South Island road trip - any suggestions???

[mazz1972]

A group of us are spending a few days in the south island, and looking for a few suggestions please! We just want to tootle along with plenty of stops, so not planning excessive km’s per day, but also don’t know a lot about the routes we have chosen. This is the plan so far…

Day 1: Picton-St Arnaud-Murchison-Lewis Pass-Hanmer Springs.

Day 2: Hanmer Springs-Chch and some tiki-touring around the region - suggestions would be great please as we may have a couple of hours to fill in.

Day 3: Looksie around Banks Peninsula and somewhere else if time (some of us have to be at a function late afternoon/evening).

Day 4: Chch-Arthur’s Pass-Lake Brunner-Greymouth.

Day 5: Greymouth-Westport-Murchison-Motueka or Nelson.

Day 6: Back to Picton for 2pm ferry.

Any suggestions of stop-off’s, must-see’s, small detours here and there, or complete bypasses!) would be kindly welcomed! :yes:

[Warr]

Day 3: Looksie around Banks Peninsula and somewhere else if time (some of us have to be at a function late afternoon/evening).
Head out to Akaroa, great biking out there. Could take the summit road out of Akaroa too for some extra views and lovely roads.
Another not-to-be-missed road is the Takaka Hill road. Supreemo....

[Kinje]

Any suggestions would be kindly welcomed! :yes:

Take me with you :D

Hehe, that sounds like a pretty good route. You should have heaps of time on day 2- can't see it taking that long from Hamner to Chch (1-2 hrs straight & flat from memory). Maybe throw in a detour to Kaikoura if your keen??? Might be quite a few extra Km's tho.

Have fun (you lucky buggers) :first:

[far queue]

A group of us are spending a few days in the south island, and looking for a few suggestions please! We just want to tootle along with plenty of stops, so not planning excessive km’s per day, but also don’t know a lot about the routes we have chosen.When are you planning to do this, and are you wanting to stay on the seal or take in some gravel as well?

[skelstar]

Your day from Greymouth-Nelson is longer than you think. Admittedly it was our 7th day of 400km/day trips....but not much of that road is straight. Its all quite twisty, you'll be hot too. Takaka Hill was unbelieveable but very hard at the end of that day.

Having said that, its quite do-able on a more relaxed trip (than ours).

[orange dog]

Instead of a full day (3) on the Banks, try a day trip from nelson to Collingwood. It's a return trip but the roads, views and lack of traffic will keep you happy. Stop at Pupu springs and Kaiteriteri beach

[Warr]

Your day from Greymouth-Nelson is longer than you think. Admittedly it was our 7th day of 400km/day trips....but not much of that road is straight. Its all quite twisty, you'll be hot too. Takaka Hill was unbelieveable but very hard at the end of that day.

Having said that, its quite do-able on a more relaxed trip (than ours).
What he said. ... We stayed in units at Pahara Beach Top 10 0800 764 272 so we only did 1/2 of the hill that day

[crazybigal]

sounds good!
you gota go over the takaka hill and down to golden bay, magic over there.
Karamea is a good one if your going to wesport, 96 km from wesport from mem, great ride in the hills. the arches are worth a visit if your up there.

from murchison highway 65 is a great ride through the forest to springs junction.
also the inland secnic highway 70 from hamner to mt lyford and to kaikoura is a must! nice and twisty and secnic.

we just covered 4000km in the south island last month and they were some of the best bits. deep south, hast pass to wanaka, catlins to invercargill, and the whole west coast! rocks!!

[orange dog]

Anywhere on the west coast as long as the weather forecast is good, or north of Christchurch for the east coast. Roads south of Christchurch were not made for bikes with steering !

Have fun, get lost...:yes:

[Deviant Esq]

Nice - when's this big trip happening?
Takaka hill - yep, definitely worth a look, and hell, if you're heading up that way you might want to take a *slight* detour and ride through the Motueka Valley Highway. It's a really nice road, runs alongside the Motueka River, usually not too much problems with traffic during the week, though passing can be difficult because there aren't really any straights. I suppose it depends if you plan on running it at the start of the journey or the end. It's not hard going though, can be relaxing or you can get a move on if you feel like it. :cool:
Christchurch to Akaroa (SH75) - got to be done. We never get tired of it. Here's another post about it, with pic (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=957283&postcount=11).

