Tenting, or motels - discuss.

[The_Dover]

Yeah, Goblin is allergic to chlorine.

[scumdog]

Yeah, Goblin is allergic to chlorine.

OK, I'll stop washing me jocks in the resident motel spa-pool from now on.

I guess I'll just have to not wear any at all in the spa.

[acewheelie]

Has to be a Motel for me, no room on my bike for any gear!

[crazybigal]

haha thats my big bros old ty! what happened you sick of it? or the lack of stopping power!!

+1

i prefer to stay at a motel
im too soft to stay in a tent, unless its the cold kiwi or something....

[kiwifruit]

haha thats my big bros old ty! what happened you sick of it? or the lack of stopping power!!

I love the bike but i need to pay fo my racebike which i love slightly more
Yeah, the brakes are the weak point for sure on the ty, would be a different bike with a disk up front.

[Beemer]

Mrs H's and my definition of "roughing it" is a motel without spa or Sky.

I'm with the Hitchers on this one - my beloved used to love camping out under the stars but it's not something I've got any hankering to do. I can cope with cabins at a campground if I really have to, but they must have their own bathroom and cooking facilities (like the ones in Taupo).

On our South Island tour in 2000 there were 12 of us staying in what I thought was called the 'bug house' in Arrowtown. It was actually the bunkhouse but I think my description was more apt! I hated it, all the snoring and farting - and that was just me! It was the weekend of the Race to the Sky and also Warbirds over Wanaka so when we tried to get a room it was nearly impossible - there was one double room available but it was $150 a night and you had to pay for three nights! We ended up taking a break from the group for a couple of nights later that week and headed to Omarama where we stayed in a real motel with hot showers and a restaurant! Bliss, I happily paid for it to get some peace and quiet!

Hitcher, you guys can travel with us any time you like!

[merv]

I don't worry about Sky but at least a queensize bed and spa bath will do.

Have spent one night in a tent in all my life and I showed you the pic of that when I rode the XL175 to Waikaremoana in 1976. Haven't bother since it just wasn't comfortable enough.

Beemer how come you even decided to sleep with 12 total? Was that his idea? Hey only thing worse could be sleeping with about 200 on a marae floor.

Was that the trip that I saw you over at Alexandra because that trip we were staying in a real motel at Arrowtown ourselves and I didn't realise you were staying in Arrowtown?

[Wolf]

Gods, the young bastidges of today! Only a couple of the chicks and the ancient Ixion have any pioneer-kiwi cred!

So far.

"Single-person" tent (two-person if you know each other and like each other a lot. OK, maybe you just have to like each other...) -10 degree sleeping bag, a smallish backpack (I used to lug a much larger one crammed to capacity up the mountains in my foolhardy youth but tired of having to lug the crap back out so I got a smaller pack and learned how to cull the unnecessary shit out of my travelling gear), occasionally a foam roll or a small single quilt to act as padding beneath my back, some cooking gear, some warm clothes, a few survival-related items (survival kit, first aid kit, reflective mylar blanket) and a couple of camping knives. Really don't need much more than that - except food and toilet paper, which can be bought on the way. Plus tools when I'm on the bike.

Compared with sleeping under the stars or in a fern bivouac or under a tarp, all that is luxury.

It all fits in/on the one pack that is small enough to fit on the back of the XT - it's what I'll be carrying to the Kiwi in a little over a week.

The only toiletries I bother carrying are soap and a towel - I don't mind if my teeth go unbrushed or my beard unshaved for a while. I'm camping out, not visiting the Waldorf-Astoria.

I've stayed in motels a few times and a backpackers hostel once (we had a young baby and strayjuliet was pregnant at the time) and I've slept in the Wharenui on a Marae.

If I were doing an NZ tour over the course of a few weeks, I'd actually do a mix of camping and backpackers depending on what facilities were available wherever I ended up that night and where there were vacancies.

[ManDownUnder]

Depends who's paying...

5 Star Hotels are great on the company account... I'll happily tent and eat beans on my own

[merv]

I'll happily tent and eat beans on my own

Eating beans no wonder you are on your own.

[Roj]

I have travelled with a large tent and associated gear with my partner on her bike, air mattress and sleeping bags, staying at camping grounds over a period of 2 weeks, reasonably comfortable but not as nice as a motel, a mix of the 2 would be good as it gives a some space away from the world, a tent is never private, usually end up waking up very early and can hear everything happening around you, great if you are tramping in the bush but sometimes there are sounds going on you don't won't to hear

[Wolf]

a tent is never private, usually end up waking up very early and can hear everything happening around you, great if you are tramping in the bush but sometimes there are sounds going on you don't won't to hear

True, I went camping with a couple up in the bush - I really wish I'd pitched my tent further away...

...Like on the other side of the ridge.

Apparently it was the first time they had mated in the wild.

[judecatmad]

Love camping but only at properly serviced camp sites. Found a really good one in Rotovegas and another in Napier.

Camping isn't possible the way I do it without a car tho, so if we're on the bikes (as we will be going down to Ch-ch over labour weekend), it's motels or friends/family for us.

[Wolf]

Love camping but only at properly serviced camp sites.

I actually don't much like camping at such sites - too crowded, often. Much prefer to backpack my gear up into secluded bushland.

The Cold Kiwi was a "cushy camp" for me - all I had to do was pilot the motorcycle, it did all the heavy lifting - my gear and me - and then all I had to do was unload it and pitch my tent. Compared with hauling the gear on my back up a mountain trail for about 3 hours and rock-hopping up a mountain stream for another half hour (told you I like "secluded", not many people go off the established tracks), the Cold Kiwi was a doddle. Also didn't have to carry some the stuff I carry into the bush (folding shovel, sufficient food for the duration, toilet paper etc) as there were on-site toilets and I was able to pop into town to get what I needed after setting up camp.

I'd use established "drive-in" camping grounds when touring the country by bike and probably carry a slightly larger tent than the one I currently have so I'd have room to store my gear at night (I cheated and stored my gear in the front section of Roj's tent at the Cold Kiwi) - after all, I don't have to lug the thing anywhere.

[RiderInBlack]

gez guys...are there no bike nomads left out there

ive been knowen to camp out with nothing but me helmet for a pillow & leathers for me blanky

Yep she's a tough one (what a woman, most girls I know can't even handle Backpackers let alone tents). Introduced me ta to joys of sleep under the star (no tent, waterproof sleeping bag and our bike leathers). Was Awesome, but glad it didn't rain that night, LOL.
I'm a bit softer than that. Love tenting with "Roxanne". I use a backpacker's 2-man cycle tent and a double self inflating mat (getting softer in me old age). Don't believe in paying for camping grounds when there are so many awesome stop ta pitch for free in NZ. On tour I'll very between stay with friends (So many KBers ta thank here), tenting and backpackers/cabins.
Have pitch tent in a bus stop (see http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/at...9&d=1131442120 , http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/at...0&d=1131442120 & http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/at...1&d=1131442120 ). Was Awesome cause I could fit "Roxanne" in with me
Ya really haven't bike toured NZ if ya haven't done the Impromptu Outdoors Biker Camping Thing IMHO. Don't be Soft C's. Get in to it Dudes and Dudettes