NZ South Island #8: hiking the Routeburn Track and the Greenstone / Caples Track

Day 1: Routeburn Shelter – Lake Wilson (“Valley of the Trolls”): a day in Heaven
The heavy rains of last night had transformed the Glenorchy campground in a swamp. My tent had leaked from the bottom and as a result, my sleeping mat and the bottom of my sleeping bag were wet. Not the best way to start a hike… The rain, however, had stopped with the sunrise, the clouds were slowly lifting and we could even see some of the surrounding mountains and patches of blue sky. We thought: “we might actually have good weather”.
After another huge breakfast, Erik and I drove to the trailhead on a bumpy gravel road and started our hike on a very easy track gently climbing through beech forest along the Route Burn (“Burn” is actually a word meaning “watercourse”).

The lower part of the Route Burn valley

I quickly realised that in addition to a good Samaritan, I had found in Erik a perfect trailmate: he is a fast hiker, like me, we share the same vision of life and taste for adventure, and he has lots of funny stories to tell. We talked nearly non stop during the first hour to Routeburn Flat. It was my first experience in an alpine valley in new Zealand and I was very impressed by this golden tussock flat surrounded by lush green mountains.

Routeburn Flats viewed from the climb. Clouds are lifting!

As we continued our way with a first steep climb towards Routeburn Fall Hut, the clouds kept lifting above us, which allowed us to enjoy the magnificent landscapes. It seemed that the Gods of Hiking were on our side today!

After a quick lunch next to Routeburn Fall Hut, we continued the steep climb on a bit rougher trail, in the clouds. Finally, we reached Harris Saddle. On the other side of the saddle there were no clouds and we could enjoy nice views on the mountains of the Hollyford Valley. 

Fantastic view on the Hollyford valley from Harris Saddle

Then, we backtracked a bit and left the main track in order to reach the camping spot Erik had read about. We had to hike along Lake Harris, then head towards a cascade across a swampy area. The spot was on the shore of Lake Wilson, on the top of the cascade. From the distance it just seemed impossible to reach the place, but on the right of the cascade, we could climb our way up a super steep gully. 

Erik leading the way along Lake Harris, in the mist

A bit later, clouds have magically disappeared. The pink arrow shows the Stairway to Heaven (photo by Erik)

Once on the top, we discovered a 6-star camp spot for only the two of us. After pitching our tents, we decided to climb further on a ridge. 

Perfect camp spot along Lake Wilson (photo by Erik)

After another steep climb, we finally reached the top of the ridge, from where the views were simply amazing with this beautiful lights that the end of the afternoon usually offers. The clouds had lifted so much that we could even see the sea in the distance in the end of the Hollyford Valley. 

The Hollyford Valley. In the distance we can sea the Tasman sea! (photo by Erik)

The descent back to lake Wilson (photo by Erik)

It was really difficult to leave the place, but we had to go down to have lunch before the dawn. We found an excellent lunch spot, enjoying the sunset on lake Harris and the surrounding mountains. 

When you have such a view for dinner l, you really don’t miss the table and chairs! 😃 (photo by Erik)

This day had just been perfect and will stay alive forever in my memories, mainly because of the part off the main track that Erik made me discover. I realised that this Swedish guy was more than a good Samaritan, he was the Messiah of hiking! Even if it turned out that he couldn’t change water into whisky, I decided that I would nevertheless follow Him for the next three days. If the rest of His thoughtfully planned itinerary was of the same kind, we were going to have the hike of our life!

Day 2: Lake Wilson – McKellar Hut: sometimes Hell is only one wrong footstep away from Heaven

At our wake up the sky was completely clear, letting us expect a perfect hiking day. After packing all our gear, we left this amazing spot. We had to go back to the main track by the same way, meaning that we had to go down the very steep gully that we had climbed yesterday. I was going very slowly because it was a quite difficult downhill and I wanted to enjoy the views a bit longer. Suddenly, I saw Erik slipping a few metres ahead of me, then doing an impressive fall and landing two or three metres further below.

On our way down to the main track. The photo is taken less than 3 minutes before the drama. I can swear you that it’s steeper than it looks!

I joined him quickly but safely, afraid that something really bad had happened to him. We were one hour away from the main track, probably one more hour away from a hut equipped with a radio station, in a terrain hardly reachable by helicopter. Erik told me that his ankle was badly twisted. After a few minutes of elevation, we strapped a towel around the ankle the best we could in order to support it. I realised how badly I was prepared for this kind of scenario, not having any proper tape with me and not knowing how to proceed. I definitely should follow a first aid course when I come back home. After a few more minutes, Erik tried to stand and walk. I could see that it was very painful but we had to continue at least to the main track. In one wrong footstep, the perspective of sharing a fantastic hike together had vanished and we had switched to emergency mode; we still had the hardest part of the downhill ahead of us. I tried to help him as much as I could, looking for the best path, taking his backpack in the hardest section and acting as a “living walking stick”. It took us nearly two and a half hour to get back to the main track. At that point we were still about 17 km from where we had left the car. We discussed for a long time about what we should do next and in the end Erik convinced me that I should leave him and continue my hike. I was very reluctant to this option because I don’t like leaving anyone behind, but Erik was right when he said that he could easily find somebody else to help him if needed: the Routeburn Track is used in both directions by tons of hikers, so it made indeed more sense to ask some help to someone heading to our starting point. I continued the track on my own towards McKenzie Hut. 

My first encounter with the cheeky keas at Harris Saddle. The kea is unique to New Zealand and the only alpine parrot in the world!

Between Harris Saddle and McKenzie Hut the track offers impressive views on the Hollyford Valley and the surrounding mountains. This is without doubt the most scenic part of the main track. I had to hurry, though, because it was already 12:30 and I had more than 24 km to cover.

Stunning view on the Hollyford Valley

Lake Mackenzie

A bit before McKenzie Hut the track went down under the treeline. I had a quick lunch at McKenzie Hut then continue my way to Howden Hut. This part is less scenic, its main highlight being the impressive Earland Falls. 

Earland Falls

At Howden Hut I left the Routeburn Track to follow the Greenstone Valley. I decided to skip the Greenstone Saddle campsite and hike one more hour to McKellar Hut, because I was not sure I was allowed to camp there and because I wanted to make use of the backcountry hut pass I had bought in Christchurch.

Nice reflexion on Lake McKellar

I was impressed by the hut: it had a gas cooker, mattresses in the dorm room and even a flush toilet! What a luxury! There were only 5 other people in the hut, among them Eli, a young cycle tourist from California, and Johannes, a cheerful young German guy.
Day 3: McKellar Hut – Mid Caples Hut

Today I had all my time ahead of me, having “only” 22 km to hike. I preferred to hike the Caples valley instead of the Greenstone Valley because the Caples was said to offer a broader mix of landscapes, including alpine views and valley flats. I started my hiking day in the forrest along Lake McKellar. Because of the morning mist and low-angled sun in the trees, I enjoyed that part much more than yesterday. 

