New Zealand and yes you want to ride there!

[RTRandy]

Dave brings up some good points. ( Actually he always does) Operating a motorcycle with extreme jet lag or lack of sleep is certainly asking for trouble.
Some things factor into how much time you want to take for traveling along with days on the motorcycle such is how much money and how much time you have. For us we had very limited time (and not a lot of money either) so our only choice was to get the flying over with and get to Christchurch. One thing for sure, you don't want to land and head for your bike rental the first day while trying to get used to the time change and recovering from a long flight. Be sure and schedule a non riding first day for sure.

The majority of flights leaving from the west coast depart late at night after 11pm and then fly all night to arrive NZ in the morning around 9 am. When we departed Dallas to LAX our bodies were already two hours later on central time so by the time we got on our 11:30 flight departing LAX, it was really like 1:30 am for us. An hour or so into the flight they're serving dinner so it's like eating dinner 3 o'clock in the morning. Luckily we had special seats that reclined so we managed to sleep pretty well for a plane.

Point is if you can get some sleep on the plane you can feel halfway decent when you land and kind of be in sync for the first day there. The connecting flight from Auckland to Christchurch is about an hour flight so my thought was better to continue on from the same airport and be done with flying.

The trick is to stay up as late as possible the first day arriving there, which will end up being around 9pm if you do it right. If you go to sleep around 6pm, which you'll feel like doing, with 8 hours of good sleep you'll wake up feeling refreshed at 2am. The first few days with a great night’s sleep you can be up around dawn with plenty of time for breakfast and packing. By the time it was ready to ride our second day we felt very refreshed with a great night’s sleep. Down side is you want to be off the road early since your body starts to get tired early. Luckily the long daylight was a big help as well.

Other connecting cities in addition to Auckland which are great stops would be Sydney or Fiji. Just depends on where you need to be and where you'd like to stop.

Dave is right; it feels like a throwback to 40-50 years ago there. Much more relaxed pace and nobody seems to be stressed or uptight there.

 

[henzilla]

Great report and pics! I want to be there NOW!

I might have missed it...when did you go and for how long?
I think this will override the trip being planned for Italy next year! And...what other bikes did they have if you know?
Helen can ride an RT,She rode my '05 on several occasions, but loves the R's open feel more. Actually a K1200S would be as sweet! Good with rain gear of course!

 

[RTRandy]

Great report and pics! I want to be there NOW!

I might have missed it...when did you go and for how long?
I think this will override the trip being planned for Italy next year! And...what other bikes did they have if you know?
Helen can ride an RT,She rode my '05 on several occasions, but loves the R's open feel more. Actually a K1200S would be as sweet! Good with rain gear of course!

If considering changing plans from Italy, you want to go when it's summer there from end of November through end of February. It's truly a rider's paradise. I would allow for a minimum of 7 days on the road just for the south island and that's on the tight side. The person I went with could not get away long enough so we never had enough time to take in all that's available. Queenstown for example has a lot of great activities so worth staying for more than a day. There's boat rides, hiking, helicopter tours, and beaches just to name a few extras.

As for bikes, they have everything from sport bikes to cruisers available. The various rental places cover quite a few model choices. They have a European version of our Honda ST1300 with a different name: Pan European. The day we were picking up our RT's, there was a couple going to ride two up on a Honda VFR. Oddly enough, the couple had come all the way from Italy.

I didn't see any naked boxer models available to rent like a R1200R, though the GS's were by far the most prevalent along with some F650's. I believe you could rent a Triumph Sprint and a Tiger as well. I think they keep the cruisers available for the tourists who only ride them in their home country. Would not recommend taking a cruiser. For openers there are long runs there with no fuel available for some distance and I wouldn't want to be stopping to look for gas all the time.

Here's a pic of the Honda VFR ready to go next to our RT's.

 

[RTRandy]

Below is a pic of a GSA parked next to a Harley Ultra classic. Strange bedfellows indeed! The GSA had some nice Touratech add ons. The tall guy and shorter girl you see had come all the way from Italy to ride here and were standing next to their Honda VFR rental though it's view is blocked from this angle.

 

[henzilla]

Thanks...good info That GSA fits my wishes...will let her figure out her choices when we plan it out.

 

[Thermo King]

Hi.
Thanks for the post and the pictures.
I'm heading there on a three week self guided tour in mid January 2010. We're starting in Christchurch on the South island and finishing in Auckland on North Island. We've reserved a BMW1200RT and a BMW1200GS. I'm on the RT which I think is the better choice due to the risk of a few days rain.
Only about 19 days to go so its time to start packing. Can't decide what to wear at the moment. Will I bring my one piece Aerostich Roadcrafter or will I opt for Aerostich Darien Jacket and leather pants?


Regards,
Kieran.

 

[pmdave]

Parts of NZ are very green, which is a clue about the weather. I usually wear my two-piece Aerostich Darien when traveling. If it rains hard, I put stuff in plastic bags in the front chest pockets. Those zippers leak into the pockets, although not inside the jacket. I've never had my Darien pants leak.

