mjr wrote:As you might expect from a nation happy to victim-blame with a helmet law (whose PM is happy to cycle abroad without a helmet...), driving standards are rather poor, but thankfully motorists are few and far between on the South Island, so you can see them coming and get off the road without it slowing progress too much.
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!
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
tatanab wrote:Going via LA is not a problem. You get put in a holding area while the aircraft is prepared. It means going through an immigration check but that was ok in 2006.
By 2010, it was legendarily bad, so I went via HK on AirNZ, who I'd recommend if you can. The wine (NZ, unsurprisingly) is very very good.
I'd include St Arnaud as a very good place to visit. The glacial lakes are stunning.
I've only cycled around a bit of Blenheim (flat bits ), but I was taken on a road trip from Auckland to Wellington and walked around various towns and cities varying amounts (Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo, Palmerston North, Levin, Wellington, Picton, Nelson and probably others I've forgotten). As you might expect from a nation happy to victim-blame with a helmet law (whose PM is happy to cycle abroad without a helmet...), driving standards are rather poor, but thankfully motorists are few and far between on the South Island, so you can see them coming and get off the road without it slowing progress too much.
^^ this is complete rubbish.
I'm a NZer who lives in the Hawkes Bay Region. I work for a Bike Guiding / Touring Company and we specialise in 3-5 day Tours that take in the regions great wine and food scene. We have an extensive range of dedicated Bike Paths and Trails in the Hawkes Bay and you can ride the region taking it all in within 3-4 days.....completely independent if you like?
If there are any specific questions you have about NZ and Bike Touring, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to help you out.
When are you thinking of coming out?
As above - the South Island is the best of the 3 Islands in terms of scenery and touring conditions. I would encourage you to spend the majority of your time in the South. Having said that, there are some wonderful destinations in the North and if you tell me your preferences for touring, I would be happy to suggest locations for you.
New Zealand lies in the mid-latitude zone of westerly winds, in the path of an irregular succession of anticyclones, which migrate eastwards every six to seven days. The centres of these anticyclones generally track across the North Island, more northerly paths being followed in spring, and southerly paths in autumn and winter. Anticyclones are areas of descending air, and settled weather, with little or no rain, which may bring clear skies, or low cloud and fog.
The presence of a mountain chain extending the length of the country has a major effect on the climate of the various regions, and produces much sharper climatic contrasts from west to east, than from north to south. In some inland areas of the South Island, just east of the mountains, the climate is distinctly 'continental' in character -- with large daily and seasonal temperature extremes -- despite the fact that no part of the country is more than 130km from the sea. Ophir in Central Otago has the greatest temperature range of 55°C.
The prevailing wind direction is westerly, although in individual months easterlies may predominate, and north of Taranaki the general flow is southwesterly. In the North Island winds generally decrease for a period in the summer or early autumn, but in many parts of the South Island July and August are the least windy months.
The blocking effect of the mountain ranges modifies the westerly wind pattern. Wind strength decreases on the western side, but increases through Cook Strait, Foveaux Strait, and about the Manawatu Gorge. Air is also forced upwards over the ranges, which results in a warm drying (föhn) wind in the lee areas to the east of both islands.
Wellington averages 173 days a year with wind gusts greater than about 60 km/h, compared with 30 for Rotorua, 31 for Timaru, and 35 for Nelson.
Sea breezes are the predominant winds in summer in many coastal places, such as Canterbury where the northeasterlies are almost as frequent as the predominant southwester lies.
January and February, with approximately the same mean temperature, are the warmest months of the year, and July is the coldest. Highest temperatures are recorded east of the main ranges, where they exceed 30°C on a few afternoons in most summers.
The extremes for New Zealand are 42°C. which has been recorded in three places, in the Awatere Valley (Marlborough), Christchurch, and Rangiora (Canterbury); and -22°C at Ophir (Central Otago). The annual range of mean temperature (the difference between the mean temperature of the warmest and coldest months) is small. In Northland and in western districts of both Islands it is about 8°C and for the remainder of the North Island and east coast districts of the South Island it is 9°C to 10°C. Further inland the annual range exceeds 11°C in places, reaching a maximum of 14°C in Central Otago where there is an approach to a 'continental' type of climate.
