The South Island has enough variety in terrain and road quality to keep things interesting for two weeks without feeling rushed. I rode it as a loop starting and ending in Christchurch, covering roughly 3,200 kilometers over 14 days in mid-March, just as autumn was starting to settle in.
I brought my Triumph Tiger 900 over from Adelaide. Logistics were clean and easy—no fuss getting it across.
Heading south from Christchurch, the coast road through Timaru and Oamaru is straightforward—rolling hills, farmland, decent pavement. Oamaru’s worth a stop for the Victorian architecture and the blue penguin colony if that’s your thing, though I just fuelled up and kept moving.
The stretch between Dunedin and Queenstown via the Lindis Pass is where things start opening up. The pass itself sits at 971 meters and offers long sight lines across tussock-covered hills. The road’s well-maintained, with sweeping corners that let you settle into a rhythm. Traffic’s light outside of peak summer months.
The South Island has enough variety in terrain and road quality to keep things interesting for two weeks without feeling rushed. I rode it as a loop starting and ending in Christchurch, covering roughly 3,200 kilometers over 14 days in mid-March, just as autumn was starting to settle in.
I brought my Triumph Tiger 900 over from Adelaide. Logistics were clean and easy—no fuss getting it across.
Heading south from Christchurch, the coast road through Timaru and Oamaru is straightforward—rolling hills, farmland, decent pavement. Oamaru’s worth a stop for the Victorian architecture and the blue penguin colony if that’s your thing, though I just fuelled up and kept moving.
The stretch between Dunedin and Queenstown via the Lindis Pass is where things start opening up. The pass itself sits at 971 meters and offers long sight lines across tussock-covered hills. The road’s well-maintained, with sweeping corners that let you settle into a rhythm. Traffic’s light outside of peak summer months.
The South Island has enough variety in terrain and road quality to keep things interesting for two weeks without feeling rushed. I rode it as a loop starting and ending in Christchurch, covering roughly 3,200 kilometers over 14 days in mid-March, just as autumn was starting to settle in.
I brought my Triumph Tiger 900 over from Adelaide. Logistics were clean and easy—no fuss getting it across.
Heading south from Christchurch, the coast road through Timaru and Oamaru is straightforward—rolling hills, farmland, decent pavement. Oamaru’s worth a stop for the Victorian architecture and the blue penguin colony if that’s your thing, though I just fuelled up and kept moving.
The stretch between Dunedin and Queenstown via the Lindis Pass is where things start opening up. The pass itself sits at 971 meters and offers long sight lines across tussock-covered hills. The road’s well-maintained, with sweeping corners that let you settle into a rhythm. Traffic’s light outside of peak summer months.