Wanted; South Island road trip ideas

[smoky]

My self and a mate are planning a ride down the South Island around the end of March (no fixed date yet). Planning a week in the South Island.
Apart from looking at a map and following the main routes, I have no idea where the interesting roads are.
So if you have some local knowledge of some good roads to ride; let me know – hopefully we can avoid hours of straight roads.

Thanks

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

My self and a mate are planning a ride down the South Island around the end of March (no fixed date yet). Planning a week in the South Island.
Apart from looking at a map and following the main routes, I have no idea where the interesting roads are.
So if you have some local knowledge of some good roads to ride; let me know – hopefully we can avoid hours of straight roads.

Thanks

West coast, Crown range, lindus, the full southern scenic route through the catlins into Milford, alot of great roads up the top half of the SI as well... just the middle bit is a bit boring.... list goes on and on and on...

Avoid the Canterbury plains...

[reofix]

if i only had a week i would just ride nelson, kaikoura . murchison ,karamea, golden bay... dont try the big loop unless you like 700k days every day!!

[Jantar]

Get in touch closer to the time and I'm sure we'll find plenty of South Islanders to show you the best roads.

We don't generally tell too much about them online or everyone will want to come down here.

[Gummie]

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=89265

Watch how these guys are getting on it may give you some ideas

[gunrunner]

Get off the ferry head around the sounds to Nelson then thru to Westport to Greymouth then thru Arthurs Pass to Oxford hit SH77 to Geraldine then off towards central , Omarama , Tarras , Alex then to Dunedin thru the Catlins , Invers to Manapouri to Milford back to Te Anau .Lumdens to Queenstown then to Wanaka . Thru the Haast Pass past Fox to greymouth then via Nelson Lakes back towards the ferry .
Take some more time off alllow 10 - 14 days to enjoy it .

[gixxer-king]

forget the south and relive carvers epic journey, see thread

[popelli]

west coast and central otago have the best roads - and the best pubs

forget the east coast

[Wingnut]

Get off the ferry head around the sounds to Nelson then thru to Westport to Greymouth then thru Arthurs Pass to Oxford hit SH77 to Geraldine then off towards central , Omarama , Tarras , Alex then to Dunedin thru the Catlins , Invers to Manapouri to Milford back to Te Anau .Lumdens to Queenstown then to Wanaka . Thru the Haast Pass past Fox to greymouth then via Nelson Lakes back towards the ferry .
Take some more time off alllow 10 - 14 days to enjoy it .

Yip - What he said. Pretty much covers it. Have fun.

[smoky]

Thanks heaps everyone – I can see some plans coming together

[Shadowjack]

Smoky, on a less serious note, I detect a common sentiment in this thread regarding the Canterbury Plains. I regularly trundle (did I say trundle; I meant ride) the length of the Plains and never fail to find corners, sometimes less than a kilometre apart. Ride the Plains if only to say you've done it...

[pritch]

I see a lot of personal preferences coming through.

The West Coast road has been listed more than once as one of the worlds top 10 rides.

A week is a bit short for a full loop, but when I went around I was doing it at the same time as the Ducati owners, and we were doing similar mileage each day. No problems.

You don't want to be riding all day or it may turn into an endurance event
(unless you are into masochism but that's OK too). I broke it up into four or five hour days which gives you time to wander around the places that you stop so there is a chance you will actually remember something about where you've been.

The New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas would be a good investment.

Have fun

[FJRider]

Get off the ferry head around the sounds to Nelson then thru to Westport to Greymouth then thru Arthurs Pass to Oxford hit SH77 to Geraldine then off towards central , Omarama , Tarras , Alex then to Dunedin thru the Catlins , Invers to Manapouri to Milford back to Te Anau .Lumdens to Queenstown then to Wanaka . Thru the Haast Pass past Fox to greymouth then via Nelson Lakes back towards the ferry .
Take some more time off alllow 10 - 14 days to enjoy it .

What he said ... Base your trip around this suggestion, and you wont go far wrong. You're on a Bandit ... not a BMW. Do a check on mileage required for each day and possible stops. Book accomidation but dont pre-pay, your plans may change. But once you start the trip, you'll just keep going... and going.....and going....

[Hinny]

This was my Sth. Isle trip over xmas.
Akl. Wellington to Picton
Picton, Nelson,Motueka, Takaka Hill, Motueka.
Motueka,Murchison,Westport,Karamea
Karamea, Westport,Greymouth,Hokitika,Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph, Haast,Makarora,Lake Hawea,Wanaka, Arrowtown
Arrowtown, Queenstown,Te Anau,Milford Sound,TeAnau
Te Anau,Riverton,Invercargill,Bluff,Slope Point, Curio Bay, Owaka
Owaka, Dunedin Outram, Middlemarch Ranfurly, Ida Valley, Alexandra.
Alexandra,Cromwell,Tarra, Omarama,Twizel, Mt.Cook
Mt.Cook, Tasman valley, Tekapo, Geraldine, Methven, Darfield, Christchurch.
Christchurch, Broken River, Craigieburn.
Craigieburn, Arthur's Pass, Moana, Reefton,Lewis Pass, Christchurch.
Christchurch, Lewis Pass, Murchison,Motueka, Cobb River resovoir.
Cobb River, Motueka, Nelson, Picton, Wellington,Ohakune.
Ohakune, Taumaranui, Stratford, Inglewood, Auckland.
Could save days by not doing the loop to Christchurch, forget Cobb River Reservoir-21 kms of scary gravel; and miss out Forgotten World Highway and you get a very enjoyable trip.
Otago Peninsular and Banks Peninsular are top rides.
South Island roads are very good. Tough on tyres though. I cut out my rear tyre in 6000kms.

[Jantar]

...
South Island roads are very good. Tough on tyres though. I cut out my rear tyre in 6000kms.

This is something most North Island riders don't appreciate. The chip used in the south gives good grip, even in the winter, but tyres don't last long at all. For most bikes down here 6000 - 7000 km seems to be about average.