Hi all hope you're well and doing ok in these strange times we find ourselves in. After many months of being completely Covid free & all the freedom & benefits that gave us the Delta strain finally made its way in, at the moment we do have new cases cropping up daily, but nothing like the numbers being reported from overseas. After a pretty slow start we seem to have a fairly good vaccination rate amongst those that are for it, around 85% of the eligible population is fully jabbed, lets not talk about those that choose not to go for it, that’s their call, but as someone who caught Covid while in China back in 2019, it's not something I wish to repeat. 

The really great news is at the time of writing this, 30/11/21 - the New Zealand government has said it plans to open our borders to overseas guests early next year, its still a bit vague but at last we have something to work with.

We don’t know the details yet but I imagine it will be a staggered and managed process with countries being welcomed down to vaccination rates & case numbers.

Sally and I are in this for the long hall and have committed to staying the course, unfortunately, some of our friends from other tour companies haven’t faired so well and have had to move on. Good luck to you all and hope to see you back in the game in the future.

As we all learn & adjust how we live with this new world we thought it was time to make changes to our bookings and deposit procedures. It’s all about doing what's the fair and proper thing for our clients while trying to run a small business. The new details are as follows

1 All tours can be booked with just a small $100nz deposit. Even this is refundable up to 30 days before your tour is due to start.

2 Remaining amount would need to be paid 30 days from your tour, again this is fully refundable up to 7 days before your tour starts, after which there is a small $100nz admin charge.

Any refunds could be subject to bank or credit card fees, I'm sorry we have to make any charges, unfortunately, the banks don’t see things quite the same as we do.

This is made possible as we have made adjustments to our procedures & arrangements with our wonderful accommodation providers, for instance, there's no charge if we need to cancel a room booking due to Covid, we simply will not put you at risk or your hard-earned money in jeopardy.

Yes we are still in business, yes we are here to have fun and enjoy our passion, most importantly we look forward to enjoying the company of like-minded free spirits that also enjoy the ride together.

Lastly, we don’t have official guidance yet but you will likely need to be vaccinated or medically exempt to fly to and enter New Zealand.

As always book with confidence knowing we will always ‘do the right thing’ for our clients, stay safe

Covid refund

Bookings - Deposits & Refunds

Have you had problems finding good bike gear in stock, we certainly have, seems to be a lack of choice down here in New Zealand at the moment. Recently I went off on a search online when we had difficulty finding some new gear that was A- Good gear, B - in stock, C - at a price that didn’t break the bank or seem excessive. Don’t get me wrong, I like wearing good M/C gear that works & looks good, it just feels some of the top-shelf items are way overpriced, maybe the manufacturers & retailers are pandering to our egos, does price = quality, maybe, or they are just taking us for a ride.

Don’t know the answer to that one, however, I do know that if you’ve got the time to wait for the shipping delays, which can be a bit extended at the moment due to COVID you can save a heap of money, and I do mean heaps. I recently purchased a new jacket, online that had a retail price of NZ$ 1,100 I paid just $ 810 plus a bit for shipping. I Even found one supplier that will ship for free if you spend over NZ $500. These online shops have a huge range, great prices and occasionally run specials & sales saving even more.  

I recommend you do check your local regulations as they may not be as straightforward as they are here in New Zealand & Australia, where if we keep the total spend – including shipping - under a grand there’s no tax to pay.

Due to the travel restrictions, we have in New Zealand at the moment and consequently, the lack of riders & income from overseas, we have been looking for ways to stay connected and hopefully produce a small income.

It's been a hard time for companies in travel & tourism, and we could do with all the help we can get, thanks for your understanding & support.

Disclosure - We earn a small commission from sales made using the links below, 

In these strange times we are having to deal with at the moment we are trying to make something of our business & looking for ways to partner with other related companies around the globe, if you think you can partner with us send us an email and say Hi we'd love to hear from you.