Afterwards, I had a steep climb to McKellar Saddle, where I could enjoy nice views on the surrounding mountains.

McKellar Saddle

Then it was a long descent in a beech forest. It felt so good to walk slower after yesterday tough hike. I took a long sandfly-free lunch break on the bank of the Caples River. The weather was just perfect to chill, I even bathed in the freezing cold river. Hiking in the flatter part of the valley with a nice afternoon light was really enjoyable.

The bottom of the Caples Valley

I arrived at Mid Caples Hut at about 16:30. This hut has a perfect setting with amazing views on the valley and the mountains, and is really easy to access by foot from the carpark. It is the kind of place where you would certainly not mind walking in with enough food to stay for one week! I would certainly do it if I was a Kiwi. The ranger at the hut was a mountain biker, he gave me some advice about the good rides in the area. I also met Isabelle, from Canada, who was hiking the Greenstone / Caples Track in the opposite direction. We talked about our common passions for hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing and exchanged phone numbers in order to maybe catch up later for some outdoor adventure together.
Day 4: McKellar Hut – Greenstone trailhead

For the last day of this first hike, I had only 9 easy kilometres left to cover down the Caples River. I was accompanied for quite a while by a lovely little South Island Robin who seemed to like me a lot. He even poked my shoes a few times with his beak.

My new trailmate!

The hike ended at the mouth of the Greenstone / Caples River in Lake Whakatipu. The Greenstone River is named so because it was a good place to find jade. Jade, or pounamou, was highly valued by Māoris because of its toughness, durability and beauty. It was used as well for tools, weapons and jewellery. It still has today a very important meaning for Māoris, besides the fact that selling jade jewellery is a very lucrative business.  

After a while I managed to catch a ride back to Glenorchy. 

Despite being postage-stamp sized, Glenorchy attracts its lot of Chinese tourists and has a dedicated shop 😏

There, the first thing I did was looking for Erik. I found him lying in his minivan. He had made it back to the trailhead with the help of two nice Canadian girls who had carried his backpack. Nevertheless, it was a true Way of the Cross for him. He was reasonable enough to visit a doctor. His ankle really looked bad, swollen as a melon, with huge bruises and worrying blue, yellow, red, purple colours. For him, it was unfortunately the end of the New Zealand hiking adventures. I was really impressed by his courage (hiking for so long with such a sprayed ankle) and his calm. Of course he was disappointed (who would not? Being forced to stay inactive when you are in a place surrounded by mountains that beg you to hike them), but he did not complain a single time and was focused on the great hikes he had done and on his recovery. About one year ago I sprayed my ankle rather badly as well, and I don’t think that had such a good behaviour as him.

I had a whole afternoon to refine my plans for my second hike. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for 2 days later looked really bad so I decided to play it safe and not attempt the crossing of the Cascade Saddle starting from Wanaka. I opted instead for the Rees / Dart Track, a “semi-closed circuit” starting near Glenorchy. Besides the fact that it also offers great vistas, the advantage of this hike is that the first two days are actually common with the Glenorchy – Wanaka route via the Cascade Saddle that I had initially planned, the main issue being that the crossing of the Cascade Saddle is said to be even more treacherous in that direction. I decided to leave all doors open: if the weather was better than foreseen and if I found good company, I could always attempt the Cascade Saddle route.

I could get a useful feedback on the Rees / Dart Track from Marie (from Denmark) and Vendula (from Czech Republic) who had just completed the hike. I also talked with François and Laureline, a nice young couple of French people who were planning to do a day-hike the next day.

Despite being out of the race, Erik kindly offered to drive me to the trailhead of the Rees Track the next morning. This guy’s heart is definitely as golden as his hair! I was so happy of my hike and of being surrounded by super nice hiking people that I decided to buy 2 litres of chocolate ice-cream to share with everybody. After all, ice cream is the best medication for hungry hikers and sprayed ankles.😃

NZ South Island # 7: my Queenstown experience & my journey to Glenorchy

Queenstown is the kind of place you either love or hate. The setting of the town is without doubt amazing, with deep-blue Lake Wakatipu, the rocky faces of the Remarkables, the golden slopes of Cecil Peak, and the pine forests on Ben Lomond. The town displays a broad offer of activities for those looking for extreme sensations: bungee-jumping, skydiving, jetboat, rafting, etc.

Sunset on Lake Wakatipu

However, my feeling is that things have ran out of control there: there are way to much tourists, and despite the beauty of the surroundings, the place is everything but peaceful. The town attracts lots of young people looking for these ultra expensive pre-packed effortless “extreme adventures” that I mentioned earlier, and after completing these activities, these people get drunk in the many bars and discotheques. The funny part of it is that many of these people spend here for beers and extreme activities the money that they have earned by working hard in New Zealand’s hospitality or agriculture sectors. This is like the modern version of the 19th century system where workers from factories used to spend all their money in the tavern nextdoors, which of course was owned by exactly the same people owning the factory! New Zealand’s economy wins twice here, but as a counterpart the big money of tourism has ruined Queenstown. Yes, you got it, I hated this place! Coming from my epic Nevis Valley adventure, I was looking for calm and rest ; I definitely did not find it in Queenstown. Choosing an hostel in the city centre was a big mistake, and after an horrible night, I avenged myself by eating probably a whole bread at the free breakfast and moved to another hostel further from the centre, hopefully quieter, where I could pitch my tent. I wanted to stay for longer in Queenstown for two main reasons: firstly, I needed to plan the hiking trips that I wanted to do the coming days. Secondly, I wanted to bike some of the nice mountainbike trails in the area.
General thoughts about hiking in New Zealand – my hiking plan in Queenstown area

I ended up spending two full days in Queenstown. On the first day I mainly rested and prepared everything for my coming hikes. The Department Of Conservation (DOC), which is more or less the National Parks Service in New Zealand, provides very detailed information about the multi-day hikes on their website and are generally helpful in the information centres. They are good at promoting the hikes, mainly what they call the “Great Walks”. These walks are heavily marketed as “NZ’s finest hikes”, hence they attract a lot of people, despite the prohibitive price for the backcountry huts on these tracks: 54 $ (+/- 35 €) for a stay in a hut that is essentially similar to many “non Great-Walks huts” that are nearly four times cheaper. For that price in Europe, you could nearly have a night in a mountain hut with the dinner and the breakfast included! This is a bit of a theft, but since these huts are still fully booked most of the time, why shouldn’t they do it? Although the scenery on these hikes is indeed mostly amazing, they are in fact purposely not challenging at all so that an as broad as possible public would be able to do them. They are more “highways for walkers” rather than real tramping tracks. In short, DOC perfectly mastered the marketing of these “Great Walk”, creating a huge demand that allows them to impose their price. The “Great Walks” are great for the scenery they offer, but you can certainly find other hikes that will offer you as good (if not better) scenery, better hiking experience if you are a serious hiker, all that for much less money. 

