Cycling New Zealand – take my own bike?

Hi

i am thinking of going to New Zealand in a few months.  Its an obvious place for a bike tour but the question  is “is it worth taking my own bike?”  I won’t be coming straight home afterwards – will go on to Aus which is not a place to bike tour really.  I’m thinking 2 months in NZ.

Obviously I love my adventure bike and would far prefer to take it but I believe its a hassle – especially as I would want my trailer as well and then I have to find some way of getting the bike home again without me while I travel on.  so I am thinking of maybe buying a bike there are selling up again when I leave

Anyone toured in NZ?  How did you manage you bike?  any must see places?  Take my own bike of buy there?

They take biosecurity really seriously – not sure how that looks with a bike but I had to clean hiking boots at immigration, so I’d imagine it has to be scrupulously clean.

I’m not sure about biking but for fishing the recommended action is to bring brand new line.and spool it up once you get there

I suppose the similar approach would be brand new tyres ?

As an alternative source suitable cheap second hand bike here. Get dialed in. Then take with you. Sell/donate after New Zealand.

Colleagues of mine had to have their bikes (along with other outdoor gear) go into quarantine when they moved  there due to the possibility of bugs/the etc being in the frame etc as well as being immaculately clean. This was maybe 20 years ago though.

We moved to New Zealand last year and used a courier to send some bikes in advance,  it wasn’t particularly cheap but gave us one less thing to worry about on the flight over .

Have a look on Facebook for tour aotearoa groups , quite a few people seem to sell their bikes after finishing the tour before leaving NZ. Trade me is the NZ website where people sell things second hand here but I’d probably start with Facebook as it does seem to have more stuff than trade me

. We didn’t have any issues quarantine wise but we didn’t bring tyres with us .

In the 90s we flew into NZ with bikes. We toured for 3 months. We then found an air freight company to take the bikes and hold them for a couple months before flying them to the uk. (We were treking in nepal). We then went to the airport and cleared the bikes through customs ourselves. Freighting this 2 bikes cost about £150 back then.

It’s a great country to tour. We focused on the South Island. Campsites have kitchens which is great for meeting people and cooking in the wet.

If you like walking then it’s with trying to squeeze in a hut to hut tramp. Some great kayaking opportunities too. Feel free to ask for specific recommendations

Coaches and trains were able to carry bikes

Ta

will go on to Aus which is not a place to bike tour really.

Australia has some epic bike touring routes! Usually ones that last quite a long time cos everywhere in Australia is absolutely bloody miles from anywhere else. I did a few weeks road riding there 2 years ago and it was spectacular. Australia has a bit of a reputation as being quite unfriendly for road cycling but to be honest I found it no worse than the UK.

Flying there with the bike was no issue at all. Was included in my luggage allowance, transit was super smooth. No problems with quarantine or biosecurity in Australia – they are strict on it but it seems to be more around foodstuffs than where your tyres have been. NZ – and this is entirely from comments on here and from a mate in NZ – does seem to be stricter on cleanliness of bikes, shoes etc.

Friends did NZ south to North on their Shand stoaters. Think they had them freighted across as that meant their kit could all go together, I might be wrong on that.  They’re in auchendinny.

Dinkelpops DownUnder – About

Don’t ship your bike separately.
If you do, read up on import tax issues at both NZ and UK end.

You could get in touch with a cycling club in whichever city you are starting from.

See if anyone is selling anything suitable and then advertise it in the location you are heading to?

https://www.cyclingnewzealand.nz/clubs-and-membership/cycling-new-zealand-affiliated-clubs-2022/

A return flight to NZ will be around 6t of carbon per person, coincidentally about the same weight as your bike touring setup.

:0D

LOLz

Went to NZ earlier this year with old waking boots, all declared & they didn’t even want to look at them & as above Oz has some quite nice cycling trails & if you get to the sunshine coast you can thank my sister for designing & implementing some of it ?

I was lucky enough to borrow a bike for a day in NZ, failed completely in Oz & hire bikes are either bso type or £££.

I’d suggest flying with your own bike both in & out of NZ, then perhaps store in Oz if you don’t want to ride there.

A return flight to NZ will be around 6t of carbon per person, coincidentally about the same weight as your bike touring setup.

Pmsl

This is from John, my brother.

Here is my take on it;-

Both Oz and NZ it can be a hassle bringing bikes into the country because of bio security they have to be scrupulously clean. Another consideration is which airline you’re flying with as they have slightly different rules but generally 23kg and upto 160 x 25 x 70 ie bike box size though changes from airline to airline. It may be worth paying for an extra 10 kg upfront but be careful as some airlines charge by each flight leg.

WRT to cycling if it’s mtb any trail centres you’ll be able to hire bikes Rotorua Queenstown Derby.

If it’s more ‘touring’ and you’re happy riding a secondhand bike there are deals to be had Gumtree and local sites and FB groups etc.

I’d recommend thinking about NZ as ‘cycling’ and Oz as ‘touring’ as dragging bikes and equipment around that’s not being used is burdensome.

I always preferred to ride my own bike (MTB) in NZ so frequently travelled with it [strongly recommend the Old Ghost Road, Timber Trail both have huts and shuttles though OGR is more Mtb territory].

It’s a balance of how much cycling you want to do, and at what point does it become economic to bring your own bike and kit. 

We cycled round both islands in 2008 over 4 months.

We bought bikes there – Kona Jake and Kona dew disk for about 350gbp each brand new in Christchurch on arrival.

Gave them away at the end of the tour pretty much on their last legs. They had done all the riding -they had done a number of MTB races and the drive train and hubs were completely shot.

Would I have liked my own bike. Probably . Could I transport it there and back safely for 350 quid… No. Did I really have to worry too much about a 350 quid bike locked to a railing while I explored….. No.

Bonus being you’ll get rid of that boat anchor hub – your average speed will go up by 2 or 3 mph.

I have cycled toured in NZ about ten years ago. I was there for a month visiting family and found my self with a spare week. One big lesson was that there is a big old load of nothing in some parts, don’t assume a town marked on a map is anything more than a crossroads and a dog tied to a fence. Always take more water than you need.

I have taken a bike loads, it used to be free (!!) You will likely have to pay extra now. It has to be scrupulously clean, new tires etc. I have always been fine, but friends who didn’t believe me had their bikes taken away for steam cleaning at some cost and it took weeks…

Times have changed now but we found the pedallers paradise books super helpful but even NZ has widespread internet these days so probably superfluous to requirements.

Not sure how much has changed in the last decade but when I lived over there the best place to buy/sell stuff was trademe.co.nz. It was basically Gumtree but with trustworthy/trusting people. I’d be really surprised if you can’t find a bike to use / re-sell on there.

Hit me up if you’re in the Bay of Plenty, Whakatane area. Happy to show you around, accomodate etc.

We dragged MTBs there for a month in 2001. Doing it again we wouldn’t bother and just hire as and when.

For touring we’d probably do the same as trailrat (but probably be more than £350 today).

I guess if you really want your trailer then at a pinch you could break it down and find / make/ have made a bag it fits in and pack other stuff in and around it. Guess that saves hassle with racks on whatever you find to ride (provided you have the right axle). A new smooth tyre should solve biosecurity hassles.

I did some touring / bikepacking in NZ 18 months ago. Took my own Diverge after a very thorough clean and some new tyres (I’ve done a lot of riding in Australia so know how strict customs can be, though they didn’t look this time once I told them I’d put new tyres on).

I used several of the Kennett brothers’ routes in the North Island, specifically the Heart of the Octopus (from the Bay of Islands to the kauri forest on west coast and back), the Remutaka trail, the Timber trail etc. Stopped in Rotorua and borrowed a MTB for a couple of days. Some friends did the Kōpiko Aotearoa across the North Island, which looks great but is certainly more of a challenge. Obviously the big one is the Tour Aotearoa the length of the country, which I hope to do one day. A couple of observations: the standard of driving in NZ is atrocious, far worse than UK or Australia. No idea why. There’s a strong redneck vibe in rural areas. Offroad, access isn’t as comprehensive as the UK. But it’s a fabulous place to ride and I’m glad I did it on my own bike, even though it’s only an inanimate object! Is your trailer a definite requirement? That adds to the hassle considerably. Prices are very high over there – for everything. Not sure what the prospects of selling a secondhand bike at short notice might be.

Also, don’t rule out riding in Australia. Victoria, where I lived, has some of the best cycling on the planet. Tasmania also amazing.

Apologies for the notes – written in haste!

A couple of observations: the standard of driving in NZ is atrocious, far worse than UK or Australia. No idea why. There’s a strong redneck vibe in rural areas. 

Even in 08 this was apparent…..in the north island.

South island was like a completely different country – we did christchurch to Invercargill up to Milford sound and back then continued up the west coast to marahau and across to Picton. We crossed to wellington and it was like we had come home to the UK with the shit driving

We did the standard west coast of the South Island. Population density is so low traffic is almost non existent

The South Island is a bit over half the area of the UK and 1.2 million people live there.

I went last summer for 6 weeks. Took the mtb.

Great decision.

I personally think flying with a bike is not much hassle. Gave it a really good clean before I went – immigration/bio security praised us on how good the bikes were.

Decided that bike bag plus any potential damage (there was none) was cheaper than hiring or buying and selling.

Meant we could ride where and when we wanted.

@tjagain

When researching riding in Australia i came across this. A huge traffic trail bike packing trail

https://mundabiddi.org.au/

Have a look on trademe.co.nz for a bike.
if you are going for a while and travelling economy a bike will take up most of your luggage allowance.

If anyone needs inspiration for bike trips in Aus check out Mick Turnbull’s films

https://m.youtube.com/@MickTurnbullFilms