Earlier this week, 3 of us from Canada finished up motorcycle trip around New Zealand. It certainly was a trip of a life time, but we all agreed it wouldn't be our last trip to NZ.
I've been a lot of places but I truly haven't been anywhere as good as this for a motorcycle trip. We have lots of pictures and videos but you guys see those sites everyday. I'll will give a run down of trip for your amusement and hopefully anyone else that is thinking of taking a trip to NZ to ride.
First some special people to thank...
1) Garners Hire BIkes just outside of Chistchurch. Stuart was excellent to deal with. We were suppose to have 3 F650GS but Stuart and one of these were taken out by a car a few weeks before. So we had 2 F650GS and 1 R1200GS. Bikes were in excellent condition and Stuart had us all setup with full Givi hard bags and soft internal bags. Had zero issues with the bikes or the rental process and Stuart having been in the biking side of things for many years had a lot of great stories.
2) Grant (Muppet) who met up with us on our last day to join us for breakfast and take us out to return the bikes. We wish we had of been able to meet up the 1st day and learned a few rules of the NZ road. May have avoided an embarrassing moment, but then we wouldn't have that story to tell.
3) Paul and Gary who we met at Bella Vista in Wanaka. We arrived wet, very wet. They opened up the ski drying room for us and by morning everything was good. They both joined us for supper on one of the nights which it's always great to share stories from opposite sides of the world. If someone is in Wanaka, you should stop by and the Bella Vista and tell him that the Canadians said he should dust off his Harley and take it for a ride.
Our travels and the highlights....
Day: 1 Pick up the bikes in Christchurch and ride to Akaroa. It was raining slightly, we were still a little tired from the flight, unfamiliar bikes, foreign country and very twisty roads. I was trying to be very careful and follow all post speed limits. It was then that it happened. What shame. What distress. Out for only 2 hours and pulled over by the local police.
Me: Hello Officer
Officer: If you are going to ride that slow pull over and let people by.
Me: Well what's the speed limit.
Officer: That's up to you.
Me: Well I'm not familiar with your signs, it says 50, I'm doing 50.
Officer: If you don't know the signs then you shouldn be driving.
Me: I'll guarantee that won't happen again officer.
Interesting Point #1: We love your speed limits at least for the bikes that we were on. In North America, your recommended speed signs would typically be our speed limit. We found every road outside of a town or city to be 100 kmh. Were amazed to see a posted limit of 100 kmh, followed by a recommended speed of 25 kmh followed by a turn that truly could not be taken at 100. Plenty of fast corners all still at a legal speed. We had no further fear of being pulled over by police.
Interesting Point #2: We had no idea of the damage and effect the Earth Quake had on Christchurch. Our hearts go out to those people and were impressed with how many people we talked to that pitched in to help.
Day 2: Chirchurch to Dunedin - The inland route which I thought would be the less exciting part of the trip. By the end of the day we were all saying that we had never experienced anything that good. By the end of the trip, were amazed that it was only the start and got better everyday. While in Dunedin, took a run up, down, up, down, up, down Baldwin street. Met a girl from Christchurch at the top who was a writer for YHA. She'd never been on a motorcycle so I took for a ride down and up Baldwin street. We ended up posted on the YHA website. Brought home Jaffas to remember the street by. Have to ask, while coming up behind a van following a double transport, (one lane our way, two lanes coming toward us) the van went to pass the truck and nothing coming so I followed the van. Van wasn't going fast enough for me so I passed the Van, while it was passing the trailer. Probably only a few places in NZ that you have 3 country lanes side by side that this could be done. Was a first for me. My buddy nearly laughed himself off the road.
Day 3: Dunedin to Invercargill - Took the coastal route. Absolutely amazing. For those of you that think you have to go to the US to see twisty roads or beautiful scenery, you've got it right there. All the challenge and better scenery then places like Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee. But miles longer and less traffic. Spent sometime at E Hayes to see the Fastest Indian. Was special for us as we took a night just before we left home to watch the movie and a week later we are standing by the bike and riding the roads the Bert did.
