Hello Kiwi’s,
I’m making this thread to help me plan my trip to NZ and to -hopefully- get my questions about obtaining/selling a bike there answered.
To start this whole party off, here is my ‘newbie’ threat: Let me introduce myself
The plan is simple, probably the most common here. Fly to NZ, get my hands on a bike asap, meet some good people, enjoy your beautiful country as much as I can and have allot of laughs.
This whole trip is only going to take place IF I manage to get the job at the Airforce, but I want it all sorted out, so I can go if I get the job. If not, I’m sure I’ll do this trip somewhere else in the nearby future, so your help is never in vain!!
This all in late nov-dec-early jan this year, depends on the selection speed and my starting date @ Airforce.
My to-do/to-visit list so far, have just started this planning about 3 weeks ago. It will probably grow :P Tips/tricks are welcome! :
North Island:
- Bay of Islands
- Rotorua
- Lake Taupo
- Hobbiton
- Tongariro walk (wanna do the full 19,7km + walk up Mt. Doom)
- Egmont National Park
- Waitomo glow worm cave
South Island:
- Abel Tasman National park
- Keep to westcoast as much as possible
- Arthur’s Pass National park
- Christchruch (got a friend who lives there)
- Mount Cook National park
- Fox & Franz Josef Glacier (thinking about glacier walk)
- Highway 6 past Haast/The Neck
- Treble Cone
- Queenstown, do awesome things. Grow a pair, do the nevis bungy
- Glenorchy
- Milford Sound
- Ride past entire Fiordland
In general, what is the best location in your experience?:
- Take surfing lessons (Someone here who can surf maybe?)
- Stay at private hostels/B&B’s. Instead of the big chains (is this true, or are big chain hostels just as/more fun to stay at?)
- Jet boat ride
- Kajaking
- (Maybe) skydiving
The bike! I’ve read some threads on this forum about getting a bike in NZ. Renting is way too expensive. That leaves two real options:
- Buy a bike (trademe.co.nz), ride it and sell it.
This has my preference. It allows me to select my own bike (going for a KLE500/DR650S/F650GS kinda thing, ’90-’99, dual-purpose with enough power to keep up) and it’s budget friendly. However the selling concerns me… ‘What if I can’t sell it? What if the bidding is so sh*t I will lose about $1500,-?’. I don’t wanna burden my friend with a bike, so wanna sell it before I leave.
And what I haven’t found out so far: Where do I insure my bike? I have no NZ address and it will be for only 6 weeks… On this some info would be very welcome.
- Do a buy-back deal with a dealer
Bit more expensive I assume, with other risks (what if I scratch it a bit and the dealer doesn’t want it back no more?) regarding getting rid of it.
So on this, I have some thinking to do, maybe not worry so much about the selling part.
Regarding my gear and some travelbags, I’m gonna ship that to NZ with the mail (about $70, could be worse). Have to arrange some sort of way it will arrive at the same spot as where my bike is at
This is about my plan, roughly. Any tips, tricks, whatever is very very welcome!
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But back to the common language... Thanks for the tips on my to-do list, I'll add your suggestions as well, looks amazing. 
Originally Posted by Katman
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