Touring New Zealand

[rualexander]

A fair bit of the North Island suffers from busy roads these days but there are still areas that are great for cycle touring, my favourites are the East Cape and the Wairarapa which are much quieter.

[Neil Wheadon]

I can't see how to quote but I have to agree with the drivers being an issue in New Zealand. The fact that the comment saying it was rubbish also included a recommendation to use cycle tracks.
The key point here is 'forewarned is forearmed' If you know that New Zealand drivers, drive fast and close ( basically because they can due to traffic density) then you can do something about it.

Having got that out the way, it's a fabulous place to go. in 2 months you won't see it all and although we spent 2 months on South Island and 1 mouth on North Island we still didn't see it all. If I was going back, I'd consider the off road tracks that are springing up.

Happy New Year
Neil

PS The southerly winds on South Island can be very strong, again forewarned
PPS Air New Zealand charge a lot for bike carriage so check this.

[tatanab]

I have to agree with the drivers being an issue in New Zealand.

I've only ridden on South Island where I found no problems at all. HOWEVER - I was there at the very end of their summer (end of February). I was told that there can be problems, mainly caused by holiday makers hiring RVs the size of which they are not used to, and of course driving on the "wrong" side of the road for most of them. North Island I am told has more traffic and more aggressive driving, but I did not go there.

[gbnz]

I have to agree with the drivers being an issue in New Zealand.

And another! While it's several years since I spent several months in New Zealand, the driving standards remain in my memory as being appalling.

It'd be nice to suggest the blind drunk heading out of the bar to his vehicle every evening, during the 3-4 days I stopped on one campsite on South Island, West Coast, was a one off. Or the driver heading North on the main route from Wellington, weaving across lanes, prior to coming to an abrupt halt, half on, half off the road on a weekend morning was an oddity. They stand out in my memory, but weren't unique.

That said, traffic densities were low enough, and warning of approaching vehicles sufficient due to the coarse road surfacing/tyre noise, that I never found it a major issue.

[mjr]

Has something changed massively since I visited in 2010, then? Here's a piece in the NZ Herald about how poor NZ drivers are: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10493084 - Not long after I visited, there was the "Mean Streets" report saying that motorist misbehaviour deterred many from cycling - here's that also in the Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10547937

Still no hazard perception test before you get a driving licence in NZ? Just the multiple-choice and practicals.

Does the NZ road code still include loads of anti-cycling measures beside the helmet rule, such as saying cyclists should use cycle paths and lanes and that cyclists MUST signal for at least three seconds before each turn or stop? (and the stop signal is the unofficial UK one and our official one is rarely recognised)

Bottom line, does NZ still have about twice the road deaths per capita of the UK?

We have an extensive range of dedicated Bike Paths and Trails in the Hawkes Bay and

Yep, that's another way to get off the road and away from the scarily bad motorists without slowing progress too much!

There are much worse countries to drive in than NZ and there are much better countries to drive in than the UK - https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/10/the- ... r-drivers/

that's reporting results from users of one app that I'd never heard of and it doesn't even seem to include NZ in its comparison!

It's not really an answer to any of the questions, nor to the original point about NZ driving standards being really really poor. Some places are worse than NZ and some are better than the UK, but most of those reading this know how the UK is, so it's relevant that NZ is much worse.

Its nice that you like to read the NZ Herald though I prefer The Dominion.

Actually, I usually read Stuff, but a search found something in the NZ Herald so I linked it.

The NZ Cycle Trails are a great way to explore all the fantastic scenery we have to offer. Encouraging people to use these rather than the roads is a good thing -
http://nzcycletrail.com

Fine if they like mud and gravel and no shops and remote areas with no mobile phone coverage. I don't mind some of it sometimes, but it's rather disappointing to see it presented as an alternative to getting a grip on the bad drivers or providing hard surface tracks. It's not a complete network and you're going to need to use roads a lot to connect them.

On our roads we have started to see many dedicated cycle lanes. They look like this - http://rcaforum.org.nz/working-groups/a ... g-markings
I also think this is a good thing!

It is. Only since 2004? Maybe that's why I didn't notice any in 2010. Bit disappointing that they seem to be heading for green paint rather than proper coloured tarmac.

Bicycle Helmets have been mandatory in NZ since jan 2004 - Its the Law. Research on the helmet law's effects in New Zealand has failed to identify any clear, consistent benefit to cyclists or the population as a whole, however, as a former Road and MTB racer who has seen many, many bicycle accidents.....I also think it's a good thing that we ensure people wear safety helmets while riding on our roads, Cycle Ways and Bike Parks.

They are clearly not "safety helmets" if they offer no benefit to cyclists or the population as a whole! But there's a forum for helmet discussions, so let's drop that, except to say they make NZ unattractive for cycle-tourism and are symptomatic of a dysfunctional approach to cycling. I was in NZ for other reasons in 2010 and I would not visit primarily to cycle while the law is in force.

