After a few weeks on the road and around 2000 km done, touring around New Zealand on motorcycles has become a pleasure. I’m now used to the bike enough to be able to start looking around. And the landscapes on the South Island are just beautiful. Well, it’s The Middle Earth after all.
In April in the southern hemisphere it’s the middle of autumn and this season is gorgeous here. Imagine a sunny day with a blue, cloudless sky, the sun shining, and trees in their golden colours... Well, we were lucky to cruise on our motorcycles in such weather most of the time. Thanks to that our average speed rose from 45 km/h in the first week to around 65 km/h now! I am now the leading rider but I’m confident enough to accelerate only to 75 km/h, so every car on the road is passing us easily. The only car we have overtaken was a tractor… parked on the side of the road.
The first place we’ve visited on the Southern Island was the Abel Tasman National Park, named after a Dutch explorer who came to New Zealand in the 17th century. We went see kayaking and trekking around the park and from there we headed south-west through Westport, Greymouth, Franz Josef Glacier and Haast to Wanaka. We have been passing the nearby lakes, mountains, forests and glaciers many of which were shooting locations of the Lord of the Rings movie. The views were getting more beautiful with each kilometer. Take a look below! I already know that our decision to visit New Zealand on bikes was a brilliant idea!
However, even after a few weeks and some kilometers, riding a motorcycle is still a new experience for us. The time seems to be standing still when on the road. It is usually hard to tell whether only one hour has gone by or a few. But as I wrote above it’s become a pleasure.
