New Zealand Cycle Touring
Frequently Asked Questions

What do I wear for cycling in New Zealand?

We've got a page all about this - check out our cycling gear page

What is the weather like in New Zealand? When is the best time for biking?

We've got a page all about this too - check out our New Zealand weather page

Shall I bring my own bike?

You can bring your own bike with you to New Zealand, but if you do, make sure you get it checked out and serviced by a competent bike mechanic before you leave. You'll need to get a bike bag or box from your local bike dealer and consult with your airline about their policies on carrying bikes before arriving at the airport. We'll have a bike mechanic and tool kit on hand to help you reassemble it when you get here.

How will I get my bike on the international flight to New Zealand?

AIR NEW ZEALAND’S bike policy is that they will carry bikes as part of your luggage allowance as long as they are correctly packed. Turn in or remove the handlebars and pedals. On bicycles where the pedals cannot be turned in or removed, sufficient padding must be provided around the pedals to prevent the pedals damaging other customers' baggage.
•Wrap the whole bicycle in a plastic bag, corrugated cardboard or equivalent. Alternatively the bike may be packaged in a purpose built bike box
•If necessary, wrap the chain to prevent grease transferring to other baggage
•Deflation of the tyres is not necessary.
•Some bicycle items may be classed as dangerous goods. For example, CO2 cartridges for inflating bicycle tyres contain compressed gas and are not permitted as checked or cabin baggage.
•Mountain bikes may be fitted with struts containing compressed nitrogen gas. These bikes can only be accepted as checked baggage if the gas pressure does not exceed 200KPa (Kilopascal), or 29 PSI (Pounds per square inch).
See http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/oversized-items for more information. If you are travelling with another airline, please request information from them before you book your seat.

 

Can I borrow a bike? What bikes do you have?

If you want to avoid the hassle of bringing your own bike, don't! There’s no extra charge for borrowing a bike. We maintain a fleet of new or nearly-new bikes that are well suited to the terrain that we cover on our trips. Our bikes are solid, comfortable, and well equipped. To ensure we choose the right bike for you, we'll walk you through how to provide us with your measurements when you book.
For the men, there are two choices of road bike: the Scott Speedster 50 or the Avanti Blade 4. For the ladies, there are three choices of road bike: the Scott Speedster 25, the Avanti Blade 3 or the Sarah Ulmer Sublime Lowbar. On the Weka, we use Scott P4 24-speed hybrid bikes. We have anatomical saddles for the women and all bikes are equipped with a bike computer. If you like, you can upgrade to a higher-end bike at extra cost. Just let us know which bike you prefer, if any, when you book.

What gear is provided on Active New Zealand Cycle Tours?

We provide lightweight Specialized helmets, safety vests (doesn’t look cool, we know, but keeps you safe!) and small panniers so you can take your lunch with you. Many people prefer to bring their own helmets, but it’s no worries if you’d rather use ours. We'll provide you with a full gearlist when you book, but comfy padded cycling shorts and lightweight breathable clothing is a must! We get a mixture of weather throughout the year in New Zealand, so layering is the key. See what to wear.

Can you help me find flights to New Zealand?

From the USA: There are two airlines with regular, direct service to New Zealand from the United States. These are Air New Zealand and Qantas. Most flights from the United States to New Zealand leave Los Angeles in the evening, and arrive in Auckland the next morning. Air New Zealand also have regular direct flights between San Francisco and Auckland as well as Vancouver and Auckland, and Qantas offers direct flights between New York and Sydney, which have lots of connections across the Tasman.

Because the flights cross the international dateline, the arrival dates can be confusing. For instance, a flight leaving Los Angeles on Saturday evening will not arrive in New Zealand until Monday morning/afternoon. Conversely, flights back to the US from New Zealand often arrive on the same date as they left - so it's possible to fly out of Auckland at 9pm on a Friday, for instance, and arrive in Los Angeles at 2pm on that same Friday. This phenomenon allows you to do a full 14-day trip in New Zealand, leaving North America on Saturday afternoon, spending the 14 days from Saturday to Sunday on one of our trips, and be back at work on Monday morning.

From Australia: For the cheap version, jump on a quick and easy Jetstar or Pacific Blue flight – they regularly fly to all our cities. Air New Zealand are worth checking out too, as they do some very competitive fares these days, and their flight safety video is most entertaining.

From Europe and the rest of the world: If you are coming from Europe or elsewhere, you can connect through Los Angeles, but also check out services run by Emirates, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and KLM.

Unfortunately, flights to NZ are never really cheap, as it's a small place at the bottom of the world! You can expect your flights to range from about US$800 to US$1600, depending on the season. You should never have to pay much more than the last figure, and for most of our summer season you should be able to find flights for about US$1400 or so. Feel free to run flight schedules and rates by us before booking them.

Do you recommend buying travel insurance?

YES! All ACTIVE NEW ZEALAND CYCLE TOUR travellers are required to have travel insurance for their trip in the form of a regular third-party travel insurance policy or a pre-existing insurance policy that includes coverage overseas. The option to self insure is also available if you prefer to take your chances. ACTIVE NZ recommends a comprehensive travel insurance policy which includes medical cover, emergency repatriation, trip cancellation and other travel mishaps (e.g. flight cancellations or delays, trip interruption, theft or loss of luggage and personal effects). Travel insurance can be obtained through local travel agents, or online brokers such as www.worldnomad.com. or www.travelguard.com - these and other insurance policy packages can be compared via http://www.insuremytrip.com.

