New Zealand Advice

bigfoot · Post by **bigfoot** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:17 pm

All

The wife and I have always said we wanted o do New Zealand so are now looking at the possibility of doing it in December 2016. Not sure if it's possible as haven't investigated the budget we would need yet.

So few questions:

1. Best way to get flights - don't want to spend too much of the budget on this
2. Need two bikes - any ideas on the best places to hire
3. Must see places, itinery, or better still GPS routes.
4. Weather conditions end of November early December

May all come to nothing if budget doesn't allow but thanks for the input

camy · Post by **camy** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:44 pm

I used trailfinders for flights when i went with a stop over in Thailand and then stopped in Sydney for 3 days under there advice as you can fly to Queenstown from there.
we bought a car for $600 used it for our trip. Not sure on bike hire

pinball1008 · Post by **pinball1008** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:46 pm

Hasn't Redmurty just been out there and I believe with a hire bike. Also Elle is there at the moment, but she has her own bike so may not be able to help with hire bikes.

XF650 · Post by **XF650** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:02 pm

Definitely go if you can! (thumbs)

December is their summer time and if you stick to the North Island it's near tropical. Further south you go the colder and more mountainous it gets, good for skiers. Basically, anywhere in NZ is good. Long time since I did some back packing over there but I did pick kiwi fruit for some extra cash and bought an immaculate BL Mini estate to sleep in while traveling about. Bought it for about $900 and sold it five months later for the same amount. Those were the days ha!

Went straight to Aussie for 3 months after that, you should consider that option too!

stanbloke · Post by **stanbloke** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 4:20 pm

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1034975

Just finished reading this and i now have incredibly itchy feet (thumbs) .

Oh....if only.

russ_fae_fyvie · Post by **russ_fae_fyvie** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 4:56 pm

We were there in 2007 and again in 2009 and it was amazing, just a looooooong flight that is a bit of a bugger !

In 2007 I hired a GS1200 (which I didn't like but thats subjective !) and just did 2 weeks on the the South Island, in 2009 we started off at Auckland and had a week on the North Island and then week on the South Island.

It is am amazing place and we were lucky to be able to do it twice.

First time we did everything through GOTOUR NZ and they did everything for providing the bike to organising the Itinerary (with your input) to booking the accommodation which was first class. Ian and John Fitzwater were a great help. We did the personalised Self Guided Tour but there are plenty of other choices.

A short guide we wrote up is HERE

In 2009, with the knowledge about where to find decent accommodation (from 2007 trip) we did it all ourselves but hired the bike from them again. We planned the route and pre booked all the accommodation, with all the Booking.com and other websites its also a lot easier now.

Just do it mate you on't regret it !!

2007 Trip

2009 Trip

Damn I wanna go again now !!!

600+ · Post by **600+** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:31 pm

We did 3 weeks on a GS1200 over Xmas and NY. Started off in Auckland and went all the way to Curio Bay and flew back from Christchurch.

I can send you a PM with the money side of things

Redmurty · Post by **Redmurty** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:37 am

Flights can be had for about £1600 if you shop around mine cost me £2100 inc taxes and I booked really late. I flew in and out of Christchurch.
Bike hire was about £65 a day for a decent Dakar 650 good bike frugal and off road capable because I did lots of gravel roads and some tracks.
Pub food is slightly more expensive than at home but better quality and the meals tend to be big.
Petrol was $1.18 kiwi dollars a litre which is about 65 pence at the time I was there, accom varies motels usually come in around the $135 kiwi a day about £65 they come with a double a single and a kitchen area. There are B abd B's around usually just outside town and don't forget you can stay in pubs as well.
I did 5300 miles around the South island and could of done more, NZ has everything Europe has in one go, locals are very friendly especially at petrol stations where the petrol pump attendants will usually strike up a conversation and tell you about the local roads.
The South island is usually deemed as the better island to ride and that's according to the locals and as they say "if you don't like the weather wait half hour, it will change" the west coast is usually damp as it has a rain forest. You can ride for a couple of hours without seeing anyone (thumbs)
Anything else you would like to know ? I will be going back in 2016 to finish my tour

IF YOU HAVE CHANCE GO YOU WILL LOVE IT...... B)

Cheers Spud

Redmurty · Post by **Redmurty** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:40 am

600+ wrote:We did 3 weeks on a GS1200 over Xmas and NY. Started off in Auckland and went all the way to Curio Bay and flew back from Christchurch.

I can send you a PM with the money side of things

I kept on bumping into a couple on a GS and spoke to them on the way to Glenorchy if I remember correctly and saw them several times on the West Coast was that you guys

cheers Spud

Redmurty · Post by **Redmurty** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:41 am

have a look at

http://www.motorcyclerental.co.nz/

motorcycles rentals out of Christchurch

cheers Spud