Arthur’s Pass National Park, New Zealand – The sentiment at lunch was the same from everyone: “I’m a little nervous about the ride,” they said.
Signing up for a multi-day cycling trip was a first for me, and I was equally apprehensive – afraid to be shown up as a laggard, or ill-prepared to tackle New Zealand’s South Island. But as the 12th and last to introduce myself to the fellow riders and three guides, I felt compelled to broach another subject.
“I’m a bit concerned about the weather,” I said.
All eyes glanced toward the restaurant window. A steady drizzle showed no sign of abating, and clouds cloaked the upper slopes of the Southern Alps. We were headed to Westland, the island’s west coast, which earns the nickname Wetland courtesy of frequent downpours. And not long after finishing our meal, we were out in the soak.
The bike’s odometer revealed the temperature: 42 degrees. But it took just a few minutes of pedaling to raise my body tempereature, and the country road below Arthur’s Pass provided easy riding and little traffic.
For an hour, the unceasing soundtrack of rain pelted my jacket and the static sound of tires licked wet asphalt. My hair was soaked; my shoes glistened with water that squeezed from the soles with each thrust of my legs. As long as it would be no colder, no wetter than this, I could handle the next eight days.
And then the rain stopped, and the world went almost silent. A glacier-fed, iris-blue river paralleled the road, merino sheep meandered in the valley, and the mist started to rise above the flanks of the peaks, revealing a light dusting of snow.
This was the New Zealand I had come for.
The pre-trip literature provided by tour operator Trek Travel was detailed as to the number of miles we would tackle. If every inch of the itinerary were ridden – from Lake Pearson, west of Christchurch, to Wanaka, near Queenstown – it would total 399 miles.
I was intimidated and spent two months prior to the March trip preparing my legs for the onslaught. At home, riding 30 miles in a day isn’t hard; the challenge was to travel that distance several days in a row.
But as a cycle-tour newbie, I didn’t realize how easy it would be to get on and off the bike at almost any point. Climbs could be skipped in favor of descents; long days could be bagged to ride the entire route in a van if I wanted to. Our guides explained that the fully supported tour was organized to accommodate a wide range of abilities.
“On our last New Zealand ride I had a woman who rode only 80 miles, and a guy who did over 700 miles on the same trip,” said Dave Edwards, one of the guides.
Our group ranged from a couple in their mid-50s who were gearing up to ride several “centuries” (100-mile rides) this summer, to another couple in their early40s that hadn’t been on a bike in five months.
The guides – Dave, Katie White and Krissy Johnson – ranged in age from 25 to 41 and led tours for Trek in the states and Europe. Each day one would accompany the group and two would drive the support vans, loaded with spare bikes, luggage and snacks.
We had a choice of two bikes for our journey: a Trek 7700 FX hybrid or Madone 5.2 touring bike. Most of us opted for the latter, a sleek $3,000 carbon-
frame beauty – the same used by the American team on the Tour de France.
That first ride between Lake Pearson and Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass, where we spent our first two nights, was just 12.5 miles – our shortest day. But it turned out to be the hardest in one respect: Mounting a bike in chilly rain was not a pleasing way to initiate the journey, yet it made every morning thereafter comparatively easier.
The layover at Arthur’s Pass was chock-full of non-biking diversions. The next day started with a short tramp through forests of mountain beech and rocks flush with snow berries – tasty treats that looked like albino blueberries – and the floor was blanketed with trippy, red-lacquered mushrooms that appeared like malevolent doughnuts. A midday canoe paddle provided a little cross-training.
There was a sheep-shearing demonstration by Neil Wood at the adjacent Cora Lynn Station, a farm dating to 1860. Although sheep shearers earn only a bit over a U.S. dollar a head for their handiwork, Wood told us that a good one can clip 150 to 200 per day, shearing the lanolin-saturated merino wool for export to Versace and other name designers.
“Competition shearers can do it in about 45 seconds,” said Wood, about 10 minutes into his protracted clipping. “As you can see, I’m not a competition shearer.”
The third day started under cloudless skies in the jade-rich coastal town of Hokitika. It was hard to contain my enthusiasm as I pointed my wheels toward 12,346-foot Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest point. The glacier-clad mountain – where Sir Edmund Hillary trained for the first ascent of Mount Everest – was plainly, superbly visible 75 miles down the coast.
For all my initial concern about weather, the day proved the validity of a cycling trip through the Wetland: The scenery along the Tasman Sea was resplendent.
The big challenge was cresting a hill before the town of Whataroa. Most of the riders had rejoined the support vans by now, but as I soldiered halfway up the climb, one of the vans slowed to pass, and Katie and four riders leaned out, cheering me on. With support like that, the rest of the ascent was easy.
I coasted down the other side to find them enjoying the local Speights beer in the gleaming sun. Having traveled 53 miles from Hokitika – more than I had ridden in 10 years – I called it a day and cruised in the van to Franz Josef, the hamlet at the base of one of New Zealand’s largest glaciers.
The town’s key attraction is helicopter flights to the glacier, which all of our group embarked upon. The chopper zoomed along the wrinkled frozen river – absurdly lined by tree ferns – and then dropped us off with a guide on the glacier’s midsection. Fitted with ice ax and crampons, we reveled in tunnels of blue ice, crevasses, and kettle lakes, all enjoyed under skies warm enough for shorts and T-shirts.
Franz Josef proved little more than a tourist town in service of its spectacular glacier, and so even though the fifth day brought more drizzles, it felt good to be moving. The 70-mile route started with the “Triple Bypass,” a trio of climbs over progressively steeper, higher ridges that separate Franz Josef and Fox.