Why do you run trips in two directions?

Because some of our trips are so popular, we often run two trips simultaneously, with generally no more than 14 guests on any one trip. We stay at some pretty small out-of-the-way places, so we operate one trip starting southbound around the South Island and the other one starting northbound. This also gives us the flexibility to arrange each trip for the best social mix. The itineraries we publish generally happen to be northbound, but it doesn't matter which way around you go, since both trips start and end in the same place at the same time. If for any reason you'd like to be on a particular departure (northbound or southbound) just let us know and we'll be happy to accommodate you if we can, although this isn't always possible, depending on the trip configuration.

Do you charge a forced single supplement if I'm a solo traveller?

Unlike many other tour operators, we don’t believe in charging you extra for travelling alone and we have lots of single travellers on our trips. So there’s no forced single supplement if you don’t mind sharing a room (or you might even get a room to yourself sometimes). If you prefer not to share a room at all, you can upgrade to a single room.

What if I need a special diet?

No worries! We are accustomed to catering for the following special dietary requirements on most of our trips:

• vegan (no meat or animal products)
• vegetarian (no meat products)
• pescatarian (vegetarian, but eat fish)
• no red meat (eat chicken & fish)
• gluten intolerant (no wheat, rye, barley or oats)
• lactose intolerant (no dairy products)

You will get the opportunity to specify your particular requirements when you fill in your pre departure questionnaire so we are fully prepared for your arrival. If you have any other dietary requirements please let us know well in advance.

How much spending money should I bring?

Our trips include all transportation, guiding, meals (except where indicated on the itinerary - such as in Queenstown where people like to try the local restaurants), and activities (unless it says it's "optional"). For most trips, you could literally bring US$100 and go home with change, but realistically you'll be looking at at least a couple of hundred dollars, as most people like to bring a little extra to cover a round of drinks at the pub, take home some souvenirs, book a tour and eat out on their free day in Queenstown, and tip their guides if they've had a great time.

As far as spending money goes here are a few ideas:

• ATM cards - There are plenty of ATMs in New Zealand so as long as your card has a pin number and a "cirrus" or "plus" symbol on the back of it you should no trouble withdrawing local currency from your US account. Check with your bank for overseas transaction fees.
• Credit cards - accepted in most places and have the best exchange rate. They are recommended for purchases, but not for cash advances due to instant interest, but check with your bank for overseas transaction fees.
• Travellers cheques - probably the next best form of exchange with reasonable exchange rates as long as you don't exchange them at shops!
• US cash - not very readily accepted by shops, and generally carry the worst direct exchange rates (vs credit cards/travellers cheques).
• US charge cards - can be difficult to use in New Zealand, not recommended.
• We recommend withdrawing/exchanging a larger amount of money (US$100-200) when in larger towns, or every few days as required, as some of the smaller, more remote places that we get to may not have any banking facilities.
• Banks are generally open Monday to Friday 9am-4pm in most places, exchange centres have longer hours and open weekends.
• Airport Banks generally guarantee the same rate as the downtown banks.

Who will be guiding my trip?

YWe put a lot of time and effort into finding the right people to guide ACTIVE CYCLING trips. We feel privileged to have so many wonderful guides, and people consistently rave about those who made the difference (and always insist their guide was the best)! Our people are all knowledgeable and enthusiastic about biking as well as being effortlessly organised and a whole lot of fun. Our trips are accompanied by at least two guides and they all take part in a thorough pre-season training trip where they polish their skills in outdoor leadership and management, evacuation and safety procedures, bike maintenance, outdoor first aid as well as all the finer and more subtle things that go into running a fabulous trip. Our guides are supported by a very experienced Operations team in the office. You’re in safe hands with us.

Where will I stay?

You'll stay in nice comfortable places each night of your trip – we avoid hotel chains and ho-hum motels, and stay in lovely places in stunning locations. Our focus is making the most of the biking during the day and then staying in special places each night, like Paparoa Park in Punakaiki, or the cozy homestead at Makarora. We choose places we like ourselves, and stay there ourselves on occasion. Perhaps because we’ve been running our trips for so long, we have great relationships with our accommodation hosts, and you'll enjoy the benefits of staying with people who truly care about ensuring you have a great stay.

How will we get around when you're not on your bike?

We'll be on the bikes as much as possible, and when we're not on the bikes we use our fleet of modern, comfortable vehicles, well suited to our small group sizes. On the Deep South Ride, you can ride for seven days without once getting in a vehicle. Our cycling trips are about cycling! Our vehicles are kept in top condition of course, maintained at our base in Rangiora, north of Christchurch, and all our Lead Guides are competent and experienced drivers. If at any time you feel like a rest from the saddle, you can join the guide in the bus and rest your legs for as long as you like.

What will I be eating?

You'll enjoy a variety of cuisine on your trip, from home cooked meals to restaurant fare. Sometimes we dine in and sometimes we dine out, but either way, we'll keep you well fed. Our guides take great pride in impressing you with the meals they serve. Breakfasts generally consist of cereal, yoghurt, fruit, toast or crumpets, great coffee (we take our coffee very seriously) and juice. Sometimes we'll whip up pancakes and full-cooked breakfasts. Lunches are usually picnic-style in stunning surroundings. Dinners are two- or three-course meals, in a range of styles from seafood to traditional Kiwi fare such as roast lamb. If you have food allergies, gluten intolerance, you're a vegetarian or all of the above – no worries, we can handle it.