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 :-)

[pll]

Here is the blog of a couple that took a year off for touring: http://blog.erck.org (the started through New Zealand in January).

[crazycanuck]

Ummm..people who even attempt to bike around the North Island are nuts..Do you even know what motorists are like round Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton(hamil hole), most of the central north island and wellington??

When we lived in Auckland we said to ourselves that we'd never bike round it..Why you ask? Motorists that don't give a **** about cyclists..

This is why we're mountain bikers...Do a mountain bike trip in NZ..save yourself the hassle of baaaaaaaddddd motorists, enjoy the MUD and some of the best tracks the Southern Hemisphere can offer..

Oh yeah...Think UPHILL...

C

[Kristi]

Ummm..people who even attempt to bike around the North Island are nuts..Do you even know what motorists are like round Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton(hamil hole), most of the central north island and wellington??

When we lived in Auckland we said to ourselves that we'd never bike round it..Why you ask? Motorists that don't give a **** about cyclists..

This is why we're mountain bikers...Do a mountain bike trip in NZ..save yourself the hassle of baaaaaaaddddd motorists, enjoy the MUD and some of the best tracks the Southern Hemisphere can offer..

Oh yeah...Think UPHILL...

C

All the tours that I've looked at seem to only do the south island. They start in Christchurch (which I've seen called the road biking mecca of NZ) and go to the west and ride along the coast. Also, all the touring companies seem to have vans ride along. So stopping and resting is an option. They rate almost all the trips as moderate. They say there's some hills, but because of the van, it's pretty accessible for most level of riders. I haven't seen a single trip for the north island. I think going with a group I'd be pretty safe. They work out where we stay and all the transportation.

[Bad JuJu]

Looks like WomanTours offers a NZ trip:
New Zealand:Cycling the Southern Alps
That "Southern Alps" thing sounds frightening, but, as you noted, they do have their sag van, and alternate routes for the non-climbers.

I took a domestic tour with WomanTours a couple of years ago and it was just lovely.

[velogirl]

I did a 3-week tour of the south island (yes, starting in Christchurch) in March/April 2001 with VBT (Vermont Bicycle Tours). while I had a fabulous time, I would suggest carefully choosing your tour company.

VBT used to be a pretty hard-core cycle touring company. little did I know that they had been purchased by a senior travel group a few years prior and were heavily marketing to the senior crowd. I was 35 at the time and the next in age was my roommate on the tour(45), then there was one man who was 55. everyone else was 60 or older.

like many tour companies, VBT offered off-the-bike activities that I probably never would have considered for myself but were actually really cool (like a helicopter ride onto Franz Joseph Glacier. I skipped most of the off-the-bike activities but that one was great!

many tour companies also offer van/SAG support and you can opt to ride the full route, a portion of it, or none at all.

we stayed at very nice hotels/inns and even had a farm-stay (which I wasn't looking forward to but ended up loving).

I finished the trip with a week in Sydney, Australia (no riding, but lots of drinking and being a tourist on foot).

[Kristi]

I was thinking of doing that same thing.
Spending a week with a group doing all the touristy things on the bike, but then spending a week either on the north island or in Australia.

The groups I've looked at also do other things besides biking. But I've tried to look for the ones that are doing things that I might be interested in (like kayaking). I'm still looking at all the options. Thanks for heads-up on VBT. I'm only 28 so a senior trip is probably not my cup of tea.

I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

[velogirl]

btw, don't be afraid to call various tour companies and ask about the demographic of the typical groups on their tours. you may not get a specific (or honest) answer, but it's worth a try.

one thing to keep in mind with a longer tour (ie 3-4 weeks), especially an expensive one, is that typically, the folks who can afford that much time (and expense) will be older. not a lot of 20 & 30 year olds can afford to vacation for an entire month (or pay $6,000 for a vacation).

there are 100s of bicycle touring companies catering to a huge variety of demographics. find the one that fits your needs and interests.

[DirtDiva]

All the tours that I've looked at seem to only do the south island. They start in Christchurch (which I've seen called the road biking mecca of NZ) and go to the west and ride along the coast.

It is the better island... The popularity of cycling has absolutely skyrocketted in Christchurch over the last ten years or so - truly the new golf amongst the corporate set. There are hills all along the South of the city, coast along the east and flatness to the North and West, so it's pretty easy to just go do whatever kind of ride you want. Fairly dry too.

The sort of route as listed in BadJuJu's link would be a fantastic ride. I know all those roads well, although I've never riden them. It would be a lot more hills than flat, with the really serious hills being Arthur's Pass, Haast Pass and the Crown Range. All three are absolutely stunning though. If you were wanting to go on to Australia afterward, you can fly direct to Sydney (and maybe some other cities) from Queenstown.

[RoadRaven]

I might live here, but I actually know very little about cycling here other than road racing and training in Hawkes Bay. Come here, the cars are getting used to us, and even the local council has agreed to start erecting signs on our regular race routes.

I would agree that the South Island is stunning - I traveled for 3 weeks around it last year. I would love to have cycled it instead - lots of long open roads.

There are two great books available in most bookshops here called "Cycling round the North Island" and (surprisingly) "Cycling round the South Island". These books give you cycle distnce/times between centres and towns, places to stop and look at, bike friendly homestays and motels, and cycle shops. if you are not joining an organised tour, then these books would give you some great guidance.