Wow man, you guys have an awesome country!

[Metastable]

The family and I just got back from a 2 week trip of NZ. We stayed near Morrinsville, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Auckland. It was fantastic..... the winter there really isn't all that bad. A bit chilly or windier than fark (Wellington - where else? :D ) a bit of a rough ferry crossing, but we kept saying.... DAMN we like THIS kind of winter!!!!

There were so many times I wish I was on a motorcycle. I don't think you guys have any roads that go straight for too long .... which makes things lots of fun..... unless you have a logging truck going around some tight @$$ corner. :shit: We actually saw a truck flipped over on the 1 near Whanganui (sp?).... I hope the driver was OK.... wife said the cab didn't look good.

Anyway, back to driving.... I was immediately impressed with how folks move over to help faster traffic pass by. Of course you have those that are denser than a board and won't either get out of the fast lane on the motorway or won't pull over on the back roads even if there are 7 cars behind them, they are going well under the speed limit and pass through 3 towns, with ample spots to pull over. I don't know if some of those odd cases were home grown talent or imported, but overall you guys are very courteous on the roads.

What did I like.... geez.... lots there. We had a great time walking around Mount Maunganui/Taruanga, we did a hike into New Chums Beach near the Coromandel. We stopped by Otaki and near there we hit the city/town with the coolest name in the country.... TE HORO .... that sounds wicked.... like a Spanish dude that is angry with his wife. Wellington was beautiful, but fark guys.... the wind almost blew our stroller away uphill. :Punk:

We had a great hike at Able Tasman, that whole area is awesome. Christchurch was probably our favorite city. It was very European (is that a good thing?) :shutup: and we happened to see a few members of the Wallabies a day or so before they good wooped.... again..... by the All Blacks, walking in Cathedral square. Auckland was a beautiful city as well, with lots of cool places near by like Piha. Auckland has some funny weather though... sun, rain... repeat. :D

I expected to see more bikes on the road, but I guess it is your winter.... lots of bike shops though. Overall the trip went by too fast and there were many places we wish we had more time to explore.

I'll post up some pics in a bit. Oh BTW, Air New Zealand kicks Air Canada's @$$ like it is going out of style.

[Edbear]

Couldn't agree more! You've summed up NZ quite well actually. :yes:

Two weeks? You poor things you only caught the briefest glimpse of what we have here!:bye: Two months would be better. :sunny:

Glad you enjoyed your trip, come back in Summer for longer and you won't want to leave! :shifty:

[ExpertoCrede]

Spend more time here - summertime.

Wouldn't it be great though to see more bikes on the road.

'O' for Awesome by the way.

We don't al:laugh:ways appreciate how lucky we are.

[cave weta]

My work keeps me in touch with tourists and that keeps me a bit humble....
Yes I know that we live in the most spectacular country on earth... haha
honestly - I hear it weekly.

Great little write up there metastable- twill be great to see you back some time.
you might like to chat to brownbabe, roadtripdiva and lauracda who are all in your neck of the woods.
lovely ladies with a taste for NZ.
oh- and have a clicky on my signiture link and visit my website to see my tour photos and video!

[sinfull]

Yep yep yep coolest ppl live there ! Lucky ya didn't blink though !

[oldrider]

I was reading with bated breath but you didn't go anywhere spectacular and yet you still liked it! :mellow:

Guess you must be coming back to look at the good bits! :yes:

[Quasi]

WooHoo - awesome write up Metastable and your enthusiasm has rekindled my love affair with NZ and reminded me of what a great country we live in - esp the Sinhole of NZ - Te Horo:innocent:. Hopefully we will see you and the family back again one day.

[Metastable]

Here are some pics in order of visit .... Ya we totally missed doing a ton of other stuff..... just not enough time you know. Although by seeing the number of rental cars and campers that were not being used in the winter at nearby airport rental spots...... I'm kinda glad we weren't doing all this driving in summer. :) You guys must get pissed off at the Touristas.

Mount Maunganui/Tauranga
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7662.jpg?t=1281593145

Coromandel Penninsula next few shots
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7712.jpg?t=1281593294

New Chums Beach (near Coromandel the town)
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7747.jpg?t=1281593345

Whangamata
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7767.jpg?t=1281593424

South of Taupo.... fark, dunno the name of that hill, but I'm sure you guys do.... there is another white Volcano next to it.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7824.jpg?t=1281593456

Wellington
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7884.jpg?t=1281593530

Kaiteriteri near Abel Tasman
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7913.jpg?t=1281593594

Abel Tasman ... we didn't even get to the "good" parts. I think we could have easily hit Anchor Bay if we were running and didn't have a kid strapped to our backs.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7961.jpg?t=1281593642

Christchurch - look closely on the bottom..... they walked right into my shot. :D I wasn't about to say much.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_8052.jpg?t=1281593744

Kaikoura - sun and clouds weren't working with us on this shot... had some great shot opportunities to the north but we were on a Ferry deadline.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_8056.jpg?t=1281593820

Auckland weather..... LOL... I must say our last day there was glorious.... 14C and nothing but sun. Here is another day from the top of Mt. Eden. Sun, Rain and a Rainbow.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_8104.jpg?t=1281593876

Magnificent Piha
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_8111.jpg?t=1281593942

[tri boy]

Shhhhh, don't tell the rest of the world:shifty:

[Metastable]

My work keeps me in touch with tourists and that keeps me a bit humble....
Yes I know that we live in the most spectacular country on earth... haha
honestly - I hear it weekly.

