfortable and get good enough to take a biking tour or New Zealand.

This is a country I've always wanted to go to. And I think this would blend two things I'm extremely interested in (biking & New Zealand).

I'm just wondering if anyone has done a tour of a foreign country on their bike? Did you do it with a put-together group (there seem to be many that put these on)? How was your experience (where ever you went)? Did you take your own bike? I'm wanting to, but I'm not sure what the hassles are?

Can anyone offer any suggestions or advice? I'm thinking I'd like to set this up for late next year. That gives me a year to get in shape and ready (and save up the money).

[Lifesgreat]

Sounds like a fun goal! I wanna do that!!

My friend did a San Juan Island tour with this group and really liked it. They also have NZ tours.

I realize there are some on this board who may have done a tour w/o a company and I look forward to hearing about their trips.

[FH Cyclist]

Hi, just wanted to let you know that I will be travelling to NZ this October. If you need some feedback on hotels, etc, let me know. I won't be doing much bicycling but maybe I can help out, if you decide not to go with a group.

BTW, I went across the US 30 years ago and I did it with BikeCentennial. I liked going with a group - everything was nicely taken care of. Just some thoughts for you.

I hope you have a great time.

[DirtDiva]

Can't think of a better way to see the best little country in the world than by bike!

Some things to bear in mind:
* There are lots of hills.
* Some (okay, many) of the roads you would ride on aren't particularly smoothly surfaced.
* There are areas where it is a long way between towns with places to stay.
* There are a lot of areas where drivers aren't going to expect to see cyclists.
* Good public transport is not prevalent.

None of these have to be problems, but they are things you need to take into account when training and planning. I can't think of any bike touring companies off the top of my head (although they will exist!), but I do know there is a Lonely Planet Guide for cycling in NZ.

It won't be cold late in the year (Nov/Dec), but your chances of getting rained on are higher around then. Summer is Jan/Feb; it can get pretty sweltering in some parts of the country. March would be a really good time to come, weather wise - settled and not too hot.

There's a few Kiwis around here, so by all means, ask away if you have any more specific questions.

[batsheva]

it looks little next to australia but is surprisingly big - check out a map online for milages but i think they will be much larger than you might suspect if you want to 'do' NZ by bike... - it is about 2000 to 2500 miles top to bottom...

batsheva

[batsheva]

2000-2500 kilometres - oops - must have spent too long outta kiwiland to even get the units of measurement right :-)