New Zealand March 2012

Dakarnoway

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Hi to all,
A long way off this holiday but to get a good deal on flights and other stuff to sort, i`m putting my hand up to see if anyone might be thinking of doing the same.
I will be taking a month off to do this trip 1st of March hopefully to be back in the UK on 31st 2012. I hope to hire a trail bike for at least 2wks to tour the south island.
There will be Off-Road sections not sure if pillions would be comfortable on a DR650 or similar. Accommodation for me will be Hostels or very in-expensive hotels/B+B`s.

So, 1st week of March 2012 i`m hoping to fly out to Auckland, friends to visit live on the north island, live in The Bay of Plenty area. I`ll be with them for a week. Not sure yet how i`m going to get about on the north island, could hire a trail bike in the north but return it to Christchurch on the south island, where if possible fly back to the UK.

Just an outline to what i`m thinking of doing. Those who are reading this will have other ideas and suggestions so get them up on here. I have no skill in putting a map up on here or route that i`ve got places to visit or stay. If you live in NZ or have already been and would like to offer some advice, please add anything relevant. I shall be booking my flight in late February early March 2011.

Thats all for now folks.

:beerjug: Dakarnoway.
 
I live Dunedin way, there are some awesome roads and places down here. I can suggest a few bits of twisty tarseal, spectacular scenery, gravel byways... Depends what you like. Might even be talked onto the bike myself if you pass somewhere vaguely my way.

Sounds like you're looking towards the backpacker end of the price spectrum. Motels can also be a good deal if you land up in a group - the $85 unit I was in a couple of weeks back would have slept 3 to 5 depending on how cosy you're willing to be. B&B is often boutique and expensive here, but not always.
 
Dakarnoway said:
Hi to all,
A long way off this holiday but to get a good deal on flights and other stuff to sort, i`m putting my hand up to see if anyone might be thinking of doing the same.
I will be taking a month off to do this trip 1st of March hopefully to be back in the UK on 31st 2012. I hope to hire a trail bike for at least 2wks to tour the south island.
There will be Off-Road sections not sure if pillions would be comfortable on a DR650 or similar. Accommodation for me will be Hostels or very in-expensive hotels/B+B`s.

So, 1st week of March 2012 i`m hoping to fly out to Auckland, friends to visit live on the north island, live in The Bay of Plenty area. I`ll be with them for a week. Not sure yet how i`m going to get about on the north island, could hire a trail bike in the north but return it to Christchurch on the south island, where if possible fly back to the UK.

Just an outline to what i`m thinking of doing. Those who are reading this will have other ideas and suggestions so get them up on here. I have no skill in putting a map up on here or route that i`ve got places to visit or stay. If you live in NZ or have already been and would like to offer some advice, please add anything relevant. I shall be booking my flight in late February early March 2011.

Thats all for now folks.

:beerjug: Dakarnoway.
Click to expand...

These two books are good

"New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas" (Second edition) by Peter Mitchell. Covers listed gravel and sealed rides with commentary
ISBN-10: 1-877302-32-5 ISBN-13: 978-1-877302-9

"Land of the Long Wild Road" by Bob Goddard. Husband and wife Poms ride trail bikes over most of the best gravel and of course cover some well described roads and NZ countryside. Catch their talk at Ripley
ISBN 898030 37 5

Don't completely write off North Island. From the Bay of Plenty you are well placed to ride around East Cape, down through Gisborne and Napier (but staying on delightful but deserted country roads) to Wellington and the Cook Strait ferries

The narrow and lonely "Forgotten Highway" (!!) that runs one hundred twisting miles between Stratford in Taranaki and Taumarunui in Manuwatu distrct is something else (see Google and GoogleEarth for more detail) Oh, you can get the T shirt and have your passport stamped at the Whangamomona pub at half time

IIRC the Molesworth Station track from near Seddon (close to Picton ferry terminal) to Hanmer Springs is only open in Jan & Feb

For trail bike hire you will probably have to budget a minimum of £50 per day. Another option might be to see if the Auckland BMW agents (BMW Experience) will sell and buy back a 650GS

