Snow joke.Ladakh, India is absolutely breathtaking — no surprise since it’s at an altitude of 3,524m.Rock on.Get your leg
over on a thrilling bike
tour of Cape York.
The hills are alive.It may resemble a scene fromThe Sound Of Music,butthe
Alps Extreme tour is more about revving engines than musical numbers.High times
LOCATION: INDIA
■Delhi belly be
damned! For the true
adventurer, there
is nothing like India.
Blazing Trails has been
running motorbike
tours continuously
since 1999 and cater
for riders of all abilities.
Their Leh, Zanskar &
Around — To The Edge
Of Beyond tour is
our pick of the crop.
Saddling up on a 500cc
Royal Enfield Bullet,
this Himalayan odyssey
takes in the world’s
two highest motorable
passes. Along the way,
you’ll encounter high-
altitude deserts, the
amazing Nubra Valley,
stunning Pangong
Tso Lake and the
incomparable beauty
of Zanskar, with its
7,315m snowcaps and
roadside glaciers. As
the roads are often
as rough as guts, it’s
recommended you
have at least two years’
riding experience before
taking on this challenge.
blazingtrailstours.comKiwi cracker
LOCATION,
NEW ZEALAND
■The Land of the
Long White Cloud is
a bloody beaut place
to tool around on two
wheels. South Pacific
Motorcycle Tours
provides a real boutique
experience. Group
numbers are limited to
around ten bikes per
tour guide motorcyclist
and your luggage is
carried by support
vehicles. After riding
an average of five hours
per day, you’ll end up
at a hand-picked hotel,
inn or motor lodge,
where you can recount
the day’s adventures
over a local vino or two.
There are plenty of
exciting routes on offer,
but we reckon the mega
23-day Ultimate Twin
Island Tour is where
it’s at. Starting out in
Christchurch on the
South Island, you’ll ride
over the Southern Alps
and cross Cook Strait
to the North Island,
finishing up in Auckland.
motorbiketours.co.nzEuro star
LOCATION: EUROPE
■Yes, we know you
enjoyed that Contiki
tour of Europe when
you were 19, but we
reckon this would be
even better. Starting
in Innsbruck, Austria,
Edelweiss Bike Travel’s
Alps Extreme tour is
easily one of the most
spectacular rides on
the planet. Travelling
on small hidden roads
through the heart of
the Alps, the route
meanders south to
Tyrol in Italy before
taking you east and
back to Innsbruck. If
you’re not quite ready
for an eight-day slog,
Edelweiss has plenty
of other options, too,
including rider training
in Austria and their
Breweries and Castles
jaunt through Belgium,
France, Germany and
Luxembourg, which is
just as awesome as it
sounds. Hey, remember
Naughty Stacy from the
Contiki tour? Wonder
what she’s doing now...
edelweissbike.com