Discussion
i have just finished last month a 2 year dream by organizing and running USA2005: "How the West Was Driven" event, which was 3,600 miles of roads across the USA which was a 22 day event from Texas to the Colorado Rockies, across Utah, and up the California cost to San Francisco. i'm curious as to the state of play with roads in NZ that are Se7en "friendly" and fun to drive. what i mean is roads that won't smash a Se7en to bits, but are a hoot to drive.
on the USA2005 event we had a mixture of Lotus 7, Westfield, Caterham, WCM Ultralites, Robin Hood -- basically anything that looks like a Se7en was eligible
given the stupidly cheap US petrol proces (£.40p/litre for super vs. £1.05quid/litre) gave us the ability to stay in far nicer hotels than we might have for parts of our event...
i've got an idea that a 2-3 week drive around NZ in some high power EU Se7ens might be quite a bit of fun. from reading some of the threads here, it definitely appears there's fun cars in NZ, but some of the stuff i also read is worrying about what would happen if anyone was way OTT to the speed limit, yet completely safe and secure given road conditions. NOTE this is not a rallye or race, we did the USA2005 with 40 cars shipped from London -> USA, and only had 5 drivers announce they'd gotten done for speeding. it is a group of folks that get together once a year and go somewhere and drive for 1-3 weeks.
given that we'd want to mix in a fair bit of touristy stuff, and have a great mix of twisty Se7ening roads, is it more applicable to focus on the South or North island? particular stuff to see, roads to do / not do, etc?
some of us in the UK now know how to ship our Se7ens from/to places, and are contemplating if/when would be a good idea to blat around NZ. are the BiBs a major concern, do you have enough twisty roads to justify bringing 1/2 dozen to 1 dozen (MAX) Se7ens over, etc?
i am usually to Auckland about once a quarter on work, so am curious to the state of play with Se7ens in NZ. people thought we were insane to plan a USA trip, but at the end of it, we had a huge success for the 40 cars from the UK, and the 20-30 that joined up at points along our 3,600 mile route.
at this point, i'm just testing the waters and looking at what the realities could be for doing an even further away trip. when our cars went into the USA, we were allowed to bring them in on an "import / show" basis, so we didn't have to pay any VAT on them as they were not permanently residing in the USA. are there any difficulties in bringing a non-NZ car in for a specified period of time?
curious to folks' feedback,
Steve
>> Edited by Steve-B on Thursday 27th October 08:38
on the USA2005 event we had a mixture of Lotus 7, Westfield, Caterham, WCM Ultralites, Robin Hood -- basically anything that looks like a Se7en was eligible
given the stupidly cheap US petrol proces (£.40p/litre for super vs. £1.05quid/litre) gave us the ability to stay in far nicer hotels than we might have for parts of our event... i've got an idea that a 2-3 week drive around NZ in some high power EU Se7ens might be quite a bit of fun. from reading some of the threads here, it definitely appears there's fun cars in NZ, but some of the stuff i also read is worrying about what would happen if anyone was way OTT to the speed limit, yet completely safe and secure given road conditions. NOTE this is not a rallye or race, we did the USA2005 with 40 cars shipped from London -> USA, and only had 5 drivers announce they'd gotten done for speeding. it is a group of folks that get together once a year and go somewhere and drive for 1-3 weeks.
given that we'd want to mix in a fair bit of touristy stuff, and have a great mix of twisty Se7ening roads, is it more applicable to focus on the South or North island? particular stuff to see, roads to do / not do, etc?
some of us in the UK now know how to ship our Se7ens from/to places, and are contemplating if/when would be a good idea to blat around NZ. are the BiBs a major concern, do you have enough twisty roads to justify bringing 1/2 dozen to 1 dozen (MAX) Se7ens over, etc?
i am usually to Auckland about once a quarter on work, so am curious to the state of play with Se7ens in NZ. people thought we were insane to plan a USA trip, but at the end of it, we had a huge success for the 40 cars from the UK, and the 20-30 that joined up at points along our 3,600 mile route.
at this point, i'm just testing the waters and looking at what the realities could be for doing an even further away trip. when our cars went into the USA, we were allowed to bring them in on an "import / show" basis, so we didn't have to pay any VAT on them as they were not permanently residing in the USA. are there any difficulties in bringing a non-NZ car in for a specified period of time?
curious to folks' feedback,
Steve
>> Edited by Steve-B on Thursday 27th October 08:38
Sounds like a great idea!
