Motorbike Escape NZ

16/08/2024

Winter riding in NZ? Yes!
🤩 12 days away, 9 days riding,
🤩 3,000kms
🤩 North and south islands
I've had some absolutely stunning days on the bike over the last two weeks! From amazing sunrises to the icy views across Mackenzie Country and the south island's West Coast in all its glory, I thoroughly recommend an outing.
Yes, I took (and wore, but not every day) thermals, waterproofs and extra windproof layers in addition to my heated grips and integrated sun visor.
Temperatures were mostly between 7 -12°C although I did see -2° the only morning I needed to leave early! There was some grit around, but mostly on the lesser used roads like Inland Kaikoura and Blackball.
There weren't many bikes out at all, let's fix that... Here are some of my photos for inspiration:

06/08/2024

Once again Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries have earned a gold star for the experience crossing from Wellington to Picton.
- Seamless check in, only two motorbikes on the boat today so they knew my name before I'd even stopped at the check in kiosk
- Loaded straight onto the boat
- Crew member lined up a front wheel chock for me as I parked
- Helmet racks provided! (A very welcome detail!)
- Another crew member stopped by to check everything was ok with the strapping down process
- Cooked breakfast eaten and good barista coffee in hand before we left port
- Set sail 10 minutes early
Great experience and a beautiful, sunny, smooth crossing. Should be another good day riding ⭐🏍️😎

04/08/2024

Where are the best places to ride a motorbike? I'll give you a clue... Bunk-a-Biker World Wide have just updated their map of all of the people who will host motorcyclists for FREE overnight... We're on there, you are welcome to come and stay with us in New Zealand 🙂

It totally slipped my mind to make the post, but I approved a TON of new hosts onto our map in July! Thank you to every one of y’all for hosting for Bunk-a-Biker and supporting our vision of community. ❤️ So awesome!

Pic is of the Google downloadable map that is available to patrons. It’s updated!

July 11th:

Sosa in Algeria, Algeria
Pasquale Austria, Austria
Abdul Qadir Abid, Costa Rica
Esteban Paniagua, Costa Rica
Davidovich Ori, France
Mojo D. Gläß, Germany
Thomas Trojan, Germany
Jozsef C., Hungary
Neeraj India, India
Vilija in Lithuania, Lithuania
Žilvinas Preikša, Lithuania
Karolis L., Lithuania
Jari Weermeier, Netherlands
Kristin G, Norway
Steven Bjørn Søraa, Norway
James Carter, Portugal
Alin Apostolache, Romania
Cor Buissant des Amorie, Sweden
Marie Noren, Sweden
Malin Aspaas, Sweden
Markus Roskifte, Sweden
Ina Thor Jehrén, Sweden
Samantha Dawkins, Thailand

Guy and Bobbi-Jo Hewton, British Columbia
J. M. Bernier, Saskatchewan
Brendan Hughes, British Columbia
Karen Golec, Ontario
Daniel McMahon, Québec
Diana Feuerhelm, Alberta
Kevin W, Ontario
Sandy Ontario, Ontario
Randy Bilyea, Ontario
Karen Anderson, British Columbia
Judy Jardine, Alberta

Tom Clarke, Connecticut
William Hintz, Alaska
Kevin Lawrence, North Carolina
Carol Berg, Minnesota
Sheryl Concannon, Nebraska
Mark & Barb F, Michigan
Dan Peck, North Carolina
Bill and Janet M., Texas
Kurt Phillips, Tennessee
Klint Breeding, Idaho
Christine Jocose, Oregon
Skyler Shema, Pennsylvania
Cindy and John Payne
Shane J, Texas
Stacie Clifford Parsons, Iowa
Brent Norrod, Pennsylvania
Greg Denay, Michigan
Lora and Brian Maleska, Minnesota
James Brackeet, South Carolina
Joyce Shively, Kansas
Samantha Alaska, Alaska
G McMillan, Colorado
Jessica Przybylski, Wisconsin
Chad Hughes, Louisiana
Phil H, Illinois
Red Missouri, Missouri
Hank Harvey, Oklahoma

July 27th:

Justin Mironescu, Austria
Victor De Keyser, Belgium
Ragnar MC, Denmark
Nadine T, Germany
Yvonne Heijmen, Netherlands
Rune Engelsvold, Norway
P***e R Nørup, Norway
Martin H, Norway
Gry Nordheim, Norway
Carl Fredrik Boug, Norway
Tor Jonny Bakkan, Norway
Christian Harholt, Norway
Hilde Synnøve Husevold, Norway
Kati Kisfaludi, Norway
Brian Stuart, Poland
Kirsten in Sweden, Sweden
Roger Holm, Sweden
Tiziano Snozzi, Switzerland
Helens TakeOn, United Kingdom

