And now for the South Island update, which I’ll try and keep brief.
I took the Bluebridge ferry into Picton and on the very first day encountered some horrible South Island weather—brutal winds from all sorts of directions that snapped my tent when I didn’t anchor it in the most sheltered spot possible. Fortunately, only one pole broke and it’s held up to this day, but I’m a lot more weary of wind now, lol.
I took the Molesworth Muster Trail out of Picton and into picture-perfect Hanmer Springs. Things were a little quieter than usual since the road was closed to non-escorted vehicles due to an intense drought. The only logistical challenge is riding from one end of Molesworth Station to the other without camping—you have to do 50 miles or so in one long ride. However, I got lucky and learned about an offer via nearby Middlehurst Station where they charged $125 NZD for a king-sized bed, private bedroom, and immaculate lamb dinner, but this deal was only available to long-distance cycle tourists. (It would ordinarily cost closer to $400 NZD for those in cars!) So I was able to do this part feeling very fresh.
I puttered into Christchurch, which was really cycle friendly, and decided to tackle the Alps 2 Ocean, which is probably the best 300 km of riding anywhere on planet earth. There’s a lot of diversity in the riding, and I highly recommend anyone doing it take a few days off to ride the spur toward Glentanner/Mount Cook. The landscape was stunning and the weather perfect, I had clear views of the mountain the entire time. Then you ride along some epic lakes and into Oamaru, which even in summer had a vague nip in the air.
I rode to Dunedin and spent a few days there, but I was a little late for the best penguin/albatross viewing on the nearby peninsula, oh well. Incorporating the ferry from Port Chalmers saved a bit of out-and-back and could be used for an exciting day trip around the harbor if need be. The Catlins Coast was stunning and I got very lucky in my three days there—nary a breeze, even though the trees are all bowed and windswept from what I imagine are some awful winter gales. I took some lonely roads up to Te Anau, where I did a day-trip to Milford Sound via bus. If time wasn’t an issue, I may well have tried riding it, but I had a schedule to keep to Auckland and thought the tour was worth the money.
From there I rode to Queenstown via Mavora Lakes Road. It was absolutely gorgeous, even if the ferry at the end charges an arm and a leg to take you into town. I highly recommend doing this route, it saves a lot of frustrating time on the highway, and if you want, you can splurge on a $99 NZD all-you-can-eat buffet at Walter Peaks Station, lol. It was absolutely delicious.
I took two days to ride into Glenorchy, site of all sorts of Lord of the Rings footage, but I actually regret doing this—it’s a hilly spur with virtually no shoulder, and I didn’t book enough time to see all that much. I spent more time just riding to and from the town instead of actually exploring the landscape. If I had anything to do over, I would’ve skipped it altogether, I just exhausted myself over two tough days of riding. Otherwise, I’d book three or four days for the region, being sure to stock up on cheaper groceries in Queenstown.
Then it was pretty much the West Coast Highway back toward Picton. The traffic was mercifully sparse the whole time, and the weather shockingly mild—it has a reputation for being socked in and rainy, but I think they just get a deluge for a day or two and then it’s a week of beautiful sunshine, lol. The sandflies weren’t as bad as I was led to believe—they tended to only nip at your feet, so as long as you had socks and pants, they were rarely more than a nuisance.
To wrap it up, the South Island is amazing and rugged, but don’t expect to have as many organic conversations with the locals. The tourist-to-local ratio is out of whack during the summer/fall, I probably met more Germans and French people than kiwis, lol. I didn’t feel very comfortable wild camping out there either—the weather was just too erratic and the cities were clamping down on freedom camping in general—so I stayed at a lot more hostels than usual. 90 days frankly isn’t enough to do justice to the entire country. If you really wanted to squeeze as much as possible out of a bike tour there, I’d do 90 days on each island. Plan for a week or so of bad weather, too, particularly on the South Island. I got incredibly lucky and was able to make it back to Picton on time, but the forecast was really hairy for a bit—like five straight days of cold rain and wind, but I somehow managed to stay about a day ahead of it the whole ride.
