^^ Excellent Post!!LittleGreyCat wrote: ↑20 Jul 2023, 1:14pm Just to note: be wary of any reports over 5 years old because things have changed a lot.
We visited in 2016, and again over last Xmas/New Year 2022/23.
There was a major difference in living costs and in traffic.
The whole place is starting to get crowded around population centres.
I think one thing to be wary of now is the weather.
We managed to fly out of Auckland between two cyclones which was lucky, but there was a great deal of water damage to roads and housing in the area.
Planning is difficult because of slips due to heavy rain.
This seemed worse in Northland and also to the very North of South Island.
Coromandel is best avoided these days.
We travelled from Bay of Islands down to Stewart Island and back up to Auckland and saw very few cyclists on the roads (which may tell you something).
Best of luck with your travels, but be cautious.
I have to agree and can confirm that some of the major weather events over the past 12 - 18 months in NZ have had a major impact on the roading network.
I live in Napier / Hawkes Bay which got absolutely whacked when Cyclone Gabrielle came through in early Feb of this year.....we still have lots of road damage, bridges wiped out and still waiting to be repaired or replaced. Coromandel as mentioned was also hit hard as was the west coast out from Auckland (Piha / Kare Kare). There is lots of repair going on, heavy machinery and trucks on the roads....probably rideable, but will be slow going and not enjoyable at all
The West Coast of the South Island is always dealing with heavy rainfall and roads in that region are often closed from slips and flooding!
Yes - much has changed since I first rode the length of the country in 2016 - of course, costs have increased dramatically and the traffic volume on the roads has increased.
Personally, I have given up touring on the roads in NZ. I'm getting ready for a trip to Central Asia in a couple of weeks which means training on the roads around here (most of the bike trails were ruined in the Cyclone and the back country roads have been cut off with bridges wiped out). I hate it....I've been riding / racing bikes for 35 years now and this is the first time I've actually felt quite uncomfortable out on the roads around the region I've lived all my life (51 years).
I find it bizarre that the OP wants to fly all the way out to NZ from the UK (I can only imagine what that costs for 2 people!) and is determined to free / wild camp in order to keep costs down. As I stated above, Free / Wild Camping is not allowed or tolerated here.
Of course, you can do what you like, but I wouldn't advise you try it.
Consider that in the summer months, the sun sets 8.30pm - 9pm and rises 5.30am - 6am. In some places the day is longer. If you want to Wild Camp, that makes for a very long day before setting up camp somewhere not to be seen or detected....if you can actually find that area at the time of day that you need it?
There's a reason why we see less and less cycle tourists in NZ and more and more campervan tourists - sad, but true!