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Mountainbiking and hiking in New Zealand - Holidays 2005
My holidays in New Zealand - mountain biking and hiking.
With the appropriate travel guide and a good map of New Zealand planning falls out very easy. The guide, which I found as well, I have listed below. My trip was very close to the recommendations of these information and I was very happy with it.
I started planning my holidays in New Zealand in September 2004. Initially the rough planning for February 2005 was quite simple,
in detail questions I had a few problems - I could not find informations on one-day mountain bike tours. Therefore I collected everything on this side what I found before, during and after my trip to New Zealand.
Holiday period:
The selected holiday period from 30.01.2005 to 27.02.2005 proved to be good. As the Kiwis Christmas holidays had already ended, it was easy to find accommodations. The weather was quite appealing and for sporting activities just right. Unfortunately, there was
in Christchurch and Hanmer Springs, the problem of fire danger, since
it was not raining for several months some hiking and
mountain bike tracks were blocked. Since they had fixed display panels, which has shown me the possibility of fire hazard, I think it is not uncommon at the eastern part of the South Island. In December this could be better.
My activities:
I have chosen mountain biking as my main activity and hiking as a reserve program.However, I was walking more.Recreation and explore the country
should also not be forgotten. On the subject of mountain biking:
Because there are no huts like I know it from Austria in New Zealand, it is in comparison to
Austria quite difficult to find mountain biking tours.Something similar like a Transalp you can
make only in the context of an organized tour ride, because you do
not find the ways and if you do, you have to inquire
whether it is a private road or a public way.
NZ MTB Bibel
For private ways you have to ask the land owner to pass his land. The Kiwis start to organize about mountain biking -> vorb.org - New Zealand. Who wants to bolt on the highway should take a trekking bike. But this is not my style.Who wants to ride short tracks, approximately 3 - 6 hours tracks, and wants to proceed with a motorhome or car, should buy the book Classic NZ Mountain Bike Rides - this book is a kind of Bible and I found it in Christchurch.The book includes a description of the tracks, where they are and how to go there.Some of the tracks have really started in no-man's-land and I would have never found them.For all those who want to ride across the island, I recommend a guided tour.It is not more expensive than if you organize the tour at yourself. Pacific Cycle New Zealand made me a fairly competent impression.
The implementation:
After I made my first great journey, the implementation was not easy. I orientated the journey on Stefan Loses Travel Guide and the planning was pretty good. You should have a fairly accurate idea of it what you want to do, as hikes on the Great Walks tend to be booked. After I could remain just 1 month
in New Zealand, I decided to stay at the South Island. Otherwise I had to drive every day and I wouldn't have time for sport
and recreation.
Car rental:
There are some places to rent a car in Christchurch. After seeing several sites on the Internet, I decided to rent a car at EuroCarRental. I placed th eorder from my hom ein Austria.
Bicycle rental:
It was not possible to rent a proper mountain bike from € 2000, - to € 3000, - in Christchurch. I visited 5 stores and nobody leases corresponding hardware. I found a small distributor of Giant MTB's and i thought to buy one and resell it after one mounth. The whole price for the bike was € 2400,- and after reselling the costs would be € 1200,- which was to expensive. I rented a normal Hardtail in a store which was really more like a lawnmowers business as bicycle shop. The name of the shop was Cyclone Cycles & Mowers in the Colomb Street 245. It was such a hack from the € 1000, - league. It was not bad. The
rental cost was about € 300, -.
Overnight on arrival and departure:
At the
beginning I wanted a cheaper accommodation close to the center of Christchurch. With Home Lea Bed and Breakfast I was absolutely right and I met there some nice people. That's the reason why I also reserved my last night before departure. After I traveled alone, B & B's were quite welcome, because at breakfast could always talk to each other. The people were mostly over 10 years older than me. A motel offers the advantage that you live like in your flat, but mostly alone. Motels often offer the opportunity to wash clothes. Backpacker are uninteresting to me - I do not sleep with strangers in the room.
