Leaving Auckland on the ferry
This is an account of our trip to New Zealand in January 2007. Enjoy!
Our travel to NZ was pretty uneventful and we made a few forays into urban Auckland on the bikes. We managed a little sightseeing and a (more…)
October 2, 2008
Rotorua
Hot pools at the Polynesian Spa looking out over Rotorua Lake
Thursday arrived with Dave’s most dreaded part of the journey—the arrival of the campervan. It was not so much that it was a campervan. The problem was the location of the steering wheel (on the left). We had already scared the shit out of ourselves the last couple of days riding around the virtually bike lane free, urban Auckland where the cars where doing exactly the opposite from what you expected. How was it going to be in the faster pace of a campervan?
October 1, 2008
Marlborough and the Marlborough Sounds
Huia Vineyards, Marlborough
Tuesday was our day for wine tasting in Marlborough. After checking out of our peaceful B&B, we pedaled out for some wine tasting. We hit a number of spots, found some excellent Sauvignon Blanc, discovered (more…)
September 30, 2008
Wanaka
On the way to the trails in Wanaka
On Tuesday we did a long ride in The Plantation area with a return on Lakeside Track in Wanaka. The Plantation area is a purpose built bike park that spans an area a little larger than Water Dog in Belmont. The trails start at the edge of the suburbs and extend from the forested hillside down to the lake, where the Lakeside Track is located. There is a high density of trails in the area with trails dropping from both sides of a forested spine (more…)
September 24, 2008
Wanaka to Queenstown
A flawed pano of Lake Wakatipu from the gondola station
After checking out of our lodge, we headed towards Queenstown taking the long route. This route, though unplanned, took us through the center of the Central Otago wine-growing region. This area is (more…)
Queenstown and Milford Sound
Southern Alps from the airplane on the way to Milford Sound
At 7 am the weather conditions again did not permit our trip to Milford Sound in New Zealand’s Fjordland National Park. Just as we were giving up hope of making it out there on this trip, the weather changed. After some last minute snafus and a rush to the airport, we made the 10 am trip out to the Sound. The flight took off from the Queenstown airport from the grass field despite a perfectly serviceable paved runway being available.
We headed out to the Sound over the Southern Alps. The views were spectacular, but it was quite turbulent as the pilot seemed to like to fly in the wind rotor of the nearby peaks. All told, this flight segment was more adrenaline inducing than yesterdays river sledging adventure.
Queenstown on to Christchurch
Diamond Jubilee Clock Tower in Christchurch
We had a scenic trip from Queenstown to Christchurch with some beautiful views of Mt. Cook along the way. We arrived in a very quiet and peaceful Christchurch on a Saturday evening, again with beautiful weather.
The next day, Sunday, we headed out to the Port Hills Tracks for a short ride. We stopped along the way at a bike shop to find a map (they were out) and XTR brake pads (no luck there, either). We did get some directions from a local enthusiast and headed up the hill to the trails. We only got a brief glimpse of the trail offerings in this area, in part because of the short time to ride and in part due to the lack of a good map. It seems to be a real favorite of the locals and there is an extensive set of trails to explore. We’re not sure that this is a biking destination, in and of itself, but we are certain that we would look forward to more exploration of the trails in this area when we come back.