The sunniest places are near Blenheim, the Nelson-Motueka area, and Whakatane, where the average duration of bright sunshine exceeds 2350 hours a year. The rest of the Bay of Plenty, and Napier are only slightly less sunny. A large portion of the country has at least 2000 hours, and even Westland, despite its high rainfall, has 1800 hours. Southland and coastal Otago, where sunshine drops sharply to about 1700 hours a year, lie on the northern fringe of a broad zone of increasing cloudiness.
A pleasant feature of the New Zealand climate is the high proportion of sunshine during the winter months, although there is a marked increase in cloudiness in the North Island in winter -- but little seasonal change in the South Island, except in Southland.
mjr wrote:As you might expect from a nation happy to victim-blame with a helmet law (whose PM is happy to cycle abroad without a helmet...), driving standards are rather poor, but thankfully motorists are few and far between on the South Island, so you can see them coming and get off the road without it slowing progress too much.
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!
Its nice that you like to read the NZ Herald though I prefer The Dominion.
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
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.
Our PM has been a huge driving force in all the new Bike initiatives in NZ.
psmiffy wrote:A fair summary Mr Slims - though you forgot to mention when it does rain - even in the summer months - It does RAIN
Wow - when it rains, it rains......I can't argue with that
The distribution of rainfall is mainly controlled by mountain features, and the highest rainfalls occur where the mountains are exposed to the direct sweep of the westerly and northwesterly winds. The mean annual rainfall ranges from as little as 300mm in a small area of Central Otago to over 8000mm in the Southern Alps. The average for the whole country is high, but for the greater part lies between 600 and 1500mm. The only areas with average rainfalls under 600mm are found in the South Island to the east of the main ranges, and include most of Central and North Otago, and South Canterbury. In the North Island, the driest areas are central and southern Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, and Manawatu, where the average rainfall is 700-1000mm a year. Of the remainder, much valuable farmland, chiefly in northern Taranaki and Northland, has upwards of 1500mm. Over a considerable area of both islands rainfall exceeds 2500mm a year.
For a large part of the country the rainfall is spread evenly through the year. The greatest contrast is found in the north, where winter has almost twice as much rain as summer. However predominance of winter rainfall diminishes southwards: it is still discernible over the northern part of the South Island, but over the southern half, winter is the season with least rainfall, and a definite summer maximum is found inland due to the effect of convectional showers. Rainfall is also influenced by seasonal variations in the strength of the westerly winds. Spring rainfall is increased west of, and in, the ranges as the westerlies rise to their maximum about October, with a complementary decrease of rainfall in the lee of the ranges.
Areas that are exposed to the west and southwest experience much showery weather, and rain falls on roughly half the days of the year. Over most of the North Island there are at least 130 rain days a year, (days with at least 1.0mm of rain) -- except to the east of the ranges where in places there are fewer than 110 rain days. These areas of the South Island with annual rainfall under 600mm generally have about 80 rain days a year. In the far south the frequency of rain increases sharply, rain-days exceeding 200 a year in Stewart Island and Fiordland.
On the whole the seasonal rainfall does not vary greatly from year to year, the reliability in spring being particularly advantageous for agricultural purposes. It is least reliable in late summer and autumn, when very dry conditions may develop east of the ranges, particularly in Hawkes Bay.
When you put it like that it is quite a dry place to cycle - partially agree having cycled from Auckland to Invercargill through central North Island and down the east coat of The south island in clear skies - however cycling between Wanaka and Hokitka ranks as the heaviest most sustained rain Ive cycled in - 5 days of absolutely torrential rain - having been refused camping at Haast because it was raining so hard - almost the first thing I saw on entering the backpackers was a weather report on the television gleefully announcing it had been raining at 20mm/hr peaking at 40mm/hr - ditto the evening report in Ross a few days later.
I think the most impressive thing was that although it was raining hard enough that the road surface was always covered in two to three inches of water when it got to the edge of the road it was just disappearing into the glacial gravels.
psmiffy wrote:When you put it like that it is quite a dry place to cycle - partially agree having cycled from Auckland to Invercargill through central North Island and down the east coat of The south island in clear skies - however cycling between Wanaka and Hokitka ranks as the heaviest most sustained rain Ive cycled in - 5 days of absolutely torrential rain - having been refused camping at Haast because it was raining so hard - almost the first thing I saw on entering the backpackers was a weather report on the television gleefully announcing it had been raining at 20mm/hr peaking at 40mm/hr - ditto the evening report in Ross a few days later.
I think the most impressive thing was that although it was raining hard enough that the road surface was always covered in two to three inches of water when it got to the edge of the road it was just disappearing into the glacial gravels.