 Excellent product range and choice, prices seem as good as I can find anywhere else online. They have 2 very good other reasons to shop with them, they will ship for free if you spend over $500nz, not hard to do with their product choice, don’t forget to keep the total including shipping under the magic $1,000 or you'll get charged tax. The second is if it's listed for sale, it's in stock in the shop so no waiting for backorder

 guys have an absolutely huge range of gear, and not just bike gear, it’s the biggest range I’ve seen anywhere. The prices are normally as good as any other website, although the delivery charge can mount up. The choice is so large they don’t always have everything onsite which sometimes can lead to delays, having said that they are pretty good at letting you know if that happens.

Pros & cons

Why buy your gear online 

Well, 2020 didn’t quite turn out the way anyone expected did it? For Open Road we started the year with an invite to join an amazing motorcycle trip from Lhasa in Tibet riding up base camp at Mt Everest. It was very strange leaving a warm and summery NZ on Xmas Day with our suitcases loaded with winter woolies, but it did make it feel like the start of a great adventure. The team at Tibet Easyrider gave us such a warm welcome and we experienced fantastic hospitality during our stay. The bikes - all BMW’s tourers were well maintained and ideal for the job.

With daytime temps of -10 to -18 degrees,yes that is a minus, as well as the high altitude this was a test of endurance for both of us. I don’t especially like the cold so a heated vest was a must have for this journey! The scenery in Tibet is dramatic and at this time of year quite bleak in its ruggardness. A highlight of the ride is the thrilling ride up the Gula Pass where at 2,500 metres you can view Mt Everest & the Himalayas stretched out before you. It’s simply breathtaking in more ways than one.

After our Tibetan trip we hit the start of 2020 at a run and were looking forward to a cracking year of tours showcasing our wonderful little country to overseas riders. In Feb we had riders from Australia join us for our Far North Adventure as a prelude to the Burt Monro. NZ put on some scorching weather, so hot even our Aussie brothers found it tough going. It was certainly a striking contrast to our Tibetan trip earlier in the year.

Leaving Auckland city behind us we rode North up the remote West Coast to the very tip of NZ before returning via the picturesque East Coast riding roads less travelled. This is our back yard and we really enjoy showcasing this beautiful region. We ride through ancient Kauri Forests, alongside golden beaches, past majestic sand dunes, and of course enjoy fantastic local cuisine, wine & beer. The ride up to the tip of NZ at Cape Reinga is a chance to really let your hair down. A short walk to the lighthouse is well worth it to experience where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean in a turbulent swirl of currents. This very spiritual place will simply blow you away.

Little were we to know this would be our last real tour for the year. In March, our government closed the border to International travellers and the whole country was put into lockdown. As much as this has hurt us and many others in tourism it has meant that as a country we have been able to return to relative normal while the rest of the world still battles on. One benefit of being a little island nation at the bottom of the world. It was extremely hard having to cancel so many tours and are grateful almost everyone has rebooked for 2021, we can all but dream & hope.

By June, New Zealanders were lucky enough to be out of lockdown and able to travel locally. As a much needed pick me up we roped in some mates and went on a road trip to the Far North for Lance’s birthday. It was a fun filled 3 days and just what we all needed to blow the cobwebs away and the lack of traffic on the road to Cape Reinga provided the opportunity for a spirited ride, you know what we mean!. The weekend was topped off with a great meal with good mates at the famous Duke of Marlborough hotel in Russell.

So what does a tour company do when it's forced to shut its doors and stop touring? Good question and it's one we’re still working on. It’s not been easy, certainly. We still have vehicles to maintain and keep ready for the road but no guests to ride them. At the beginning of this there was no way of knowing just how much of a marathon this was going to be. We kept ourselves and our followers amused with photos of Lance’s old bikes, and hopefully inspired some dreams with our virtual tours. Lance would collect our essential supplies using one of the tour bikes, it’s amazing just how much veg you can get in the panniers. But months have gone by and this pandemic is still having a terrible impact upon the world, where do we go from here?

