Dave from Vienna, Austria

[Luckies_AUT]

Servus! (which means "Hi!" in Austria)

Today I had a nice talk with an NZ motorcyclist. I asked him a few questions about riding in NZ, because I can't stop thinking to travel through your country on my own bike. He thought that I will find all answers to my questions on your site. And here I am!

But I truly have to say that I was never really interested in New Zealand. Maybe because it is on the other side of the planet and I had never the money to get there. So my knowledge about your country is very poor. But I promise to start reading in the next days - after we finished some renovations.

About travelling through NZ ... how much time would you say does it need to travel through NZ on a motorcycle?
Usually we avoid interstates and big cities, 3 days riding and 1 day off (walking around and washing clothes).
In fact that we (my wife and me) will ride on one bike, our luggage is limited. So we would have to cancel any activity which needs more than t-shirt and pants (i.e. no hiking equipment). The "plan" should be to see as much as possible. I don't know how to say .. we know that we can't see/visit everything. We would rather come and visit the places we liked again.

I think thats enough for now.

Best regards from cold Vienna
Dave

[Paul in NZ]

Interstates?

Um - nope... we don't have any...

Start your reading here

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/wiki/Books_for_Touring_NZ

Good as anyplace

[Maha]

You will need 3-4 weeks.
The two main islands are very different visually, but both have stunning coastlines.
About 1200 kms from top to bottom with so much to see in between.
We have hosted people here in the past, mostly Germans (as recently as 3 weeks ago) to give them a decent feed/bed and a chance to catch up on washing.
Take your time....its New Zealand.

[Gremlin]

Re gear for hiking etc, often the tour operators (like glacier walks) will provide the essentials, and you just provide good clothing.

Yep, you'll need 3-4 weeks. Each island is about 1000km long by road, but would take plenty of time to cover all the good stuff.

Take a look at this sub-forum for heaps of people that have gone through the same things as you: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/fo...Visitors-in-NZ

[Luckies_AUT]

Thank you guys, I really appreciate that!!
In my excitement I've done some drawings on google maps and it doesn't look bad: South & North

So .. it seems we're talking about 4-6 weeks and around 6000 km.
I think I have a new project!!