New Zealand Bike Ride #4: Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride, Twizel / Aoraki Mount Cook, South Island

All of our rides had great scenery, but we saved the most scenic ride for last.  Even the name of this trail, “Alps 2 Ocean”, has you at hello before you ever commence the ride.  Once again, we only did a portion of the ride – but if you were so inclined you could ride all 360km of this trail starting at the Aoraki/Mount Cook village and riding all the way to Oamaru on the Pacific Ocean.  Doing the end-to-end trail requires a short but exciting helicopter hop across the Tasman River (which we didn’t do).

Since we were staying in Twizel, we rented bikes from Lakeland Explorer and followed a local trail until we connected to the Alps 2 Ocean trail in the middle of an expansive pasture with mountain views off in the distance.  We were mostly by ourselves with an occasional cyclist or walker appearing in the distance.

Perfect picnic spot!

And then we arrived at Lake Pukaki with its turquois-blue waters juxtaposed against the snow-capped Aoraki Mount Cook on this blue-sky day.  We followed the trail around Lake Pukaki bathed in the delight of the lupine flowers and awe-inspiring, stunning lake and mountain views. It wasn’t hard to pick the perfect picnic spot.

We followed the trail to the end.  Continuing on would have required riding a stretch on the road, which was less scenic and populated with enough fast-moving vehicles that we decided to turn around.  We had considered adding on some additional kilometers and taking a different route back along the canal, but fatigue was setting in (I later realized I was coming down with a cold) so we returned via the same route to Twizel to complete a 25 mile ride.  We walked around the town, with me enjoying fresh fruit ice cream and Mike enjoying a bakery pastry as our reward for our cycling adventure.

New Zealand Bike Ride #3: Central Otago Wine Trail, Queenstown surroundings, South Island

Having developed a fascination with suspension bridges and loving cycling and vineyards, this trail was packed with fun!  We rented bikes first thing in the morning in Arrowtown from Arrowtown Bike Hire and road to trail along a creek which led us to the Otago wine trail.  This is just one trail that makes up a whole series of trails of one of the Great Rides.  The trail that inspired the creation of the New Zealand Cycle Trail network, the Otago Central Rail Trail follows the old railway line between Clyde and Middlemarch.

The highlights of the Wine Trail included two suspension bridges we had to cross, one of which was quite long.  The trick is to not look down and not have too many people the bridge at once!  We also came to the Kawarau Gorge Bridge, the world famous, original bungy jumping site.  Seeing even the most fearful people give it a go, it was tempting, but the vineyards were beckoning us.  The vineyards are all right along the trail so we stopped at a couple of them before turning around just as we approached the town of Gibbston for the return.

Bikes and wine: our favorite things!

We had thought ahead this time to bring a picnic lunch.  Like toilets, picnic tables abound in New Zealand and we found one in a scenic spot high above the gorge.  We made it back to Arrowtown mid-afternoon and felt fulfilled with our 25 mile ride so we returned the bikes and enjoyed a walk around historic Arrowtown, which reminded us of the Colorado Old Western towns.

Picnic lunch overlooking the Gorge

Arrowtown to Gibbston

New Zealand Bike Ride #2: Lakeside Trail; Mountain Trails to Huka Falls, Taupo, North Island

We had visions of doing one of the 22 Great Rides which is in Taupo, but upon investigating our options, we opted for other equally great trails, but they were not part of the Great Ride.  Doing the Great Ride in Taupo requires more advanced planning since there are not bike rental shops at the trail head, but there are tour companies that will do delivery and pickup.  There are plenty of bike rental shops in Taupo so we walked in one and reserved ours the day before our ride.

Lakeside Trail

We spent our morning doing an easy and leisurely ride along the lakeside trail.  With Lake Taupo being the size of Singapore, this 16 mile roundtrip trail only covers a small portion of the gigantic lake.  This trail includes paved, gravel, and off-trail detours as you weave among the walkers, but it was more maneuverable than many bike trails we ride on in the U.S.

After lunch in Taupo, we were game to try an intermediate trail.  We wanted to go see one of Taupo’s key attractions, the Huka Falls, and biking seemed like the perfect way to get there.  The trail follows the Waikato River, which is the longest river in New Zealand, running 425 kilometers through the North Island.  We came to our first view of New Zealand bungy jumpy off a platform built out from the tall cliff.

Start of Waikato River Trail

Continuing on, we came to a bike park where Mike tested out his not so extreme skills.  This was just the warm up for what was to come.  The trail got steeper, sometimes narrow and with obstacles.  It provided for a more adrenaline-filled ride compared to the scenic riding we had done thus far.  There were a few times when I had to get off my bike, but we felt like we had accomplished a feat upon arriving at the falls, especially compared to all the people disembarking their buses.

