Our 7 day Motorbike South Island New Zealand Trip - Experiences

For our itinerary ... 7 day South Island trip itinerary
For our planning and decisions 7 Day South Island New Zealand Motorbike Trip - Planning

Our 7 day South Island New Zealand motorbike trip - planning and considerations

How long is a piece of string?

When I speak to most people about a bike tour of the South Island, they recommend 10 to 14 days if not more. I had 7 days of leave available and a small window of opportunity before the weather turned which I am told is in late April. To miss this window would be to delay the trip to later in the year or, a more likely scenario, next year. Riding in the South Island during the snow season can be very dangerous for bikes and the snow can come until as late as October/November. So with my biker comrade, we decided to make hay while the sun shines and ride as far South as we could in 7 days including the return trip. 

Our bikes..

I ride a 2007 Suzuki Hayabusa GSXR1300 and my comrade in handlebars rides a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard M109R 1800cc. The Busa is [very very] quick on the straights and enjoyable in the corners although with a long wheel base and cautious rider you'd more enjoy other rides for quicker corners if that's are your thing. It is a comfortable "tourer" and could have the bars raised slightly if one was planning to primarily tour on it. It can be tiring under 110kmh but begins to simply purr anywhere from 120kmh and the faster it goes the safer it feels. The M109R is surprisingly light for its sheer presence but as my comrade stands over 6 feet tall and hardly complained of a sore butt, it must be pretty comfy to ride. It has great straight line grunt and, although I once followed one who handled twisties like a pro, it doesn't lend itself to sharp corners, especially with the fatter back tyre that wants to straighten up on itself.   But with even with the thinner back tyre on now, its rider is equally as cautious as I am, so neither of us is over zealous in corners.

We chatted to many fellow biker tourers mostly on adventure bikes who were having a great time. Some were campers and others took motel rooms but all were real adventurers.

Rooms and accommodation...
Of course camping would be the cheapest option but several factors weighed against this for us. Firstly, we are not regular campers so the idea of pitching a tent at dusk was not appealing, added to which were likely days of adverse weather. A biker friend told me about a wonderful "pop-up" tent he used but hadn't yet provided any details. Secondly, the additional weight and space of tents may be a minor consideration given the new light weight technology but was still a negative. So we looked for rooms. The mate who did Harley tours said that, unlike a larger party, as 2 bikers we'd be able to just call ahead to the next stop the day before and book a place. NZ has a quaint and workable "Top 10" accommodation system which means that any lodgings included on the list meets basic standards of cleanliness. The idea of a room to throw the bags and dirty socks down on was, at our age, just too appealing and we opted for that. We decided to pre-book as we are both accountants and just couldn't cope with the uncertainty of not having booked. We found great deals on Bookings.com and Expedia . As it turned out I got one stop wrong and booked for the following night in error but the receptionist was very helpful and sourced us another room nearby at a similar rate which was well below the website advertised rate.

Some places had shared ablutions but even these were very clean with warm water. Others had their own en-suite shower/toilets with Sky TV.

Our rooms ranged from NZD $85-$110 which, when shared between 2 is a fair deal. All rooms were 2 singles or double/single.

Despite this, if you love camping or cost is a major consideration, then by all means go the with the camping option. We met a rider from the UK in his late 60s who had travelled the world and loved camping. By international standards, NZ must offer one of the safest camping environments anywhere on offer and even given the high NZ dollar parity it would be a cheap option by any standards. One other option, given the great Backpacker culture that exists in NZ, is to consider these as they are in all the major tourist areas and offer rough comfort without having to pitch tents.

Fly & Rent or Ride our own bikes?

With only 7 days to ride, the rides from Auckland to Wellington and back needed to be factored in as they are long distances in comparison to many of the South Island legs. Included in this decision is the 3½ hour ferry trip which runs at scheduled times and usually runs late, as we discovered. The obvious choice if these 2 days are critical deal breakers, is to fly down to the South Island and rent bikes. We love our rides and, since we haven't yet ridden South of Gisborne/Napier region, we decided to enjoy this North Island leg as part and parcel of the adventure. 

East to West or the other way?

Perhaps instinctively, or maybe just from what others have shared, we decided to ride from Picton to Nelson and down the West Coast then back up through the East Coast. This turned out to be a great route but I could now easily do it the other way if it worked better for planning. There seems to be no obvious reason to prefer one direction over another. 

What we wanted out of the trip...

