Oz or NZ?

[Bacchus]

Hi all,

Has anybody been riding down under, as I need some advice?

I'm working down in NZ and Oz and am taking a week off at the end of it next month in order to hire a bike and go on a short tour for a few days. But I can't decide where to ride. I can either start in Sydney, Canberra, Auckland or Christchurch, but it has to be a round trip as I'm leaving kit behind which I have to collect again.
I've been to North Island before and love it, but haven't been on a bike.
I'm really torn on this one, any help or advice appreciated.
Cheers,

Keef.

[recman]

I'd be hitting the South Island's Lord of the Rings locations.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

Bit of a sore point, this. In Feb 2011 I attended my brother's wedding in lovely Lyttelton near Christchurch, then went on a Saturday morning as arranged to pick up a Suzuki V-Strom 650 for 8 days of solo touring the South Island. I had booked it months in advance and exchanged emails with nzbike.com where I was assured that the bike would be ready and I could leave my luggage at the depot.

The taxi dropped me off and then I found the place was closed. The staff at the car workshop next door were very helpful but the two mobile contacts they called didn't respond. After nearly 2 hours of waiting I gave up and managed to get a Mazda 2 hire car instead. That worked out quite well and I did a lot of miles, but missing the chance to ride the South Island was disappointing. When I got back to the UK and asked for a refund I was told that the bike had been waiting at a local BMW workshop, but this was the first I'd heard of it. I was refunded in two separate payments and I still lost out, I think due to a fluctuating exchange rate.

Anyhow, you didn't say how many days you have but highlights for me included Kaikoura whale and dolphin watching trips, Fjordland and the glaciers, Queenstown, the penguins at Oomaru, the Moeraki Boulders, the Antarctic Museum near the airport in Christchurch, a Crowded House open air concert in a Waiparu vineyard and lots more on the way round. I'd love to go again and linger at those places a bit longer, but for a first and possibly only visit I blitzed the South Island and loved it.
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'93 Yamaha XJR400 grey import (p-ex’d), '99 Kawasaki ZX6R (nicked), another '99 ZX6R (still got it) and '03 Yamaha YZF-R1 (still got that too.)

[Bacchus]

Thanks fellas,

Looks like I'll be heading to the South Island. Only have 5 full days on the bike, but hopefully should get enough out of it.

Cheers...

[grr666]

You lucky sod! I spent 3 weeks touring the South Island but in a car and my Mrs got so sick of hearing me say
what a great place it would be to be on a bike. Great road surface for biking too. Just watch out for changing
weather conditions, like any mountainous region the weather can change in minutes. One of our point
to point drives started in shorts and tee shirts weather, changing to torrential rain, then to falling snow,
settled snow and ice then thawing snow (On a mountain road called Jacobs pass) , back to rain, then fog,
then sultry misty rain foresty weather, back to rain and then sun again. That was during a 4 hour drive.

Lovely place to be a Brit too, they love us over there. We used air b&b for our accommodation and it
was a great trip punctuated by meeting some very interesting people as we stayed in their homes with them.
Speed limit is a bit wank, but largely speaking I ignored it and drove my 2001 Rav 4 to it's 1.8 engined limit.
Never got pulled for speeding, it's the only place I have ever driven where you can literally drive for an
hour or more and not see another car. Because of this beware of smidsy pullouts, the general attitude
is that there WON'T be anything coming because it's so quiet. Had a few close ones in the RAV before I
figured this out. Save a few quid for Queenstown as you tend to haemorrhage cash there if you want
to do any of the myriad of activities on offer, the activity package deals are the best value. Try and get
a go on the Shotover Canyon Jet boat. 1500bhp twin V8 POOOOOWWWWWAAAAAAA!!! Twas awesome!!!

Top tip! They only allow properly hands free mounted go pro or similar type photography on that thing,
make sure you are equipped to get the footage, I never owned an action camera at the time.
This ride was the straw that broke the camels back and made me finally buy one. They also will
sell you a dvd of your ride but it's not cheap. A large water droplet on the lens spoiled their footage on
our ride so we had to make do with a fridge magnet

We stopped in Kuala Lumpur on the way out for a single night to split the journey up a bit. I do a fair bit of long haul
travel, and doing that trip in one go would be very very punishing, especially if you are getting straight onto a bike.
Although that element doesn't apply to the OP of course.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Bacchus]

Thanks grr666,

Great idea about the Go Pro, I'll pick one up next week.

Can't wait now, particularly as the weather's gone to crop now.

[stinkwheel]

You've already chosen NZ which is good.

I've been to neither but I do know from friends who have that the Aussie police and government have a serious downer on motorcycles and motorcylists. Some seriously draconian laws have been passed to combat "bike gangs", any groups of motorcycles or motorcyclists will find themselves being huckled.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.