Escape Adventures NZ was founded back in 1999 by John Etherington and Mandy Richards. For 23 years they have been creating and leading adventurous cycle tours in stunning and interesting locations around the world.
The Escape chapter is coming to an end for John and Mandy. Luckily, chapters also have beginnings and we are excited that Escape Adventures is about to begin an exciting new one in a completely new era with Tom and Jaimee Kearney stepping up to be the new guardians.
Escape Adventures Cycle Tours is driven by the reward that comes with creating and leading tours that will touch your soul and stay in your memory forever.
We strive to create a relaxed, fun and intimate group dynamic that feels like a group of friends on holiday. All our cycle tours are led by our own wonderful Escape leaders who each bring their own unique characteristics but share our philosophies and understand your needs.
You will get a strong feeling of organization, trust and professionalism. Our personalized groups are small enough to integrate into local communities without taking over and mean that we can offer the best of ourselves and pay attention to the little things that make a difference.
Real adventure contains an element of the unknown, with our expert cycle guides, the unexpected can happen when you’re traveling the world with your own pedal power and in the company of like-minded adventurers.
With Escape Adventures your travel destinations are on roads less travelled, community visits and stays with local families we have known for years, and includes trips into jaw-dropping wilderness environments, laying eyes on rich history & diverse culture for yourself leaves an everlasting deep impression
Escape Adventures accepts the challenge of finding the most interesting cycling routes and loves choosing the most culturally immersive destinations. What we do, where we go and how we get there are fundamental to everything we do, each day is different, but the ingredients are the same with special experiences tailored to you
We know the places we go intimately, have found the quirks and have nurtured relationships along the way so that you can truly immerse yourself in the remarkable places we visit.
We are personally committed to minimizing our impact on the environment.
We believe in taking time to think about how our actions can benefit or how they impact the people, communities, economies, environments and eco-systems we visit, and then use this to make a difference (or sometimes more appropriately – how we can NOT make a difference).
“After many years working in adventure tourism in New Zealand, I headed off to Africa with my bike. At first, it was all about cycling, but I soon learned the things I least expected… I loved the most! – like how fast humour broke down cultural barriers, the spontaneous conversations shared with strangers and stumbling upon another remarkable scene so different and diverse from the one that stopped me in my tracks yesterday. How it was my humble bicycle that brought me closest to all this! I had a strong urge to share these experiences and that is what I set out to do.
In 1999 Escape Adventures was born with its first cycle tour in Kenya & Tanzania.
Luckily for me, what I lacked in business know-how – I did seem to possess a sense of what made people say WOW.
I’ve worked hard on evolving the best guided bicycle tours. Some of my loyal bikers started asking for tours in other locations. I found that wow factor in the Himalayan foothills of Sichuan (China), Asia and Colombia.
Escape Adventures story evolves!… Escape Adventures is now owned by Tom and Jaimee Kearney. They have a fantastic team with a shared passion to deliver amazing experiences, paying special attention to continuing to improve and of course, always thinking ahead for new and exciting adventures. Watch this space“… John.
Our short-term goal is to ensure a smooth transition for Escape Adventures, our experienced cycling guides and long-term international support team remains the same.
Whether you join us on one of our challenging mountainous cycle tours or one of our more laid-back tropical cycles tours the underlying philosophies that guide us on how our cycling tours are created are the same. We’ll go above and beyond to ensure every bike tour you take with us is beyond expectations.
My 3rd Escape Adventures bike trip was cycling Colombia, if it wasn’t for Escape I would never have had these life-changing adventures. Thanks, heaps team Escape!
Escape Adventures bike trip is full of amazing sights, experiences and laughter. I met beautiful people, pedalled my heart out and experienced new things every day
Our family’s African bike tour was so much better than we imagined. A little nervous beforehand, but we needn’t have worried, Escape has exceptional support & amazing teamwork!