The Bike Park

Testing my skills and great views!

Huka Falls

Home of Ironman Events!

We decided to take the alternative, easier trail along the other side of the river back.  Some of the trails are under construction and we may have missed a trail head because we found ourselves on a paved road back part of the way.  Back at the bike shop in Taupo, we clocked 10 miles, making it a total of 26 miles for the day.  We were ready for happy hour back on our beautiful AirBnB deck overlooking the lake!

Our morning lakeside ride

Our afternoon ride to Huka Falls

New Zealand Bike Ride #1: Motu Dunes Trail, Opotiki, North Island

 The Motu Dunes Trail is one of the 22 Great Rides.  While staying in the beach town of Ohope, we made the 40 min. drive over to Opotiki and rented bikes from Motu Cycle Trails, which was close the trail entry.  Early in the trail, we encountered our first - of what would become many in New Zealand – suspension bridge.  We quickly discovered that in addition to riding on the opposite (left) side, bikes are installed with the brakes on opposite sides (so the left bike is the rear bike). This easy trail got us warmed up on mountain bikes, as we realized how even small hills on a mountain bike can require more dramatic shifting than on our road bikes.

This beautiful trail follows the coastline so we were treated to constant views of amazingly empty summertime beaches.  The trail threw in fun surprises like a boardwalk through marshland.  

Once the gravel trail ends, the trail continues on a very lightly trafficked road and connects with some of the intermediate trails in the hills.  We rode the road for about a mile and then turned around for our return.  One of the options would have been to take the bike rental’s shuttle up to the top of the hills and ride down through the intermediate trails to the Motu Dunes trail.

Since we hadn’t prepared a picnic lunch, we returned after 17 miles to Opotiki where we got a fish lunch at a local fish shop / restaurant.  We contemplated more afternoon riding but the jet lag kicked in so we decided this was a great warm up ride for what would come next.  We also realized the distance you can do on a mountain bike pales to what you can do on a road bike.

"Great Riding" in New Zealand

Our most scenic ride - the Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride

Mike and I recently visited New Zealand for our 25^th wedding anniversary, and our number one activity was cycling the numerous, wonderful trails.  We had visions of doing both road biking and trail riding, but upon arriving we discovered the trails are really where you will find the best cycling.  In fact, the roads are fast driving (100km/60mph), rough-paved, and two lanes with no shoulders, making road biking very unappealing with questionable safety, which perhaps explains why you will be challenged to even find road bike rentals. But who needs roads when you have endless off-road trails for all abilities.

New Zealand has become known for their trail riding thanks to New Zealand’s Cycle Trail organization and its creation of 22 “Great Rides”, an idea that was born in 2009 at a government ‘jobs summit’.  During our two-week travels in the North and South Islands, we enjoyed four scenic and fun-filled trails.  We opted for half-day or day long rides, but there are many options to do these Great Rides end-to-end over multiple days.

There is enough bike “hire” (rental) supply that you probably do not need advance reservations for half- and full- day rides.  Since we were in peak summer season, we did make advance reservations for a couple rentals, but we probably could have found rentals without them.  A full-day rental costs around $50-55 NZD (~$35 USD) and since the trails are free, you can enjoy hours of low-cost adventure and fun.  It was helpful to do advance research to know what trails we wanted to ride, and we even planned some of our itinerary around the places we wanted to ride. If you want to do more than a day ride, you would want to make advance plans and reservations.

Painted mural on toilets

For the most part, the trails are well-marked so while there were a few times we wondered if we were going the right way, we never got lost.  You do want to plan for lunch.  On our first ride we assumed we could find food along the way, partly because the bike renter said there would probably be food stand mid-way, but there was none.  From then on, we always packed lunch and snacks and enjoyed some awesome picnic spots.

Music serenading toilets!

And here’s perhaps the best part – I never once had to pee in the woods!  Toilets abound and they will be the nicest and cleanest outhouse / porta potty / public toilets you were ever encounter. A couple of them even serenaded me with music.

 My subsequent four blog posts cover each of our bike rides, two on the North Island and two on the South Island.

Bike Ride #1:  Motu Dunes Trail, Opotiki, North Island

Bike Ride #2:  Lakeside Trail, and the Mountain Trails to Huka Falls, Taupo, North Island

Bike Ride #3:  Central Otago Wine Trail, Queenstown surroundings, South Island

Bike Ride #4:  Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride, Twizel / Aoraki Mount Cook, South Island

For an overview of our full trip, including our itineraries for the North and South Island, please see my 3 part series on the Intrepid Tourist.