After analysing all the possible hikes in the area, I came up with this very elaborate plan:

• I would bike from Queenstown to Glenorchy 
• from Glenorchy, I would somehow reach the trailhead of the Routeburn Track, a 32km-long “Great Walk” that connects Lake Wakatipu with the Hollyford Valley. After hiking the Routeburn Track, I would come back to Lake Wakatipu via the Caples / Greenstone Tracks, and somehow get back from the end of this track to Glenorchy. This first hike should take me four days.
• Then, I would leave the bike in Glenorchy, and somehow go back to Queenstown, and then to Wanaka. In Wanaka or Queenstown, where I could buy the supplies for the second hike.
• From Wanaka, I would somehow reach the Raspberry Flat carpark to start hiking in the Matukituki valley to Aspiring Hut. From there, I would have a big climb to cross the Cascade Saddle, an amazing but exposed and challenging hike according to DOC. Then, I would hike down the Rees or Dart Valley to get back in the Glenorchy area. Once back in Glenorchy,  I would bike back to Queenstown to continue my journey to Te Anau.

As you will notice, there are many “somehow” in this plan. The trailheads are often located in remote places, and the hike across Cascade Saddle in particular is kind of a logistical challenge, since the two endings of this hike are about 185 km away from each other by car! Some companies offer a shuttle service to the trailheads of these hikes. They are however really expensive and have to be pre-booked, which is rather inconvenient because you can easily get some delay in your hike in case of bad weather. Being an optimistic person and having learnt from previous experience that every plan is meant not to be followed, I decided to try my luck and did not book any transport 😊. We will see how it turns out…
Mountain biking in Queenstown (55 km)

My second night in Queenstown was nearly as bad as the first one. Indeed, most of the people staying at the hostel had decided to go all-in to celebrate the end of the working week, in a typical “Thank God it’s Friday!” style. I was awakened at 3:00 AM by some drunk and noisy people coming back to their tents, and one of them eventually ended up vomiting in his own tent. Despite this second bad night in a row, I still maintained my plan to go for a mountainbike ride. In the morning I performed a much necessary maintenance of my bike, on which I had done nothing since Oamaru. I noticed that I had lost a nut on my left pannier again, which was not really a surprise after such a bumpy ride. There is only one reasonable solution to this recurrent issue: screw it, and buy more nuts! (Did someone seriously expected that I would say “stop biking on bumpy gravel roads” ? 😜).

In the afternoon, I biked the Moonlight Track, a track that a nice vendor from the Torpedo 7 outdoor store had recommended to me. The funny part is that one of her colleague from the bike rentals, told me disdainfully when he saw my bike: “You are going to ride the moonlight track with this bike? I hope that you have plenty of spare tubes.” The track was a magnificent alpine singletrack, sometimes a bit technically challenging. I realised that my bike handling abilities had improved. I believe that having to handle an heavily loaded bike has learnt me to better force the bike on the trajectory I chose, something that I was not really good at before. It was really surprising how I could quickly find quiet and beautiful alpine scenery only a few kilometres away from Queenstown! In New Zealand, you don’t need to go very high in altitude to get this alpine feeling: Queenstown is only 350 metres above the sea level!

Amazing ride on the Moonlight Track

 

After the 13km – long singletrack, I had to deal with a very steep climb on a 4WD track. With my Nevis Road training, I could complete this climb that I would never have imagined to be able to deal with a few months ago! I then biked along the beautiful Moke Lake, then down to Lake Dispute and finally back on the shore of Lake Wakatipu. I had had a lot of fun and could complete about 98% of the track on the bike, proving the bike hirer’s prediction wrong.

Moke Lake

Lake Dispute

 

On my way back to Queenstown, I spent two more hours on the fantastic mountainbike tracks of the 7 Mile Recreational Area. There, the very active Queenstown mountainbike club has built pure mountainbike gems: flowy singletracks with berms and switchbacks. 

Mountain biking with a view on the 7 Mile singletracks!

As soon as you have reached the bottom of one of these tracks, you have only one thing in mind, climb again the enjoyable track to the top for more riding pleasure. I probably pushed myself a bit too far, and had my first fall of this trip. Fortunately, I managed to push the “eject button” and just hugged a tree.

I finished this glorious mountainbike afternoon with another delicious ice cream from Patagonia. Lena & Carmen had told me how delicious their ice creams were. They were damn right!

Yummy!!!

Queenstown – Glenorchy (49 km)

My last night in Queenstown was great. The “Tank God It’s Friday” hangover and the evening rain had discouraged any Saturday Night Fever! 

After yesterday’s big mountainbike afternoon, my legs were a bit heavy, though. The ride along lake Wakatipu between Queenstown and Glenorchy was much harder than foreseen. I had naively expected something similar to the route between Kingston and Queenstown, but this part was a cycle tourist’s nightmare: an endless row of steep ups and downs, making it impossible to keep a constant pace. Moreover, the weather was a bit dull today and I could not enjoy as much as expected the beautiful surroundings of this part of the Lake.

Lake Wakatipu, on my way to Glenorchy

 

During my lunch I was literally assaulted by an army of sandflies. If New Zealand does not count any deadly animal like spiders or snakes such as in Tasmania, they do have sandflies. In the end, I think that I prefer having to deal with a small chance of serious consequence rather than with the certainty of being constantly annoyed by sandflies. Killing a few of them is useless, and they are attracted by sweat, making me a perfect victim. Once bitten, it really itches a lot, and it seems that I have some allergic reaction to them, as you can see hereunder. No need for a fancy māori tatoo, sandflies take care of it! 😒 

The state of my legs two days after the attack. Note also the sexy sandals – walking socks combination! 😜

Glenorchy is a tiny quiet village surrounded by mountains. I liked it as much as I hated Queenstown. Its only campground is full of hikers preparing their next trip. There, I found myself in my element!

Amongst the hikers was Erik, from Sweden. He was planning to do more or less the same hike as me, except that he had studied in depth the possibilities to take less crowded, more challenging and more scenic side tracks. He offered to take me with him to the Routeburn trailhead the next morning and to start the hike together. I had already one “somehow” less in my planning!