I like your plan overall, lots of great roads included in there, you should have a ball! Hope it's not too hot for you like it has been - friends reported 38deg in Christchurch a couple of days ago. Bugger that!
Good luck mate :cool:

[desmo dave]

sounds good!
you gota go over the takaka hill and down to golden bay, magic over there.
Karamea is a good one if your going to wesport, 96 km from wesport from mem, great ride in the hills. the arches are worth a visit if your up there.

from murchison highway 65 is a great ride through the forest to springs junction.
also the inland secnic highway 70 from hamner to mt lyford and to kaikoura is a must! nice and twisty and secnic.

we just covered 4000km in the south island last month and they were some of the best bits. deep south, hast pass to wanaka, catlins to invercargill, and the whole west coast! rocks!!

your memories not bad it's only 2km out. from westport to karamea is 98kms. well worth heading up here if you have the time.we get quite a few bikes comming up this way bugger all trafic and the cops are thin on the ground.let me know if you would like any help if you head up this way

[Jantar]

Sounds good so far. But when are you going to visit the real South Island. ie West Coast and glaciers, Southern Lakes, Central, Fiordland, Catlins, Otago, etc.

You've even missed out the Kaikora coast. Yet you are repeating some roads in the west. If you only have 6 days, and don't want excessively long days, then I'd suggest:

Day 1: Picton - Nelson - Murchison - Punakaiki - Blackball.
Day 2: Greymouth - Hokatika - Glaciers - Haast - Wanaka.
Day 3: Queenstown - Lumsdun - Waimea - Kelso - Alexandra
Day 4: Omarama - Mt Cook - Tekapo
Day 5: Fairlie - Geraldine - Rakaia - Banks Peninsula - Christchurch
Day 6: Kaikoura - Picton

Day 2 would be the longest day, but only because of the number of stops you'll want to make.

[Jantar]

Anywhere on the west coast as long as the weather forecast is good, or north of Christchurch for the east coast. Roads south of Christchurch were not made for bikes with steering !

Have fun, get lost...:yes:
From this comment I would summise that you have never ridden the Lindis, the Crown range, Makarora - Haast, the Glaciers, Te-Anau - Milford, Roxburgh - Alexandra, Burkes etc. Most of the South Island's best roads are South of Christchurch. :scooter:

[mazz1972]

Take me with you :D

Hehe, that sounds like a pretty good route. You should have heaps of time on day 2- can't see it taking that long from Hamner to Chch (1-2 hrs straight & flat from memory). Maybe throw in a detour to Kaikoura if your keen??? Might be quite a few extra Km's tho.

Have fun (you lucky buggers) :first:

That was what I had in mind but I got outvoted there (bugger)

[mazz1972]

Thanks for the tips Deviant - will be taking another look at the maps!

I am hoping it cools down a bit between now and then.....I do not fancy swimming inside my bike gear at 38 degrees....'orrible!

[mazz1972]

When are you planning to do this, and are you wanting to stay on the seal or take in some gravel as well?

29 March-3 April. Don't mind a bit of gravel, just not huge long stretches of it as I am notoriously slow on gravel and would hold everyone else up BIG TIME!!

[mazz1972]

Your day from Greymouth-Nelson is longer than you think. Admittedly it was our 7th day of 400km/day trips....but not much of that road is straight. Its all quite twisty, you'll be hot too. Takaka Hill was unbelieveable but very hard at the end of that day.

Having said that, its quite do-able on a more relaxed trip (than ours).

Thanks skels....do you have any suggestions for alternatives? What is the hardest bit? Really don't want to bite off more than I can chew here!!

[imdying]

Central Otago kicks arse! The highways are quite wide, and the surface isn't dicked... the back roads (say the Crown Range for example) are a little tighter, but worth hunting out for that reason alone!

I wouldn't go as far as to say all the best roads are south of Christchurch, but they're the equal of anything north, and many are just plain fanstastic. Do the whole damn island, you owe it to yourself.

[mazz1972]

Central Otago kicks arse! The highways are quite wide, and the surface isn't dicked... the back roads (say the Crown Range for example) are a little tighter, but worth hunting out for that reason alone!

I wouldn't go as far as to say all the best roads are south of Christchurch, but they're the equal of anything north, and many are just plain fanstastic. Do the whole damn island, you owe it to yourself.

Will definatley do the rest of the island....but not on this trip....would need to spend more time to do it justice....and I don't think my posterier is up to 6 days of full on riding right the way round the island!!

