tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829002473724003462024-03-08T14:30:11.749-08:00elmardelasalmasperdidasUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2182900247372400346.post-22478542982559677852014-09-12T17:00:00.005-07:002014-09-12T17:00:33.965-07:00South New Zealand<br />It’s very easy to see why there are guided tours of this part of the country. The mountains are ever-present on your left, <br />there are beautiful, unspoiled forests and the rivers run clear and are of a striking aqua color due to the mineral content <br />of the water coming off the mountains. Remember, though, they drive on the opposite side of the road as in the US so you <br />have to train your mind to watch for any traffic accordingly.<br /><br />In truth, there is very little traffic and bicycles own the road on most guided tours of the South Island. One can bicycle<br />three full days without ever seeing even a small village. Instead, there are bed and breakfast inns or small motels along <br />the way and many meals can be made by the tour guide.<br /><br />If you’re on one of these guided tours of New Zealand, you’ll not only see Mount Hercules but you’ll feel like Hercules <br />(or very tired) after climbing the impressive mountain. And don’t forget the exhilaration of riding back down. One of <br />the other highlights of your tour will be the Franz Josef Glacier, south of Whataroa. It’s a gigantic dirty piece of ice <br />dangling in the crevice between two mountains. Still, it’s an impressive site to see.<br /><br />Most guided tours of this type will allow you to travel 500 km (300 miles) in about a week. You’ll be on the bicycle much <br />of the time but viewing this magnificent scenery from this vantage point can’t be beat. At the end of your tour, you can <br />fly home via Queensland, in the southern part of the island.<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2182900247372400346.post-88365075885545911852014-09-12T17:00:00.002-07:002014-09-12T17:00:13.117-07:00Thrilling Guided Tours There are few things as breathtaking and exhilarating as traveling with one of several outstanding guided tours on bicycle of<br />New Zealand. New Zealand is comprised of two major islands, the North Island and the South Island. Of the two, the South <br />Island offers a more rustic look at the countryside as it rushes beneath your feet on a bicycle. This type of guided tour <br />is not for the casual cyclist. Hills and mountains are part of the landscape and, while you can walk these areas, it’s better if you’ve worked out on a <br />bicycle a little bit beforehand.<br /><br />One of the nicest guided tours of the South Island of New Zealand begins when you land in Christchurch. This large city is <br />the take off point for many who are going to Antarctica, so if you have time between flights, take a tour of the Antarctic <br />Centre, just a couple of blocks from the airport. It’s a museum of sorts about exploration in Antarctica.<br /><br />Most likely, guided tours of the South Island won’t actually start in Christchurch and you’ll be taking a propeller <br />plane (yes, a propeller plane) over the vast and enormous mountain range that runs down the middle of the island and you’ll <br />arrive at a spit of an airport in a village like Hokitika, where the bicycling really begins. <br /><br />Some may ask why there are guided tours of this part of New Zealand at all because there is really only one main road <br />traveling south along the shoreline of the rustic and wild Tasman Sea. You can’t get lost. Even so, the tour guides will <br />carry extra food and will probably have a bike trailer to pick up the bikes of stragglers that can’t finish the day’s ride.<br />The riders take off in the direction of the guide and move along at their own pace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0