NZ South Island # 6: The most EPIC ride so far! Bannockburn – Queenstown via the Nevis Road (2 days, 140 km)

In my quest for the toughest, wildest and remotest cycle touring experience, I might have found the Graal: the Nevis road had all the ingredients of an unforgettable adventure: a long and deadly-steep climb, super-fast slippery scaring descents, ford crossings, and amazingly wild and isolated landscapes. This road is just New Zealand’s highest public road. It leads to the Nevis Valley, once the theatre of a gold rush, a country of settlers that never eventuated. In the days where the goldfields were at their peak, this road was used by the supply wagons pulled by horses. The road is often blocked by snow and can only be tackled by four-wheel-drive. Riding it with my one-wheel-drive tank was definitely an epic adventure that will stay engraved in my body and in my memories.

My “little” detour on the Nevis Road

Day 1: Bannockburn – Lower Nevis (32 km)

I started my cycling day from Bannockburn at a late 11:30, because I had too prepare another batch of applesauce with the Rail Trail apples. 

Transpire at Bannockburn: a premonitory sign! (“transpirer” means “to sweat” in French)

Typical traffic jam on New Zealand’s roads 😜

 

After a few kilometres on asphalt as a warm-up and a chat with two shepherds (they wished me good luck when I told them I intended to bike the Nevis Road), I started today’s main course: a 9 km-long climb on a gravel road to reach Duffers Saddle, the entrance gate to the Nevis Valley. More than the length of the climb, what was a bit scary is the total elevation gain: about 1100 metres, which means an average slope of 12%! This is much more than most of the passes climbed in the Tour de France! After 4 km of moderately difficult climb, I reached the steepest part of the climb, called “Dead Horse Pinch” because many horses pulling supply wagons up to the Nevis Valley just didn’t make it through here. Indeed, I cannot remember having had that much pain in a climb before, despite these last two months of intensive training, and I felt a real compassion for these poor horses! I was forced to make a few breaks to catch my breath, bring the cardio down and get rid of the burns in my thighs. It was also the occasion to take a few pictures of the beautiful surrounding landscape, Cromwell and Lake Dunstan, the Pisa Range, the Old Women Range, the Dunstan Range, etc. 

Cromwell & lake Dunstan in the distance

Finally, after nearly 2,5 hours of intense effort (for 9 km!), I reached Duffers Saddle, having completed the whole climb on the bike. From there, the views are stunning: you can see the “back” of the Remarkables, a mountain range which is a familiar landscape of Queenstown.

At the top, I met a group of motorcyclists. They told me: “Let’s us take a picture of you, mate, otherwise nobody will believe that you made it to here with your bicycle”

Stunning panorama from Duffers Saddle!

 

After a very long lunch break, I started the downhill towards the Nevis valley itself. The valley is actually divided in two +/- flat parts separated by a gorge: the Lower Nevis (700m above the sea level) and the Upper Nevis (900m). The downhill was nearly as steep as the uphill, with many slippery gravel corners. Going down this pass was exhilarating but required a lot of attention, steel nerves, bike handling skills and big balls! 

Once in the bottom of the valley, I had to deal with a much rougher gravel road and rather strong headwinds. After 15 kilometres fighting against a stronger and stronger wind, I decided to stop a bit before the Nevis gorge. Indeed, because of the Venturi effect (= the fact that air speed augments when the cross section of the flow is reduced in order to keep a constant flow), the wind would have been even stronger in the gorge, which is moreover a rather steep uphill. I had found a nice sheltered place, and my guess was that in the Upper Nevis trees and soft ground would be much more scarce, making the pitching of the tent very difficult. Consequently, I stopped at 16:30 after a short but intense 32 kilometres-day. It gave me all the time to enjoy this amazing valley and my first freedom camping in New Zealand!

Nice camping spot sheltered by willow trees

Day 2: Lower Nevis – Queenstown (108 km)

After an excellent sleep, I woke up early in the morning to watch the sunrise in the valley. 

Lovely morning in the Lower Nevis

The wind had stopped during the night and the weather was sunnier than yesterday. After the climb through the Nevis Gorge, I reached the Upper Nevis. Here, the marks of dredging in search for alluvial gold are much more visible. 

Biking my way up the Nevis Gorge

Some people are actually still looking for alluvial gold in the Nevis! See the two diesel-powered suckers / dredges!

Scars from the Gold Rush: dredge tailings in the Upper Nevis

The track was going gently uphill towards the Hector Range. On my way, I had to deal with 25 ford crossings. Crossing fords with a 35 kg bike is definitely a funny adventure. Today, I got the chance to refine my technique. Here are a few tips on “how to cross fords like a pro”: firstly, you have to assess the depth of the water. Then, in function of the nature of the terrain, chose the best line to cross: it is generally the place with lower depth and no big loose rocks. Put a low gear but try to keep a relatively high speed so that the inertia of the bike will help complete the crossing. Sometimes you will have to use your secret weapon to complete safely the crossing: the two-feet-drive 😜.

Ford crossing!

Today’s true gold of the valley is not to be found in the river: merino sheep produce the finest wool in the world, and there are thousands of them grazing in the valley!

 

The climb to the Saddle on Hector Range was much easier and shorter than yesterday’s climb. Once at the top, I had impressive views on the valley near Kingston, some 900m below. 

Nice view from the top of pass through the Hector Mountains. Less than one hour later, I was biking in the bottom of this valley!

The Garvie Mountains viewed from The Hector Range

The downhill towards Garston was as funny and challenging as yesterday’s one. At Garston, I finally reached an asphalt road after about four hours to complete 44 km. After such an epic ride, biking on asphalt seemed so easy and a bit tasteless. The 19km between Garston and Kingston were biked in no time. At Kingston there was a campground, but I could feel that stopping there would have given me a taste of too little. Why not bike 47 more easy kilometres along the sunny banks of lake Wakatipu, to reach Queenstown tonight and enjoy a beautiful sunset on the lake? After an important moment of introspection, I decided that my body could handle this extra effort that I was about to throw in his face. The ride was indeed rather easy and it took me only two small hours to reach Queenstown, while I had needed the double for the same distance in the morning! The ride along the lake was really pleasant, with this perfect cycling weather. 

Lake Wakatipu (Kingston is at the end of the lake)

Nice asphalt ride along Lake Wakatipu

 

I made a short stop at a viewpoint on the lake and got the chance to watch a weird spectacle: a car of Chinese tourists coming back from Milford Sound stopped at the same place, and all the women wanted to be photographed one after another with a colourful scarf, taking a Hollywood star pose for a moment then back to a rather grumpy face. Since then I have seen the same spectacle a few times, I guess that it is a “must-do” for them. Weird…

Arriving in Queenstown after these two days of wild isolation was quite a shock. When nearly the first thing you see when arriving to a town is a Louis Vuitton shop, it is generally a bad omen… I met a group of young cycle tourists but talked rather briefly with them because I was a bit tired and cold after such an epic day.

