A German tourist has been left stranded in Christchurch after the motorbike he was using to travel was stolen just a day after arriving in the city.
Thomas Kintzinger, 31, has travelled all around the world, including over 80 countries and all continents, mainly by motorcycle. [...]
Kintzinger said he usually travelled with his own motorbike, but the cost of shipping it to New Zealand from Germany was the same price as buying one locally.
“It took a while, but I found a secondhand motorcycle on the North Island in Te Puke. It’s a 2001 Suzuki DRZ 400 E. I got to ride it for two weeks, went up the mountains, and had a really good time,” he said.
Not wanting to miss out on a Kiwi summer down south, Kintzinger then headed to the South Island.
He rode off-road tracks, went around Picton, along the coast and found “some really nice places” around Robin Hood Bay in Blenheim.
“I also went up Milford Sound, Molesworth Station Road and Rainbow Road. I then went to some really remote hot springs where it was just me by myself up in the mountains all alone. It was really nice. Basically from there, I made my way to Christchurch.”
On February 12, Kintzinger arrived at his accommodation in New Brighton and ran some errands at Westfield Riccarton.
After 30 minutes in the mall, he returned to his bike only to find it had disappeared.
“A guy saw me there being lost with my helmet and he asked me if I was looking for my bike. He said he saw a man pushing a bike down the road to the left.” [...]
Kintzinger filed a police report on the same day but hasn’t heard anything since.
Kintzinger said he left everything behind in Germany and came to New Zealand with just his camping gear, which he kept on the back of his bike.
“Luckily I left all my camping gear and saddlebags at my friend’s house but usually it’s on the bike. That’s all I have and now I’m kind of stranded. It’s how I travel around,” Kintzinger said.
“I take my gear on the motorcycle and I camp somewhere in nature. I look for free campgrounds because I can’t afford paying rent or going to hotels all the time. I have no money to get around. I’m kind of desperate.”
He said he was “shocked” about losing his main form of travel and hadn’t been able to sleep well since the theft.
“I haven’t eaten anything for two days. I’m sad about it. I just hope it comes back somehow. I don’t even want to go after the guy. I just want my bike back.”
Kintzinger said while this experience had dampened his spirits, he still thought of New Zealand as a “really wonderful place”.