Tom LeClair, Prince Edward Island
Dana Wilson, British Columbia
Angie & Ron Anshelm, Alberta
Terry Ramsay, Ontario
Monique AB, Alberta
Simon Périsse, Québec
Mark and Jen, Newfoundland and Labrador

Martin C, Florida
Leslie R Hladysz, South Dakota
Doug Geyer, Nebraska
Evan Queen, Arkansas
Grady Brooks, North Carolina
(Trainer) David l Ettenberg, Washington
Chad H, Louisianait
Bill & Margaret Dahlke, Wyoming
Michael McAnder, Wisconsin
Jason Webster, Alabama
Sharon K, Iowa
Jacqueline L, Illinois
Ashley & Tim V, Michigan
Dustin Evers, Oregon
Joe and Nicolette, Colorado

03/08/2024

Great day for a Cafe run to the Nikau Cave Cafe today. We beat the rush... Shortly after I took the below pic there were 22 bikes parked here! Not all of them with us, but thanks to everyone who joined us, despite the chilly start to the day. A birthday for my Transalp today... tripped over 100,000 miles and still going strong 😁

27/07/2024

We're back staying with Carolyn and Kel at Riders' Rest this weekend. Each time we stay, it just gets better! There are now three self contained accommodation options all with the fabulous view front and centre. Espresso in the mornings and takeaways on the deck in the evenings drinking in the last of the sun. Come and check them out 👍

25/05/2024

After a foggy and cold start, we got a treat of a view at Hahei for this month's cafe run. A good long natter with Steve who we haven't seen for a few years, then a drizzly run around the top of the Coromandel but still fabulous scenery!

21/04/2024

Nice day for a run to a local cafe! 6 of us left from our respective homes around Auckland / Waikato in varying degrees of rain and fog and were rewarded by a clear autumn day sitting outside overlooking the Waikato River. Chatting bikes and generally catching up. Good times! We'll be organising these runs most months, so if you want to get advance notice to be able to come along, join our group: Motorbikescape NZ Touring Group (you'll need to answer all of the joining questions)

20/04/2024

Change of season - adding Ventz to my touring jacket for the first day I'm leaving my airflow jacket at home. 🍂 Autumn is here, but who knows what the temperatures will climb to a little later...? 🌞
Buy yours here: https://www.motorbikescape.co.nz/shop/

23/03/2024

Final day of our trip started in the rain in Raglan. We had an epic breakfast for our group of 10 before heading up highway 22 and doing battle with the Auckland motorway in still more rain ☔. The sun was out by the time we passed through Waipu Cove in Northland for a mandatory ice cream stop 🍦😎. Then into Tutukaka. We ended the day with 10 people, albeit a different group to the one we started with, but that's exactly how we roll. Dinner overlooking the Tutukaka harbour was a great way to end the week. Sun is forecast for our ride home tomorrow so we'll make the most of our time in Northland before heading south. Such a fab week!
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour, stay tuned for the next one! 😎 🏍️🙂

22/03/2024

Six of us set out from Ohakune this morning. Brilliant blue skies and beautiful flowing roads again. We've ridden a lot with this particular group of guys over the last few years, just one newbie to the group and he fit in nicely as we wound our way through the Waikato's back roads. We paused for a cuppa at the Rhubarb Cafe and two more riders joined us there. So now Al is on his second bike of the trip, Andrew has two bikes on the run having loaned one out and we all landed in Raglan happy with another good day's riding. Dinner for 10 was booked and after a few beers and more yummy food it was suddenly time for an early night. We'll regroup for our last northbound day tomorrow heading for Northland. Love these days spent on the road!
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour 🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️

21/03/2024

Maybe these pics look like two bits of road to you. But to me, one was full of the colours of autumn and the other was the start of the Gentle Annie cross country road from Napier to Taihape which is remote, beautiful, deserted and made for motorbikes. Such a great day! We had a coffee with a riding friend in Waipawa and collected / recollected / met friends on arrival in Ohakune. Dinner for 6 at the Cyprus Tree was superb as ever and our tour continues with more miles and more smiles 😁🏍️😎
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour!

