Touring New Zealand ???

[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.