Despite adjusting our tours for a local market it soon became clear that there simply wasn’t one here. This meant that in order to be able to resume touring when the borders open we simply must get some other form of income. Recently, along with other out of work professionals, pilots, aircraft engineers, & others in tourism we took on a contract to map NZ. This entailed driving all sealed navigable roads in NZ. And when I say all - I mean all. We used this as a perfect opportunity to drive roads we’d never been down before, hunt out new haunts, support local businesses, check in with our tourism partners and suss out great riding roads, while getting paid to do it. It was a win win.

Here in NZ we’re having fantastic hot Xmas weather. The steaks are on the BBQ, the beer is cold and the wine is flowing. It’s summertime and the country is on holiday. People are travelling locally and life is pretty much normal, we just can’t travel overseas. We hope to get out on the bikes once the holiday season is over and take advantage of the quieter roads. Perhaps a ride round the Coromandel Peninsula might be on the cards.

But right now we’re looking forward to 2021 and welcoming our next guests on their NZ motorcycling adventure...whenever that may be. We’re excited for the future and hope 2021 is a great year for everyone. 

We're looking forward to what the future holds  

Our 2020 in review....

Time to face the hard truth – Although New Zealand continues to fair pretty well in its battle with the Coronavirus, we now know our borders will stay closed for some time to come. So we have taken the very sad decision to cancel all tours for the remainder of 2020. 😞

Like many businesses involved in international tourism, we are doing it tough but staying optimistic and planning ahead for a busy 2021, we know you want to come and thank everyone who has rescheduled rather than cancel – we are very grateful for the support you have all shown 👍🏼

We have been thinking – having a lot of time to think might have something to do with it -about our tours for 2021. We have put together our first Twin Island tour. This is not only a fantastic tour with some amazing highlights, but we have also designed it so you can ride the whole tour or just part of it. We have some points, where we are staying near destinations with an international airport where the bike can be dropped off and the client can fly onwards. This will give clients short of time the opportunity to join us for just part of these fantastic new tours.

In principle, the logistics are pretty simple, the execution might be a bit harder, we shall see. Things to consider are not just the bike transfer, but also any extra luggage, flights onwards and accommodation if you have to wait for a flight. We are very happy to help with any requests for help, we will just have to wait & see if it has any takers.

On that note we can move dates & tours around, need something different just ask, its not a problem.

To keep me in the ‘groove’ both mentally and physically, I have started the process of becoming a motorcycle riding instructor. This is going to be a bit different. I've already learnt a couple of interesting facts. Pretty much everyone involved in teaching the courses is - A, from the UK, - B, they all seem to be ex-police riders. Considering my background riding in the courier trade in London, learning how to ride to thrive & survive, it’s a real poacher turned gamekeeper scenario, should be an interesting learning curve, for all!

Be assured we are in this for the long haul - we just didn’t think it would be this long before we get you here – we will be ready when you can, and look forward to showing you our great little gem in the Pacific.

Bookings for 2021 are open, all deposits held in trust and fully refundable for 

 reason. As this COVID situation makes planning just that bit unpredictable we will do our bit to help.

Take care - stay safe & get ready to ride with us in 2021 

Man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for 2 Corona’s & 1 long wait cocktail – bartender says well that’s 2020 for you!

So near yet so far

The year that never happened! 

Hi all thought you might like to see the interview we had this morning with Pablo from Ridetitude – he runs a company advising & connecting motorcycle tour operators around the world. This is his bit helping us get over the COVID situation.

Please check it out – you might also be interested to view some of the other interviews from other tour companies of the world.

Learn a bit about Openroad Tours in our interview with Pablo from Ridetitude 

Ridetitude 

Ridetitude interview

COVID 19 - LEVEL 1 – ALL OUR TOURS ARE OPEN FOR BOOKINGS

Are you ready to get out for some serious fun, I know we are. Is your bike off the road, or maybe not quite up to a big ride. Come & join us on one of our guided tours riding one of our well-sorted touring bikes. All with a 3 piece Givi luggage kit, screens, large comfy seats to easily accommodate a pillion.

