Dec. 29, New Zealand Northland Trip, Gisborne

For my Christmas Vacation I decided to take a motorbike trip north on the RED VFR from Wellington to the parts of the North Island that I had yet to explore. Of course there is a lot more to NZ than just the main tourist road, but with my bike and having only two weeks I did what I could. The trip was expected to be around 3000 km, which isn't a lot, but in NZ it's probably equivalent to 6000 km on easy north american roads. Once again, I will rate most of the roads using the C=quantity of curves, R=quality of roads, T=density of traffic, V=surrounding views from the road (scale of 1 to 10)

Wellington to Gisborne (Muriwai, 10 km south). 530 km.


Over the Rimutaki Hills which is always a challenge, right Rachel. C8/9, R7,T3,V6/7. Climbs and Decents with tight curves and major cliffs with no room to miss your lines.



The Tui Brewery which is known for it's great commercial that has a bunch of good looking women running the place.

Hwy 50 up by Napier through Vineyard country was a great alternative to State Hwy 2, thanks Ben. C8,R7,T3,V4/5.

Napier to Muriwai was tough in the rain (NZ roads are not as smooth as North American rds so water sits in between the asphault). C8,R6,T4/5V8. This section took over 2 hours for just over 150 km.