DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON
DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON TWO WHEELS The Pleasures of the Pedal New Zealand is home to some of the best mountain biking on the planet, from Rotorua to Queenstown. Andrew Bain shortlists the highlights, including novice trails, helibiking, wilderness huts and luxe lodges. Traversing the rugged Old Ghost Road, in South Island’s northwest reaches 30 NEW ZEALAND IS a country seemingly composed of the most dramatic bits of the rest of the world. Alpine peaks scrape at the sky, glaciers dip into rainforest, fjords fray its edge and volcanoes gurgle and belch across desert-like terrain. It’s an immensely varied landscape that can flick by all too fast in a motor vehicle, but which is perfectly suited to bicycle pace. How fortuitous, then, that it is laced with an enticing and ever-growing web of cycling routes and trails, which allow riders to slow down their journey and soak in the panoramas. At the heart of this cycling network are the Great Rides (nzcycletrail.com), a collection of 22 trails systematically SVEN MARTIN
FROM TOP: MARTA KULESZA, © SPLIT APPLE RETREAT laid out since the New Zealand government invested NZ million during the global financial crisis. This series of national cycleways now collectively extends more than 2,500 kilometres across the country, meaning that whatever landscape calls you – and whatever style of cycling appeals – New Zealand is a two-wheeler’s utopia. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED In the beginning there was the Otago Central Rail Trail (otagocentralrailtrail. co.nz). New Zealand’s original cycleway opened in 2000 and fast became so popular that it directly inspired the idea of the Great Rides network. The 152km ride curls through once-gold-bearing valleys inland from Dunedin, while also squeezing through a pair of narrow gorges along a series of impressive railway bridges and tunnels. Gradients are gentle, and the trail has resuscitated the region’s towns, creating a wealth of accommodation and dining options along the two- to three-day ride. Further adding to the appeal of the Otago Central Rail Trail is a series of side trails currently under construction to connect it to nearby Queenstown through Cromwell Gorge and Kawarau Gorge. These trails will add another day or two of riding and link the rail trail to the Queenstown Trail, another of the Great Rides, while also making it possible to cycle from Dunedin to Queenstown almost entirely on bike trails. Overtaking the Otago Central Rail Trail as New Zealand’s most popular ride in recent years is Alps 2 Ocean Staying In Style The Split Apple Retreat, in Abel Tasman National Park A staggering view of snow-capped Mount Burke, as seen on a Wanaka Bike Tour (alps2ocean.com). The longest of the Great Rides, the 311-kilometre trail neatly connects New Zealand’s highest mountain, 3,724m-high Aoraki/Mount Cook, with the coast at Oamaru along a mix of quiet roads and purpose-built tracks. It’s a varied ride that provides gorgeous mountain views for the first couple of days to Lake Ohau (including a helicopter transfer across the unbridged Tasman River just eight kilometres from the ride’s start), and then steps down towards the coast beside a series of hydroelectricity lakes. Along the way it passes a Maori rock-art site, a curious collection of limestone boulders at Elephant Rocks, and rolls through the Southern Hemisphere’s only International Dark Sky Reserve, promising night skies saturated with stars. Rough days on the trails sometimes call for doses of unrestrained civilisation in the evenings. Luxury Lodges of New Zealand (luxurylodgesofnz. co.nz) is a collection of 32 of the country’s most sophisticated wilderness properties, a number of which have wholeheartedly embraced cycling. Try Minaret Station Alpine Lodge (minaretstation. com) and Mahu Whenua (mahuwhenua.co.nz), both located just outside of Wanaka, for e-bike helibiking trips, with pickup direct from the lodge lawns. Split Apple Retreat (splitapple.com), meanwhile, runs guided tours for guests on the Great Tasman Trail (one of the Great Rides) out of Nelson, while Huka The easiest of the Great Rides, but with a decent slice of spectacular attached, is the Hauraki Rail Trail (haurakirailtrail.co.nz). Beginning in Thames, 90 minutes’ drive southeast of Auckland, the trail heads through the flat and lush dairy country of the Hauraki Plains. In the town of Paeroa, the trail forks, with the most rewarding arm turning into one of New Zealand’s most spectacular gorges: Karangahake Gorge is a deep, narrow and wild ravine littered with remnants of the gold mines that once punctured its cliffs. It’s worth stopping in the gorge to explore the Windows Walk, where the cliffs are pitted with openings through which miners tossed debris into the rivers below. Despite the gorge’s convoluted terrain, the rail trail is largely flat throughout. Hauraki’s two forks Lodge (hukalodge.co.nz) and Treetops Lodge & Estate (treetops.co.nz) supply guests with bikes for the plethora of trails around Taupo and Rotorua respectively. Last but not least, Poronui Lodge (poronui.com), near the volcanoes of the central North Island, has its own mountain-bike trails, with special cycling packages available. ON TWO WHEELSDEPARTURES 31 PLEASE CHECK THE LATEST GOVERNMENT ADVICE BEFORE BOOKING TRAVEL OR DEPARTING ON ANY TRIP