Obviously we wanted this to be a memorable trip in its own right as 2 white collar biker dudes with plenty of daily routine now riding off into the sunset to the theme tune of Wild Hogs, but it was also a bit of recce for when our wives, who ride their own bikes, can ride with us. The M109R rider wanted a casual ride with gentle twists and long straights. He wanted to stop and take photographs so ideally wanted to ride about 3½ - 4 hours a day in the saddle which, with photo, coffee and food stops would be about 5-6 hours travel. The Busa rider wanted long straights, twisties to lean and open up in, and was happy to be riding 4-5 hours a day as he only takes pics on his phone and just needs time to post his progress on social media.

Going the distance..

So the next decision we had to make was where to go and how long to ride daily. Apart from the Auckland/Wellington legs which we decided we'd ride like 2 banditos on the run, once on the South Island, we had decisions to make around what a comfortable day's ride would be as this would dictate how far we could travel overall. The M109R rider had "researched" that a comfortable day's ride would be 350-400km which would be about 4-4½ hours in the saddle adding say 2 hours for stops and sight seeing at some "must see" places.

I was initially more ambitious but then I decided to think through some of my proposed distances to some North Island equivalent rides I've ridden and realised that every day at these ambitious distances would leave us quite tired and unable to take in the stunning scenery we'd heard so much about. So we agreed to reasonable distances each day with one or two days longer riding.

What to see, what to miss..?

Two of my biker acquaintances who know the South Island well were both unfortunately on their own SI trips - one at the Queenstown HOG rally and the other on his annual ride with his wife for 3 weeks, each on their own Harleys. He used to do Harley tours so would've been a wealth of local knowledge. Our initial thoughts were to go as far south as the glaciers and then head back and up and criss cross the inland passes to the other east coast, but after checking out biker forums we decided that it made sense to do the Haast Pass down to Wanaka and then back up to Christchurch. Although close to Queenstown it was never on our agenda for this trip as that is most certainly worth its own few days of exploration itinerary. 

Weather expectations...

Weather forecasts showed several cold fronts moving across the entire South Island from South West heading Northwards so it was unlikely to expect to avoid these unless we stayed somewhere as it passed which was not the plan. Our hope was that if we encountered these, we'd be riding through them heading South. Mostly this is what happened and the weather was kind to us, considering this. The worst weather was probably our first day on the North Island and then later I made an individual dash for Aurthur's pass and hit rain, fog and mist on the way up. Apart from that we really just rode through a few patches of light rain from time to time.

I was warned by a local biker when heading out to the Kaikoura Coast to Blenheim that there can be extreme winds and I could see what he meant when we hit gusts that you fight from one direction and that then suddenly turn and gust in the opposite direction causing dangerous veering; and this was on a "not windy" day according to him!

Road and traffic conditions...
The road surface was, for the most part, excellent, although the actual surfaces vary which is great as some seem to be designed for grip even in the rain. Certainly they seem better overall than the North Island which I'm guessing is due to higher traffic volumes up North. North Island roads are well maintained but you can catch them just pre-repair or during repair, both of which results in non-ideal riding conditions. Another pleasant surprise was roads were frequently banked (cambered) at the correct angle, unlike the North Island which, for some obscure reason, are angled down so that you feel like inertia in every corner is spinning you off the road. A pleasant surprise for us was the combination of long, long, long stretches of straight roads with brilliant meandering corners and the odd sharp bend thrown in to ensure that at the end of every day you felt like you'd had a really complete biking experience. For some reason NZ is seen as a great cycling option but with the high trucking volumes, single lane narrow roads and high tourism volumes I simply have no clue why. We saw several cyclists and I felt quite sorry and afraid for them. Once a truck almost took one out in front of me and the cyclist was left shaking his fist having been forced onto the verge of the road as an "overtaking" truck realised there was an oncoming car and neither would slow down. There has been much press publicity of late about foreign national tourists causing road accidents by driving on the wrong side of the road but we didn't encounter any serious issues in this regard. I was also warned that Campervans are now an issue to bikers as they travel in convoy at close distance which don't allow of overtaking but again, we had no issues in this regard and found plenty of safe places to overtake without putting ourselves or other vehicles at any risk.

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!

Our final itinerary...