Our PM has been a huge driving force in all the new Bike initiatives in NZ.

https://can.org.nz/50-million-for-nz-cycleway
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article ... d=11310676

$50m for NZ cycleway, across all NZ. NZTA spent over $200m rejigging one motorway junction a few years ago. Just like the UK, it seems like cycling measures are not funded seriously yet. "Driving force" seems like an accurate Freudian slip...

[JackRabbitSlims]

mjr

If you look hard enough at anything....you'll find something wrong with it.

Perhaps cycle-touring in NZ just isn't for you then....it's difficult to please everyone.

Why don't you send me your address? - I have 4 very nice "Smith" helmets sitting in my bike room still in the box. They still endorse me from my racing days....not sure why though, as I haven't won anything for ages
I will send you one and you can try it out for free!! If you don't like it, maybe you have a friend who would?


Happy New Year

[speraj]

I am coming to the Hawkes Bay area from late Feb to May. Im a big road cyclist from Boulder, Colorado and would love to bring my road bike out to do some single day or multi day rides. I can't ride gravel roads with this particular bike, but is there a big road cycling culture down there?

[ClaytonGrove]

I've just returned from a fabulous month cycle touring in the South Island. New Zealand is a great place to tour with many campsites and backpackers hostels. The roads are great and the traffic slight compared to Europe. Many Kiwis will bring up bad traffic and poor driving, but compared to Europe it is paradise! Probably busier than historically but still great for cycling, even the bug dairy lorises gave me plenty of room and a warning toot if required. Only bad drivers seemed to be in rental city 4x4 vehicles.

My route was Picton-Nelson-Motueka-Murchison-Punukiki-Haast-Wanaka-Queenstown which took about 3 weeks with plenty of days off to indulge in the various activities on offer. Longest day 140km. Hottest day 31. Coolest day around 20. One rain day but warm.

Flight via Singapore with a day layover in Singapore, bike checked right through.

Hope that helps

[Cyril Haearn]

I live in Wales, and a colleague of mine once went to NZ for a month. When he came back I asked him what it was like. "A bit like Wales" was his answer! It seemed a long way to go to find a place like Wales.

I can't remember the last time I saw a volcano, fjord or glacier in Wales...

The Mawddach estuary is a drowned fjord
Eryri was full of volcanoes and glaciers
A few million years ago
Cymru am byth!

[hamster]

Do you work for the Welsh Tourist Board?

How about advertising the coral reefs, deserts, the shoals of Trilobites or the wolves and reindeer...?

[mjr]

Still no sign of dawn from NZ except increasing darkness - it's still cyclists' faults for getting themselves crashed into!

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national ... g-at-night

[mullinsm]

I've just returned from my third consecutive annual holiday touring South Island for two weeks and will be booking to go again next year. No, the standard of driving out there isn't great, but the traffic is generally very light apart from the major cities and as long as you keep your wits about you, it's safer than touring in this country in my opinion - and I've done both.

However, given the level of drink driving I've witnessed, I wouldn't use the roads at all at night - even in a car. It may be different in the cities but out in the sticks you will see people drinking for several hours on any given night and then jumping in their cars to drive home. I certainly wouldn't want to be on the same road as them on a bike in the dark.

Having said that, out winter is their summer and it gets light around 7 and dusk is about 9pm, which gives you 14 hours to wear yourself out on some of the most scenic cycling in the world.

The flights are about £1,000 (although last year I only paid £665) return and camping is as cheap as chips if you're on a budget, so you can have two weeks of fantastic biking for about the price of a fortnight on a costa in the summer.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

[Racingt]

I’m in NZ at the moment. South Island, there are lots of cycle tourists, roads look quite friendly towards them
Accomodation is currently difficult to find, with many no vacancy signs. Public toilets are very common and very clean. Driving standards look OK. South Island has sandflies which may irritate you.
I spoke to a rider today, bikepacking on the Tour Aotearoa, a 600 rider event, on MTB. It sounded great and very well organised.
And weather can be very varied. Cyclone Gita disturbed our plans.
Definitely worth a visit in my book. Perhaps just one visit though, I’m not sure I’ll come back, it’s a long way and there is so much of the world I haven’t seen. Cheers

[mjr]

roads look quite friendly towards them

How? Has there been a massive programme of layout changes since I was there years ago?

Driving standards look OK.

Just wait. There aren't many drivers, but a relatively high proportion seemed to be completely flummoxed if they encountered someone on a bike and did some pretty bizarre things.

I'd agree that the public toilets seem clean and still open, unlike many in UK. The roads are quiet and the weather can be good, but it's not a great place to cycle.

[Racingt]

MJR, a number of main roads have cycle lanes marked on them. Which is good.
I’ve only 4000k experience of their South Island drivers, but from what I’ve seen, I would certainly cycle here. On North Island now, I will wait to comment upon that.