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©2008 Santana Cycles, Inc.
Santana’s planners spent an entire decade preparing this tour. In addition to poring through guidebooks and studying itineraries, we talked to a score of “Kiwis” (New Zealand residents) who own our tandems, and to over 200 cyclists who’ve vacationed there. We learned that in this beautiful yet sparsely populated country the distance between hotels often exceeds 100 miles. Because of extreme distances, organized New Zealand cycling tours invariably use 12-15 passenger vans to shuttle most riders on most days. Since the vans make numerous stops and retrieve additional riders, many participants are crammed in the back of vans for hours at a time. Additionally, while cyclists rave about New Zealand’s scenery and sparse traffic, interesting stops are few and far between. On most days the only activity between hotels (besides the van ride) is a numbing number of miles and a cold roadside picnic. Finally, after subtracting time for daily repacking, waiting for the shuttle, and then riding within it, the normal equation doesn’t allow enough time for off-bike exploration or cultural interpretation.
On one hand, stuffing cyclists into small vans makes New Zealand’s tours possible. The total reliance on vans, however, prevents participants from enjoying the best rides or experiencing New Zealand’s full diversity. Nearly all tours, for instance, skip the North Island entirely. Even then, the vans can’t cover enough ground to include many of the South Island’s best places.
In order to break free of the van-centric rut, Santana has designed a unique New Zealand cycling experience. Instead of using a cramped van to cover a portion of one island, Santana will use cruise boats, express train and a chartered 737 jetliner to skip boring sections, busy highways and impossibly long miles. If you want to experience more of what New Zealand has to offer, this tour includes superior rides, additional attractions, and the diversity of both of New Zealand’s islands.
Because our New Zealand itinerary is too elaborate to offer on a regular basis, Santana plans to visit New Zealand twice. Some space still exists for 2009. If that’s too soon, a final encore is slated for 2011 . If cycling in New Zealand is on your list of lifetime goals, you owe it to yourself to use the link to receive more information and a detailed itinerary.