How it works: How a self-guided motorcycle tour works

Before you arrive

1. A discovery call. Most riders start with a call: your dates, the bike, the route and where you stay.
2. Your dates. Choose dates on the journey’s page and send the request: online, a journey starts at least 60 days ahead. There is no payment until we confirm availability.
3. The deposit. A refundable 20% deposit secures your booking, payable by card through Stripe (no card surcharge) or by international bank transfer. Your price is locked from then, and we send a rider declaration to complete online.
4. Your stays. We don’t wait to book your accommodation: we book every night as soon as your deposit is paid. We have to get in quick, because many of the special places we use take only one booking at a time. If we ever need to make a major change to your nights, we talk to you first, and if you’d rather not go ahead, we treat it as our cancellation and refund your deposit in full. We keep you posted as each stay is confirmed. Prefer a particular bed set-up? Tell us after booking, and we’ll arrange it.
5. The balance is due 60 days before the journey: with the deposit, for a journey booked 60 days ahead. If you need to change your dates, we’ll do what we can: it depends on availability, and your price becomes the price for your new dates. If we can’t move your dates and you can’t travel, our cancellation terms apply.
6. Your itinerary arrives in the Wandrith Journey App about 60 days before your journey starts (or once your stays are confirmed, if you book later than that): the daily routes, highlights, where you stay and tips to prepare.

Book at least six months ahead for the widest choice of accommodation, especially in prime and peak season. Plan a hotel night before and after the journey, and at least one full day of rest after your flight.

Your bike

You ride the exact model you book: there is no “bike class”. We own every bike in the fleet: the BMW R1300GS Adventure ASA, BMW R1250GS Adventure, BMW F900GS Adventure and Royal Enfield Himalayan. Every bike is fully serviced and fully optioned, with aluminium panniers and a top box with waterproof liners, bar-backs, a Quad Lock phone mount, action camera mounts and a screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Each also carries a satellite emergency beacon, a first aid kit and a puncture plug kit. Low seats are available for most models, and the bike starts with a full tank.

See the fleet for each bike’s specifications.

The riding days

The Wandrith Journey App puts each day’s route on the bike’s own screen, turn by turn, with suggested stops for fuel, cafés and the sights along the way, and side trips you can add. You set off when you like and stop where you like. Most days are four to six hours in the saddle, with stops. The roads are almost all sealed, with a few short stretches of gravel, such as the road into Mount Lyford (the roads guide gives more). Every journey has at least one rest day built in, the longer ones more.

Every night

Every night is somewhere special, for the stay itself or for where it is: hotels and serviced apartments, with the occasional log cabin. One of them is The Hermitage, at Aoraki / Mount Cook. Where possible, the hotel booking includes breakfast, and most stays have Wi-Fi, though some of the more remote ones may not. Many have laundry facilities, and the app suggests where on the route to plan a laundry stop.

If something goes wrong

• A breakdown or a flat: every bike has roadside assistance from the AA and a puncture plug kit. Call the AA first, then let us know and we’ll arrange what you need.
• An accident: make sure you are safe and follow any instructions from the police or emergency services (dial 111), then call us as soon as you can. The satellite emergency beacon works where the phone doesn’t.
• Bad weather: if a storm stops you reaching the night’s stay, contact us straight away and we’ll do our best to make other arrangements.

Who it suits

Riders aged 25 and over, with a full motorcycle licence held for at least two years and at least two years’ riding on a bike similar to the one they book, who would rather set their own pace than ride in a group. If you ride two-up, your pillion (passenger) rides free on every journey.

What it costs, and what’s included

Pillions ride free · No surprises pricing. Up to NZ$14,999 per bike for 7 days (North Island). The price is per bike, and a pillion adds nothing. Travelling with a pair of bikes? Talk to us, as some accommodation may be able to be combined to reduce the cost. All prices include GST. No card surcharges, and nothing is added to your journey price later, apart from any activities you add.

Included

• The exact model you booked, not a class, with aluminium panniers and top box, waterproof liners, a Quad Lock phone mount with a case to fit your specific phone, action camera mounts, a first aid kit, a puncture plug kit and tie-down straps
• Your bike brought to your hotel at the start, and collected from your hotel at the end
• Your pillion, at no extra charge
• Every night’s accommodation, with breakfast wherever it’s available
• A room of your own when you ride solo, at the same price per bike
• The Cook Strait ferry (Interislander or Bluebridge) where your journey crosses it, for you, any pillion and the bike, with lounge access where available
• Road tolls, where your route has them
• Your first tank of fuel
• The route, day by day, in the Wandrith Journey App on the bike’s own screen
• Roadside assistance from the AA, and a satellite emergency beacon on the bike
• A briefing on your bike, its kit and the app before you ride
• Full motorcycle insurance cover is included
• Welcome pack
• A 200% carbon offset, in native trees planted with Trees That Count

Not included

• Flights
• Accommodation before and after your journey
• Fuel after the first tank
• Puncture repairs
• The Aotearoa Odyssey’s harbour ferries in Northland (each a small fare, paid on the spot)
• Lunches and dinners
• Activities
• A Milford Sound cruise on the Aotearoa Odyssey
• Luggage storage (if you start and end at the same hotel, it will often hold your bags; otherwise, luggage storage companies do)
• Luggage transfers (there are no luggage transfer services available in New Zealand)
• Airport transfers
• Riding gear (helmet, jacket, trousers, gloves and boots)
• Travel insurance

Next: riding in New Zealand as a visitor, and the four journeys with their dates and prices.