Reservation:
Many
activities such as whale watching, bungee, sightseeing, Jetski, etc.
can or should be booked at the location because you can check out the company. Usually there is enough place to participate in events at short notice. Therefore your timing should be a bit more flexible, because you
can find something what you did not expect. My original timing plan was too stessful and so a decided to make it a little bit slower. I saw no sense to run from one attraction to the next. So the trip gets very quiet and restful. However, I had to drive long-distance. On the Great Walks, it is recommended to make bookings from home. I made my room reservations usually two days before I went further in Internet cafes. All places where I was had an Internet cafe.
Hanmer jump
Hot spring, walking, Mountainbike, Bungee
Greymouth
Sightseeing, walking
Franz Josef
Walk
Wanaka - > best pleased me
Walk, Moutainbike, jet Boating, trips after Queenstown
Oamaru
Sightseeing, walking
Christchurch
What would I make different?
After I already made a round trip trough the south island, I would try to walk one or two of the great walking routes (Great Walks). Maybe the Routeburn Track, the Abel Tasman Coastal Track or the Heaphy
Track. Many people asked me, why I didn't make one of the great walks at my first journey. My answer was: I am here,
in order of a burn out of working and it is primarily important to chill out and move forward in a slow way. so I moved on like a snail an so I could discover New Zealand in a solw way. If I want go back one day and try again mountqainbiking, I would buy the book Classic NZ Mountain Bike Rides
in any case before the journey. In Christchurch I found coincidentally
this book and I was annoyed that I didn't find it before my
journey. The book is a large assistance when you are planning mountainbike tours. Possibly I would buy the CD-ROM http://www.mountainbikeguide.co.nz/.
Planning the tracks before the journey will save much
time. I would make an island crossing on the bicycle only in the
context of a led tour. But I think hiking is better then mountainbiking in New Zealand..
New Zealand is not a cheap vacation country! Plan in cash reserves.
Before
you start your journey make an electronic copy of your paaport and flying ticket an aprk it on a mail account like google mail. If you loose your ticket or passport you can print out a copy of it and it might help you.
Check your passport
for validity. For entry you need a valid passport, which
possesses a validity at least three months beyond the return of your journey.
Important: Walking, hiking and biking equipmnet must be
clean. You will be checked on the airport.
A travel insurance is absolutely necessary.
Choose an airline which offers you a Stopover (e.g. emirate). Check of visa!
Don't book complete travel packages! The country is too large - you cannot see everything.
Bring yout own mountainbike
with you in a bicycle suit-case. I had a big
problem to get the appropriate biking hardware.
Take insurence if you rent a car. I had my first accident after 2 hours
Less is more. I was limited to few places and explored the environment more intensively.
Stay 3-4
days at the arrival day. Come back one day before you fly home. Book your first and your last accommodation.
Plan your journey detailed in days at home. You don't have to work out but you will have a feeling for the time table. A excursion to the DOC is worth.
Plan your fix points of your journey and bind them to your travel plan.
Choose an accommodation where you can get a washing machine.
Fish and meat are absolutely first class in New Zealand. Incredible white wines!
Always reful your car when you are leaving a city.
You don't have to bring a tent with you. There are many shops, which offer new and used equipment. Many people buy their equipment in New Zealand and sell them there
again.
The GPS files are in the GPX format and can be loaded into Google Earth or
MapSource. For users of Garmin Mapsource I recommend the New Zealand open GPS map Project
- you can download the complete gps map of New Zealand and bring it to your gps unit. Further I have some GPX tracks in the section "My Mountainbike GPS files".
As a lord of the rings fan you must have seen some shooting places of the movie. Queenstown is a good adress for visiting those places. There are some locations at the Deer Park hights in Queenstown, some places close to Arrowtown and in Glenorchy.
For all interested ones you can download a Google Earth KMZ file where you can see Peter Jacksons shooting places. You just load the file in your Google Earth and you can start planing your lord of the rings tour.
As a lord of the rings fan you must have seen some shooting places of the movie. Queenstown is a good adress for visiting those places. There are some locations at the Deer Park hights in Queenstown, some places close to Arrowtown and in Glenorchy.
Bottle-Lake-V1-GPX
