In the end I must confess, we just got back in Italy few days ago but I’m already thinking about how and when to return. Where? Are you kidding? To the biker’s paradise, that wonderful country where the roads are perfect and it’s easy to lose the count of turns, all is enriched by stunning landscapes without interruption; I’m sure that the rest of the world knows this land as New Zealand, but I can tell you that once you’ll try to ride there, you will define it “the promise land”.
Magnificent forests, where palms grew up beside pines, hills hide a surprise behind every single turn, for example an immaculate beach, a valley or a wonderful lake, as everything had been conceived by a skillful film director. And ride, ride, ride and you would never have to stop, with the only thinking that your own cerebral memory could never store up so much beauty.
Leaving out two or maybe three big cities, there is no trace of traffic and just out of your helmet visor you can find a well-organized countryside, which alternates with an amazing nature, so amazing to be emotional. But we need to proceed step by step, so we begin with the first part of our trip, that starts from the North Island and continues to the southernmost tip of the South Island. In the Coromandel Peninsula, the Pohutokawa’s red (which is named by the Kiwis as “Christmas tree”) that meets the blue water of the sea gives us the first deserved reward, after two long flights of eleven hours each and a twelve hours jet lag, that could tire even a bull.
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We start the trip from Auckland where we pick up a great BMW R1200 GS Triple Black owned by the guys of Paradise Motorcycle Tour, the full optional renting will last 19 days. Even if we’re jet-lagged we leave soon the motorway and suddenly find out how seductive this land is, it impresses you from the very first turn and reveals stunning vision, like we were under its spell; but later we’ll realize that the best is yet to come.
- Coromandel -
Despite a delicious big mussel lunch, in the middle of the afternoon tiredness is being felt by us, we need something relaxing … like hot springs … without difficulty you can easily hold your shovel to dig a hole in the sand of “Hot Water Beach” and here it comes thermal spring water. We join the other guys already present on the beach and we start building our little spa.
- Hot Water Beach -
The “volcanic” and hot springs subject continues to Rotorua as well, where the Te Puia park deserves a visit to admire the most powerful geyser of the “middle-earth”, but even the nature’s hot mud creations that literally boil right in front of you. If you’re fully interested in Maori culture, here you can attend shows and a lot more. Inside the park, in a protect area, it’s possible to watch the sweet Kiwi, the national symbol of New Zealand people, who liked to be called kiwis. The Kiwi bird can be seen during the night only (artificially created in a big glass case) but this strange bird is facing extinction because is killed by many predators introduced by human beings during the colonization of both islands.
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Back on the bike, Lake Taupo lets us know how large the lakes can be here on the other side of the world, it gives us a nice sunset, even if the sky is not that clear. In the Southern hemisphere it’s summer, but the weather changes quickly and we ride the Desert Road (it’s worse than it sounds) in the pouring rain, in this condition it’s hard to enjoy the scenery, that I’m sure it would be magnificent with Mount Tongariro as a beautiful backdrop. We appreciated it all the same, but it’s a pity, mark this as a can’t-miss route. The sun rises quickly and it’s warm (don’t forget the sunblock, it’s easy to get sunburned here); it follows us until we reach Wellington. People tell us that Wellington is usually considered as a passage point to the South Island; but, instead, we decide to stop and pay a visit, we soon notice that we made the right choice for a variety of reasons. First of all it’s a very nice town, furthermore, for motorcycle enthusiasts, inside the "Te Papa" museum you can find one of the ten "Britten motorcycles."
Needless to say that I spent almost half an hour standing there contemplating that wonderful work, which John Britten’s genius accomplished in the nineties. I’ve been really impressed and struck so I decided that I will tell about him and his creation in another story dedicated to himself. Leaving aside the Britten bike, Wellington gives us the impression of a young, beautiful and vibrant city, perched on a gulf, which is wonderful to admire especially at nightfall, when the city lights can be easily seen by Victoria Mount, all of this gives the capital a special charm.
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We go to bed early, the South Island ferry waits for us and we want to be among the first to board and park our GS as best we can, this bike made our trip very comfortable. See you soon on South Island.
#upsidedowntour #amotomio #provatodavvero
Travel clothing:
*Fagna: jacket and trousers Oj Desert – gloves Oj Fighter – boots Stylmartin Navigator – helmet SMK Helmets Glide – glasses Emblema.
*Cri: jacket Oj Unstoppable – trousers Oj Ridepant – boots Stylmartin Sharon – helmet SMK Twister – glasses Emblema.
Motorcycle and logistical support:
BMW R 1200 GS hired by Paradise Motorcycle Tours – www.paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz
Special Thanks to EUROBIKE NEW ZEALAND for the GIVI Tankbag
Eat and sleep:
New Zealand provides high-quality restaurants and accommodations; as regards the accommodation we’ve used Booking and Air B&B, which has turned out better than Booking. Along the way you can find many cafés where you can have delicious pies and snacks, but they closed early, between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m
Fagna&Cri