Sunset on Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. On the left, the Remarkables. In the middle Cecil Peak and Walter Peak

I decided to stay in the biggest hostel in town because they offered free dinner and breakfast and I hoped to have a good night in a bed. I was too late for the free dinner and so wrong for the good night…

NZ South Island # 4: Oamaru – Dunedin & Otago Peninsula (3 days, 204 km) – lonely coastal ride

Day 1: Oamaru – Warrington (95 km)
This morning Carmen, Lena and I had the biggest breakfast that you could imagine: oatmeal with nuts and dried fruits, home-made applesauce, bread, fresh fruits, muesli, yoghurt,… We kept eating for more than one hour. Sadly, Oamaru was already at the crossroads of our biking trips: Lena had to go back North to Christchurch, Carmen, as me, planned to head South along the coast to Dunedin, but wanted to stay a bit longer in Oamaru in order to have some rest and sort out some paperwork. For sure I would have loved to bike for longer with these two nice girls, but it is better to see it the other way: I was lucky to meet them on my way and the three of us enjoyed the short time we had together as much as we could. Indeed, during the morning I managed to find a whole series of good reasons to delay the start of my biking day. I cleaned my gear train that was really dirty after all this mud and gravel roads, and I also noticed that I had lost one of the nuts that Damien had installed on my panniers’ fixation system in Hobart to replace the unreliable initial pin.I remembered that one of the nuts could not be tightened firmly because it would hinder the opening of the mechanism. With the many vibrations of these last days, the nut was probably getting looser and looser until it got completely unscrewed. Fortunately, I could buy four new compatible nuts in an hardware store in town. At least I have a solution if the problem happens again!

Finally, I even had a last lunch and a nice chat with Lena at the hostel before finally leaving Oamaru a bit before 3:00 PM with a little pinch in the heart and apfelkompott in my paniers. The campsite where I planned to sleep tonight being 95 km away from Oamaru, I had better unlock the warrior mode for today’s time trial. After a flash tour of Oamaru, I started pushing like a beast on a very scenic and quiet road along the ocean. The wind was helping me in my task, I was biking at 30 km/h and this fantastic ride made me forget the sadness of being on my own again. Riding the bike in such circumstances gives you fantastic feelings of freedom and happiness. 

Caution: pure cycle touring pleasure ahead

Another nice beach between Oamaru and Dunedin

After 30km of pure riding pleasure, I had to bike for another 60 km on Highway 1. Even if this is NZ’s most important road, the trafic was really reasonable and I did not feel unsafe. Because I was really fast, I decided to make a small detour to discover the Moeraki boulders, a set of spherical rocks lying on the beach. These boulders are in fact concretions created by the cementation of Paleocene mudstone, enclosed in a softer host stratum. The eroding action of the wind and the waves and the landslides cause the blocks to become apparent on the beach, creating this astounding landscape.

Moeraki boulders

A few kilometres later, I entered in the Otago region, whose history is profoundly marked by a series of gold rushes, as we will see further in detail later on. 

Nice countryside, hills never far away…

For the last 25km, I could leave Highway 1 for a nicer road. Until now, the ride had been really easy thanks to a relatively flat terrain and favourable winds, but after the little village of Karitane, a very steep climb was awaiting for me. I had not expected such a climb and after 85km at full power, it was a bit painful. Fortunately, the very rewarding view from the top of the hill erased the pain in my legs as if by magic. 

Great view after a steep climb!

A quarter later, I was at the nice free campground in Warrington, and could pitch my tent and eat my applesauce and other leftovers of the day before.

At the campground, I met Sophie and David, a young French couple also cycling around New Zealand. 
Day 2: Warrington – Dunedin (27 km)

This morning I woke up early and went for a walk on the beautiful beach near the Warrington beach, enjoying the sunrise. 

Sunrise on Warrington beach

I talked with Sophie and David about their itinerary in New Zealand and future biking project in Norway. They left the campground before me because they were faster to pack their stuff (what a surprise…), but I quickly caught them up in the long but well graded climb of Mount Cargill (8km, 400 m elevation gain). Once at the top, I could enjoy beautiful view on the Otago peninsula before continuing on a fast downhill towards Dunedin. 

Otago Peninsula viewed from Mt Cargill

I met Sophie and David again and we had lunch together in the town’s nice botanic garden. After this very short biking day, I spent the afternoon visiting the city. Dunedin is Otago’s capital and the South Island’s second largest city. It has strong Scottish influence, hence the nickname “The Edinburgh of the South”. The city counts indeed a few beautiful buildings of Victorian and Edwardian architecture, such as the railway station and the buildings around the Octagon, Dunedin’s main square (I guess we can say that they invented the octagonal square 🤣). 

Dunedin Railway Station

The city also has a very active street art scene and many pubs and night life, because it hosts NZ’s oldest university and its 20000 students. I was there on St Patrick’s Day and I can tell you that that the atmosphere in the city was crazy!

Funny street art in Dunedin

Day 3: Side-trip to Otago Peninsula (82 km)

I spent one more night in Dunedin in order to make a side-trip to Otago Peninsula with an unloaded bike. The peninsula is a must-see for its wildlife: sea lions, blue penguins, seals and albatrosses can be spotted there. The road to the peninsula was very enjoyable, with many bends and great scenery. 

The lovely road to Otago Peninsula

Portobello, a little village on Otago Peninsula

Nice little fisherman’s house

On my way, I met David and Sophie for a third time! At the tip of the peninsula, I could see some seals but unfortunately I did not spot any albatross because of the fog sticking there. On my way back, I went to Allans Beach, a beautiful place where I could watch sea lions very closely. 

Sea lions on Allan’s Beach

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With the end of the day approaching, I could see waves of fog rolling across the hills at an impressive speed, and I quickly cycled back to Dunedin before dawn. 