First port of call I'd consult with the LTSA (Land Transport Safety Authority) as these buggers have some very odd rules regarding importation.... if you're only bringing them over for the trip then you might be alright. Contacts can be found at www.ltsa.govt.nz .
To answer your question, there are literally hundreds of roads all round the country that were MADE for Se7en motoring..... from off-beaten tracks to main routes like the Napier-Taupo Highway, there's some BRILLIANT roads for these wonderful machines.
I'd imagine, with a bit of careful planning, you could complete a circuit of NZ without having to drive on a motorway or boring stretch of straight road for more than about 30 minutes at a time. The only thing you'll need to beware is some of the roads are still in gravel, but these days these are very few and far between. Don't think there's a main-route in NZ that's still gravel these days so you should be ok
First port of call I'd consult with the LTSA (Land Transport Safety Authority) as these buggers have some very odd rules regarding importation.... if you're only bringing them over for the trip then you might be alright. Contacts can be found at www.ltsa.govt.nz .
To answer your question, there are literally hundreds of roads all round the country that were MADE for Se7en motoring..... from off-beaten tracks to main routes like the Napier-Taupo Highway, there's some BRILLIANT roads for these wonderful machines.
I'd imagine, with a bit of careful planning, you could complete a circuit of NZ without having to drive on a motorway or boring stretch of straight road for more than about 30 minutes at a time. The only thing you'll need to beware is some of the roads are still in gravel, but these days these are very few and far between. Don't think there's a main-route in NZ that's still gravel these days so you should be ok
is it more realistic to drive both islands in say 20 days, or focus on one island?
considering that the folks that will come we'd have to doa round-the-world flight to control airfares, time away is a premium. most of us will have to apply to our Human Remains departments for special dispensation for the time off in one continous block.
what we'd not want to have is a bunch of cr4p roads that would waste valuable sightseeing time, as well as a healthy miix of serious blatting roads to make the journey valuable. the touristy stuff would have to occur or the SWMBO's would KILL us.
from the link you provided, it appears that we would be liable for RUC even if the cars are only there for say 30 days. so how do we calculate RUC. take an average price of £ 24K for one of the Se7ens on the USA2005 event? engine size, car weight -- what is a typical RUC cost per Se7en-ish car in NZ?
>> Edited by Steve-B on Thursday 27th October 09:35
considering that the folks that will come we'd have to doa round-the-world flight to control airfares, time away is a premium. most of us will have to apply to our Human Remains departments for special dispensation for the time off in one continous block.
what we'd not want to have is a bunch of cr4p roads that would waste valuable sightseeing time, as well as a healthy miix of serious blatting roads to make the journey valuable. the touristy stuff would have to occur or the SWMBO's would KILL us.
from the link you provided, it appears that we would be liable for RUC even if the cars are only there for say 30 days. so how do we calculate RUC. take an average price of £ 24K for one of the Se7ens on the USA2005 event? engine size, car weight -- what is a typical RUC cost per Se7en-ish car in NZ?
>> Edited by Steve-B on Thursday 27th October 09:35
for the touristey stuff, seeing the sights etc the SI is the way to go, plenty of nice roads down here too
but then, I would say that...
ps you may have already done this but theres been a few other threads on here asking where to go/see for holidays here, could be worth reading for a few hints.
but then, I would say that...
ps you may have already done this but theres been a few other threads on here asking where to go/see for holidays here, could be worth reading for a few hints.
the RUC on page 4 says that temporary import means you pay. i'm sure an agent can tell us more.
i've read the other threads, what i'm going to do when in Auckland in 4 weeks is get some detailed road maps.
obviously we have to start and stop AT a port that ships to/from the UK. that leaves us with either Wellington/Christchurch or Auckland. anywhere else and we would incur haulage charges.
we're talking 6-12 cars *MAX* coming, i managed 56 cars for the USA20005 event and wouldn't dream of taking that amount on again even though the event (by participants' reports) was a huge success.
