mattlavallee

i'm pretty set on doing south island before i leave oz in july. i was originally hoping to get a good 4 week tour in the march-april timeframe, but due to work issues it's looking more and more like i'll only have 2 weeks to blow in the same time of year. obviously, neither 2 nor 4 weeks would be enough to see everything, so i've got to prioritise. i've got pedaller's paradise, which is great for detailed planning, but it doesn't really spell out the must-sees. it just all sounds good. from people who have been there or live there, what would you consider your top 5 spots?

i'm not interested in bungee jumping, jet boats, or anything where people fancy themselves "extreme." i just want to see the natural sights, take some pictures, and spend some time in small-town NZ. i'm not opposed to using bus/train to skip the less interesting parts, but i'd rather not spend a lot of time waiting at a terminal. i'd be interested in doing a 3-4 day hike if time permitted.

the gear locker:
- LHT, which i would take if i was carrying camping gear
- bike friday pocket rocket, which i might take if things were looking like i could stay at hostels the whole way
- mtn bike, which i'm probably not going to take because i'll be by myself
- folding kayak, if i were to just get a rental car and drive around the island between paddling/camping spots

i know i don't have time to see a lot of things, but i'm just curious what people considered their highlights. my dream tour of hitching up a trailer to the LHT to carry the kayak will have to wait a few years, i'm afraid.

Thisisit

I'm currently studying in Dunedin, kind of the south-east corner of the south island. I really recommend the Otago area which is where I have been based. I have explored about 100km in every direction and the scenery is magnificent and really diverse, rolling hills, big climbs, pastureland, coastal roads. I also road part of the Otago Central Rail Trail which was fantastic. The ride isn't that challenging but for the most of it the scenery is great and it is developed for cyclists, lots of camp sites, bike shops and nice cafes to stop at.

That's the extent of my cycling on the south island so far, but I've visited several other places that I am looking forward to cycling in. There are some magnificent mountains around Queenstown, just avoid the adventure filled, over-priced downtown core. And I also spent a weekend on the west coast around Milford Sound which had the best scenery so far.

There are lots of journals about New Zealand on crazyguyonabike.com if you want more specific route details.

Edit: Also! For the hike, I did the 3 day Routeburn Track and it was amazing. I have only done day hiking before and I had the best time. 32kms with the option of camping or staying in huts, it's easy to fit in over a weekend. The Milford Track is apparently better, but takes 4-5 days and is a little more intensive. Check out the Department of Conservation's website for more info on those.

have fun!

raybo

This page has 12 links to information about bike touring in New Zealand. Not all of them deal with the south island and, as a result, some of the links will not be of interest to you.

Given all I've read about it, New Zealand is one of the places on my bike touring life list.

Ray

X-LinkedRider

Pedal, Backpack, and Rock Climbing. My top 3.

valygrl

I spent 5 1/2 weeks on the south island. late Feb - end of March. The people are as friendly as everyone says, the scenery is spectacular. It's windy. I used Pedaler's Paradise, it was very useful. The Lonely Planet Cycling guidebook had some suggestions that might be more relevant for you with your shorter timeframe than they were for me.

(please forgive misspelling of place names in advance)

I loved:
the road between Wanaka and Haast (this was really my very favorite day of the trip)
Crown Range Road between Queenstown and Wanaka
The area north of / around Dunedin / Otago Peninsula
Arthur/Porter Pass
Lake Takaka / Mt. Hood area
Milford Sound
Otago Rail Trail out of Dunedin.
the north east Kaikoura Coast

I missed out on the north pass over the mountains (past Hamner, can't remember name, sorry), because it was too late in the year.

What I liked, but a little less:
west coast - I had rain for 5 days straight, which is normal, and it's rather over run with tourists
area to the northeast of Christchurch -flat, a bit dull

What I liked least:
Christchurch - big city / touristy
Queenstown - too "extreeeeeeme" for me

I camped a lot, stayed in hostels a little. There are lots of hostels and 'backpakers' (=hostel) and many small towns have a pub that has rooms. I bet you could do it w/o camping gear, but would recommend deciding on a route and investigating the specifics, rather than taking my word for it.

There are a lot of tourist buses, but it's more of a once-a-day thing, so you would need to plan in advance a bit - that said, I think it would be pretty easy to construct a point-to-point trip with a return by bus to CHCH from just about any bigger town.

The major "tramps" (thru-hikes, what we call backpacking in the USA) could require reservations, so plan for that. There's great day hiking out of Wanaka, easy access with a bus ride that was easy to arrange day-of, or possible bike ride, but would be a long day. If you go to Milford, I did a half day kayak trip there (arrange in Te Anau) that was well worth the money.

Be prepared for any weather, including heavy rain and wind, and go as soon as you can for the best weather. It gets to be winter pretty early at higher elevations. Most roads are high-quality and clean chipseal, with little shoulder, but traffic was mostly fairly light.

There are lots of hills, bring a bike with low gears, especially if you are going to be carrying a camping load. Mountain bike gearing is not too low.

Hope this helps at all, and enjoy your trip!

mattlavallee

thanks for all the tips and links so far, very helpful. i looked into the milford track yesterday, it's booked out for that time period. not surprising i guess, given its legendary status. i briefly looked into the kepler track and it's got openings, i'll have to check on the routeburn track and some others tomorrow. as far as gearing, my LHT's got a low of around 18 gear inches from memory, the pocket rocket is around 25. i doubt i could maintain my balance at much lower than 18.

one of the stretches i was looking at doing is queenstown-te anau-invercargill-balclutha (based purely off me oogling a map), but a couple of the linked discussions from raybo's site give it a solid "meh" rating. does that jive with what you've heard/experienced? i'm more than happy to write off a so-so section in favor of a spectacular stretch.

SweetLou

I have never been to New Zealand, but one of the things I want to do before I die is to see the All Blacks live at home. Preferably, watching them beat England, but any good team will do.

valygrl

To answer your question, I didn't go any further south than Te Anau. I liked what I did, but if I had to choose that or Arthur/Porter Pass I would choose the latter.

I did Qtown - Te Anau via the ferry across the lake, then gravel road through the Arthur Peak sheep station (1 1/2 days no services, need tent & way to purify water or ride faster than I did), then onto pavement to Te Anau. It was very remote and nice, but you have to like gravel and have wide tires. There were a few very steep sections that I was unable to ride on my 28mm tires, but nothing so long that walking was truly horrible. Would be fine with a wide tire, and a little care on the deep gravel bits. I camped in the middle at Movara Lakes, all by myself, it was very nice.

From Te Anau, I went to Milford, then returned to Qtown via paved road on the east side of the lake.