I'm riding there the long way as part of my test run for the TAT adventure later this year - i'm aiming to do a fair few of the main dirt roads to keep it all in context. I'm riding from Wellington on Weds morning on the super early sailing ie 2:30am, then molesworth...and then depending on the weather I'll either go West coast or East coast. Taking all gear and prep as if I was doing the US ride and have those henessey hammocks to try for sleeping. Got my new Sony Z3 from santa for managing comm's, digital photos and GPS fucntion (they are a nice phone and great to have a big screen for aging eyes)