Our itinerary is here South Island itinerary  

Our Experiences...
Our experiences are here South Island Experiences

Itinerary for 7 day motorbike trip of New Zealand South Island

Following on from our planning, here's our itinerary:

Laka Matheson

Akaroa, Banks Peninsula

Monday*: Auckland to Wellington [7h47m 637km] **see Ferry comments

Tuesday: Picton - Nelson - Westport [4h46m 346km]

Wednesday:  Westport -  Greymouth - Franz Josef Glazier [3h32m 273km]

Thursday:  Franz Josef - Fox - Wanaka [3h32m 285km]

Christchurch

Laka Wanaka

Friday: Wanaka - Twizel - Takapo – Ashburton [3h58m 348km]

Saturday ***: Ashburton - Christchurch - Banks Peninsula - Christchurch [3h44m 250 km]

Sunday: Christchurch - Kaikoura - Blenheim - Picton [4h32m 337km]

Monday 30/3/15 - Wellington - Auckland via Whanganui River Road [9h 684km] 

Total planned above: 3,160km 
Actual : M109R 3,175km / Hayabua 3,408km including Arthur's Pass peak

*Auckland to Wellington:
Coromandel turn off sh27) 

Waharoa (sh27) 1^st Fuel stop Started to drizzle there.

Matamata (sh27)

Tirua (sh27) – spotty the dog and antique shop and our stop back from Taupo with the girls

Tokorua (sh 27) -  lots of rain, even bought rain pants at the local Suzuki.

Turned off to SH41 and missed Taupo

Kuratau (sh41)

Turned back onto SH1 at Turangi then the desert road through to ( fuel stop and had a good Burger king Wrap)

Waiouru SH1

Taihape SH1

Hunterville SH1 – put fuel in but can’t recall the place.

Bulls

Foxton

Wellington (Fuel and Ferry)

**Ferry: We decided to catch the Bluebridge 2am Ferry and take a room. Early boarding at 11pm meant that arriving at Picton at about 6am, theoretically anyway, we could get a 5 to 6 hours sleep and at $30 for the room sleeping 2 meant we save a night accommodation cost and not lose a night heading off fresh in the morning. We had a nice shower in the morning but the ferry ran late so we were not rested as we only got to bed after 2am and were woken well before 6am. But we did sleep soundly. We heard that Bluebridge was better than Interislander but chose it ultimately for room option.

*** Arthur's Pass: Actually we deviated from plan with the M109R rider riding from Ashburton to Christchurch [1h11m 89km] and me, the Hayabusa rider riding from Ashburton to Arthur's Pass [2h11m 177km] and then from Arthur's Pass to Christchurch along the Old West Coast Road [1h54m 145km]. We then both rode from Christchurch to Akaroa, Banks Peninsula [1h31m 88km] and back [1h31m 88km]. This amount of riding that day on the Busa was a lot but the only way for me to fit in Arthur's Pass without adding additional km's every day for us both. 

Coromandel Peninsula loop.. On our doorstep.

I'm a fair weather rider which means that I take the weather conditions into account before riding. I don't mind weather changing but if there are 2 or 3 of the elements of rain, wind or icy chill likely then it's likely I won't set out to ride unplanned on a spontaneous ride.  If I've not ridden for a while I may brave going out but I do look forward to the warmer days where suiting up to keep warm isn't a drag that somehow detracts from the spontaneity of grabbing a quick opportunity.

I rode 2 Saturdays back in howling Auckland wind accompanied by the odd light rain patch and although I look back at the ride as exhilarating,  it was still only enjoyable as a group experience and I only ventured out because I'd arranged a group of us to ride down to an event at Hampton Downs and to back out would look girlie. I value the experience of riding in all conditions but wouldn't set out by choice next time in similar conditions.

So this last Saturday I was really excited to see Sunshine and my good wife and I decided to take a quick run out through the pretty waitakere forest range to Paihia and then for breakfast at Titirangi township. Auckland weather is a bit bipolar and changes fast but we got a clean ride all the way in stunning conditions on dry roads.

Then I had the day off work on Monday and,  on checking the skies,  made a snap decision to zip out to the Coromandel peninsula. I left early enough to have to navigate morning traffic but it was light and flowing and I enjoyed that part knowing I was heading to a freedom ride while others were headed to their daily grind. Looking out at the peninsula I saw cloud and wondered if I'd made a mistake but as I approached along the beautiful road turning in off the freeway that for some crazy reason has been designated a high crash road so has a 10km lower speed limit,  I realised I was committed and so pushed on.

I decided to travel through Thames and onward towards the point along a gently winding road that runs right along the sea with emerald green bays at every turn and all I can say is that the view is breathtakingly beautiful. The sea was as calm as a lake as I looked back on East Auckland I really had to allow my senses to grasp the experience. Not only is the Hayabusa a perfect bike for this type of trip but I can honestly say that I felt truly spoilt and,  based on my endless youtube searches for great bike rides,  felt that I envied very few in comparison to what I was enjoying.