Get out and explore our beautiful country, it’s really a great place to be anytime, but at the moment, there's certainly nowhere else I'd rather be. I don’t call being stuck here problem when we get to ride in such stunning scenery on some fabulous roads. Our road trip tours are carefully planned to explore the hidden gems in our own back yard our bikes are all ready, are you? 

We've put together some great new shorter tours just for our home market, We called them our ‘Road Trip’ series, this makes things more affordable. Check them out all the details are on the tours page. Same great bikes, same great roads, same great accommodation, just shorter rides. 

Designed to leave on a Friday, back on Monday just so you don’t need to take to much time out from work. At the moment the traffic is light, no campervans, everyone driving on the correct side of the road and petrol the cheapest its been for years, why wouldn’t you.

If your ready to get out into this great country of ours, have a good time, make some new mates, have a laugh come & join us on one of our rides. Your welcome to join us on your own bike if that’s your preferred option. We can make the arrangments at our preferred accommodation with some great rates.

Gift vouchers available if you want to treat someone special. You choose the amount, they choose the ride. You can purchase these with confidence as they don’t have an expiry date. - We felt that was the fairest option & in everyone's best interest.

Next tour leaves Friday the 12th June is now open for bookings, this just happens to be my birthday. Other tour dates are now up on the calendar page, or we can arrange something special just for you.

As we're not going overseas for a while yet, get ready to check out our back yard, it’s a pretty unique place.

Ready to get out for a ride - all tours are open for bookings

Time to hit the open road

Bookings Now Open 

With better things to celebrate than just my birthday, come and join us on this ride up the winterless north to the Cape. Its time brush aside some of the negative vibes and get out and enjoy things again.

Let's enjoy the wonderful country we live in, we are the envy of people all around the world. Not just for keeping that evil little germ at bay, but also  for the great roads we ride, amazing scenery we have. And with  a team that worked together so hard. Lets hope we can keep saying those famous words of a famous Kiwi icon ‘we knocked the bastard off’

Going up the East Coast and back down the west this our first ride out since lockdown so I'm sure were all going to remember this one for a long time to comee.

Ride in style, have a laugh, make some new mates, enjoying some freedom – why wouldn’t you.

We have priced this tour as low as we can go to make it as affordable as possible. Spaces are limited, so best let us know soon if you're interested. 

As it also happens to coincide with my birthday first round at the bar is on me!

Lastly, if you're a fan of good old Kiwi humour check this out, think it says how it is.

If it dosent play cut and paste it - its worth it 

My Birthday Bash 

OPEN FOR BUSINESS 

Hi all hope you're all keeping safe, below is the latest we have on  COVID-19 & how it affects our tours. 

Due to the difficult times we currently all find ourselves in we have put a hold on actual tours until we know when we can move freely.

. Like probably all our friends, colleagues, & suppliers in the travel & tourism industry we had to think hard about what we do and how we operate.

In our first response, we have designed some new shorter tours aimed specifically at our homegrown New Zealand market. These are shorter highlight tours, we've nicknamed them our ‘Road Trip Series’ still offering some amazing rides, just shorter. We have also made some adjustments to the accommodation we stay at. We are still making sure this is all as uniquely Kiwi as we can. No soleless highway motels just good accommodation with Kiwi vibes, good meals, great rides with a laugh & new mates along the way.

The reason for designing these tours is we either can't, or maybe even want to travel overseas for a while yet. So let's make the most of this unusual time to explore our own backyard, it’s really is a great place to be in & we often forget how lucky we are.

We have tried very hard to keep them as affordable as we can, so while we all do it tough, we can do it together.

We don’t know yet when the restrictions will let us move freely enough to start this new set of tours. When we do have a date we will start running them asap, & for as long as needed.