NZ South Island #3: Tekapo – Oamaru via Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail (253 km, 4 days)

For this second part of my bike trip in the South Island, I followed a signposted cycle trail called “Alps 2 Ocean“. As the name tells it, this trail start at the foot of the Southern Alps and goes all the way South East back to the coast to end in a town called Oamaru. Most of the trail is on car-free tracks or low-traffic roads, some parts are even purpose-built for bicycles and really enjoyable. Unfortunately, I had bad weather conditions most of the time, which forced me to cancel the side-trip to Mueller Hut since I would not have been able to see Mt Cook anyway. 
Day 1: Tekapo – Omarama (91km)

In the morning, the weather was not as bad as forecasted. I had to bike about 25 km along the artificial canal connecting Lake Tekapo to Lake Pukaki. This canal is part of the Waitaki hydro scheme, composed of eight power stations from Lake Tekapo to Lake Waitaki, generating energy from water owing from the Southern Alps to the sea (more info about it here). During the next days, I will have the chance the next day to see most of the dams and power stations, which made the Alps 2 Ocean even more interesting for the cycling engineer I am.

The trail along the Tekapo – Pulaski canal

This first part along the canal was a flat and a bit boring. I discovered that this path is also used by the hikers on the Te Araroa (The long pathway in māori), NZ’s long distance hiking route (3000 km) that traverses both islands from Cape Reinga on the North to Bluff, on the South. At places, this hike is really challenging because you have to pack food for 10-12 days and hike in an alpine, isolated environment. But there are also many sections on the road or on tracks like the one along the canal, that must be really boring to hike on! Later on this day, I overtook a girl doing the Te Araroa, who was reading a book while hiking! This gives you an idea of how easy and boring this part of the hike must be…

At the end of the canal, I could enjoy an impressive view on Lake Pukaki and the penstocks of the Tekapo B power station. Even if I could not see Mount Cook and the other mountains surrounding the lake, I found lake Pukaki a really beautiful. 

Lake Pukaki and the penstocks of Tekapo B power station viewed from the end of the canal

A wrap with a view! (Even if Mt Cook hides himself in the clouds)

After a nice lunch on the shore of the lake, I continued my way on a nice singletrack along the lake, then going down to the town of Twizel with some funny bends quite challenging to negotiate with a 35kg tank! The mountainbiker in me loved it!

Nice flowy gravel track along Lake Pukaki

At Twizel it finally started to rain quite heavily and because the weather was meant to stay bad for the 2 coming days, I decided to take a shortcut by the road in order to reach a free campsite near Omarama. The last 30 km were biked under pouring rain. I pitched the tent in emergency mode, soaked and cold. Then for the first time, I did what every all-weather camper eventually ends up doing even if every tent maker strongly discouraged it: abside cooking. Well, cooking is a big word, since I just boiled some water to eat one of the freeze-dried meals I always keep for this kind of situation. It felt so good to be warm and dry in the tent!
Day 2: boredom is good (5 km – rest in Omarama)

After a very rainy night, I woke up, opened the tent and saw only rain and fifty shades of grey in the sky. It was enough for me to call it a day off. After all, I had biked nearly 400km in the last four days, so taking advantage of the bad weather to have some rest seemed a good idea. Spending a whole day confined in a small tent while the weather is going wild outside is always an interesting experience. Moreover, It is good for you dear readers, because such a rest day means a boost in the blog writing effort 😉. 

My only sportive feat of the day was cycling the 5 k return trip to Omarama to go to the supermarket, and eat a gorgeous burger at the local pub. Oh, and I also had a language lesson at the public toilet! 😜

Language lesson in the toilets!

Day 3: Omarama – Duntroon (100 km) – after rest you should give a little bit

This morning the weather was “better”: the rain had ceased, but the sky was still heavily clouded. After leaving Omarama I cycled along Lake Benmore, NZ’s largest man-made lake. 

Lake Benmore

Nice fall colours near Otematata

I then climbed a hill to reach Otematata, a little town on the shore of Lake Aviemore. A few minutes later, I discovered the impressive engineering works of Benmore dam and power station. Benmore dam is NZ’s largest earth dam, and the hydropower station is the country’s second largest (540 MW installed capacity). In the high voltage electric substation I could easily recognise the familiar silhouette of the AC/DC switching station, which confirmed my guess of HVDC line. 

The DC switchyard at Benmore power station

The huge penstocks of Benmore power station

Panoramic view on Benmore dam and power station

What I had not guessed is that the other end of this HVDC line is located 610 km further, on the North Island! This so called “HVDC Inter-Island” is a 1200 MW bipolar high-voltage direct current link connecting the electricity networks of both island. The South Island has lots of hydro generation capacity and a lower electricity consumption (less than 40% of NZ’s total consumption). This HVDC link is thus interesting as well for market reasons as for security of supply reasons. (If you are interested on the subject, this wikipedia page is full of nice information!).

Lake Aviemore

After cycling along lake Aviemore for quite a while on a very quiet asphalt road, I reached yet another lake, dam and power station: Waitaki. Built between 1928 and 1934, it is the oldest of the eight hydroelectric stations of the scheme and the last station to be built in NZ without modern mechanical equipment. Imagine that: some 560 000 cubic metres of material were excavated almost entirely by pick and shovel! This seems inimaginable only 80 years later!

My tank next to the old Francis turbine of Waitaki power station

After passing the little city of Kurow, the track continued along Waitaki river, with some nice views on the surrounding hills. The contrast between the grey of the sky and the gold of the tussock-covered hills creates impressive sights. 

Typical Mackenzie landscape: golden hills, wild river and the omnipresent sheeps!

While it finally began to rain, I biked through a vineyard (sadly, the shop was closed, so no tasting to get warmer), then continued along the river on a nice track, completed my first ford crossing (since then I have had many of them and became quite an expert in the matter 😉). 

Approaching Duntroon, my stop for the night, I had a look to the surprising sandstone cliffs and their māori paintings. Unfortunately most of the paintings weren’t that visible anymore. 

Sandstone cliffs near Duntroon

After this 100km long biking day, I finally arrived at Duntroon campground, a bit wet and cold but not as much as two days ago. At first sight the campground looked a bit creepy, but in the end I had by far my best evening in NZ so far! In the nice and warm little building, I met Yves and Charlotte, a very nice young Belgo-French couple of archeologist temporarily working in the nearby vineyard, and also Carmen and Lena, two young German girls also travelling with their bicycles. They had met one month ago on the road and since then biked together all their way from Murchinson to here. I felt immediately welcomed and the five of us had an amazing evening, sharing food, traveling stories and life experiences. Inside this little kitchen, it felt as warm and sunny as it was cold and rainy outside! After being offered apricots and home-made apple cake, I decided to share the excellent chocolate tablet from Tasmania that I had been carrying for two weeks awaiting a special occasion. The chocolate was just excellent, and even better because shared. 
Day 4: Duntroon – Oamaru (57 km)- finally the sun, and ride with top-notch company!

