This past February I biked two of New Zealand's most beloved bikepacking routes, the Tour Aotearoa & the Sounds to Sounds. I covered 3,700km on the North and South Islands over 40 days. Here are a few notes:
- New Zealand is an amazing bikepacking country. It has world-class routes, the infrastructure is good, and the locals will go out of their way to help you
- While there is certainly a lot of farmland, you can go from alpine passes to coastal singletrack to gravel river valleys in a single day. The variety in the short amount of time you get is insane
- Everyone tells you to be prepared for four seasons in one day. It's one thing to hear that and another to experience it. It also didn't help getting rained on for the first 8 days of the trip
- The route was definitely manageable on a gravel bike with 45mm tires, but when I got to the Sounds to Sounds I was wishing for mountain bike tires and a bit of suspension
If you're interested in really diving into the details, I wrote up a three-part substack post on the route, bike, and gear I used during the trip which you can find here.
by kind_cod604