The Free Open GPS NZ Autorouting is a great application. It will run on a Quest or any other Garmin that you can strap to a bike and has most of the unsealed roads and tracks. It is updated weekly so is great for POI's such as fuel availability, motels, eateries and repair shops - It's well worth downloading, even just as a planning tool, from http://nzopengps.org which is how I used it last month. I attach some of my routing in N Island

ps Singapore Airlines still knocks the socks off Emirates (and I hate to say it, CX) and the rest - also just one stop to AKL from Manchester or London
 
I'm just round the corner if you want to borrow the books
 
Whoa !!! :) :clap

I feel like i`m gonna need to put my helmet on already :cool: :type

Yes Kritou I would like to take a look at those books and if you`re back from NZ to take a look at any photos of your trip. I am off week days next week and could sort something out hopefully with you. Also the North West meeting at The Windmill I am planning to get there, by car :augie.
You`re correct Kritou I am on a budget and to take in that i`ve not ridden much off-road in the past 2 years. My thinking is how heavy my F650 Dakar is to lift with extra weight of panniers. A Suzuki DR650 or similar looks to be ideal for what I need as in cost of hire or buy-back as I have looked into that option. Simplicity of everything and of course speed that you`re limited to in NZ.

ahutcheon :thumb2
A guy at where I work, his brother owns or runs a hotel in Dunedin ... i`ve got a free night at least there. So yes I will be down your way on my travels round the South island. Would be great to have someone show me round. I like tarseal as much as track as long as it`s twisty. :clap

Right ... lots of searching to do with this info already given.

Catch you later, Dakarnoway.
 
Hi Kritou :)
Thanks for letting me borrow the books. Reading Land of the Long Wild Road is great as I can look up in the Motorcycle Atlas for referance and see the distances. Also thanks for lots of the advice on where to stay and eateries to find.

A few things that i`ve looked into about bike hire. Sent some emails out for prices and what`s available. Trying to get trail bikes of around 400-650cc. DRZ-400 and XT660`s as well as DR650`s. I won`t be carrying a passenger and much luggage. Soft luggage over pannier rails and a waterproof roll bag across the back. Extra fuel cannisters, at least 2ltrs as Kritou suggests. Fuel tanks on purpose built trail-bikes can be quite small around 13-15ltrs only.

Looks like I can`t book flights till the end of April 2011 for March 2012.

I`ll get back to my reading ... catch you later, Dakarnoway. :beer:
 
watch out for police speed traps. Also, they'll have your passport number from you and if you don't pay your fine they'll catch you at the airport and won't let you leave until you do.
 
Ta :clap mr_magicfingers for the tip :)

Reading "Land of the Long Wild Road" you do get lots of info of how a small trail bike (XT225 Serow) is adequate for the terrain. I`ve owned 2 of these bikes myself and covered 20,000mls on`em.
With the speed limit at 100km p/hr you just don`t need a large capacity motorcycle. With so many tracks used as main roads and with trucks, buses and tractors, if heading towards you :eek: getting past those would benefit something you don`t mind slinging into a ditch :clap :toungincheek lol!!!

If you have any family or friends that you wish to visit and you travel before Xmas till after New Year the prices to fly reflect the demand. Being March and into their Autumn and end of the busy season flights are cheaper. Bikes can be hired at about a quarter off the high season price. Ok that depends on the age and type of bike I wish to hire. For example ... an XT600E for 28 days hire high season nz$80 which is not too bad :augie ... in March it`s down to nz$65.
This includes unlimited Km`s, motorcycle insurance (excess/bondNZ$1000), airport transfers service, luggage carrier for saddle and/or rollbag (or to carry extra fuel), Goods services Tax (GST), chain lube, support service, road maps and briefing on great roads and places to go.

I would add at this point and advise you to take out your own personal insurance to get you back to the UK as i`m told it could cost you close to £26,000 if needs must. :censor: :eek: :eek: :tears

Will add more when I get the info.

ttfn Dakarnoway
 
lucky man!

had we not become parents our next bike trip would have been NZ.

Any way.... 4 years on We've got a motorhome booked for 3 weeks from late March and I'm just firming up the route and itinerary but just need some advice.

Should I pre-book the camping pitches and try and stick to the timings or will the campgrounds be okay with us turning up on spec or phoning ahead as we travel?
 
Keyframe said:
had we not become parents our next bike trip would have been NZ.

Any way.... 4 years on We've got a motorhome booked for 3 weeks from late March and I'm just firming up the route and itinerary but just need some advice.

