Dun in a day? Well, this is a welcome change from the multi-day mountain-bike rides I had undertaken to collect data for the Great Rides App. Not only is it a day trip; the Dun Mountain Trail is a glorious loop! Few of the 22 NZ Great Rides are single-day cycling trips and most of [...]
I can still remember when I clicked on a video link and discovered the Link Pathway of the Marlborough Sounds. What I saw was cyclists whipping along a forest path following the turquoise coastal arms that wrap around headland points and seemingly endless bays. The drone footage of hikers and bikers looked surreal. Their joy! [...]
With its big skies, majestic mountains and rugged coast, the Wairarapa region is rich with natural beauty, and to top it all off, the local wines aren’t bad either. Located at the heart of the Classic New Zealand Wine trail, Wairarapa is home to some of the world’s best pinot noir, and the number of [...]
It’s nearly Christmas as I motor my way around the tight bends of Queen Charlotte Drive to the pretty port of Picton where my next adventure begins. The road straightens. I get a glimpse of Queen Charlotte Sound glistening in the sun, its long channel named by explorer Captain James Cook after the wife of [...]
The Dunes Trail has made quite an impression since it was officially opened in mid-2012. It’s now journeyed by around 20,000 cyclists per year, plus many walkers and runners. Intrepid travellers, fitness enthusiasts, families, a Thursday-evening ‘bike, beer and BBQ’ group, youth groups, motorhomers, e-bikers, hand-bikers – they’re all out there enjoying it. Trail counters [...]
As a destination, Golden Bay has some very well-known attractions like the Abel Tasman National Park, Pupu Springs and Wharariki Beach; Whanganui Inlet is less well known but is well worth a visit nevertheless. The drive from Takaka to Wharariki is pretty spectacular in itself, so perhaps people can be forgiven for not seeing, let [...]
If the Clutha Gold Trail was a goldfield, it would be a claim as rich as that of Gabriel’s Gully. However, the trail is almost undiscovered compared to the rushes of other cycle routes. As the gold dredges once ploughed the river, I am about to fossick the rich heritage along the banks of the [...]