Jayride kicks off in Auckland with our first carpooler, Chris

The Jayride Rideshare Challenge began today in Auckland. Cofounder of Jayride, Rod, has begun his carpool from Auckland to Queenstown via some of New Zealand’s iconic tourist destinations.

Success will mean proof that ridesharing is practical; and that anyone can share any trip in order to save money on petrol and reduce their emissions. What better way to have a cheap holiday than rideshare to a great domestic holiday spot?

The challenge met its first carpooler in downtown Auckland by Victoria Park. Chris is a teaching fellow at Dunedin school of medicine, on holiday in the North Island.

The first leg of the Rideshare Challenge took Jayride’s Ace rental car from Auckland to the classic tourist destination, Rotorua, via state highway two and the Karangahake gorge.

The gorge road follows the train line and is a great drive with plenty of long winding corners set against native bush. SH2 is a scenic alternative to traveling south through Matamata or Hamilton; letting a tourist find some classic destinations on the way.

Paeroa, home of the world famous (in New Zealand) Lemon and Paeroa bottle makes a great lunch stop with plenty of options for a quick meal on the road. Later in the afternoon a short detour to Mount Maunganui provides a brilliant rest break, and an opportunity to take a dip in the ocean or an ice-cream on the beach.

This route to Rotorua takes only slightly longer than the traditional route through Matamata; give it a try next time you head south.

Chris hopped off the challenge at a local backpacker to continue his holiday. Tomorrow, 27th January is a rest-day to explore Rotorua until the 28th when the Jayride Rideshare Challenge heads on to Wellington.

Over the coming days the Challenge will be bringing you information on more great NZ destinations and ideas on how to get you there. As Jayride’s Ace car makes its way down the country the Challenge will also bring you ideas on how to green your travel and show you the real life cost-savings of sharing transport.

Be sure to check back regularly for the latest updates on this unique NZ challenge by Jayride.co.nz.

Tags: rideshare, The Jayride Challenge

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Jayride News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.