so route planning is paramount to knowing IF (big IF) we could pull this off. i've got some initial "package shipping" rates, that if we did what we did for USA2005, means 6 Se7ens / 40 ft container that makes it reasonable.
so it's over to y'all to help debate where we'd provisionally go. we're going to want to be at towns where we can get 12 hotel rooms, and be able to walk^stumble to/from restuarants and bars as well
there's a year or two's planning that i have to undertake, and SWMBO wants to do this, but not have it become "all life consuming" which is what USA2005 did in the last 6 months before we went in September.
i've read the other threads, what i'm going to do when in Auckland in 4 weeks is get some detailed road maps.
obviously we have to start and stop AT a port that ships to/from the UK. that leaves us with either Wellington/Christchurch or Auckland. anywhere else and we would incur haulage charges.
we're talking 6-12 cars *MAX* coming, i managed 56 cars for the USA20005 event and wouldn't dream of taking that amount on again even though the event (by participants' reports) was a huge success.
so route planning is paramount to knowing IF (big IF) we could pull this off. i've got some initial "package shipping" rates, that if we did what we did for USA2005, means 6 Se7ens / 40 ft container that makes it reasonable.
so it's over to y'all to help debate where we'd provisionally go. we're going to want to be at towns where we can get 12 hotel rooms, and be able to walk^stumble to/from restuarants and bars as well
there's a year or two's planning that i have to undertake, and SWMBO wants to do this, but not have it become "all life consuming" which is what USA2005 did in the last 6 months before we went in September.
Steve-B said:
Wellington/Christchurch or Auckland. anywhere else and we would incur haulage charges.
It's not normally listed but many of those shipping lines will also stop at Tauranga (Bay of Plenty / East Coast of the North Island). If you were considering 1½ islands (rather than 1 or 2) this might be an option. Would still mean flying in to Auckland and getting a connection.
There are a couple of Se7en manufacturers in NZ that might be able to give you a few clues on the specific Se7en issues with the LTSA.
Probably the most common would be :
Fraser Cars
who are located on the North Shore of Auckland. Neil Fraser is a good guy and offered me some advice when I was having trouble registering the one and only Westfield in NZ.
Any particular time of year you're thinking of ?
i'm thinking that if we ship our cars out of the UK at mid/end November to arrive in early January that would give us mid-January to mid-February to do our drive. so we'd see our cars back to the UK in mid-April.
being as it'll be crummy weather in Blighty at that time, we'd get a full years' use of of them for once
being as it'll be crummy weather in Blighty at that time, we'd get a full years' use of of them for once
School holidays here run right through from Christmas to the end of January. Early Feb might be easier to get bookings at hotels than Mid Jan.
The weather can also be a little unsettled at the height of summer. Feb / March is generally more stable than Jan / Feb.
Would you be wanting an agent to get all the paperwork done for your cars by the time you land ?
Bio-security is a big deal here. Make sure everything is spotless with no mud, grass, seeds, spiders, ants or mad-cow disease underneath the car.
The weather can also be a little unsettled at the height of summer. Feb / March is generally more stable than Jan / Feb.
Would you be wanting an agent to get all the paperwork done for your cars by the time you land ?
Bio-security is a big deal here. Make sure everything is spotless with no mud, grass, seeds, spiders, ants or mad-cow disease underneath the car.
Kiwi XTR2 said:
Would you be wanting an agent to get all the paperwork done for your cars by the time you land ?
i have had email exchanges with several shipping companies that i believe (but will check) do all that for you. from our USA2005 trip we know there'll be some paperwork we have to sign, etc but it is a lot easier for the journey if we have an agent there. usually ( i say that with 1 trips' experience) there will be a local agent assigned.
thanks for the hint about when school hols are, that is much appreciated!!
