The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

New Zealand Westland & Tasman Off Road 2024

March 6th to March 20th

Ride Coordinator: Grant McAlister
Report by: Bob Miller

This tour followed the “New Zealand Canterbury and Otago Off Road, February 16-March 1, 2024” tour.  I was delighted to be able to stay in New Zealand to continue to bike in completely new areas!  While the South Island is not very large, the terrain changes every 20 km or so, making this an incredibly interesting place to ride.  For this tour we started riding along the rim of an ancient volcano just outside of Christchurch and after two days found ourselves square in Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps in the center of the South Island.  We stayed in a gorgeous resort thanks to the fine planning and preparation by our outfitters, Brian and Carol, who run NZ Bicycle Tours.

It is hard to describe how quickly the terrain, geology, and climate can change on this small island.  As soon as we crossed the Southern Alps, the Western Wilderness Trail took us on a delightful path through the rain forest.  There’s a lot of history packed into this area and at one point we biked past miles of wooden water trough once used for gold mining, then rode on a path left behind by an old tramway.  The delights of this area include old towns, abandoned rail depots, and wonderfully twisty paths through forest so thick that even the trees are covered with vines and moss.

The East is dry and the West is wet on the South Island and on this (West) itinerary we had a few days with some precipitation, but I think that only added to the beauty of this ride.  Riding through a thick forest of beech trees in a gentle rain is…magical.  We even had a few small stream crossings and traversed an almost mile-long train tunnel that added to the fun!

While this is mostly a gravel ride, part of this itinerary includes riding on country roads alongside vineyards and orchards, eventually arriving at the stunning coast.  There were some steep sections and a few big climbing days, but the views were worth it.  After a day of rest in Hokitika, which has perhaps the only bike shop in all of New Zealand that sells a colorful NZ bike shirt, we continued up the coast, eventually arriving in the spectacular Abel Tasman National Park where our last miles of biking were along the coast and then up a purpose-built mountain bike track that twisted up to our eco-resort at the top of the mountain.  It was a perfect ending to a gorgeous trip!

The variety of trails, terrain, and climate on this tour of the west coast is astonishing and also so different from the eastern side of the Southern Alps.  You get it all in this tour thanks to the care and thoughtful planning from our ride coordinator, Grant McAlister and our outfitter, NZ Bicycle Tours.  I loved this tour and highly recommend it.