New Zealand has been a favourite haunt of ours for numerous years now. This week we head off again – this will be my eight trip across the Ditch since December 2017.

The destination this trip is Queenstown, in the far South Island.

We will be undertaking around 17 days riding, over 1400 km and lots of climbing (14,000 metres mapped, but invariably it turns out to be less than what the maps say). It is not our usual looking map with a few in and outs – the goal was to tick off the major cycle trails in the south, and that has been achieved.

The red lines to the right are where we have ridden previously as part of Alps to Ocean.

17 days riding plus 2 non cycling days days.

3 boat transfers including a speed boat down a gorge that caters for cyclists.

We will commence in Queenstown, arriving later on Wednesday night. Our anchor location is a B&B not far from the airport but some 8 km from central Queenstown.

On Friday the bikes will be reassembled and will undergo a short test ride. Weather permitting, we hope to go into central Queenstown and ‘catch’ the gondola up the mountain for a bird’s eye view of the region.

Skyline Queenstown stock photo image – if we can see a view like this, that will be great.

From Queenstown, we head off on Day 1 to Glenorchy, a smaller town at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu. We will follow the Dart River for a while, returning to Glenorchy for the night.

Day 1 planned map. Over 1200 metres climbing for our first day, no warming up like we usually do.

http://www.Experiencequeenstown.com photo of Glenorchy, looking back down Lake Wakatipu where will have ridden along. The weather will be as glorious – I hope….

Back to Queenstown and up to Arrowtown, regarded as one of New Zealands most picturesque towns. The town is named after the river Arrow, established during the gold rush in the 1860’s.

Firstlighttravel.com photo below. I am pretty sure we wont have snow at Arrowtown next week. Whilst the weather has been cooler ‘down there’ it is starting to warm up.

Notwithstanding, all our winter gear is being packed – same as what we took to Scandinavia earlier this year. Be prepared!

From Arrowtown we hit the trails to Alexandra and then onto the Otago Central Rail trail to Ranfurly and Middlemarch.

This rail trail was one of the attractors for this trip. It is a 152 km cycle route along a former rail line and referred to as the original Great Ride, being in existence now for over two decades.

Wanderlust photo – seems like modern power lines head through this section, but great views otherwise.

Trailhub.co.nz photo of the converted rail bridge on the trail:

We then head to Dunedin for two nights. The second day will be a day trip around the region, concluding with dinner with a friend Norm and his wife – not seen Norm for well over 30 years, when we both lived in Melbourne.

Dunedin is the second largest city in the South Island (after Christchurch) and the name comes from Dun Eidann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh.

The concept for our day trip – very tweakable if we feel tired, or the weather is inclement.

After Dunedin we head to Lawrence, Roxburgh and Bannockburn along the Clutha Gold trails. Between Roxburgh and Bannockburn we are booked on the 10.30am jet boat transfer along the river, where a section of trail is not yet completed. Certainly not a cheap transfer at $280 but well set up for bikes (Photo Newzealand.com).

We then weave up past Lake Dunstan and onto Lake Hawea and Makarora, where we are hoping to get down to the Blue Pools (weseektravel.com)

We then head back towards Queenstown via Wanaka. From Queenstown we have an early morning crossing of Lake Wakatipu, cycling then from the famous Walter Peak High Country farm through the mountains and down to the Fiordland National Park.

Milford Sound is THE most popular day trip in the region, and certainly I spent time examining the cycle route in and out. It is a narrow road, no verge, lots and lots of tourist vehicles including buses and vans travelling in each day. Leaving early, we would not ‘beat’ the conga line of vehicles. It is also quite a hilly route. We would need to allow a minimum of three days all up.

Whilst researching the area, I discovered Doubtful Sound. We are spending two nights in Manapouri, with our ‘rest’ day spent doing a day trip to Doubtful Sound.

We will travel across Lake Manapouri by boat, transfer into a 4WD vehicle to go through mountainous terrain, arriving at Doubtful Sound, where we will spend a few hours touring on a boat (Newzealand.com)

Captain James Cook was the first British explorer to discover the sound, and he sailed past, refusing to enter the sound because the fjords height made it ‘doubtful’ he would get enough wind to sail back out.

Doubtful Sound is the second largest fiord in Fiordland National Park, over 400 metres deep and stretching for 40 kilometres. It is three times longer than Milford Sound.

Hoping for good weather again – in fact, each and every day!

We then have a short day on the bike riding to Te Anau, where we have another rest day – maybe the glow worm caves?

Finally we we head back to Queenstown via the mountains to Walter Peak Farm, and an awaiting boat transfer to Queenstown.

We think this trip looks pretty cool and interesting and look forward to those readers who join us.

Ooroo Australia and Kia Ora Aotearoa.