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And now for the South Island update, which I’ll try and keep brief.
I took the Bluebridge ferry into Picton and on the very first day encountered some horrible South Island weather—brutal winds from all sorts of directions that snapped my tent when I didn’t anchor it in the most sheltered spot possible. Fortunately, only one pole broke and it’s held up to this day, but I’m a lot more weary of wind now, lol.
I took the Molesworth Muster Trail out of Picton and into picture-perfect Hanmer Springs. Things were a little quieter than usual since the road was closed to non-escorted vehicles due to an intense drought. The only logistical challenge is riding from one end of Molesworth Station to the other without camping—you have to do 50 miles or so in one long ride. However, I got lucky and learned about an offer via nearby Middlehurst Station where they charged $125 NZD for a king-sized bed, private bedroom, and immaculate lamb dinner, but this deal was only available to long-distance cycle tourists. (It would ordinarily cost closer to $400 NZD for those in cars!) So I was able to do this part feeling very fresh.
I puttered into Christchurch, which was really cycle friendly, and decided to tackle the Alps 2 Ocean, which is probably the best 300 km of riding anywhere on planet earth. There’s a lot of diversity in the riding, and I highly recommend anyone doing it take a few days off to ride the spur toward Glentanner/Mount Cook. The landscape was stunning and the weather perfect, I had clear views of the mountain the entire time. Then you ride along some epic lakes and into Oamaru, which even in summer had a vague nip in the air.
I rode to Dunedin and spent a few days there, but I was a little late for the best penguin/albatross viewing on the nearby peninsula, oh well. Incorporating the ferry from Port Chalmers saved a bit of out-and-back and could be used for an exciting day trip around the harbor if need be. The Catlins Coast was stunning and I got very lucky in my three days there—nary a breeze, even though the trees are all bowed and windswept from what I imagine are some awful winter gales. I took some lonely roads up to Te Anau, where I did a day-trip to Milford Sound via bus. If time wasn’t an issue, I may well have tried riding it, but I had a schedule to keep to Auckland and thought the tour was worth the money.
From there I rode to Queenstown via Mavora Lakes Road. It was absolutely gorgeous, even if the ferry at the end charges an arm and a leg to take you into town. I highly recommend doing this route, it saves a lot of frustrating time on the highway, and if you want, you can splurge on a $99 NZD all-you-can-eat buffet at Walter Peaks Station, lol. It was absolutely delicious.
I took two days to ride into Glenorchy, site of all sorts of Lord of the Rings footage, but I actually regret doing this—it’s a hilly spur with virtually no shoulder, and I didn’t book enough time to see all that much. I spent more time just riding to and from the town instead of actually exploring the landscape. If I had anything to do over, I would’ve skipped it altogether, I just exhausted myself over two tough days of riding. Otherwise, I’d book three or four days for the region, being sure to stock up on cheaper groceries in Queenstown.
Then it was pretty much the West Coast Highway back toward Picton. The traffic was mercifully sparse the whole time, and the weather shockingly mild—it has a reputation for being socked in and rainy, but I think they just get a deluge for a day or two and then it’s a week of beautiful sunshine, lol. The sandflies weren’t as bad as I was led to believe—they tended to only nip at your feet, so as long as you had socks and pants, they were rarely more than a nuisance.
To wrap it up, the South Island is amazing and rugged, but don’t expect to have as many organic conversations with the locals. The tourist-to-local ratio is out of whack during the summer/fall, I probably met more Germans and French people than kiwis, lol. I didn’t feel very comfortable wild camping out there either—the weather was just too erratic and the cities were clamping down on freedom camping in general—so I stayed at a lot more hostels than usual. 90 days frankly isn’t enough to do justice to the entire country. If you really wanted to squeeze as much as possible out of a bike tour there, I’d do 90 days on each island. Plan for a week or so of bad weather, too, particularly on the South Island. I got incredibly lucky and was able to make it back to Picton on time, but the forecast was really hairy for a bit—like five straight days of cold rain and wind, but I somehow managed to stay about a day ahead of it the whole ride.