Touring - Australia or New Zealand Organized Ride

This winter (summer in southern hemisphere) I'd like to go to either Australia or New Zealand to do a ride. I don't want to ride by myself and I've looked at a number of the tour companies. The tour companies tend to be a little expensive and, even worse, the mileage is pretty low. Most of the tour companies only cover 40 miles/day. I want to do 60-90 miles/day. What I'd love to find is the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of Cycle Oregon, Ride the Rockies, RAGBRAI, etc. Do such events exist?

Thanks,

-Scott

This winter (summer in southern hemisphere) I'd like to go to either Australia or New Zealand to do a ride. I don't want to ride by myself and I've looked at a number of the tour companies. The tour companies tend to be a little expensive and, even worse, the mileage is pretty low. Most of the tour companies only cover 40 miles/day. I want to do 60-90 miles/day. What I'd love to find is the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of Cycle Oregon, Ride the Rockies, RAGBRAI, etc. Do such events exist?

Thanks,

-Scott

not many of those type rides in new zealand but quite a few in aussie ...
try bikensw website, or 'rta big ride'
bike queensland, bike victoria and bike south australia all have great organised 9 day rides ... but i think the bike nsw is a more renowned ride in the same vein as bike oregon etc ...

Scott, check out

http://www.greatrides.com.au

These are organised rides run by Bicycles Victoria, which is a community based cycling organisation, not a commercial tour operator. If you want to get an idea of what their rides are like, check out their forums at

http://www.bv.com.au/forums

I reckon the Great Tasmanian Bike Ride might be a good one. Unfortunately, the daily distances are not what you are looking for, but you could certainly do a few extra miles by detouring to view the sights each day.

My husband and I are planning to do the Great Victorian Bike Ride, and, if we can find the time, would love to do the Tasmanian one. Tasmania is a beautiful place to go touring.

I found NZ to have much more interesting cycing terrain than mainland OZ. Unless you like it flat....

Sorry, I have no info on organized rides.

You could also try this site in Oz

http://www.bicycles.net.au/index.html

There is a section on tours.

You could also try this site in Oz

http://www.bicycles.net.au/index.html

There is a section on tours.

Is that site still updated? It was pretty dead last time I checked (admittedly, a while ago).

In answer to the original question, I second Hoogie's recommendation, but offer a word of caution. In Australia at least, at lot of the catering on these rides is done extremely cheaply with the main focus on stuffing as many people into the ride as possible, and incurring the lowest possible cost in doing this. This basically means that the food and sleeping arrangements aren't always the best, and count on waiting a loooong time for a shower at the end of the day unless you're one of the first riders to complete the stage. The reason a lot of the distances are shorter than what you'd like is because they are trying to cater to the "part time" cyclist, and increasing those would probably scare a lot of people off.

Personally I think you'd be better served organising your own tour.

Is that site still updated? It was pretty dead last time I checked (admittedly, a while ago).
Personally I think you'd be better served organising your own tour.

No this site is updated weekly. The guy that runs it updates it every weekend.

If you are interested in organising your own tour, Western Australia is a nice place to start. The South West corner of the state is pleasent riding, and there is also the state's off road trail.

Great Victorian Bike Ride is large groups, shorter distances. Very popular, but probably a little easy for you. (I'm going, I've always wanted to tour NE Victoria).

Check out the Great Tassie ride in Feb 2007; Tasmania is a great place, the group will be smaller, the distances are a little longer and a little more challenging and you will get a good feel for the area in the time given.

Southwest WA is awesome; I've never ridden there, but hope to. If you can swing a tour there, go for it. The distances are such that it is fine to do solo or with minimal equipment. You will probably not find it too hard to find a cycling buddy even if you can't find a tour that suits.

One of my bosses swears by (not at; we keep that for the sporting field...) South Island NZ. Plenty of options for hills/mountains if that is what you are into. Don't miss Wanaka and Queenstown. If you fish, stop reading and just go.

Great Ocean Road (Victoria) and the wine country around Adelaide (SA) are also meant to be good (I've ridden around Adelaide and McLaren Vale, you get a nice mix of sea / vineyards / hills / flat areas).

If what you want is a challenge rather than a gentle social ride, google Nullarbor - there are some companies that organise tours across the Nullarbor plain.


Sorry I don't have any specific information on group tours other than the Great Rides tours, but I hope the location names help. If you can't decide, flip a three-sided coin and choose between Southwest Western Australia, Tasmania and South Island NZ. Good luck!