New Zealand has embraced the idea of cycling tourism, not just multi day rides but trails that can be undertaken in a day or a few energetic hours. These are a few we tackled in the southern part of the South Island.
Glendhu Bay Track
We rode this 15 km track, which follows the shoreline of Lake Wanaka, from Wanaka towards Glendhu Bay. The track is well formed but far from flat with some short, steep, rocky gradients. ‘Watch out for the gnarly bits,’ advised a walker as we set off. I took his advice. Even though we rode it on a grey and cloudy day – it actually snowed after we finished our ride – the views of the lake and mountains were spectacular. We didn’t make it all the way to Glendhu Bay because, for us, it was a there and back ride and those gnarly bits kept on coming.
Lake2Lake Trail at Te Anau
This trail links Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri and follows the east side of the Waiau River. We thought, because the track follows the river, that it would be flat. Not so. It was quite a rollercoaster with some steep ascents and descents. The most interesting section was a narrowing of the track along a stretch that also wound precipitously up and down through the beech forest. A sign at the start of this advised walking your bike, advice I heeded going one way but ignored on the return. Again, for us, it was there and back and we didn’t ride all the way to Lake Manapouri.
Walter Peak (Start of the Round the Mountain Trail)
This superb ride is actually the start of the much longer Around the Mountain Trail. It began with a journey across Lake Wakatipu on the steamboat Earnslaw on a perfect blue sky day. Our bikes travelled with us and we rode from the homestead, now really a tourist restaurant, along a grey gravel road to a 15 km turnaround point. The vistas were breathtaking: lush green pastures with grazing sheep and cattle, the blue lake and a snow covered mountain range beyond. Mt Earnslaw is the highest. We watched sheep being herded by working dogs on Nicholas Station and horses grazing with the lake and mountains as their backdrop. When we returned to Walter Peak Homestead we enjoyed a G&T on the patio then a smorgasbord dinner with the evening Earnslaw crowd. Back in Queenstown by 10 pm.
Clutha Gold Trail
The starting point for this 73 km trail is the small town of Roxburgh. We sampled a 10 km section from our freedom camping at Pinders Pond, about 10 km from Roxburgh, to a lookout point along the river. The track stayed close to the river with gentle ups and downs. A feature of this trail is the farming and gold mining history described in panels along the route.
Roxburgh Gorge Cycle Trail
The Roxburgh Gorge Trail starts in Alexandra and finishes at Lake Roxburgh Village. The middle section of the trail requires a jet boat. We chose to ride there and back at both ends, riding a total of 30 km for the day. An impressive feature of the Lake Roxburgh end was a series of switchbacks taking us up above the lake and down again. My switchbacking skill had improved by the end of this section. After the curves the wide, gravelly path stayed close to the cliff face above the lake until we reached the Hidden Valley and turned around.
The Alexandra end follows the Clutha Mata-au River into a gorge. The gorge walls are stark and the trail in the gorge section has been gouged out of the rock. For the most part it was undulating with a steep winding descent at Doctors Point where the jet boat would pick you up and whisk you and your bike along the river to Shingle Point. We rode back to Alexandra and our van.
Lake Dunstan Trail
The Lake Dunstan Trail is an amazing piece of audacious engineering. Everyone kept telling us that it was a ‘must’. We organised a shuttle – Shebikeshebikes – to transport us to Cromwell from Clyde, where we were staying in our campervan. We then road the 42 km trail from Cromwell back to Clyde. The trail links these two historical towns and follows the shores of an arm of Lake Dunstan before hugging the edge of the main part of the lake. The trail has been jackhammered into the cliff where necessary, suspended over the lake in sections and, in the middle, switchbacks take you up and over two precipitous bluffs. At times the trail was close to the edge with a sheer drop into the water. The path is wide though and, apart from a few short sections of twists and turns, two could ride side by side. And there was a boat, two actually, moored in a sheltered bay before the first steep ascent selling hamburgers, waffles and coffee! Very welcome and very enterprising. Fortunately we arrived in Clyde before the rain, tired but exhilarated by an amazing ride.
Our next ride will be a continuation of the Alps2Ocean, started in early October.
Beverley Lello 