South Island trip

[Jonty]

Hot: Going through Burkes Pass, McKenzie Country, Dansees Pass (sp), Alex etc
Not: Canterbury Plains.
Am looking forward to Raes Junc though

Ooo, we have to have a go on the Crown Range.

Too right, although you run the risk of tourists, campervans, foreign drivers and a combination of all three

[Paul in NZ]

As you know....

Vicki and I have just come back from down there (again) on the Guzzi and I spent must of my early adult life building shit all over the South (and north) islands.

If you want to sit down with a map I can show you my personal faves but your's may differ...

On another thread I was going to organise a trip late summer 2006. I'm still keen but other commitments mean this will be a short tour for Vicki and I, possibly 3 or 4 days only.

After xmas I will start to seriously think about this... or not as the case may be... ;-)

[magicfairy]

Milford Sound (have to go to Te Anau first) is worth a visit if you have time. Road is full of buses and campervans but plenty of places to pass. Need a NZ eft pos card (well you did in March) to get gas there from pump. No credit cards.

[Bulldog]

My mate and I have booked 3 weeks from the 1st Feb to do an NZ trip. We're gonna head north first then back down to do the south island.

We're certainly looking for any input as to the route to take and things to see and do while we're on it so fire your routes this way.

[Sniper]

Surprised noone has mentioned this. Have you layed your hands on "The Motorcyclists Atlas" (Or something like that)

PM Vifferman, he will sort ya out.

[M1CRO:Me]

As a starting point, I would recommend the book:
Great Escapes: A Guide to motorcycle touring in New Zealand
Author: Peter Mitchell
Website: http://www.mcycle.co.nz/

I bought it but never got to use it cos of work but I would definitely consider it next year if someone would like to offer an invitation?

EDIT: Of course, feel free to PM me if you want to "borrow" the book (I have the 2000 copy - dunno if its changed?)

[sels1]

[QUOTE=flyingscotsman]Planning a 5 day South Island trip QUOTE]

There is a lot more good roads than you can do in 5 days. Are you looking to do touristy things or just ride? Are there any places (Qnstown, Milford etc) you particulaly want to see?

Probably if you head down the West Coast via either Nelson or St Arnaud, follow the coast down and come over Haast Pass to Wanaka and Queenstown then pick your way back thru either the inland or coastal route depending on how your're going for time.

When I took the family around the S.I I had to chop it into 2 trips to cover (nearly) everything.

Welcome aboard the site btw

[oldrider]

G'day, I live at Otematata, between Omarama and Kurow. There is plenty of low cost accommodation here some with shelter for motorcycles. There are eating and drinking facilities if you require them.
I am a Kiwi Biker and a Ulysses club member who likes to ride on any surface. (Seal, gravel or off road) Feel free to call in if you like I may be able to help you. Have a break have a yak whatever.
Five days down here is only a whistle stop tour, there are so many places to see and things to do and every rider has different idea of what they want.
My wife and I have just been for a ride down to Milford Sound and back, just under a thousand Km. Fantastic bike ride came back over the crown range via Wanaka. You may find the distances seem a bit longer down here I usually work on around 300km between fuel stops. The toilet also rules these days. Cheers John.

[Paul in NZ]

G'day, I live at Otematata, between Omarama and Kurow. There is plenty of low cost accommodation here some with shelter for motorcycles. There are eating and drinking facilities if you require them.
I am a Kiwi Biker and a Ulysses club member who likes to ride on any surface. (Seal, gravel or off road) Feel free to call in if you like I may be able to help you. Have a break have a yak whatever.
Five days down here is only a whistle stop tour, there are so many places to see and things to do and every rider has different idea of what they want.
My wife and I have just been for a ride down to Milford Sound and back, just under a thousand Km. Fantastic bike ride came back over the crown range via Wanaka. You may find the distances seem a bit longer down here I usually work on around 300km between fuel stops. The toilet also rules these days. Cheers John.

I should note that John and Pip (both damn nice folk btw) consider this a gentle days ride... Others might take a couple of days ;-)

We have invariably found that when riding on a number of successive days, our ability to cover ground grandually diminishes. Others on modern bikes may not find this...

from the Iron Butt association... http://www.ironbutt.com/about/default.cfm


If the longest ride you have ever taken is 300 miles in a day, don't plan a trip with a string of endless five- hundred mile days. Iron Butt Association surveys also warn of an important trend in long distance trip planning (see Chart A). Discounting weather or other problems; after an initial mileage peak on days one and two, daily average mileage will steadily drop during trip days three to seven. On day seven of a trip, the typical long distance rider will comfortably ride about 65% of the average daily mileage that they would book on a two day trip. If the pros have this type of mileage attrition rate, would you plan on any less?

Also include large easy-to-cut loops into your trip plan. If you do get behind schedule, this is the easiest way to skip part of your trip without ruining the rest of it.

Whether you are capable of riding 300 miles per day, or 1,000, the ability to make miles tends to decrease as the length of the trip increases. The most severe loss is in days 3 through 7, where Iron Butt types then level out to about 65% of their peak capacity.

[inlinefour]

Planning a 5 day South Island trip in Feb next year. Bit new to S.I. so can anyone recommend any bike friendly places to stay / roads to be ridden / things to see & do ??

Would like to go there myself, however I was thinking more like a month

[shadow]

Absolutely a great ride! huge number of twisties apart from about a 2km straight at linkwater! just got to watch farkin tourists the road is a tight wee bitch

this rd is real tight. i would reccomend the buller gorge from murhison to westpot and then down to greymouth as is some of the best roads iv been on, has everything scenic twisty fast

[Les]

You'll love it down here. The roads are great and less traffic.
As a side note, while I was in the US a bit over a year ago, I picked up a bike mag in a shop (sorry cannot remember the mag title) and it had in there an article by a bloke who had travelled the world on a bike and his bit about the best biking roads that he'd been on during his trip. No. 1 was a road in Canada somewhere and No. 2 was somewhere in Southern Europe, and his No. 3 was the Buller Gorge run down from Nelson thru Murchison! I kid you not. I was surprised as I've ridden this road many a time as I'm originally from Karamea and used to scoot up to Nelson quite often. Anyway, yes it is a good road IMHO so well worth a look. Either way you'll love it, especially if the weather is kind to you.
Enjoy!

[T.W.R]

Don't Quote me on the year but TWO WHEELS did a expose' on New Zealand roads for touring on a motorcyle around 1992-3ish and their description of the South Island was simply "THE GOD ZONE, AN AMAZING BIKERS PARADISE!"

[Macktheknife]

Not trying to hijack your thread or anything but me and 5 friends are going down and around the mainland over new years holidays, looking forward to seeing and doing all we can in 2 weeks. suggestions welcome and warnings well received.

[Macktheknife]

Surprised noone has mentioned this. Have you layed your hands on "The Motorcyclists Atlas" (Or something like that)

PM Vifferman, he will sort ya out.

Hell yeah man, I just got it for my birthday. Man it rocks, there aer so many things in it that just look fantastic, although I have noticed that nothing counts like local knowledge of a place.