Day 4: Invercargill to Te Anau - Another eventless ride except for amazing roads and scenery. Then we went to Milford Sound. A little bit of rain after we drove through the tunnel, but then again it's a rain forest. What a spot. Rained a little heavier on the way out, but that just makes more waterfalls. Rained stopped just after the tunnel. I tend to think the other end of that tunnel isn't actually on earth.
Day 5: Te Anau to Wanaka - The one day of actual rain. Drove straight from hotel to hotel but did go over Crown Range Road. Were soaked by the time we arrived, but were ready for a bit of a rest and sun came out late in the afternoon. That was the end of the rain for the trip.
Day 6: Day trip from Wanaka - Back over Crown Range Road. One guy couldn't keep up. Get to the bottom, turn around, go look for him, wave as he goes by, he gets to the bottom turns around to follow us, etc. Took a run up to the ski resort. Now this is where you differ from North America. Our ski hills start at the bottom of the hill, not 2/3 rds of the way up the hill. On to Glenorkary, (I know spelled wrong). What a beautiful spot. Back to the town and then Crown Range Road again. Gee lost him again, had to go look for him.
Day 7, 8, 9: Wanaka to FranzJoseph to West Port to Nelson - Nothing but great roads and sunny and warm the entire time.
Day 9.5: We found the one country road that isn't 50 kmh going into Picton on the Old Christchurch road I think it was. It was roads like this that convinced us having the F650GS was much better than the R1200GS. R1200GS was so touchy in low gears where the F650GS was forgiving, smooth but still plenty of speed. The lower weight of the F650 really made difference in some of the more risky passing scenarios that I tend to take on twisty roads. I don't like following cars or dual tractor trailers. Passed a few of them coming down and up the twisties of Takaka Hill.
Day 10: Abel Tasman - Took a boat ride and then out to Colinwood I think it was over Takaka Hill. Another hot sunny day and perfect riding.
Day 11: Back to Christchurch on the inland route. Again another sunny perfect day for riding and were back in time enough to take a run out to Akaroa in the sunshine. This time with no chance of being stopped for being too slow.
A few lessons we learned that may help other visitors.
- A black circle with a 100 in the center means 100 km/h. We typically did 105 and with an open bike like the F650 on foreign roads with lots of twists that was just great. I would have been tempted to much if I had my FJR there.
- A yellow sign saying 25, 35, 55, etc. is a recommended speed and most people apparently don't do as recommended. We were comfortable doing 30 km over the recommended up to 105. However when it says 15 or 25, it may mean exactly that.
- NZ has a lot of road kill. I'm assuming they are ferrits. They are nicely packed down however. Only small road kill as well, which is easy to deal with compared to a 600 lb dear or 1200 lb moose.
- I've never driven by so many dairy cows and not smelled crap. I kept saying these have to be the happiest cows in the world because we constantly say clean cows in green pastures with beautiful scenery. Our saying became: New Zealand, where cows are happy, men are men, sheep are nervous and horses are fast because they heard about the sheep. No offense, we never actually saw anyone with the sheep, but one of our guys was eyeing one awfully close.
- Food was great, but a little expensive compared to home. I'd say about 25% more. That did not stop us from eating a lot, I mean a whole lot.
- Gas was expensive, our price is about $1.30/liter compared to your $2.30/liter. We didn't care too much.
- People on the South Island were absolutely great and very friendly. Amazing how resourceful people are in NZ. There doesn't seem to be the laziness and entitlement that we see in the USA. I referred to NZ a few times as the land of plenty but not of excess. We even noticed in a lot of building construction that things as simple as bathroom locks in public washrooms (we ate a lot, we shit alot) all had basic locks. Good quality but not excessive. Difference is that they all worked, where in USA, you'll have 80% of them ripped off the door and replaced with a barn latch.
- We love the rotaries instead of stop lights. We love the 100 kmh speed limit instead of travelling half the speed the road should allow because they are trying to force you to use the hiway. We loved the 'Give Way' rather than 'Stop' signs. We enjoyed public washrooms that were clean instead of smelling like someone pissed in the corner. We loved that every turn had a new and pleasant surprise. We loved the safety and that someone could hike across your country without being scared.
So we'll be back again. Don't know when, but as one of the guys said, 'some roads just have to be driven more than once.'
Thanks all.
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Originally Posted by maddad
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