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Posted: Thu 27/Jan/05 9:57am Post subject: Visiting New Zealand - What Are The Best Bits To Ride?
I'm visiting New Zealand for about 6 months in the very near future....
And seeing as I'm coming from the UK (and thus prrobably won't be passing again soon) I'm planning to try and ride some of the most recommend/best bits that NZ offers....
I've done a quick search here but didn't find anything relevent so I pose the questions:
*Where should I go?
*What should I ride?
*What should I not miss?
*What's not worth the effort?
My itinary will be determined by the riding and am willing to give most things a go from medium distance touring to cruising and sight-seeing but am ideally looking for stuff along the XC route so I don't have to leave the misses out of the loop too much....
So what do you advise?
Thanks in advance...
DAVE
Last edited by davemcc43 on Thu 27/Jan/05 11:35am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Feb 11, 2004 Posts: 1,756 Location: Palmy North
Posted: Thu 27/Jan/05 10:23am Post subject:
Napier has plenty of xc riding in the local Hawkes Bay mountainbike clubs park. its about 15min north of napier in the privately owned Panpac forest.
as its private land you do need a pass to be allowed in. its $2 fora three week pass and these can be gained from any of the local bike shops.
the forest has about 100km of xc tracks. these cover all ranges of riding ability, from small children and families through to more adavanced and racers.
if you decide to come this way give us a buzz on vorb or contact the HBmtb club over their website.
Joined: May 03, 2004 Posts: 535 Location: Melbourne, Oztraya
Posted: Thu 27/Jan/05 10:23am Post subject:
I you want epic rides to see some countryside you should at least do these.
-42nd Traverse in National Park (Owhango by Mt Ruapehu)
-Queen Charlotte Sound - near Picton 1-3 days depending where you start
these are guaranteed to be good day trip sorta biking when you're in that area.
Hunua Ranges - South Auckland
Woodhill Forest - NW of Auckland
Redwoods (Whakarewarewa) Forest in Rotorua
and definitely Wellington - Makara Peak
Joined: Jun 08, 2003 Posts: 5,121 Location: Wellitrack
Posted: Thu 27/Jan/05 11:59am Post subject:
I ride XC and have enjoyed or want to do the following (from North to South)
Auckland – Riverhead. I had a local showing me tracks ‘out back’. Without a guide I would have spent to long getting lost on access roads and never have found the single track.
Tauranga – Oropi. The Bay of Plenty is a nice part of the country to visit. Oropi is a short XC ride, but has jumps, drops and (some) structures to play on.
Rotorua – Redwoods. I keep getting shown new trails, and keep wanting / needing to go back. Tracks close to the car park can be a bit tame and mickey mouse. Further up the hill they rock. Days of fun to be had here.
Taupo – Craters of the Moon. A smaller (and less exiting) version of Redwoods. I didn’t have a guide the one time I went there and spent too much time on access roads.
Central North Island – 42nd Traverse. Worth doing, 50 km A to B ride, but easy enough to arrange transport. Tree Trunk Gorge – worth doing if you are in the area. Waihaha Hut – I haven’t done this ride but have heard good things about it.
Hawkes Bay – Eskdale Forest. The local MTB club have a 80+ km network of single track in here. I enjoyed couple of hours there over Xmas riding some of them and want to go back and explore more.
Wellington – It’s my home town. There is lots here. I like Makara Peak, Wrights Hill, the Wainui Hills, Smiths Creek and Karapoti.
Upper South Island – The Queen Charlotte Walkway (Marlborough Sounds). The best multi Day ride in NZ IMO. I’ve done it twice and it is still on my must do again list. Part is this track is closed to bikes in Dec, Jan & Feb. Wakamarino – I’ve heard / read great things on this. On my must do list. Nydia Bay – again on my must do one day list. Nelson – I’ve only had a few rides around here on family holidays, but it is all good. I look forward to exploring more in the future.
Hanmer Springs – pretty place to visit and lots of riding in the area.
I haven’t done much south of this list, but there is lots in Christchurch I want to try, including Wharfdale and Craigiburn (both are out of town a bit, but Chch is the right place to be based)
I’ve also heard good things about Naseby, Wanaka and Queenstown.
I my view the best thing you can do is have a (vague) itinerary based on research you do now, and then use Vorb to get out riding with NZ’s once you are here.
I have been to all them there places(I live in Christchurch.) and liked the riding in all of them.
It depends on what sort of riding you're into which place will be a "must visit",but there's pretty much any kind of riding everywhere in NZ,or it wont be far away.
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