What added to my sense of overwhelming satisfaction was that I was riding on my Hayabusa.  Forget what you read about it just being a fast bike in a straight line. It is intuitive around the bend,  forgiving in corners and has the most amazing front suspension over rough bumps. All this makes for the perfect blend of power and comfort and when the serious twisties present themselves it is not as difficult to lean as some blogs make out. 

At the end of the peninsula the road turns inward from the sea line and runs through carpets of forest that stretch out in every direction to the sea shores on every side.

Here there are more serious corners that can be taken slowly and carefully or quicker and more daringly. I was cruising until an adventure bike zipped past me and the rider obviously knew the road as he cornered with the most clinical lines. This was a great challenge to me and I put my bike through its paces keeping up while carefully watching and learning from him. I don't know if he enjoyed me on his tail but I enjoyed having a marker all the way into the quaint Coromandel Town.

All I kept wishing was that my wife and riding buddies were with me but I figured that I would simply use this as a good recce of the route and I have already begun to plan the day trip with them. I can't wait to enjoy this ride with friends and,  while the average speed will be somewhat slower as a group than my solo run, the fun of riding together and seeing others share this great ride is what biking is all about.

I am still surprised by the bikers I meet who've not yet done the coromandel loop and I can't fathom why. I recently watched Henry Cole's World's Greatest Motorcycle Rides on the Discovery Channel and he was travelling along desert roads in the Australian outback for hours. Well,  here I was wondering why Australian bikers are not queuing up to experience what I just have. It certainly must rival any ride in the world.

Queenstown - a great destination

Many travel and expat forums will tell the entrepid traveller that if they visit only one place in New Zealand, make sure it's Queenstown. 

There is so much material on the internet - tourism,  activity marketing and personal travel stories - that it would be like throwing a match on a bonfire to make an inadequate attempt to add to the mass of excellent material available. There are also so many pictures of the unbelievably endless majestic beauty that surrounds the whole area and which will simply engulf any visitor so I have just added a few personal snaps of my experience.

What I can say is that from personal experience,  it is an absolute "must do" on anyone's travel agenda -  for both tourists and kiwis alike.  It has a magical air and at once conjures up a sense of being in the company of the great travel destinations such as Zurich,  Vancouver or the Alps but likewise a surreal sense of being on an epic movie set.

I am here at the end of winter and the snow still blankets the ski fields and,  while I love the experience of snow, soft drizzle and misty mountains, my senses are attuned to imagine this beauty in dryer weather that can be enjoyed and consumed on my motorbike with my wife and other close riding buddies. The roads snaking through mountains and valleys beside rivers and lakes seems a dream for any biker and I'm planning to make this the pinnacle point of a South Island trip which is fast becoming more exciting to me than most other holiday options. Apart from the surrounding scenic options,  Queenstown city itself is pretty with all the quaint picturesque options that make this a premier holiday spot.

Many kiwis say Queenstown is too expensive and has become a playground only the wealthy can afford and would sooner head off from Auckland International Airport to  the Gold Coast in Australia,  Thailand,  Fiji or one of the many other foreign destinations available through travel packages offered so cheaply. I'm guessing that with so many foreigners flooding Queenstown the locals don't mind that kiwis feel that way.

We've had $10 all day breakfast special offers with $2.50 coffee in Arrowtown and a $15 all day steak special in central Queenstown.  Yes,  every adventure activity is pretty costly but then I'm easy to please.  I'm quite happy driving around and admiring the scenes and sites. Call me old but I just don't need my thrills arranged for me as I would being a foreign visitor.  I get my adrenalin fix from opening the throttle on my Hayabusa - and it's why I can't wait to be here on my "baby" combining my passion for riding and soaking in the most amazing scenery on offer which arguably would rank as some of the finest rugged,  unspoilt available anywhere today.

Queenstown

First year as a Biker in Auckland

It is nearing the end of August in this, the first year I have owned a motorbike for many years.  So as each season unfolds I am relating the process to my newfound biking experience,  much like a pioneer in a strange new land would begin gauging the rhythm and tempo of the weather to understand what the years ahead will unfold in his new home. 

Although I have lived in Auckland for10 years, until now I have not really been attuned to the weather and took it as it came,  accepting all the old cliches and living a life largely unconcerned about whether tomorrow held rain or shine. But now, as a bike owner,  I am somehow highly observant and in tune with the weather, probably a bit like a cyclist or angler,  whose reward from their passion is either enhanced or reduced by the weather and directly or indirectly affects their plans.