Yes, the west coast of of the South Island gets hammered with rain from time to time - I've been lucky enough to see most of that stretch of the island in clear blue skies......but many do not get the opportunity unfortunately.
I had some friends from the USA trekking the Milford Track 2 years back and they had to be Helicopter rescued after 3 days of incredible rainfall in that region.....in the summer!
Just to add to the above for those interested in why we have this wild weather at all times of the year:-
New Zealand’s weather is shaped by its mountains, the ocean surrounding the country and the winds from the roaring forties.
New Zealand is a windy place because it lies in the roaring forties weather system. Westerly winds are common. They mainly bring wet weather to the west and dry weather to the east. Northerlies often bring heavy rain. Southerlies sometimes carry cold Antarctic air. Easterlies can bring rain or dry conditions.
The air that reaches New Zealand travels over thousands of kilometres of ocean. The sea cools air from the tropics, and heats air from Antarctica. As air flows over the ocean it gathers moisture.
New Zealand’s weather is affected by the mountains and the wind that flows over and around them. When north-west winds reach the West Coast and the Southern Alps, they rise up over the mountains. As the air rises it cools, causing clouds to form. They drop lots of rain on the West Coast and the mountains. The air then passes over to the east coast. It has no moisture left, so it brings dry, warm weather to Canterbury and Otago, on the eastern side of the mountains.
6.30am here Xmas Day in Napier New Zealand - Fine day Forecast with a high of 25 Deg c and easterly breezes. I'm happy with that, and should get a ride in later this afternoon on the MTB tracks close by
My niece and nephew and running around trying to wake their parents up and dive into some Xmas Presents.....very excited.
Where ever you are - I hope you have some nice weather! Wishing you a very Merry Xmas and a safe and prosperous 2016!!
Don't be put off the West Coast by the potential for rain, having lived there (Franz Josef, Greymouth, and Arthurs Pass) for the best part of two years back in 2000-2002, its not nearly as bad as its reputation, yes when it rains it can chuck it down for two or three days (sometimes more), but you can be confident that after the rain it will be lovely and sunny for several days, with fantastic scenery and great cycle touring, even if there is really only one road.
Thanks for the info on the weather, very useful to know. At the moment I'm thinking for south Island heading down the east coast before returning up through the centre and crossing over one of the passes onto the west coast. Does this sound like a reasonable plan to try and avoid the wet weather as much as possible.
I'm was planning on taking my touring bike with 40c tyres would this allow me to ride most of the gravel roads or would it be worth getting something with wider tyres. Also I've been trying to budget for it and was wandering how much it is likely to cost based on mainly camping and cooking for myself.
40c tyres should be ok on most gravel roads, freshly graded gravel can be hard going but otherwise most gravel roads aren't too bad.
Rather than going all the way down the east coast, better to turn inland when you get near to Rangiora and head via Methven and Geraldine to Tekapo then follow the hydro canal roads to Twizel, then down over the Lindis Pass to Central Otago, cut across to Dunedin (Central Otago Rail Trail is a good option), from Dunedin head for Invercargill via The Catlins, then up to Te Anau via Tuatapere and Manapouri, over to Queenstown (via Mavora Lakes back road and TSS Earnslaw steamship), over the Crown range to Wanaka, then up Lake Hawea to Makarora, on to Haast and the West Coast.
rualexander wrote:40c tyres should be ok on most gravel roads, freshly graded gravel can be hard going but otherwise most gravel roads aren't too bad.
Rather than going all the way down the east coast, better to turn inland when you get near to Rangiora and head via Methven and Geraldine to Tekapo then follow the hydro canal roads to Twizel, then down over the Lindis Pass to Central Otago, cut across to Dunedin (Central Otago Rail Trail is a good option), from Dunedin head for Invercargill via The Catlins, then up to Te Anau via Tuatapere and Manapouri, over to Queenstown (via Mavora Lakes back road and TSS Earnslaw steamship), over the Crown range to Wanaka, then up Lake Hawea to Makarora, on to Haast and the West Coast.
Good to know that the current set up should be ok for most stuff that I would be riding.
Also thanks for the route it looks very nice and seems to cover a lot of varied terrain and areas, where would you recommend going for the North Island as currently the only ideas I'd had were to head up to the Bay of Island but not had many other real ideas so suggestions would be appreciated.
I prefer The Dominion.