The next big news. For all forward bookings made for this year & for next - 2021, on all our tours, including the big ones, we are offering an incredible 21% discount on the listed price. All tours, all dates, we are also reducing the deposit needed to reserve a bike to just -nz$250 – this is fully refundable, no questions, no restrictions so no risk, you can book with confidence.

This crazy offer will be applicable to all our tours, its for a limited time, so why not take advantage now. 

Contact us for more details hello@openroad.nz 

OPEN FOR BOOKINGS 

 Open Road Tours COVID-19 Update 

Currently our we are in the planning stage on our winter tours, & thought you might like to know why, unlike the South Island, we can offer tours all the year-round.

The North Island of New Zealand is known for its warm subtropical climate, especially in the Northern end of the North Island which is often referred to as the winterless north. While being a relatively narrow island nation we are never very far from the coast which also helps to moderate the temperatures. Extreme cold & snowfall is mainly experienced in 

 at higher altitudes up in the mountains or far inland from the sea. We call this part the central plateau, its one of the locations  some of the the Lord Of The Rings films were shot – ‘ Mout Doom’ might look familiar!

The South Island experiences a far larger variance in temperature than up here in the north. Down south it can be a few degrees hotter in summer, but it also gets a 

 colder in winter, it gets well below freezing in winter. Our customers are usually experienced riders who would have ridden in far greater extremes in climate than anything the North can throw at them. The off-peak season months up here can offer some fantastic rewarding rides, less traffic, less people, clear crisp days. Yes it can rain but not all the time. 

As north island specialists Open Road Tours can plan a ride for any time of the year, even during the winter months of June, July, August we still ride, just not everywhere!

Spring & Autum are really good times to ride, could even be favourite, as its not to hot yet, we have had a really long hot summer this year. Yes it can rain at this time of year, but with todays modern good wet weather gear its not really a problem, just get on and ride. The trick is layers you can put on and take of as needed, also ride to the conditions.  

These are the hottest, this year (2020) has seen some records broken – with no rain for over 45 days, some days got up to the early 30’s c a unprecedented hot dry spell

Starting to cool down, but not cold yet. Some great riding to be had. Im from the Uk and worked in the courier industry in London, we would ride 12 months of the year, personally I dont think it ever gets really cold up here in the north.  

Tour New Zealand all year round 

Winter Touring With Open Road 

Yep we survived our ride to the base camp of Mount Everest – what a ride, what charming people we meet, and mostly great meals we ate – sometimes it best not to ask and just get on with it!

It was, as expected, cold, very cold some days down to -15. However clear blue sky and no rain made for great rides along some pretty good roads, combined with incredible scenery it was something very special

Thanks to all the team at Tibet Easy Rider especially our guides Poppy & Tashi, lastly cheers to Justin @ Tibet Easy Rider for the invite.

It's now back to my day job, planning rides & prepping bikes for our clients, it’s a hard job but I can cope! Maybe you should join us New Zealand is a great country to ride with some pretty amazing to explore. 

WOW What A Ride

Back safe & with news from Tibet 

http://www.tibeteasyrider.com/ we have received an amazing opportunity to join them on a pre-season tour and ride with them to the base camp of Mount Everest

We are honoured to be invited joining a small number of riders from around the globe, this is going to be a fantastic journey and great chance to network with some interesting partners. I understand there will be representatives from tour companies, clothing manufacturers, journalists & more all from the motorcycle industry, this is going to be something special.

Talking about clothing, we must give a big shout out to Revit NZ & our favourite motorcycle parts and accessory store 'Motomail' for supporting us on this adventure with a full set of brand new REVIT gear for both Sally & myself.

They have set Sally up with a great looking set of Outback 2 kit, special ladies cut & I have been kitted up with their best adventure kit the Sand 3 range, thanks guys you really stepped up we are very grateful.

We fly out on Christmas day – what a present – due to the laws in China we won't be able to post on to Instagram & FB till we get back we, but we will asap.

Ride To Mount Everset with Open Road Tours & Plateau Travel 

Blog