Sounds Superb! one thing to consider is the sun here . it can fool those of you from Europe as the air temperature is pretty middle-of-the-road (won't go over high 30s unless you're in Central Otago or some freak heatwave is happening-I don't think we've ever had over 40 here in AUck) but you're looking at burn times around 10 minutes. By the way, I have a fraser and am in the fraser club so keep us posted and any support you need while here can be advertised through this forum and through Fraser/Lotus club newsletters.
good point roger, we had these made www.softbitsforsevens.co.uk/page3.html
for our cars before the USA2005 event. they were superb @ about ~£110/car and we used them with the doors off in west Texas and the Nevada deserts where it was in the 30C range.
the kept the direct sunlight from making you into "human BBQ" and work well enough few of us actually took our hoods, just these and tonneau covers.
good to know about temperatures!
for our cars before the USA2005 event. they were superb @ about ~£110/car and we used them with the doors off in west Texas and the Nevada deserts where it was in the 30C range.
the kept the direct sunlight from making you into "human BBQ" and work well enough few of us actually took our hoods, just these and tonneau covers.
good to know about temperatures!
Great idea - here's my 10 cents worth. I'd chase ya in the Elise ;-)
Maps - can't beat this I am told ? - www.tumonz.co.nz/
Driving roads, there's plenty and depending on where you ship into (guessing Auckland) you should be able to drive both island in two weeks easy.
Auckland to Wellington 6 hours straight line so that gives you sum idea road conditions.
In fact depending on stops and how touristy you want to get and where you have to ship out of, I think down the east coast of the noth island & then the east of the south isalnd, cut across at Queenstown area and back up the west coast of sth & nth island back into Auckland - would have you seeing most of the sites and some great roads.....
Maybe dive into the middle of the north island on the way back up to do Taupo and Rotorua ?? Coromandel is a must do.
Do forget there's a ditch in the middle, so check on ferry bookings and cost - group fees are cheaper.
LTSA - ask bout short term stay, I know the race & rally cars and Oz Targa cars come on a short term permit with no to many hassles. www.targa.co.nz
Time - for weather and avoiding school holidays - very end Jan, Feb, March are the best.
If you need any help just PM me happy to grab a beer and help you with any local knowledge stuff ?
Good luck.
Dean
Maps - can't beat this I am told ? - www.tumonz.co.nz/
Driving roads, there's plenty and depending on where you ship into (guessing Auckland) you should be able to drive both island in two weeks easy.
Auckland to Wellington 6 hours straight line so that gives you sum idea road conditions.
In fact depending on stops and how touristy you want to get and where you have to ship out of, I think down the east coast of the noth island & then the east of the south isalnd, cut across at Queenstown area and back up the west coast of sth & nth island back into Auckland - would have you seeing most of the sites and some great roads.....
Maybe dive into the middle of the north island on the way back up to do Taupo and Rotorua ?? Coromandel is a must do.
Do forget there's a ditch in the middle, so check on ferry bookings and cost - group fees are cheaper.
LTSA - ask bout short term stay, I know the race & rally cars and Oz Targa cars come on a short term permit with no to many hassles. www.targa.co.nz
Time - for weather and avoiding school holidays - very end Jan, Feb, March are the best.
If you need any help just PM me happy to grab a beer and help you with any local knowledge stuff ?
Good luck.
Dean
I'll chase up a mate who has just brought a car in (two weeks ago) and another who is in the process via the USA.
I can't remember the name of the compnay they used, but they are regular movers of cars this far south and come with a good rep.
This site doesn't support private messages, email my work at customprojects@southernspars.com
With subject line Dean Contact email address.
And I'll send U all I have.
D
>> Edited by Kiwi LE on Saturday 29th October 11:35
I can't remember the name of the compnay they used, but they are regular movers of cars this far south and come with a good rep.
This site doesn't support private messages, email my work at customprojects@southernspars.com
With subject line Dean Contact email address.
And I'll send U all I have.
D
>> Edited by Kiwi LE on Saturday 29th October 11:35
LE & XTR2: i'd love to get the name(s) of the firms y'all used, and any URLs you might have.
the more i can work this winter on costing this out, the closer we come to actually being there. airfare is the EASY part, the hotels will take a fair bit of work (and hopefully ) some local knowledge....
the more i can work this winter on costing this out, the closer we come to actually being there. airfare is the EASY part, the hotels will take a fair bit of work (and hopefully
) some local knowledge....Gassing Station | New Zealand | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff