Dee and I have now been back in UK just one week since we finished our self-guided tour of both North and South Islands of New Zealand on a Triumph Explorer provided by Te Waipounamu and the jet-lag has just about worn off!

We had a fabulous 3 weeks touring and I would like to thank Dave Simpson for his help in providing a superb choice of routes for us to ride each day (the further the better!). We cannot praise the arrangements made by your ground agents in New Zealand (Te Waipounamu) highly enough. We really appreciated their efforts to bring the bikes across to our Auckland hotel at the beginning of the trip as well as the relaxed manner in which the handover and return of the bikes was made (we have hired bikes many times before and believe me, the handover and return session can be an unpleasant occasion). The choice of hotels along our 4,000 km route was superb and the booking arrangements at each was faultless. The bikes themselves were trouble-free throughout (as we expect from Triumphs!) and their request part way through our holiday for Dee to collect a BMW F700 GS from a Hotel at Motueka and ride it to Kumara Junction was an unexpected bonus!

We had the holiday of a lifetime: Christmas in Singapore, New Year in Australia and most importantly 2 fabulous weeks in New Zealand. Whilst the weather was a little cooler than normal for January, the sights, sounds and vibrancy of South Island more than made up for it. The Triumph was ready and waiting for us, and the guys at Te Waipounamu motorcycles were helpful and friendly beyond expectations. We covered rising 3,000km of trouble free, spectacular miles and grew very attached to the little Tiger.

Our accommodation was wonderful, but special note has to go to the distillery homestead in the Cardrona valley. The views were stunning and the welcome warm and genuine. Over a very nice bottle of wine, we talked about bikes, the Islands, Christchurch (where they used to live) and everything in between. At the end of a very wet day’s riding this was very special.

Would we go back? Yes. Definitely.

I write to thank you for your hard work and commitment in ensuring my trip to Bhutan was successful. I returned home yesterday evening. The holiday really was a wonderful adventure. All aspects went well, especially the communications with Jatinder at Impact Travel for the Agra Extension – transport links and guide. All connections were made smoothly. Impact provided a first class service and If I ever have the good fortune to return to India I would certainly wish to use the company again.

The only deviation to the itinerary was Alam’s very sensible decision to shorten the longest run to two days rather than the one. This was a very good decision as 300 km on such rough roads would have been very difficult to manage in the one day. Alam changed the accommodation to enable this to take place. This meant that we missed the Darjeeling ‘leg’ but this was absolutely the right decision. As with the Tibet Trip last year Alam’s management, local knowledge and communication with the various support team members was superb.

The accommodation throughout was excellent, even a couple of local guest houses provided clean rooms and excellent food. But the hotels could not have been bettered. The Riding Team really gelled together really well as a friendship group, this being greatly assisted by us overcoming some challenging terrain as a group and sharing the experience. We were very much of the same level in riding ability.

So, another great trip. I thank you, and David too, for facilitating this. I do hope that I may be able to holiday again with HC Travel at some time in the future.

New Zealand was great – it felt like stealing an extra summer, I always hate riding in February in the UK as I don’t like snow or ice.

Considering you only had two weeks’ notice of my travelling plans, I was impressed how the booking of flights and additional hotel stays in Hong Kong were all done in good time. Many thanks for this – a truly memorable experience!

Well it’s finally over, we took the bike back today after 4600km. And I have to say it has been better than we hoped it would be. Your road book was spot on, and made the navigation a piece of cake and totally stress free. All the hotels bar one were first class. Both farm stays were great we were made welcome at both and looked after like royalty and we would like to think we have made new friends. After an horrendous day of rain both to and from Milford Sound Geoff and Liz practically undressed us and spent all night drying our cloths and feeding us up as we were both soaked to the skin and close to hyperthermia, we can’t praise them enough.

All in all we can both say that yourself and John and the team here in NZ have done us proud and if we can ever afford to repeat the trip we would not hesitate in using your services again, and we will highly recommend both companies to any one who is thinking about a big trip. Thanks again for all your detailed planning that has made this a proper trip of a lifetime.

I was on the Himalayan High-Roads tour that departed on 15/8. Every aspect of the tour surpassed my expectations, and even went beyond what I’d hoped. In particular Alam was faultless as a tour guide, providing lots of interesting information, useful advice and was a pleasure to be around. The tour was exceptionally well-planned, with rest-stops and free-days exactly when needed. Accommodation was pleasant and the route was both beautiful and terrifying (in a good way!). An utterly wonderful experience – thank you.

I am enjoying the ride from Vancouver to Montreal on my BMW R1150R.  The staff in the air freight departments at Manchester and Vancouver were friendly and efficient and many thanks for all your help!

I have just returned from my New York to LA trip.
I would like to thank you and your staff for your help in the organising of my journey.
The hotels, boats and flights, all perfect.

I have been meaning to thank you for your professional assistance in moving my motorcycle from Southampton to Los Angeles….Ventura. This is the most professional experience I have had in the 3 years I spent in the UK. I would highly recommend your company to anyone wanting an easy time with moving their bike overseas. Bike arrived in perfect condition and there were NO surprises along the way, due to your attention to detail.

I would love to come back. Went to Vietnam for spring holiday and I was just thinking about time I went back to Thailand and finish the final bit of the 12 day enduro ! That 6 days up north was the best experience I have had on a bike in my life. Still trying to get permission from the wife but I am working on it.

I have enjoyed the hospitality of Walter and Joang on two separate visits to Thailand, I found the enduro tours great fun, great company and a very relaxed atmosphere, every day an adventure…. I would recommend the experience to any rider regardless of experience

I can’t speak too highly of the guides …
(3rd tour with H-C Travel, returned to ride the Cape Classic again in 2015)

The bikes supplied were also in good condition which was a nice surprise as having been on a few of these tours before some of the machines we end up with have been pretty poor.

The tour was fantastic, everything was perfectly planned and very enjoyable. The scenery, people, bikes and activities planned made it much more than a biking holiday. Rick has done an excellent job of preparing each day so that all thinks that we did, saw and experienced meant that it felt that we were away for a month, not just two weeks! He’s really taken time to plan the tours to make sure that we got the best of everything, and saw as much as possible to get a flavour of the Philippines. I’ll certainly recommend this tour to our pals.

The trip was fantastic. Rick is a star, and worked his butt off …. He is a good guy to be with. Having sampled a few guides (!!) over the years he is the best one I’ve come across yet. You rapidly realise that he is dependable, trustworthy, knowledgeable and a bloody good Mr Fix-it/organiser. I can’t speak more highly of the guy.

Thanks to you and your team for arranging our bike hire, it couldn’t have been easier. Bikes were fabulous. I am sure we will be back in touch in the future but thanks again. I will certainly recommend you guys.

I just wanted to thank you …. for providing such a well-fettled BMW 650GS. It clocked up 5,500kms with no oil top-up and no chain adjustment required. The weather was good too!

The New Zealand trip was fantastic. From start to finish and I include the booking procedure, it was just brilliant. The Tour Book was just wonderful, so comprehensive and covered everything. The routes, together with the various options were first class and I managed to clock up almost 6000km without a hitch.

Brilliant holiday, great roads, mind blowing scenery, excellent hospitality, food to die for and nil traffic. One great day we followed the lake shores – Wanaka/Hawea and over the Haast pass – for 2 hours in brilliant sunshine winding between snow covered peaks and only passed 2 cars. Priceless! We had a great riding holiday and will definitely go back again.