This last day on the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail was just perfect. The weather was finally sunny and clear again, letting us enjoy the spectacular landscapes. The track was mostly funny, with some nice technical sections up and down. And, last but not least, I cycled together with Lena and Carmen. Besides being very cheerful and friendly, they prove to be excellent cyclists! After not having seen that much of the landscape these last 3 days, it was really enjoyable to have broad and clear views on the mountains and hills.

Lena & Carmen cycling next to Elephant Rocks

Elephant Rocks and the Southern Alps in the background

This last part of the trail was probably the hardest. We could enjoy very diverse landscapes, from sandstone cliffs to bright green or hills, and grey mountains in the distance. Each of us had his / her little issue on the way: Lena showed us how much she was connected to the earth (a little fall without bad consequence), Carmen showed us how much she liked everything to be clean (she had to wash hergear train completely stuck by mud / cow shit) and I showed the girls how good I was at fixing a bike (I had to replace the destroyed metal spring between the brake pads).

Lena doing great in a tricky switchback climb

Lena cycling along Island cliffs

A few kilometres before Oamaru, we picked half a ton of apples from an apple tree on the side on the road. Once in Oamaru, we pitched our tents in the garden of the local YHA. After spending months sleeping in tents, the three of us sleep much better in a tent than in a dorm. Plus, it is cheaper! We had another nice shared meal and spent the evening talking together while preparing a delicious applesauce with extra rhubarb from the hostel’s garden. 

NZ South Island #2: Christchurch-Lake Tekapo: full speed ahead through the Canterbury plains! (291 km, 3 days)

These first three biking days in New Zealand were really an easy ride. I had “postcard weather” all the way except on the last afternoon. My plan was to ride the “Inland Scenic Route” from Christchurch heading South-West to Lake Tekapo, a beautiful azure lake at the foot of the Southern Alps.

 

Day 1: Christchurch – Rakaia Gorge (87 km)

A sunny, flat, easy ride on excellent asphalt roads. At first the landscape is totally flat. This area is called the Canterbury plains.

Nice little church in Sockburn, a suburb of Christchurch. Also under repair because of the earthquakes…

Looking at a map of NZ, it is really funny to notice the mix between UK-inspired name (Canterbury, Queenstown, Dunedin, …) and Māori-inspired names (Rakaia, Wakitapu, Wanaka, Ororata,…).

Even if I had lunch in this village, I reckon I left town without tasting it because I had plenty of food. Too bad…

The only vertical elements in the landscape were the huge edges between farmlands. I guess that the place can get very windy, but fortunately for me it was not at all the case today. Endless straight lines made the ride a bit monotonous.

Canterbury plains in one picture: an endless flat straight line and some high edges separating the fields

Fortunately, there was an engineering curiosity on the side of road to keep me awaken: a tower with only two high voltage conductors, meaning that it is an High Voltage Direct Current overhead line. Sweet! I wonder where this one starts from… (answer in the next post 😜)

Slowly, the Southern Alps appeared in the distance. The ride was so easy that I was thinking about making a really big day, when suddenly, after a surprisingly long downhill (I didn’t even noticed that I had climb anything), I saw the perfect turquoise waters of the Rakaia River.

Rakaia River!

The campsite there was just the ideal place to stop and after pitching the tent, I hiked for two more hours to explore the Rakaia Gorge. It is impressive how every tree seems to be able to grow here in New Zealand. There are eucalyptus like in Australia, but also many trees common in Europe (poplar trees, willows, oaks) and many endemic trees such as manuka and cabbage tree / tī kōuka.

Rakaia Gorge

 

Day 2: Rakaia Gorge – Pleasant Point (113 km)

Morning light on the cliffs above Rakaia River

While eating my oatmeal after a cold night, I met Sandra, from Christchurch, who wanted to exchange one of my quick oats sachet against two tomatoes and one apple in order to make a surprise to her friend staying in the next campervan. The three of us spoke together for more than an hour. Some people in New Zealand have a very weird accent that is sometimes really tricky to understand: they tend to mumble their words, and to pronounce the “e” like “i”. Once you have understood that “tin cints” means actually “ten cents” and “bike shit” has nothing to make with poo but just is “bike shed”, you will be fine, I guess 😋.

I finally left the campground at a late 11:00 AM. After the 4 km-long steep climb out of the gorge, it was all the way down or flat for nearly 80 km until the little town of Geraldine, with beautiful sights on Mt Hut and Mt Somers on the right.

NZ in a nutshell #1: grassy plains, snowy mountains and heapsss of sheepsss 😄

The ride had been so easy that I decided to bike another 25 km to Pleasant Point on quieter and slightly ondulating countryside roads, casually breaking the 100 km in a day psychological barrier. I had the chance to fill my panniers with free apples on the way.

I arrived a bit late at the campground, wanted to hurry to prepare my dinner but was “disturbed” in this plan by an old weird American guy from San Diego travelling with a VW van probably as old as himself. We talked about sheep and astronomy, and he finally left the place after giving me two eggs. I ended up cooking and eating my meal with the headlamp. The days are getting shorter here, so it will be more and more important to be efficient in all the packing & cooking activities.

 

Day 3: Pleasant Point – Tekapo (91 km)

In the first half of the day, I had still excellent weather and a mostly flat ride. The Canterbury plains progressively left place to the Mackenzie country, an isolated land of high country plateau and yellow tussock hills.

Welcome to Mackenzie country!

I had lunch halfway at the nice little town of Fairlie. I bought a delicious porkbelly and apple pie to complete my usual wraps. I ate my lunch with a young French couple, and after 10 minutes of a nice conversation we realised that we had common friends in Belgium. Again, what a coincidence!

In the afternoon I had to climb Burkes Pass to reach the high plateau of Mackenzie country 400m higher. The climb was really well graded and I could clear all of it on the middle chainring. Too easy compared with Tassie!

The hills around Burkes Pass

I then had to bike another 20 km on a mostly flat, very exposed to wind terrain to reach Tekapo.

Another endless straight line on Mackenzie high plateau

Meanwhile the sun had disappeared behind more and more threatening grey clouds. Tekapo was a deception for me: ugly buildings, lots of (Chinese) tourists, an expensive campground and a not-so-blue-as-expected lake. I felt obliged to take some pictures of the Church of the Good Shepherd, NZ most photographed church, located on the lake shore. Managing to take a picture of the church without any other tourist on it was probably the most challenging part of the day 😜.

Lake Tekapo, and a swarm of campervans around the Church of the Good Shepherd

The Church of the Good Shepherd

At the campground I met Anke & Torsten, a couple of German cycle tourists who travel around the world with their bicycles. We had a very nice chat, they provided me some useful information on their itinerary in the South Island and I gave them some tips for their bike trip in Tasmania. Meeting other cycle tourists is always a pleasant moment, because whatever the age or country of origin, we share the same mindset, the taste for adventure, discovery and gentle travel.

