Reviews for Great Escapes
"A Passport to all that is great about travel in New Zealand"
Hardly a month goes by without an account of touring New Zealand on two wheels or four appearing in American travel or automotive magazines. Unfortunately, although there are the usual gushing descriptions of our unmatchable scenery, a preoccupation with the New Zealand accent, Vegemite, and our inimitable roadside club sandwiches tends to take up valuable column centimetres in a misguided attempt to inject humour into the subject. Great Escapes, however, is anything but misguided. As well as offering an array of motorcycling escapes around these shaky isles of ours, author Peter Mitchell makes as good a fist of imparting the culture, dynamics, and general advantages of motorcycle travel as any volume since Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Great Escapes places, in one ring-bound volume, a selection of great rides around New Zealand that Mitchell has gleaned anecdotally from friends and acquaintances. He has honed them into a series of elegantly mapped and skilfully described two-page spreads that present some of the best rides in the country. Each route is graded by a number of smiley-face graphics, with the premise that the more smiles on the the page then the better and quieter the route. A copy of Great Escapes in the knapsack would be something of a passport to all that's great about travel in New Zealand.
"Fabulous....fantastic"
Fabulous book Peter. We all know there are great bike roads out there, but when in a strange area it can be a little difficult to find them. This makes planning a ride a bit hit and miss unless you have a local guide until now. This book is a must for all touring riders , and anyone who wants to ride those great roads they keep hearing about. Not only does the book list the rides, it also gives important tips as to where to eat, where to stay, and what to be wary of. Having done many of the rides listed I can vouch for the accuracy of the information and the ratings. Fantastic effort, well done.
" A Gem"
Peter Mitchell has come up with a gem for motorcyclists wanting to see a bit more of New Zealand.
"Enthusiasm"
The guide is jargon free and Mitchell's enthusiasm successfully conveys the freedom, fresh air and scenery upgrade experienced astride a motorbike.
" A wonderful, infectious....guide"
Anyone who picks up Great Escapes, ... and who is not already a motorcycle enthusiast could, in my opinion, soon become one. It is a wonderful, infectious, sturdy and comprehensive guide to touring around our country.
"Winner"
It's a winner.
"buy a bike"
Well researched, accurate, and up to the minute... it's the sort of travel guide that would make a person want to go out and buy a bike.
Distilling the rawness
Peter Mitchell distils the rawness and fun factor of two-wheel transport more elegantly in his guide to motorcycle touring in New Zealand."
"Mitchell has produced a wonderful introduction... featuring 46 runs ranging from a few hours to several days. Each is rated by Grin Factor, and seductively laid out with a map, description and time, historical notes, tourism centre addresses, accommodation and handy stops from museums to fish'n'chip shops.
"When I fire up the geriatric Beemer for my long cherished tour of the Mainland ... this thoroughly useful book will be in my tankbag."
( Editors Note -the South Island of New Zealand is affectionately known as the "Mainland" for obvious reasons to any motorcyclist. :-)
"Looking for adventure"
The book is great, I just love it. First chance I get me and the wife will be out cruising the highways looking for adventure in whatever comes our way. Thanks a lot.
Wish we had known..
We just received a copy of your book "Great Escapes" from our
good friend and fellow NZGWR member, Chris Quin, of Wellington. We have toured
NZ twice in the past few years on our GL1200.....
We sure wish we had had your book at that time, but we will be back in a
couple years, and you can be sure it will be with us. Probably all dog eared
from the many pourings over it will surely have between now and
then.
This is a great book that will be a handy companion to the bikers of NZ and us from beyond. It will help us get the most out of our NZ motorcycling experience.
Eye-opener
... a real eye-opener. It made me realise just how much I have missed in the past when I have been, unknowingly, so close to places I would really have liked to visit had I known about them."
"I consider this book a valuable addition to any one's inventory of travel equipment. I know that I am pleased to add it to mine.
"Superb"
Great Escapes is a superb motorcycle touring book..... this wiro bound book is great for both motorcyclists and other free independent travellers.
"Zoom Off"
In Great Escapes, author Peter Mitchell has written the kind of guidebook that makes you want to zoom off on a two wheeled metal machine bound for good times and gorgeous scenery.
"Indispensible"
If I am ever fortunate enough to make the trip to New Zealand, this handy guidebook.... will be indispensable.
"This one goes to the top"
Bottom line: Don't even think about leaving the USA without reading GREAT ESCAPES cover to cover. I've got hundreds of motorcycle books, this one goes on top.
"Essential reading"
Essential reading.... a fantastic guide to travelling NZ by bike.
"A must"
Three trips to New Zealand on a motorcycle, (the) first two without "Great
Escapes," 15,000km and saw a lot. Using an American authors book was
just barely OK.
"The third trip, this last time for 10 weeks, did 12,000 km using the "Great
Escapes" book and experienced New Zealand up close and personal.
"It's a GREAT book and an absolute must in order to get inside what
I consider to be one of the great countries of the world.