[Grub]

Will definatley do the rest of the island....but not on this trip....would need to spend more time to do it justice

Mazz, have you PM'ed ZUKIN? Scott an Carissa have just done the entire SI coastline on Suzuki DTZ250's

They'd certainly have some up to date pointers. And are you up for the 160km gravel run through the Moleswort? they raved about it

[mazz1972]

Mazz, have you PM'ed ZUKIN? Scott an Carissa have just done the entire SI coastline on Suzuki DTZ250's

They'd certainly have some up to date pointers. And are you up for the 160km gravel run through the Moleswort? they raved about it

It would take me ALL DAY to do 160 kms of gravel LOL....I've heard Molesworth is pretty cool. Thanks for the thought tho!

[skelstar]

Thanks skels....do you have any suggestions for alternatives? What is the hardest bit? Really don't want to bite off more than I can chew here!!
You'll be fine. Its all just twisty thats all. You might be tired, but you'll be fine. I did it 12months ago on a Hyosung 250...after 6months of riding...

[mazz1972]

You'll be fine. Its all just twisty thats all. You might be tired, but you'll be fine. I did it 12months ago on a Hyosung 250...after 6months of riding...

Cheers again skels....I've only been riding for 7 months....you mentioned in your earlier post that Takaka Hill was hard at the end of that day....I am assuming the Greymouth-Murchison-Motueka route does not go over the Takaka Hill...am I right? If I'm wrong then can someone please explain just where the Takaka Hill is? I assumed it is between Motueka and Takaka (and we aren't going to Takaka this trip)

Cheers :yes:

[scumdog]

Cheers again skels....I've only been riding for 7 months....you mentioned in your earlier post that Takaka Hill was hard at the end of that day....I am assuming the Greymouth-Murchison-Motueka route does not go over the Takaka Hill...am I right? If I'm wrong then can someone please explain just where the Takaka Hill is? I assumed it is between Motueka and Takaka (and we aren't going to Takaka this trip)

Cheers :yes:


It's between Mot and Takaka - it's a dead-end road.

i.e. it is not on a through-route to anywhere.

[Deviant Esq]

What Scummy said. See below. :sunny:
Google Maps useful! ;)

[skelstar]

Yeah we only went as far as Upper Takaka.

Its just that the whole day/route is full on. If youre riding at 90% you don't get many breaks. The cafe in Murchison just past the Mobil servo (heading Northward) is recommended.

[mazz1972]

Yeah we only went as far as Upper Takaka.

Its just that the whole day/route is full on. If youre riding at 90% you don't get many breaks. The cafe in Murchison just past the Mobil servo (heading Northward) is recommended.

Thanks skels...we will go Greymouth-Punakaiki-Westport-Murchison-Motueka or Nelson. So wont be venturing onto the Takaka Hill this time - looking at that map posted I can see why you wouldn't want to tackle it at the end of the day! Will have to pop down for a weekend in the future to do more of the Marlborough/Nelson area - up to Collingwood and beyond, the Sounds, maybe explore some back gravel routes etc.

Thanks for the tip on the Murchison cafe :niceone:

[mazz1972]

What Scummy said. See below. :sunny:
Google Maps useful! ;)

Cheers....I have now found a few places I couldn't find before!

[skelstar]

Wait!...do what you have to, but you must do the Takaka Hill.

[mazz1972]

Wait!...do what you have to, but you must do the Takaka Hill.

I know....I keeping hearing about this hill of all hills! I’ll put it to the rest of the group….but I’m only one voice so majority rules here!

The only way I can fit it in is to reroute the whole trip and do Picton-Takaka-Collingwood-back to Motueka on day one. I’m thinking it will be a bit much given we will are catching the 2am ferry from Welly that day, and we’d have to do the hill twice in one day.

Trying to be on the conservative side here just in case the weather turns to absolute poop (quite likely, usually happens when we plan something!). We can always do some side trips and extra stops along the way.

I’d like to spend a bit more time in that area and go all the way Port Puponga (if it’s worth it – have to investigate yet) and go out to a couple of the bays along the way. So that’s why I’m thinking another trip is needed here to spend a couple of days exploring.

I appreciate your helpful comments skels!

[Warr]

Thanks skels...we will go Greymouth-Punakaiki-Westport-Murchison-Motueka or Nelson. So wont be venturing onto the Takaka Hill this time - looking at that map posted I can see why you wouldn't want to tackle it at the end of the day! Will have to pop down for a weekend in the future to do more of the Marlborough/Nelson area - up to Collingwood and beyond, the Sounds, maybe explore some back gravel routes etc.

Thanks for the tip on the Murchison cafe :niceone:
Flag Westport if you have no reason to go.
We turned down road to Cape Foulwind and weather was sweetas and stopped at a Cafe at the southern end of Tauranga Bay. Very nice.
If there isnt too many of you take the bike up the drive