G
glitch_oz
Guest
Previous part11
https://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35041#35041
SHORTS:
Timing: We stayed away from school holidays.
Weather: Late Nov to April should be best, this year was a wet-summer and the good weather came late.
Shipping bikes: Ex Melbourne/ Sydney via Dave Milligan
General gear: spare gloves/ thermal underwear/ textile jackets with armour/ leather pants with armour/
It's a good idea to plan way ahead, keep some still decent but old stuff spare for a long ride like this, buy new gear for around home, then taking the old stuff along, dumping it at the end of the ride.
$$: Petrol was between $1.23 and $1.34 on both island, most expensive @ $1.90 in Milford Sound
Food in caf�©'s/ restaurants/ etc is generally 15-40% more than in AUS, Supermarket prices about even
to 10% higher
Alcohol is 20-30% higher
Accomodation: Sticking to Holiday (Caravan) Park Cabin-style accomodation , pricing was about even
to 20% less than in AUS.
Most other types of accomodation (I.e. motels?) are significantly more expensive. This is where the
majority of the plentiful overseas tourists spent their money. Typical tourist areas like Queenstown/
Rotorua/ Milford/ Te Anau etc etc are generally markedly higher again.
Backpacker hostels are VERY common/ usually clean and strangely exist in the most unlikely locations.
Food: Despite fantastic base materials, NZ-food in general (and at almost any level) is fairly poor and bland compared to AUS. Deep-fried stuff rules pubs/ caf�©'s/ snack- joints...with all the good and fresh stuff on the shelves of Supermarkets and fruit stalls it's hard to believe that only very few places can come up with something fresh/appealing AND tasty.
Wine/ Beer: Way better news here, particularly the Monteith on the South Island found friends/ the local wines are great (but again...not cheap at all, even measured on AUS price-levels).
Roads: Yeah, well?
) Now we're cooking. Great stuff, VERY well maintained/ constructed?well cambered, most bridges, even on main Hwys are single-laned. Lose gravel is ever-present, no roos/ other furry stuff (apart from possums), but gravel could really be anywhere. Our group's "feet-down" warning system resulted in some days where the boots hardly touched the pegs at all.
Maps: best is a cheap, general NZ map, even a tourist pamphlet type will do as a rough guide.
For every day running and detailed planning the Hema NZ Touring Atlas was priceless!! Very accurate, very detailed, lots of usable extra info. Albeit bulky, it's worth dragging around if one wants to venture off the main highways. (Got our copy from the local RACV/ Auto Club).
Riding conditions: It varies greatly, it's not really beginners territory. Lots of lose gravel everywhere. Weather changes are RAPID and often very drastic.
People: A great mob those Kiwis, pretty inquisitive and always up for a yack. Very friendly and helpful.
Radar/ police/ speed traps: They certainly exist but are a lot more lenient than in "spastic-Victoria".
10% over the limit is usually the border line.
Bike Shops: A real friendly and helpful lot !! Didn't mind us milling around/ having a chat/ walk into the workshop to have a look etc.
Airlines/ Flights: A further experience with Virgin (Virgin Pacific this time), and this was decidedly the last one. Never again.
Swapping schedules frequently, getting stuffed around in Sydney on the way through, part of the group getting stranded in Melbourne on the way out, we've all had it !!!
Mobile phones: Between the 2 NZ networks there is only Vodaphone who offers pre-paid SIMS via the Supermarket counter. WAY more expensive than in AUS, the lack of competition shows. Telecom NZ only offers pre-paid if a phone is purchased through them. Network-problems marred the first 3 days of usage (Vodaphone wouldn't admit to it, of course), after that only the occasional SMS would get lost.
Other phones: Prepaid phone cards are aplenty. The best and cheapest turned out to be the Telstra-Clear.
A $10 prepaid lasted quite well, the 0800 number gave access from any public/ private phone, the usual string of PIN number/ then target-number to be dialed is slow but reasonably priced.
Telstra-Clear cards were sometimes hard to get onto, particularly on the North Island.
The BEST ROADS:
???????
You?ve gotta be joking !!!
Let's try anyway...
South Island:
Arthurs Pass (Chch-Greymouth), Buller Gorge (Inangahua- Westport), Denniston-road and Karamea Rd. to Little Wanganui, North half of the SH6 Westport- Greymouth, The Gap between Franz Josef- Fox Glacier (SH6), Haast- Wanaka on SH6, Wanaka-Queenstown via Crown Range, Queenstown-Glenorchy, plenty of smaller stuff around Q'town, Te Anau to Milford Sound, Balclutha-Etrick loop via backroads is a beauty, Dunedin-Middlemarch-McRaes-Kyeburn-Alexandra for fast sweepers spiced with the tight/ tisty, Lindis Pass for some quick sweepers, SH80 Twizel-Mt. Cook for sheer stunning scenery and road, Culverden-Waiau-Kaikoura for sweet backroad-bliss, Lewis Pass, St. Arnaud-Murchison on SH6, Queen Charlotte Drive out of Picton, Havelock-Nelson on SH6, Motueka Valley Hwy (sth. of Motueka) for sweepy cruising, Motueka-Takaka via Takaka Hill is a ripper.
North Island (southern half):
Rimatuka Hills from Upper Hutt to Featherston is a scream, Masterton-Alfredton-Weber-Wimbledon-Waipukurau some very demanding and diverse riding, SH2 between Napier and Wairoa, Wairoa-Te Reinga-Gisborne a beauty of a backroad, around the East Cape SH35, SH2 running south on SH2 for about 70km to Rakauroa a good mix of Gorge-road/ sweepers and twisties. Ohakui-Wanganui for some awesome sweepers interspersed with tight sections.
There are more great roads around the area, like the West Cape, Te Kuiti-New Plymouth, a real humdinger between Taumaranui and Stratford (about 20km gravel framed by superb twisties either end)?
Related material:
Bike shipping...is it worth it?
https://www.austouring.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45
How did the gear stack up?
https://www.austouring.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39
https://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35041#35041
SHORTS:
Timing: We stayed away from school holidays.
Weather: Late Nov to April should be best, this year was a wet-summer and the good weather came late.
Shipping bikes: Ex Melbourne/ Sydney via Dave Milligan
General gear: spare gloves/ thermal underwear/ textile jackets with armour/ leather pants with armour/
It's a good idea to plan way ahead, keep some still decent but old stuff spare for a long ride like this, buy new gear for around home, then taking the old stuff along, dumping it at the end of the ride.
$$: Petrol was between $1.23 and $1.34 on both island, most expensive @ $1.90 in Milford Sound
Food in caf�©'s/ restaurants/ etc is generally 15-40% more than in AUS, Supermarket prices about even
to 10% higher
Alcohol is 20-30% higher
Accomodation: Sticking to Holiday (Caravan) Park Cabin-style accomodation , pricing was about even
to 20% less than in AUS.
Most other types of accomodation (I.e. motels?) are significantly more expensive. This is where the
majority of the plentiful overseas tourists spent their money. Typical tourist areas like Queenstown/
Rotorua/ Milford/ Te Anau etc etc are generally markedly higher again.
Backpacker hostels are VERY common/ usually clean and strangely exist in the most unlikely locations.
Food: Despite fantastic base materials, NZ-food in general (and at almost any level) is fairly poor and bland compared to AUS. Deep-fried stuff rules pubs/ caf�©'s/ snack- joints...with all the good and fresh stuff on the shelves of Supermarkets and fruit stalls it's hard to believe that only very few places can come up with something fresh/appealing AND tasty.
Wine/ Beer: Way better news here, particularly the Monteith on the South Island found friends/ the local wines are great (but again...not cheap at all, even measured on AUS price-levels).
Roads: Yeah, well?
) Now we're cooking. Great stuff, VERY well maintained/ constructed?well cambered, most bridges, even on main Hwys are single-laned. Lose gravel is ever-present, no roos/ other furry stuff (apart from possums), but gravel could really be anywhere. Our group's "feet-down" warning system resulted in some days where the boots hardly touched the pegs at all.Maps: best is a cheap, general NZ map, even a tourist pamphlet type will do as a rough guide.
For every day running and detailed planning the Hema NZ Touring Atlas was priceless!! Very accurate, very detailed, lots of usable extra info. Albeit bulky, it's worth dragging around if one wants to venture off the main highways. (Got our copy from the local RACV/ Auto Club).
Riding conditions: It varies greatly, it's not really beginners territory. Lots of lose gravel everywhere. Weather changes are RAPID and often very drastic.
People: A great mob those Kiwis, pretty inquisitive and always up for a yack. Very friendly and helpful.
Radar/ police/ speed traps: They certainly exist but are a lot more lenient than in "spastic-Victoria".
10% over the limit is usually the border line.
Bike Shops: A real friendly and helpful lot !! Didn't mind us milling around/ having a chat/ walk into the workshop to have a look etc.
Airlines/ Flights: A further experience with Virgin (Virgin Pacific this time), and this was decidedly the last one. Never again.
Swapping schedules frequently, getting stuffed around in Sydney on the way through, part of the group getting stranded in Melbourne on the way out, we've all had it !!!
Mobile phones: Between the 2 NZ networks there is only Vodaphone who offers pre-paid SIMS via the Supermarket counter. WAY more expensive than in AUS, the lack of competition shows. Telecom NZ only offers pre-paid if a phone is purchased through them. Network-problems marred the first 3 days of usage (Vodaphone wouldn't admit to it, of course), after that only the occasional SMS would get lost.
Other phones: Prepaid phone cards are aplenty. The best and cheapest turned out to be the Telstra-Clear.
A $10 prepaid lasted quite well, the 0800 number gave access from any public/ private phone, the usual string of PIN number/ then target-number to be dialed is slow but reasonably priced.
Telstra-Clear cards were sometimes hard to get onto, particularly on the North Island.
The BEST ROADS:
???????
You?ve gotta be joking !!!
Let's try anyway...
South Island:
Arthurs Pass (Chch-Greymouth), Buller Gorge (Inangahua- Westport), Denniston-road and Karamea Rd. to Little Wanganui, North half of the SH6 Westport- Greymouth, The Gap between Franz Josef- Fox Glacier (SH6), Haast- Wanaka on SH6, Wanaka-Queenstown via Crown Range, Queenstown-Glenorchy, plenty of smaller stuff around Q'town, Te Anau to Milford Sound, Balclutha-Etrick loop via backroads is a beauty, Dunedin-Middlemarch-McRaes-Kyeburn-Alexandra for fast sweepers spiced with the tight/ tisty, Lindis Pass for some quick sweepers, SH80 Twizel-Mt. Cook for sheer stunning scenery and road, Culverden-Waiau-Kaikoura for sweet backroad-bliss, Lewis Pass, St. Arnaud-Murchison on SH6, Queen Charlotte Drive out of Picton, Havelock-Nelson on SH6, Motueka Valley Hwy (sth. of Motueka) for sweepy cruising, Motueka-Takaka via Takaka Hill is a ripper.
North Island (southern half):
Rimatuka Hills from Upper Hutt to Featherston is a scream, Masterton-Alfredton-Weber-Wimbledon-Waipukurau some very demanding and diverse riding, SH2 between Napier and Wairoa, Wairoa-Te Reinga-Gisborne a beauty of a backroad, around the East Cape SH35, SH2 running south on SH2 for about 70km to Rakauroa a good mix of Gorge-road/ sweepers and twisties. Ohakui-Wanganui for some awesome sweepers interspersed with tight sections.
There are more great roads around the area, like the West Cape, Te Kuiti-New Plymouth, a real humdinger between Taumaranui and Stratford (about 20km gravel framed by superb twisties either end)?
Related material:
Bike shipping...is it worth it?
https://www.austouring.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45
How did the gear stack up?
https://www.austouring.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39