NZ South Island #1: Christchurch: visiting the city and planning my trip

I spent 3 days in Christchurch, which allowed me to get some rest, visit the city, define my itinerary and prepare the next ride. Christchurch is the biggest city of the South Island of New Zealand and the third biggest city of the country after Auckland and Wellington. It is nicknamed the Garden City, for a good reason: the city is very green and has a lot of nice parks. My hostel was just near the botanic garden, and as you can guess I spent a lot of time in there. The rose garden was just lovely, a perfect place to write some blog articles about Tasmania 😉

The beautiful rose garden in Christchurch Botanic Garden

The city was founded in 1880 and was in fact a project of the Anglican church of England: Christchurch was meant to be a model of religious and class-structured England in the South Pacific, not just another scruffy colonial outpost. Hence, churches were built rather than pubs. The passengers on “The First Four Ships”that sailed to Christchurch were named the “Canterbury Pilgrims”. Nowadays, the area around Christchurch is still named Canterbury, in reference to the centre of the anglican church in England.

In 2010 and 2011, the city was severely damaged by two earthquakes and their countless aftershocks. The February 2011 earthquake made 185 deaths and caused a lot of destruction, because the city is built on originally boggy ground, very prone to deformation in case of earthquake. From all over the country, people helped to host those who had lost their houses. The city is slowly recovering from this disaster: at some place you can see beautiful brand new modern buildings, at other badly damaged building still awaiting for destruction. There are always civil works ongoing not far away wherever you are in the city!

A typical Christchurch sight: rubbles, street art and ongoing civil works (in the background, the damaged cathedral)

 

I could feel a lot of positive energy in this city, everybody do his best to build a better city, and street art is omnipresent to bring some joy and creativity in the rubbles. The city has a very ambitious town-planning project that implies amongst other a limitation of the building’s height to 6 floors, which creates a very airy city with bright streets. A lot of room is foreseen for cyclists and pedestrians. Some new buildings are equipped with base vibration isolators; these dampers should protect the building’s structure from the low-frequency deformation of the ground during earthquakes.

Base vibration isolators on the piles of the Christchurch Art Gallery

 

After the earthquakes the city made massive use of shipping containers to provide temporary accomodation, host shops or support buildings risking to fall.

The Re:START shopping mall is a good example of the extensive use of shipping containers after the earthquakes.

 

Many of the city’s neo-gothic historical buildings were severely damaged: some of them, like the old Christchurch University, are slowly but surely restored thanks to an ambitious (and costly) town-planning programme.

Christchurch old University Building. Its most famous student is probably the genius physicist Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics and the first to prove the existence of the nucleus in atoms

Others, like the old Christchurch Anglican Cathedral, are still waiting for a definitive decision. The future of the building is a very sensitive subject, there are many conflicts between those supporting the restoration of the building and those wanting its replacement by a totally new building. Meanwhile, a temporary cathedral has been erected in only 11 months for 7 million $, which is quite a performance , This building, nicknamed the “Carboard Cathedral” because of the 98 cardboard tubes used in its construction, was designed by Japanese “disaster-architect” Shigeru Ban.

The damaged Christchurch Cathedral (and some typical NZ sheep roadblocks 😅)

The “cardboard cathedral”

Another important edifice damaged by the eartquake is the Bridge of Rememberance. It commemorates the massive losses that New Zealand faced during WW1. Indeed, New Zealand sent about 112 000 soldiers in Europe tu sustain the war effort. At that time, it was 10% of the country’s population! While most of the young men engaged in the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corpse) expected a quick fight and an enjoyable journey to the metropole, the conflict turned into the massacre we know and about 18 000 kiwi soldiers died (2% of the country’s population). The memory of this massacre is still surprisingly alive in NZ: in nearly every little town, there is a monument and you often even see graves of fallen soldiers along the road in the countryside.

The Bridge of Rememberance (and some more ongoing construction!)

A grade seismic rating is apparently a marketing argument 😏. For less than this price, I bought a 6 month Backcountry Hut Pass that gives me access to most of NZ’s 900 backcountry huts. That’s value!!!

Besides these cultural visits, I also spent a lot of time planning my itinerary. As you might guess I hadn’t done much before arriving here, and there is so much to do and see in this country! Even if my Tasmanian experience told me that the planning is sometimes not followed, it is still important to have an idea of what is worth doing, which roads are nice to bike on and how to link together the “must-see”, “must-hike” and “must-bike”. To help me, I have the website of NZ’s Great Rides, which are special routes designed for a nice cycling experience. I also have this fantastic eBook, which is a gold mine that pretty much sum up all the cycle touring possibilities in NZ. Finally, I had the chance to meet other cycle tourists at the hostel, amongst whom Jessica and Gemma. Talking with them was very helpful!

Hereunder you will find a rough route that I should eventually follow (or not):

• Christchurch to Lake Tekapo via scenic Inland route
• Lake Tekapo to Oamaru via the Great Ride “Alps 2 Ocean” (with eventually a biking / hiking side-trip to the Mueller Hut to enjoy fantastic views on NZ’s highest mountain, Mt Cook / Aoraki if the weather forecast is good)
• Oamaru to Dunedin along the East coast (+ cycling the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin)
• Dunedin to Cromwell via the Great Ride “Otago Central Rail Trail” (Middlemarch to Clyde)
• Cromwell to Queenstown (+ some mountain bike action in Queenstown)
• Queenstown to Glenorchy for some multi-day hikes starting from Glenorchy,then back to Queenstown

NZ South Island planned itinerary part 1. At the moment I write this, I have already completed this part!

• Queenstown to Te Anau via the Great Ride “Around the Mountain). Excursion to the Milford Sound + probably some hikes
• Te Anau to Invercargill, eventually a side-trip to Stewart Island for some hike and bird-watching
• Invercargil to Balclutha along theCaitlin’s to see the coastal wildlife
• Balclutha to Cromwell following the Clutha valley (Great Rides “Clutha GoldTrail” and “Roxburgh Gorge Trail”)
• Cromwell to Wanaka, with some mountainbike and hikes in Wanaka area
• Wanaka to Haast via the Haast Pass
• then Haast to Ross on the West Coast (not sure what to do there yet)
• Then “to be defined”, probably further up the West Coast. I would like to go to Punaikaki, bike the Old Ghost Trail, maybe bike the Rainbow Trail, hike in Nelson Lake National Park and hike / kayak in Abel Tasman National Park

NZ South Island planned itinerary part 2

Of course, any suggestions on this programme are welcome. It is meant to be continuously refined and improved thanks to all the feedback I can collect from local people and other travellers 😊