I call this trip an odyssey because it required many hours of training on different surfaces i.e. gravel, river stones, to ensure I had toughened up the 'backside' sufficiently before joining the tour. I reaped the benefits, my 'backside' did not hurt or get chaffed and I managed to cycle all of the 301 km. The scenery is truly spectacular - every day was a new surprise. Our three guides were absolutely awesome. I especially would like to thank them for preparing tasty lunch boxes for Day 2 & 3. If there was an issue with my bike Elder sorted it. A special thank you to Mel who swapped bikes with me on Day 4 when my bike decided to misbehave. I highly recommend you do what I did and join a trip with the tour operator if you would love to knock this trail off your bucket list.
Had the most amazing time in New Zealand with our fab leaders Alex and Harvey. I did both North and South Island and loved every second. Everything was so well taken care of from getting picked up at the airport to help with onward travel. The leaders did all the leg work so we could just sit back relax and enjoy our holiday! Have put a deposit down for the South Africa intro trip as I enjoyed this one so much.
The tour guide Phil was excellent. Extremely knowledgeable about all the locations we went to, great a fostering a community amongst travellers in the group and good taste in music! Even when the trip was effected by adverse events such as weather, Phil went above and beyond to ensure that trip went smoothly and that we were able to still experience all that New Zealand has to offer. I can not recommend doing this trip with Phil enough, he was vital to making this trip all it could be. If anything the trip itself could be a little longer, ideally spending more time in Rotorua and other locations so that activities can be rescheduled when the weather impacts plans.
