Departures United Kingdom Spring 2021

DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON

DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON TWO WHEELS 42 Tours de Force For those coming in from elsewhere, a tour operator can organise everything and leave you to focus solely on the task of pedalling. Fully guided trips typically include accommodation, meals and vehicle support, while self-guided rides leave you free to explore at your own pace, with luggage transfers between nightly stops, and maps and ride notes supplied. Befitting the rugged surrounds of the biking, almost all of the tour operators use midlevel hotels and B&Bs. Alps 2 Ocean and the Otago Central Rail Trail rides are the most popular trails, with guided rides offered by almost all local cycling tour operators, including Adventure South (adventuresouth.co.nz) and Natural High (naturalhigh.co.nz), which have the most extensive range of trips, with a selection of road, trail and mountain-bike rides throughout the country. Both Pure Trails (puretrailsnewzealand.co.nz) and Trail Journeys (trailjourneys. co.nz) focus on the South Island, running guided and self-guided trips on a number of trails, while Cycle Journeys (cyclejourneys. co.nz) operates self-guided trips on the Paparoa Track. extend for almost 200 kilometres, though the direct route from Thames to Waihi, through Karangahake Gorge, is 58 kilometres in length, making for an easy two-day ride. ADVANCED ITINERARIES A welcome recent shift in New Zealand cycling has been the opening of some of the country’s finest longdistance hiking trails to mountain bikes. It’s now possible to pedal the Queen Charlotte Track, Heaphy Track (May to end of November only), Paparoa Track and Old Ghost Road, which all provide challenging, remote and beautiful cycling. The Old Ghost Road (oldghostroad. org.nz) is the finest of these mountain-biking routes. The longest singletrack ride (85 kilometres) in the country, it traverses the Lyell Range in the South Island’s northwest corner, following a route painstakingly carved out by gold miners in the 19th century. So rugged was the terrain, however, that the mining road was never completed, at least until an old map was discovered in 2007 and an idea for a new recreational trail was seeded. The Old Ghost Road is bookended by lush rainforest sections, but A Wanaka Bike Tours helicopter flies above Central Otago’s Pisa Range is defined by the alpine crossing at its heart. Here, the cycling is exposed, technical and airy – think precipitous drops under one end of your handlebars, with cliff walls all but scraping against the other end. Most riders take two or three days across the track, which is strung with six huts containing bunks with mattresses. The four largest huts also have gas cookers and crockery, cutting down on the amount of gear you need to carry on your bike. The newest addition to New Zealand’s suite of rides is the west coast’s Paparoa Track (greatwalks. co.nz), which opened in December 2019, becoming the first of the country’s 10 Great Walks to be purpose-built to accommodate bikes. The course of the trail is along the Paparoa Range, which is wrapped in rainforest, with open alpine tops providing expansive mountain views. Cycling the 55km trail will typically take two days, with a night at Moonlight Tops Hut, one of three huts along the ride. HELIBIKING New Zealand was a pioneer of helibiking trips, in which riders and bikes are flown to high points in the mountains, with gravity propelling them back into the valleys. Unsurprisingly, Queenstown, which bills itself as the world’s adventure capital, leads the helibiking charge. Long-running HeliBike NZ (helibikenz. com), owned by former national downhill mountain-bike champion Henry van Asch, operates day trips onto a host of local mountains, including Queenstown’s signature Remarkables. The nearby Old Woman Range provides a more gentle, trail-style descent than the typical downhill plummet. Other quality helibiking operators include Wanaka Bike Tours (wanakabiketours.co.nz), which runs trips along the alpine Pisa Range between Wanaka and Queenstown, and HeliBike Rotorua (heliwhirinaki. nz), whose prime offering is a helicopter transfer to the 35km Moerangi Trail. This self-guided ride through the depths of the remote Whirinaki Forest includes the option of staying in one of the three huts along the trail. © WANAKA BIKE TOURS

Unique experiences, glamorous locations, exquisite cuisine and, of course, sumptuous rooms, suites and villas are all hallmarks of this curated selection of luxury accommodation worldwide Dear Readers, The Fine Hotels + Resorts handbook on the following pages highlights some of the hotels, restaurants and destinations that we hope prove inspirational in the year ahead and beyond. Maintaining the highest safety standards, these partners are nevertheless governed by national restrictions, so please do check property openings and availability, as well as cancellation policies, either on the websites or by calling Platinum Travel Service. And please remember to consult the latest Government advice before booking travel and departing on any trip, as this may affect the travel insurance cover provided with your Card Account (if held). – The Departures Editorial Team