Old Member - New Question: NZ Tour

[sjpvacny]

Greetings from an old 1971 75/5 rider who recently upgraded to a 2004 R1200C and looking for any recommendations for an NZ touring company. There are tons of them around but I haven't seen many reviews and I'd like to do the "Lord of the Rings" tour in addition to a guided tour of NZ next March/April. I'd appreciate any info you could share, good, bad or otherwise on some of the NZ tours. Thanks and Happy Trails!

[rfisher]

My wife Susi and I did the Beach's Motorcycle Adventures 3 week Maori Meander tour in January, 2005. At the time, Beach's was subcontracting its NZ tours to a local operator, Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours.

http://www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz/

I highly recommend the Te Wai folks. The tour was phenomenal. New Zealand is an excellent place to ride a motorcycle, and the way the tour was laid out worked very well for us. Each evening after dinner, the guides have a meeting to lay out the next day. They hand out maps of various routes to the next evening's destination along with suggestions of places of interest to stop. You can follow the guides, or plot your own way. Just be there for dinner.

However, if we were to go back, I would seriously consider just renting the bikes and making our own way. It is hard to get lost in NZ as there are very few roads, especially on the South Island. Food and lodging seemed plentiful, so advance reservations are probably not required in most areas. The Kiwis are extremely friendly and helpful, and go out of their way to make sure the tourist is enjoying their country.

As to the "Lord of the Rings" tours, be aware that there is a NZ law that requires movie companies to tear down their sets after filming is completed. You can tour the sites, but the sets no longer exist. There are a lot of the tours in the Queenstown area on the South Island. We took one in a Toyota Land Cruiser, and the just the ride was fun, fording rivers deep enough to come over the hood, and clinging to single laners on the sides of steep mountains. Even without the sets, it was well worth the time and money.

On the North Island, you can ride a ski lift through the land of Mordor, as the Mordor scenes were filmed at a ski resort on the side of an active volcano. I believe it was on Mount Ruapehu, or something like that. It is near the village of National Park.

When you go, just make sure you stay long enough to enjoy it. It is a long way to travel for a short vacation. We stayed another week after we turned the motorcycles in.

Roy F

[Voni]

Paul and I agree. They are a great company with a real passion for NZ. They'll help you with as much support as you want! Amazing accomodations and the food!!! ; )

Voni
sMiling

[sjpvacny]

My wife Susi and I did the Beach's Motorcycle Adventures 3 week Maori Meander tour in January, 2005. At the time, Beach's was subcontracting its NZ tours to a local operator, Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours.

http://www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz/

I highly recommend the Te Wai folks. The tour was phenomenal. New Zealand is an excellent place to ride a motorcycle, and the way the tour was laid out worked very well for us. Each evening after dinner, the guides have a meeting to lay out the next day. They hand out maps of various routes to the next evening's destination along with suggestions of places of interest to stop. You can follow the guides, or plot your own way. Just be there for dinner.

However, if we were to go back, I would seriously consider just renting the bikes and making our own way. It is hard to get lost in NZ as there are very few roads, especially on the South Island. Food and lodging seemed plentiful, so advance reservations are probably not required in most areas. The Kiwis are extremely friendly and helpful, and go out of their way to make sure the tourist is enjoying their country.

As to the "Lord of the Rings" tours, be aware that there is a NZ law that requires movie companies to tear down their sets after filming is completed. You can tour the sites, but the sets no longer exist. There are a lot of the tours in the Queenstown area on the South Island. We took one in a Toyota Land Cruiser, and the just the ride was fun, fording rivers deep enough to come over the hood, and clinging to single laners on the sides of steep mountains. Even without the sets, it was well worth the time and money.

On the North Island, you can ride a ski lift through the land of Mordor, as the Mordor scenes were filmed at a ski resort on the side of an active volcano. I believe it was on Mount Ruapehu, or something like that. It is near the village of National Park.

When you go, just make sure you stay long enough to enjoy it. It is a long way to travel for a short vacation. We stayed another week after we turned the motorcycles in.

Roy F

Thanks for the good advice. It really helps to have perspective from someone who was on the ground there.