Great little write up there metastable- twill be great to see you back some time.
you might like to chat to brownbabe, roadtripdiva and lauracda who are all in your neck of the woods.
lovely ladies with a taste for NZ.
oh- and have a clicky on my signiture link and visit my website to see my tour photos and video!

Checked the website - very cool... awesome video too. I would love to make it there in the summer, even though I just finished joking about there being too many tourists there. We'll see.... you guys might just see me there again.

BTW, I picked up a copy of Kiwirider while I was there too.... great publication for such a small number of readers. Better than any north american motorcycle publication.

[kiwifruit]

Nice photos, cheers

[MIXONE]

We don't call it "Godzone" for nothing.And you just know he rides a bike.

[KoroJ]

......... I was immediately impressed with how folks move over to help faster traffic pass by.........

Now that doesn't sound like you were driving in NZ. The roads here are full of arrogant wankers that make it there life chore to impede the flow of traffic, assisted by a bunch of morons that litter our roads with restricted speed zones, double yellows and cheese cutters.

No problem on a bike but...!

[oldrider]

Really glad you enjoyed it here, nice to hear such enthusiasm, you would find some great roads for your 600! :ride:

Trouble is these days the fun police (those that make the rules) have put a bit of a damper on freedom of expression! :slap:

[Metastable]

Now that doesn't sound like you were driving in NZ. The roads here are full of arrogant wankers that make it there life chore to impede the flow of traffic, assisted by a bunch of morons that litter our roads with restricted speed zones, double yellows and cheese cutters.

No problem on a bike but...!

Trust me, I saw those too..... but when you come from a place where no one moves over.... even if only 50% of drivers do move over .... it's awesome!

BTW, a while back I heard some of you guys talking about Deals Gap etc.... wicked road in the US. Let me tell you a little secret...... you guys have A TON of roads that are just as good or better. Actually even in the US, there are better roads than Deals Gap in places like Colorado etc. But the argument is that usually the Colorado roads don't have as many turns etc per mile. Well, I have done Deals Gap and some of your roads are just as twisty and A LOT longer than Deals Gap. So when someone mentions Deals Gap to you guys.... just tell them to ride 25 around the Coromandel or something similar. :D

As far as riding goes (although I was driving in NZ and riding on the others, but I can get a pretty good idea), until now my rankings for best roads were as follows:

1 - Colorado
2 - France
3 - California

Well now it's
1 - New Zealand
2 - Colorado
3 - France
4 - California

[george formby]

I've been here for 15 years, long enough to lose the rose tinted spec's and..........
I love it more everyday. I'm a lucky, lucky b@$^@%d to live here. Great to read of your happy travels. You gotta come back to the land of the long winding road in summer but be discrete who you tell.

[onearmedbandit]

Glad to hear you liked it. Thanks for the reminder of how much more I should like it.

[crazyhorse]

Great Pics.

Next time you'll have to make Hawkes Bay a part of your stop. Its warmer and drier here - esp in Winter, we have lots of sunny days (just not today though :( )

Good to hear how you like our roads for riding - defiinitely unbeatable!

[Argyle]

As a road user New Zealand is the ultimate experience...

Lived here for 3years as a Permanent Resident..

[Crasherfromwayback]

Well now it's
1 - New Zealand
2 - Colorado
3 - France
4 - California

Glad you enjoyed your time here! I was lucky enough to sample some of California's roads in 07, and I was blown away by them! The Pacific Coast, and the road through Yosemite Park in particular!

[sil3nt]

South of Taupo.... fark, dunno the name of that hill, but I'm sure you guys do.... there is another white Volcano next to it.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_7824.jpg?t=1281593456That "hill" is Mt Ruapehu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ruapehu). Two excellent ski fields there. Looks like there was a bit more snow then than there is now. The other white volcano is Mount Ngauruhoe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ngauruhoe)

[Metastable]

Hawke's Bay was on the list.... but we just plain ran out of time. It was going to be just too much driving. We ALMOST went to Gisborne, then down to Hawke's Bay instead of staying in Morrinsville... but ce la vie.

California - yes awesome roads all over, but TRAFFIC... they do have a cool law though, 5 or more vehicles behind you and you have to pull over ASAP.... so go on a ride with 5 bikes and you're golden! :D Colorado is great, because it is like California with very few cars, little police outside the cities .... and IMO, slightly better riding roads too.

Thanks for the Geography names, now I will know how to name the photos we have take, lots of both.

[avgas]

I've been here for 15 years, long enough to lose the rose tinted spec's and..........
buy a TDM ;)

[shafty]

Cool thread Metastable, and pleased you enjoyed your visit.

WHEN you come back, we'll give you the "inside knowledge" on riiding some magical roads, - keep in touch!

[marty]

Sounds like you did the Coro Loop (Coromandel/25). In a car can be excused if it's your first time :)

Standing on the mountain a few times this winter I have been reminded just how amazing this country really is:
217209

I drove Vancouver > Seattle on the I5 a few weeks ago, then flew out to the Cascades to Twisp & Winthrop - just a stone's throw from the Canadian border. The riding out there looked pretty damn good! Here's one from inside a '53 Dodge :)

217210

[NZsarge]

BTW, a while back I heard some of you guys talking about Deals Gap etc....


Have you done the Dragon's tail (i think that's what they call it) per chance?
Glad you likes NZ, welcome back anytime dude!

[NZsarge]

Cool thread Metastable, and pleased you enjoyed your visit.

WHEN you come back, we'll give you the "inside knowledge" on riiding some magical roads, - keep in touch!

Yeas indeed, ditto on that remark.