Should I pre-book the camping pitches and try and stick to the timings or will the campgrounds be okay with us turning up on spec or phoning ahead as we travel?
Click to expand...

You should be fine for ad hoc availability in March but consider signing up with www.top10.co.nz for a discount. Their sites are usually closer to town centres than most
 
My wife and I are just starting to think about heading out there possibly in January next year for a month or so. However, having met up with a couple of Austalians who shipped their 1200 Adventure for a trip round Europe last year, we are thinking about shipping our bike out. A return trip for about £1500 by ship. Rental costs make it more than viable.

Anyone got any experience of shipping/insurance once there?

Cheers
Andy
 
Hi one of the best gravel rides in the North Island must be the Motu Road on the East cape 20ks past Opotiki to Matawai. March being a good time of year to do it the stream crossing fords will be low. Check it out in the books recommended earlier . If you decide to go that way and are looking for a bed for the night in the area I can probably put you on a couch for the night. My place is in the Pakihi Valley it is close as the crow fly’s or by horse to the Motu road but by GS about forty km away some gravel the last few km to the house is a quad bike track that the GS can get over but you would be pushing it to get a 4x4 through
 
NZ March 2012

Kia Ora timbatrader,

Thank you for the pointer to this road and welcome on your first post on ukgser.
I have both books lent to me from kritou and I can see Motu on the map, also Pakihi Head Hut though a track is not shown.
I can see a few days will be needed to do the East Cape and back to Te Puke and the route back takes us on the road you are suggesting.

An offer for a couch is always welcome timbatrader, somehow we can organize that at a later date.

Thanks Dakarnoway
 
Hi Dakarnoway
A suggestion for you and any other UKGSER coming to New Zealand would be to join the New Zealand BMW owners register www.bmwor.org.nz you should be able to get a lot of local information and contacts that would be useful in planing a trip and you will be able to contact me via that site using personal message option that I can not access on this site I am timbatrader on both sites
 
NZ march 2012

How do timbatrader :)

I had bmwor.org on my favourites list a couple of weeks now and i`ve just registered.
We wont be hiring BMW`s when in NZ :hide but the info provided by the site will be very helpful.

Catch you all later, Dakarnoway.
 
Dont forget
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/
and
http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=65.

NZ is a great place to travel around. I just hope you have enough time.
When I go round the South Island which is at least once a year in my Landrover 2 weeks just isn't enough.
I reckon you would be best to work out your route beforehand and what you want to see and do. Then use it as a guide only. You will be tempted by many things to do here. Accomodation should not be a problem this time of year and yes you can still wild camp at certain places. Check http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/ if camping takes your fancy.
As Kritou says the Molesworth is only open end of December to End of March but its more spectacular neighbour The Rainbow can be accessed year round with the appropriate key.
http://lonestarfarms.co.nz/rainbowroad.aspx
There are too many riding routes to list best get over here and ride them. Everyone here has their own favourites as you will see if you look at the supplied websites.

Adrian
 
Last edited:
NZ March 2012

Hi Adrian :)

Haha!!! You`re on the right track with websites to take a look at. I`ve been lurking on the AVD Riders site for a while but not posted any questions just yet.
The New Zealand pics. Lets see `em! have really set the ball rolling for me. I know I/we won`t be able to see it all. :blast but with the pointers of the folk on here I just hope i`ll get to ride and see quite a bit of both islands.

Another good find is a ride report on austouring.com by glitch. Fire and Ice 2_2010

Wild camping or any camping for me is just a lot of hassle, hoping to carry the kit on a bike that i`m not used to and also to organize what i`ll need would be too much of a headache. With almost throw-over soft panniers on a frame and a rackpack with an extra fuel canister, we will be traveling light.

Keep it coming, Dakarnoway :clap
 
Depending on tank capacity (I don't worry with the 20-odd litres of the standard GS) it might not be worth carrying a can of spare fuel if you're trying to travel light. Nowhere is that far from anywhere here in NZ; there are places you might not want to go past without topping up and some of them will be charging a premium for providing fuel out in the sticks but I doubt the extra at the pump would cost much more than the fuel can you don't have to carry.

Would you carry spare fuel in the highlands of Scotland? Your call, similar scenario.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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