The group congregated in Fox for flat whites – the local cappuccino – and here we discovered the pleasure of New Zealand’s hearty muffins, which can be sweet (chocolate chip and banana) or savory (chicken, bacon and brie was another).
By 3:30, as we pulled in to Lake Moeraki, we agreed that the day’s light rain had posed no real hindrance. “And it is a rain forest, after all,” Katie said with a shrug.
The Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki – sharing the same owner as the lodge at Arthur’s Pass – was wonderfully isolated. The resident nature guide Swade (“just Swade”) took us through a grove of ferns to watch river eels feed on leftover salmon parts.
Swade kept an eye on the skies for us, with a modicum of concern. “I don’t know what the weather’s going to bring tomorrow, but you’re probably going to have screaming tailwinds,” he said.
The next morning started with winds blustering from every direction, and rain poured. No matter, it was a great time, cycling along lush pastures in a quiet valley. It was by this, the seventh day, that I realized my week of steady riding was adding up to something. I was feeling, as the New Zealanders say, fit as a buck rat, and the notion sat well.
It took bolts of lightning pounding the valley to get me off the Madone.
Conveniently, Dave was waiting for us shortly thereafter, at the start of the 1,500-foot climb to Haast Pass, where we gathered and huddled with tea and biscuits. Although Krissy continued on, Dave gently suggested that we shuttle over Haast in the vans.
The rain started to let up as we drove into the hamlet of Makarora. We paused for flat whites, and Krissy pulled in for a well-deserved break. Half the group set out on the ride to Wanaka, leaving the tropical rain forest behind.
The road followed Lake Hawea, revealing sweeping panoramas around almost every bend, and the wind on my back was so strong that at times I could practically coast on the occasional level stretch.
The appealing town of Wanaka was a lovely place to wrap up our adventure, with broad lake vistas toward Mount Aspiring framed by trees cast in autumn colors. The layover day was used by most of the group for scenic flights over Milford Sound, but I was content to cycle for a few more hours, exploring the surrounding area with Katie and Dave.
Yes, my itinerary said a rental car was waiting for me in Queenstown for the balance of my travels. But after almost 300 invigorating miles, I was in no hurry to trade in that Madone.
San Diego-based freelance writer David Swanson is a contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler.
INSIDER’S GUIDE
New Zealand
GET THERE
Air New Zealand and Qantas fly to New Zealand from Los Angeles and San Francisco (Air New Zealand has nonstops from LAX to Christchurch).
Air New Zealand will ship a bike for no additional charge, including on its code-shares with United originating in Denver. Bikes need to be boxed and count as one piece of checked luggage.
New Zealand’s summer – our winter – offers the warmest weather on the South Island. Rainfall ranges from 115 inches annually in Hokitika to 200 inches at Franz Josef, but much of it is concentrated September through November. During my trip, we had four rainy days and four sunny, with one a mix of both – about average for March – and daytime temperatures on the coast ranged from the low 50s to the 70s.
More information: newzealand.com; 866-639-9325.
BIKE
Trek Travel (866-464-8735; trektravel.com) has six options February through April 2006. The trips ($3,095 for double occupancy) include eight nights’ lodging, most meals, snacks and activities, and bike.
Other bike tour companies offering South Island itineraries include Butterfield and Robinson (800-678-1147; butterfield.com); Pure Adventures (800-960-2221; pure-adventures.com); Active Downunder (800-425-9036; activedownunder.com); and Christchurch-based Cycle New Zealand (011-64-3-982-2966; cyclenewzealand.com).
It’s also possible to bike the westcoast route independently, but note that accommodations between Hokitika and Wanaka are limited and spread out. There are plenty of good places to camp; a tent is a prerequisite.
BRING
When packing, remember one word: layers. The temperature variances and strong chance of rain means you’ll add and remove clothes throughout the day. Cycling shorts prevent chafing, and breathable synthetic shirts will wick moisture. Avoid cotton for all cycling and hiking. Bring a small box of detergent from home; most lodgings have laundry facilities.
A synthetic fleece vest and lightweight rain jacket are essential; I found rain pants to be of little value – my legs never got cold when riding.
Although roads are relatively smooth, cycling gloves ease the workout your hands get while gripping the handlebars. Sunscreen and sunglasses are musts.
Both Christchurch and Queenstown have stores selling quality cycling and outdoor wear.
DINE
Multiple choices exist in Hokitika, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, with excellent options in Wanaka and Queenstown. Restaurants along the route are casual, although some in Queenstown are dressy.
Many of these restaurants are on the main drag through the small towns they are listed in, which is why they have no street number.
Cafe de Paris, 19-21 Tancred St., Hokitika (03-755-8433). Kiwi-accented French cuisine.
Pete’s Possum Pie, State Highway 6, Pukekura (03-755-4008). Famous for feral treats (no, I’m not making that up).
Blue Ice Cafe, State Highway 6, Franz Josef (03-752-0707). Contemporary food at moderate prices downstairs and pizzas and pints upstairs.
Cook Saddle Cafe, Main Road, Fox Glacier, (03-751-0700). A “wild West”-type saloon with burgers and beer.
Wanaka the Ambrosia Restaurant, Golf Course Road, Wanaka (03-443-1255). New Zealand wines and an international menu.
PLAY
The three-hour heli-hike, included in the Trek bike tour, can also be purchased separately from Franz Josef Glacier Guides . Cost: $210 per person. Reservations are essential; 03- 752-0763 or explorefranzjosef.com.