Since getting,  and sharing,  my wife's cruiser in October last year until getting my own Bandit 600 in December,  I finally got my Hayabusa in February this year.  Since October,  I have had endless ideal riding weather around Auckland with one long trip up to Paihia over Easter just after getting my Haya.

Riding has been slowed occasionally by some rainy or gusty spells but then cloudy skies will suddenly part and reveal glorious riding days. This has happened throughout the winter and now we stand at the brink of Spring and despite an icy chill which reminds us that there is still snow on mountains both North and South,  the days are good for riding again. 

Does this mean more frequent commuting (I am a fair weather commuter)?  Well,  I imagine that as soon as Spring daylight savings kicks in there will be incentive to set off for work confident in the fact that if the weather is suitable after work it will yield a good few hours to enjoy the sites and sounds of vibrant,  beautiful Auckland.

Coromandel twisties take their toll..!!

The weather app said that Auckland was going to be fine and dandy on Saturday so my mate and myself made plans to hit the Coromandel loop. We got away from the North Shore at about 10am and headed out to Clevedon but took an early exit off the motorway and headed out via Howick in a bit too much traffic for our liking. After a quick fuel stop we headed out from Clevedon and, via an unplanned detour down the aptly named Tourist Road, we reached the coast hugging East Coast Road off to the State Highway 2 that heads out to Thames. From Thames we headed through the twisties of the Coramandel Forest Park ranges to Tairua for a coffee stop. 

We had intended to do the whole loop so headed out from Tairua to Whitianga but before Whitianga I took a left turn along a stunning road that unfortunately became a dirt mud road so once we turned back we decided to head back to Tairua and back to Thames instead of doing the whole loop. 

From there we headed along the State Highway 2 all the way to SH1 and back to the North Shore. 

For a rough guide of the trip on Google Maps..

Clevedon -it's a blip you may pass through easily but it's also a series of quaint shops kept in small town character and if you stop and smell the roses you discover a nice choice of eateries and cool trinket shops. 
Tourist Road - wow, I rode along here with flashbacks to places I'd seen on YouTube. I felt I'd travelled the outback Smokey Mountains down small town USA. A breathtaking meandering detour.  (About here I remember thinking that somebody had spiked me with big dose of Happy!)

To Kawakawa Bay - lovely sweeping bends with a few nice tight twisties but the scenery is so vivid you won't be using any app that enahances colour for fear of making the photos look too fake. Some parts of the road are so tree-lined there is moss so obviously not sun soaked.
East Coast Road - equal parts beach holiday feel, rural local fishing spot feel, you simply soak in the lake like ocean, the islands and the view of the Coromandel Peninsula with it's looming mountain ranges. The road is a nice mix of twisty stretches for leaning and straight for letting the machine loose. 
Coromandel Forest Park Road - A great road to teach anyone about kiwi road surfaces. You will be winding through moist road surfaces along tree lined stretches beside ravines then around a bend into dry stretches under bright sunlight with sweeping views of the mountain ranges. A warning sign for a mudslide hazard will be followed by a beautiful long, straight piece of tempting tarmac.
Tairua to Whitianga - As I said, we didn't go all the way to Whitianga but while this stretch of road has some challenging hairpins, it also has some great sweeping bends and some amazing straight stretches. You will need to decide whether you are going to cruise and take in the scenery which on one side is endless hills and mountains and on the other side the ocean, or you are going to keep your eyes on the road and floor it. We took it hard there but enjoyed the cruise back, stopping for a few photo ops with the sea as backdrop.     It is along here that my riding buddy had to stop and pop a few ginger tablets for the motion sickness he started to feel! So rider beware, if you are prone to this then remember that this road has its share of side to side that will likely result in a bit of nausea.

Thames to MW1 - we left Thames (actually just the Mobil on the outskirts) for home with the sun a few inches above the horizon and travelled half the MW2 in darkness. A stunning sunset sealed the day as a truly memorable one for us both. Our only regret that our wives hadn't made it but we now had the anticipation of sharing this world famous ride with a much better first hand knowledge to plan for next time.    

Summary - the road surface conditions were amazing. Very few potholes; The road weather conditions were excellent - wet and dry but all safe; the view and scenery is almost too much beauty for such a short distance. Explaining it in words would sound corny, but it is continual, diverse (tropical, rugged, coastal) and sensually overwhelming.