The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

New Zealand East Coast South Island 2025

January 18th to February 1st

Ride Coordinator: Grant McAlister
Report by: Roxan Kraft

This was my first trip to New Zealand, and I fell in love with the two Islands and cycling the South Island.  The friendliness of the locals, the Mãori culture and the natural beauty stole my heart. 

Our tour began in the 2011 earthquake ravaged town of Christchurch which is now largely repaired and becoming a tourist destination. The city has some amazing murals painted throughout the city.  Well worth a walk about.

 New Zealand Bicycle Tours supplied rental bikes and support for the trip.  They did an excellent job which included: providing shuttles to avoid dangerous sections of road; wonderful fresh breakfasts and picnic lunches; lots of information about the history of the South Island (what we were seeing and the culture).

Nearly all the riding was on very quiet well paved roads.  The scenery varied between iconic coastal views, mountain views and rolling pastoral settings (complete with sheep).  There were few sustained climbs, but there were plenty of rollers and some short steep sections.  Grant, the trip leader, did an outstanding job describing the routes, what you would see along the way, where to stop for lunch and current conditions of the road.

Beyond riding there was time and opportunity to explore.   We visited the Royal Albatross Center, saw the Blue Penguins, Sea Kayaked in Kaikoura, ate a fresh NZ lobster on the beach for lunch and in Methven, several of us visited Opuke Thermal Pools and Spa to sooth our tired muscles.  It was a short walk from our hotel. In Oamaru some folks visited the Steampunk Museum.  Dunedin was a rest day.  There was a movie being filmed “East of Eden” in the old part of town.   The city was full of flowers and history.

The accommodations were excellent with many of the hotel/motels having access to washers and driers.

Our trip concluded in Te Anua home of the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary.  Well worth a stop to see the rare and beautiful Takahe (large brightly colored iridescent bird).  On our last day we took a boat trip to see Doubtful Sound.  It really was a van ride, ferry ride, bus ride, boat ride, bus ride, ferry ride and van ride (but worth every transfer!).  Doubtful Sound is stunning as is lake Manapouri.  Te Anau is also the launch point for many hiking adventures such as the Milford Trek.  With some pre-planning a great add-on after a bicycling adventure.

New Zealand East Coast of the South Island is an amazing ride and accessible to most people with the use of an e-bike.