I wear insulated waterproof "field and stream" Wellington-style 11" leather boots, which are waterproof enough to ride all day in a downpour.

I usually wear Elkskin gauntlet-style gloves. They are not waterproof, but natural Elkskin provides insulation, so even when wet they provide some heat retention. For more serious rain riding, I carry some waterproof glove covers, but the truth is I seldom get them out. In a place like NZ you can duck into a coffee shop or bakery and have a warm-up break. It's not like riding the Alcan.

Carrying an electric vest isn't a bad idea. Even during the summer months it can get cool on either island. You'll need suitable plugs/adapters to supply power. NZ is about the same latitude (S of the equator) as Northern CA and Oregon (N of the equator) However, I suspect it rains more in NZ, even during their summer.

Although you could ride just about any bike in NZ, the main highways are generally narrow and twisty, so a big machine is more of a liability than an advantage. My preference would be the F800 twin--the one with more torque and less HP. When I was there I rode an R1150RT, and that was fine for carrying a passenger.

pmdave

 

[pmdave]

For those who are doing a self-guided tour, note that there is a serious hazard on the south island: there are lots of one-way bridges, and some of these share the road with a railway line. The rails run down the middle of the bridge, and there isn't room on the outside of the rails, so you need to ride down the center.

The problem is getting over the left rail into the center, and getting back over the left rail at the other end. These edge traps are a source of many motorcycle crashes, and even fatalities. Treat the rails as if you were bouncing over a slippery raised curb.

If you take an organized tour, the guides will usually warn you of such dangerous situations. If you're on your own, just be aware of these multi-purpose bridges and ride accordingly.

The good news is that in NZ there are no large wild animals cavorting around on the roads. The deer, elk, sheep, etc. are all fenced in pastures. The only animal you are likely to encounter on the road is the Australian Possum, and the Kiwis would cheer you on if you ran over one of these little pests.

"gidonya, mite" ("good on you, mate") = attaboy!

"Gdeye, mite" ("good day, mate") = "hello, buddy."

"Lits go scrap some pigs" ("let's go scrape some pegs") = "let's ride these curves aggressively."

pmdave

 

[Rinty]

Thanks Randy, and great pictures.

When we go into the southern hemisphere, we generally pop an 8 hour sleeping pill for the long leg between Hawaii/LA/SFC and our landing point. Works pretty good.

 

[dbrick]

For those who are doing a self-guided tour, note that there is a serious hazard on the south island: there are lots of one-way bridges, and some of these share the road with a railway line. The rails run down the middle of the bridge, and there isn't room on the outside of the rails, so you need to ride down the center.

A challenge, but not insurmountable. The pavement and pavement/rail connection condition was better than I often see here. Eyes up, take as large an angle as you can, you'll be fine.

What I found genuinely challenging was the Homer tunnel leading from the pass down to Milford Sound. We rode it in 2002: poorly paved, unlit, wet, and downhill. Rider drowsiness in the tunnel was not a problem.

 

[RTRandy]

For those heading to NZ, the Homer tunnel is on the road (the only road) between Te Anau and Milford Sound. The ride between the two places about a two hour ride each way. Since the main reason for going to Milford Sound is to take a boat tour, many people choose to stay in Te Anau an extra day since that run is beautiful for taking pictures while the boat tours are generally about two hours. You can pretty much spend a day doing the run and the boat tour.

The Homer Tunnel is located at about 80% of the distance from Te Anau to Milford. In other words if the distance is 100 miles, the tunnel is about at mile 80 to 85.
The tunnel is more like a "Hole drilled into the mountain" than any tunnel you've been through. That area is subject to severe winter weather along with heavy tour buses causing pot holes so there seems to be constant springtime repairs.

My guess is the tunnel was less than a mile long and the whole experience felt more like riding in a fun house. The tunnel is one lane controlled by a traffic light. Get there right when the light turns red and you're in for about a 20 minute wait.

It's lit inside, but very poorly and they've painted the lower 3 feet of the walls white which i guess is supposed to help. It's cold and damp plus it was dripping from the ceiling when we went through. If I could give one word of advice it would be to remove your sunglasses before entering. We didn't though it was easy to follow the tail lights in front. Speed going through is only about 20mph.

The Milford side of the tunnel is one of the most photographed and famous views in the country however the day we went through, we came out in total fog.

Was able to take the below shot of the tunnel since stuck at the light when we were leaving Milford sound.

 

[RTRandy]

The attached is a shot I got from the internet which shows this famous area on the Milford side of the Homer Tunnel. I spent the whole trip looking out for this area only to realize it was where we were in total fog after the tunnel. Outside the tunnel you hit a series of switchbacks while dropping down to sea level. Just watch out for tour buses coming the other way.

 

[Rinty]

I remember those cool Keas, at the tunnel entrance: