Yes, yes and yes! I have "done" the South Island. I had one week's leave and my wife did not so I had no plans on a holiday overseas without her. But I had a motorbike. A big one. I had a biking buddy with a motorbike who also had leave. So I threw out the challenge - Let's ride as far south as we can, and back again, in a week. We plotted a route around a comfortable daily riding distance, pre-booked our accommodation and off we headed like two school kids on our road trip with the theme of Wild Hogs in our heads.
Down the West Coast to Wanaka and up the East Coast back to Picton, Wellington and home to Auckland. Patches of drizzle here and there but mostly fine and great riding weather. Scenery that differed vastly. Roads that were pure bliss to ride and fewer cars and trucks than the North Island. Some breathtaking scenery and some memorable stops.
Now back at work it seems surreal but, as is often the case, we imports have now seen more of NZ than most of the home growns. And not from the safety and comfort of a campervan or car but from the seat of a two wheel beast with our senses drinking in the surroundings. We were advised to do this before the end of April when the dangerous black ice starts and just weeks after our trip winter began.
I was spoilt with the beauty of the Western Cape in South Africa, up to the Karoo so my benchmark is high. New Zealand, South or North Island, does not lower that bar and in many instances it sets it higher for me in a combination of both the stunning beauty but also the accessibility for most people to enjoy it. This is bucket list stuff on our doorstep at little cost by comparison to overseas trips.
I must say, having recently watched Henry Cole on the Travel Channel doing "the world's best motorcycle rides" where he did Australia and New Zealand, I can't believe New Zealand isn't more popular as a biker destination for serious Australian bikers. From the programmme and the way he raved about NZ it seems like it should be a "bucket list" destination. Certainly the for the Australian trip he seemed as if he had to make long roads through desert storms arriving at little tin shacks in no-man's-land look interesting whereas the praise rolled off his tongue for the Kiwi trip and he even referred to it as his new benchmark. Here he says it's one of the top 3 rides he's done!
Down the West Coast to Wanaka and up the East Coast back to Picton, Wellington and home to Auckland. Patches of drizzle here and there but mostly fine and great riding weather. Scenery that differed vastly. Roads that were pure bliss to ride and fewer cars and trucks than the North Island. Some breathtaking scenery and some memorable stops.
Now back at work it seems surreal but, as is often the case, we imports have now seen more of NZ than most of the home growns. And not from the safety and comfort of a campervan or car but from the seat of a two wheel beast with our senses drinking in the surroundings. We were advised to do this before the end of April when the dangerous black ice starts and just weeks after our trip winter began.
I was spoilt with the beauty of the Western Cape in South Africa, up to the Karoo so my benchmark is high. New Zealand, South or North Island, does not lower that bar and in many instances it sets it higher for me in a combination of both the stunning beauty but also the accessibility for most people to enjoy it. This is bucket list stuff on our doorstep at little cost by comparison to overseas trips.
I must say, having recently watched Henry Cole on the Travel Channel doing "the world's best motorcycle rides" where he did Australia and New Zealand, I can't believe New Zealand isn't more popular as a biker destination for serious Australian bikers. From the programmme and the way he raved about NZ it seems like it should be a "bucket list" destination. Certainly the for the Australian trip he seemed as if he had to make long roads through desert storms arriving at little tin shacks in no-man's-land look interesting whereas the praise rolled off his tongue for the Kiwi trip and he even referred to it as his new benchmark. Here he says it's one of the top 3 rides he's done!