DURATION

Tours are usually 17 days long, however, on request we can provide personalised tours of varying durations.  We start in Wellington, our home base, but head over Cook Strait to the South Island of New Zealand where there are a great number of off-road tracks available for riding at any given time.  Our trips are flexible as they depend  on weather conditions and group preferences. We are never short of places to go.

​

ORIENTATION

These first two days are about orientation and safety.  To get the maximum out of your tour we allow this time to get acclimatised to driving on the left side of the road and becoming proficient off the sealed roads.  We will teach you techniques for riding on gravel, crossing rivers and general outdoor safety. In the process of the orientation we will take you to some great places around the Wellington region.

 

GROUP SIZES

​

Minimum group size is 2 people plus 1 guide, maximum group size is 4 people plus 1 guide. If required, a guide may agree to take a pillion providing the opportunity for a non-rider to take part in the tour. We don’t allow clients to take a pillion as the client bikes are not designed to take pillions in into the unique and remote places in New Zealand.

 
MOTORBIKES

​

We provide a Suzuki DR650 for each customer, we also have a BMW 650 Sertao available. The bikes are fitted with bark busters, bash plates, crash bars, heated handlebars, windscreens, luggage systems, large fuel tanks and an auxiliary power socket so that you can charge your portable devices. Guides ride either a BMW 800 GSA or a Triumph Tiger XC to allow for additional luggage (food, additional luggage, spare parts and safety equipment) to be carried.

​

ITINERARY

​

DAY 1:

​

We pick you and your luggage up from wherever you are in Wellington (by 8am in the morning) and start with a short safety briefing (at our base).  Then it’s a chance to get familiar with your) bike with some gentle off-road riding.  Then it’s a 1-1/2 hour ride to Martinborough over the Rimutukas for lunch.  After lunch it’s into the hills behind Martinborough for some gravel road riding.  Back to Martinborough for coffee and then return to base. 

​

Dinner is a barbeque and drinks (which gives you a good chance to get to know each other and the rest of our team.  That night is spent at base in comfortable beds with hot showers.

​

DAY 2:

This is a relaxed start to the day.  After a late breakfast it’s some fun off-road riding practise at base with tuition from your guide and then out for a tour of Wellington with lunch somewhere like the Blue Penguin or one of the great Wellington cafes.  Then it’s back to base to pack the bikes , do a bike check and if time allows a bit more off-road riding.  The day finishes with a barbeque for dinner  and a couple of hours of down time to prepare for what’s lying ahead.

​

At 11:30 pm we board the Picton ferry, tie the bikes down in the ferry and head to our bunks to catch some sleep. 

​

DAY 3:

​

We arrive in Picton at 6:00 am.  Breakfast in Picton once we disembark and then a road ride to St Arnaud for coffee.  About an hour and a half ride unless we stop at one of the Marlborough vineyards for a small wine tasting and purchase if you wish (New Zealand Law allows up to 50 mg
per 100 ml of blood- very strictly policed).

​

We leave St Arnaud and head into the Rainbow Road and off-road.  This a spectacular sub alpine gravel ride with a number of stop points depending on

how everyone is going.  It takes a little while for everyone to get comfortable with the gravel and being able to enjoy the scenery.  This will be about two hours ride.

​

Where we spend the night in here is flexible and there are plenty of diversions including hot pools if you know where they are.  This will be our first night in tents.

DAY 4 - 6:
The next morning sees us heading further south into the region between St. Arnaud and Hanmer Springs where we will ride on a number of different off-road tracks to discover the stunning landscapes of this area. Pending on tracks and weather, we will either sleep in tents or in one of the huts within this area.

DAY 7 - 8:
After restocking in Hanmer Springs we head further south, usually along the West Coast with an overnighter on one of the many camp sites along the way. Depending on weather (there can be a lot of rain along the West Coast), we may go via inland roads but in any case, we will arrive after two days in the Wanaka / Queenstown area.

DAY 9 - 10:
During the next two days we will explore one or two of the spectacular off-road tracks in this area which has the reputation of having some of the most impressive landscapes in the whole of New Zealand. At the end of the second day we will head over to a simple lodge in a beautiful location where, everybody will enjoy the next day being a rest day.

DAY 11:
At this point in time we will have ridden at around 2,000km and it is always very nice to sleep in a proper bed for two nights, having a decent shower, eating in a restaurant and having a proper laundry to clean clothes. There is also an opportunity to go Salmon fishing here.

DAY 12:
Early in the morning we either go a bit further south into the Fiordland district or we already start heading northeast, obviously depending on the weather (Fiordland has annual rainfall of up 40,000 mm in some areas).

DAY 13 - 16:
We will spend the next three days on some of the most stunning off-road tracks in New Zealand in the area northeast of Wanaka and Queenstown. As there are so many different tracks, we usually decide whilst on the go where we will head to next.

DAY 17:
We will ride the remaining way back to Picton where we embark on the ferry back to Wellington in the afternoon.

DAY 18:
Usually there is a farewell lunch to say goodbye to each other but this needs to be organized at the end of the trip and might be effected by your departure time.