Certainly true if you are not careful. I went there a few years back but to be frank there are routes where the ONLY option is a busy road. Anywhere in the UK, there is always an alternative route down small lanes even if that takes some navigating. But for example the 141km from Napier to Taupo there is one paved road here https://www.google.com/maps/preview...88!3m2!1i1838!2i856!4f13.1!5m2!13m1!1e1&fid=0 and to avoid that by my reckoning is about 600km, still on busy roads. But there are loads of quiet roads tooA friend and I are talking about that, though every report I've read says that the roads can be pure hell with no alternative but to share them with lorries etc.
Certainly true if you are not careful. I went there a few years back but to be frank there are routes where the ONLY option is a busy road. Anywhere in the UK, there is always an alternative route down small lanes even if that takes some navigating. But for example the 141km from Napier to Taupo there is one paved road here https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!4m21!3m17!1m1!1sNapier, New Zealand!1m5!1sTaupo, New Zealand!2s0x6d6bef77144b165b:0x500ef6143a309e0!3m2!3d-38.6856924!4d176.0702098!3m8!1m3!1d111074!2d176.044764!3d-38.6898288!3m2!1i1838!2i856!4f13.1!5m2!13m1!1e1&fid=0 and to avoid that by my reckoning is about 600km, still on busy roads. But there are loads of quiet roads too
Confirms what I thought, thanks. Whatever the roads are like, NZ has topped my 'must visit' list since I was a kid, long before the days of The Ring! Personally, I'd like to hire a car and some MTBs and do a mix of hiking and MTBing so we could explore the beauty of the wilderness as well as what can be seen from the roads. Not sure my friend would be as keen on this option, mind!Certainly true if you are not careful. I went there a few years back but to be frank there are routes where the ONLY option is a busy road. Anywhere in the UK, there is always an alternative route down small lanes even if that takes some navigating. But for example the 141km from Napier to Taupo there is one paved road here https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!4m21!3m17!1m1!1sNapier, New Zealand!1m5!1sTaupo, New Zealand!2s0x6d6bef77144b165b:0x500ef6143a309e0!3m2!3d-38.6856924!4d176.0702098!3m8!1m3!1d111074!2d176.044764!3d-38.6898288!3m2!1i1838!2i856!4f13.1!5m2!13m1!1e1&fid=0 and to avoid that by my reckoning is about 600km, still on busy roads. But there are loads of quiet roads too
You do have to put it into context though. Canada is the second largest country on the planet and is only populated by around 30 million people, 90% of whom live within 200 miles of the american border. The logistics let alone the cost considering the number of cyclist and the general numbers of the population just make it far to expensive to do anything. On the bright side, at least the roads are wide.
Ellesmere Port. They have palm trees.