20/03/2024

This time last week I was waiting for the ferry to go to the South Island. 3,600kms later I'm back on the North Island with some epic days behind me and some epic days ahead too! It's started to warm up a bit, I thought perhaps we left the single digit temperatures behind us but the proprietor of our Gypsy cabin assured us it's going to be 2°C tonight so probably another chilly start, or maybe an extra coffee first.
We did a big slow U shaped ride today. Starting in Collingwood we had a brilliant breakfast at the Wholemeal cafe in Takaka to fuel a very clear run over the Takaka Hill into Nelson. We then had a painful dawdle from Nelson to Picton, crawling over the Whangamoa Hill and through Queen Charlotte Drive. Plenty of time to admire the scenery as we dutifully navigated it all at close to walking speed.
We had a very calm crossing of the Cook Strait with the Marlborough Sounds as beautiful as ever.
Then just a short hop over the Remutaka Hill and we made it to our quirky accommodation for the night in Greytown. Heading for the local pub, we got distracted by the Indian restaurant - yummy! Quiet night tonight with just three of us, but looking forward to gathering a few more to the group tomorrow night when we get to Ohakune.
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour 😎🏍️😁

19/03/2024

A nice cruisy day today. We left Blackball well fed by our lovely hosts, and shivered a little through the fog lingering in the valleys. We were one bike down as we turned onto the Upper Buller Gorge as a dead alternator required an AA call. Hopefully see you tomorrow Alasdair! We headed up to Golden Bay over the Takaka Hill - no roadworks for the first time in a few years. Some nice reflections in the rivers to keep me happy 📷 The sun came out but the chill remained and it was boringly grey out on Farewell Spit... Chilling tonight in Collingwood.
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour 🙂🏍️😎

18/03/2024

Starting from Lake Hawea we had a perfect run through to Makarora, #1 motorbike road in the world, and on up the West Coast to Blackball. Riding for around 6 hours I spent a lot of that time thinking about how to explain how awesome, huge, wonderful it is to travel through that area. I landed on a choice of two phrases:
- I can't
or
- Just go yourself
Below is a capture of Bruce Bay. It took us ~5 minutes to ride along this bay. It is one landscape of hundreds that we took in today. We saw rivers and lakes, mountains and forests, glaciers and roadside art, Tasman sea and tourist towns. There's no way I could capture it all for you in words or pictures.
Just go!
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour 🏍️

17/03/2024

I really love our March tours! Such a good day, despite it being wet and chilly all morning through the Catlins. Just so nice to be out on the bikes with our mates 😁. We finally got to Slope Point, the official southern most point of the Mainland, somehow we haven't made it here before. Finishing the day at Lake Hawea with a fabulous view up the lake and all is very well 🏍️🏍️
Motorbike Escape NZ on tour!

16/03/2024

1,888 kms from home and we've arrived at the start of our ride 😁. When we lived in the south island, we'd started to take these big skies and big views for granted. It's so nice to come back and appreciate them fully on a crisp blue sky day. An amazing clear run through the Mackenzie country and the Kawarau gorge, we're now in the deep south with a little bit of rain which should blow through overnight.

13/03/2024

It's March, so it must be time to post some really annoying pictures of beautiful scenery, motorbikes and maybe some ramblings from the road. Yes.. our annual Motorbike Escape NZ road trip starts on Saturday, this time leaving from Colac Bay in Southland, we'll finish a week later in Northland.
This morning's pic is obvs the Kaikoura coast at sunrise en route from the ferry to breakfast 😁🏍️😎

08/02/2024

5 weeks to go..... Come riding with us in March!
Here is a readymade holiday for you. 😊
🏍️ We've got the routes planned, we've found fun accommodation within walking distance of dinner each night, we've even supplied all the links (if you're on our email list) to make booking really easy.
🏍️ There is no charge to join our ride
🏍️ Come for some or all of the week
🏍️ If you can't ride with us, join us for dinner when we pass through your town
🏍️ Pick an alternate route or set off earlier or later than us to ride at your own pace if you prefer
🏍️ If you have a different budget or needs - go ahead and book accommodation that suits you best
This is going to be such a fab week - We hope you'll be able to join us somewhere between Southland and Northland!

Get booking: Motorbikescape March Tour 2024 by Corinne | Dec 17, 2023 | Trips March Tour – Southland to Northland 16th – 24th March (plus getting there & back) Here is a readymade holiday for you.  We’ve got the routes planned, we’ve found fun accommodation within walking distance of dinner...

21/12/2023

Pop over to our shop!

It's looking like a looong got summer ahead 🥵. Order your Ventz to keep your cool on the road. We're posting all through the holidays so get your order in ahead of January's high temperatures. Bug free breeze directed inside your jacket sleeves.. So refreshing!
https://www.motorbikescape.co.nz/shop/

17/12/2023

Come riding with us!
Every March we organise a nationwide tour of NZ and we don't charge a cent for it - just pay your own way.
It's a stress free way for us to holiday with a bunch of friends or about-to-be-friends who we haven't yet met, and a great way for those who don't have time or experience to plan their own tour to grab our itinerary and jump on a fully planned, but super flexible tour.
Follow the link below to see the itinerary for our trip and join us in March. If March doesn't work for you, feel free save the itinerary for your own trip another time.
If you have questions - ask away in the comments below.
Also, if you know of anyone else doing similar free-to-join rides anywhere else in the world, we'd love to hear about them.
Cheers, Corinne & Andrew

Get booking: Motorbikescape March Tour 2024 by Corinne | Dec 17, 2023 | Trips March Tour – Southland to Northland 16th – 24th March (plus getting there & back) Here is a readymade holiday for you.  We’ve got the routes planned, we’ve found fun accommodation within walking distance of dinner...

02/12/2023

Cracking cafe run today at Ophelia in Cambridge. A nice group of people we knew and people we know now 😉 came for brunch then joined us for a 200km mystery tour of some back roads. Awesome 😎🏍️😊

26/11/2023

It's March tour planning time! For those of you who have been following us for a while, you'll know that in March every year, we take off on a motorbike tour around this brilliant country of ours. March 2024 is in the planning stages and we're going to finally make it to the southernmost point of the South Island: Slope Point. We've actually fiddled around so long that the access road is now sealed. So, get your diaries out, and make sure there is space for 10 days riding before the Easter holidays. We'll be starting in Southland and riding to the Upper North Island. Normally 4500-5500kms round trip from home or as much (or little) as you'd like to join us for. If you want to stay informed about our plans, head to our website and join our mailing list. We'll email out all of the details, complete with suggested accommodation booking links and a ride plan for each day. www.motorbikescape.co.nz
Come along, it's free to ride with us!
More soon.... 🏍️🏍️

14/09/2023

Here's more of a write up from our trip to Canada with a focus on how we planned the trip. Happy reading and let us know your thoughts in the comments! https://www.motorbikescape.co.nz/2023/09/aug-23-motorbike-escape-goes-to-canada/

02/09/2023

Two weeks ago we wrapped up a motorbike trip around British Columbia, Canada. Way back in 2019 we vowed to see more of the world by bike, but.... Anyway, this year we flew into Vancouver and hired a BMW F750GS & a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT from Cycle BC Rentals & Tours - Vancouver. We took their advice and hired 6 days for the price of 7, because we only had 6 days holiday, but 7 days' hire gave us a better mileage allowance which would work out cheaper overall. In 6 days we covered slightly over 2,200kms. We confirmed that BC is indeed just like NZ, but bigger. The people are lovely and the scenery is big! We passed through an area previously devastated by wildfire which was pretty sobering, and the same valley had a totally washed out road from a subsequent flood. Somehow, in all of those miles and all of the food stops, we didn't once get pancakes and maple syrup. We'll have to go back... 🏍️🏍️

23/07/2023

Such a cool day! We left home at 7.40am (1.5°C!) and arrived just in time for brunch at 10.45. The sun came out and we sat outside chatting for ages with great coffee, food and nice people 🌞. We kinda sorta came directly home - admittedly via "a little bit of gravel" (think mountain goat territory) the oncoming car seemed a bit bemused to see two sports bikes up there. Home at 4.30pm. Very close to a sunrise to sunset riding day. Thanks to everyone that came out to say hello, these are our favourite kind of Sundays 🏍️😁🌞🏍️😎

05/06/2023

An excellent winter riding weekender 🙂. Seven of us based ourselves at the Fat Owl in Piopio which was the perfect base.. 2 day runs around the Waikato back roads. Some drizzle early Sunday morning made it a little slippy but otherwise we were lucky with the weather, 6-13°C so a couple of layers and we were good to go. Good cafes, good riding, good tall tales over dinner. It must have been nice riding as I didn't even consider stopping to take photos. Below is a quick stop in Ohura... Did anyone else get any pics? Can you post them in the comments please?

29/04/2023

Hello! If you like reading about our rides, why don't you come along to meet us one day?
We've got two events coming up:

* Next Saturday 6th May we're meeting up at the Hunua Falls Cafe (in very rural South Auckland) for brunch at 10.30am. There is no organized ride. Find your own way there and back but enjoy chatting bikes with us when you get there.

* King's Birthday weekend we're going to stay in Piopio from 2 - 5th June and make that our base for a weekend of day rides and social evenings.

Everyone is welcome, any experience, any sized bike, to come along to both of these events. Message us if you'd like more details about either outing.

We normally post upcoming rides in our Motorbikescape NZ Touring Group so feel free to join us and other riders in there. Otherwise keep following this page for write ups of where we have been.

See you out there!
Corinne and Andrew