New Zealand Cycle Tour

November - December 2009 - North to South New Zealand

This is a fine cycle touring route at a great time of year.

Started in Wellington - on the North Island crossing the Cook Strait to start Cycling from the Port of Picton.

The crossing is spectacular a great start to a long journey. The entrance to Charlotte Sound must be fun in 'sticky weather'.

Met up with Aussie Nick on the boat, who made the journey more fun with a bit of drinking and good craic.

Picton once made claim to be capital of New Zealand but was unsuccessful. Its now a really nice starting point for a 'tour' with good bars/restaurants. Indeed ensconced in the 'Flying Haggis' Picton's legendary Scottish Bar - home from home drinking Bellhaven with my new friend Gunther Gras!

The first day is a big one - a bit much really. Starts with a climb out of Picton then into the 'Sounds' proper. The Sounds are drowned valleys - Fjords really, are beautiful. Little beaches and isolated 'Batches' - holiday cottages. The vegetation is verdant, lush and dense. The roads good, empty but pretty undulating. Stopped for lunch at Havelock in deteriorating weather. The landscape changes here to farmland with long straight sections. I was pretty pleased to find the Brick Oven at about 40 miles.

After St.Arnaud and the 'Cakey' delights of the 'Brick' the route takes in the first mountain pass of the route. Pretty steep and a shock to the system. However a first of many high speed descents.

This climb is then followed by an even bigger climb and and even more exhilarating descent! I was starting to realise I was in New Zealand. I was also starting to realise that NZ Truckers, particularly gigantic Logging Trucks seemed to be incapable of seeing my brightly coloured clothing and were determined to claim every inch of the road for themselves. A person of more insecure sentiments than myself may start to develop a persecution complex! Indeed the first cyclists I met were two Dutch cyclists who had given up their tour because of these fearsome trucks. Discussing this with Kiwis I was assured that this behaviour was not because NZ Truckers hated cyclist = it was that they just hated everybody!! In their mind a good enough reason to scare the living daylights out of you. I got to know pretty quick if a Truck was very close by the intensity of the smell of brake fluid as they passed me. This was the one black spot on the entire journey. I cannot think what the NZ government could do about this, but if they want to remain the number one touring destination for cyclists some serious pressure/education/violence needs to be used to get these guys to stop behaving so 'mad'!
Day one ends in the great town of Nelson allegedly the sunniest place in NZ. In the pouring rain I arrived knacked having covered 71.63 miles and found a great Hotel. On reflection this was too much for day one and I should have taken it easier. However in Nelson I got a tip from a guy that I should go off route for the next stage to Murchison that although a bit father and more uphill would have less big Trucks on it. Well that's all the information needed - off route it was to be to the beautiful Lakeside town of St.Arnaud.

Leaving Nelson was the last of the City like traffic until I reached Dunedin - miles and miles away. The first part of the day is on dead straight flat roads and as I carried on, and on along this straight flat road I realised again that this was so different to home and that made me smile and stop for a beer! The weather improved too and when I left R9 turning onto the back road to St.Arnaud the traffic disappeared and I was doing the kind of touring I had come so far to find.

NZ here is a big beautiful farm. Farmland cleared from the wilderness. A pastoral paradise carved out by hard graft to the great credit of the people who travelled so far to make a new life here. I guess it is not a popular or PC view but the European settlers who did this, who made this struggle get my greatest respect. The sweat and toil that must have gone into making this place how it is today is monumental. I know that Maori people were displaced for this to happen, but I don't think Kiwi's should apologise for this. Indeed I think they should be incredibly proud of what their ancestors achieved in such a short period of time.

Cultural change was inevitable when the Europeans arrived in NZ. The Maori were earlier settlers to this 'Terra Nova' and just because they arrived earlier, in my mind does not give them any precedence to be able to claim cultural precedence. Kiwis I talked too in Dunedin were horrified by this viewpoint and were keen to point out to me the terrible acts the Europeans perpetrated on the Maori. Their historical viewpoint was one of the colonial exploitation of NZ and the subjugation and depletion of Maori culture. Unforgivable acts in their eyes which should be recognised and reparation to the Maori made.

As an outsider, NZ seemed a place of many peoples. Islands where the ideals of multicultural tolerance should be successful because all the peoples that arrived here had to travel here.

The Maori arrived in NZ due to population pressures in their home islands driving them towards NZ in search of a better life. Living in the Highlands of Scotland the idea struck me that in the later part of the 19th century the Highlands went through 'The Clearances.' Scots forced from their land due to economic pressure travelled to the other side of the world where they in turn 'cleared' the land and in the case of the South Island of NZ re-modelling it on the land where they had come from Scotland.

In Scotland to my annoyance the PC view is to apologise for what is seen as the triumph of Anglo-Saxon culture over Gaelic culture. Now we have the nonsense in Scotland who es overwhelming language is English of having road signs in Gaelic first, English second. I am happy to live with and celebrate Gaelic culture but I refuse to accept that just because it was precedent culture of the west highlands that I should apologise for our history and the actions of my ancestors and put my culture second.

It seems a great parallel can be drawn between how Gaelic culture is being stimulated in Scotland and how Maori culture is being promoted and supported in NZ.

The ride to St.Arnaud is great but hard. Two big mountain passes and no shops, pubs, garages or anywhere to get a drink. I was glad of my little 'Billy stove' and my hourly Tea stops. However I soon ran out of fluids and was parched and sun burnt by the time I made my destination - the beautiful campsite beside the Lake. I'd been warned about the power of the NZ sun, but like a fool I didn't take that seriously. That was a mistake and I was a painful, dehydrated 'Lobster'.
Total distance 55.78 miles

I needed an easy day and day three from St.Arnaud to Murchison provided just that. A tail wind and a route profile of about 90% downhill, magnificent scenery, great weather and you have the ingredients for a enjoyable day!

This 'cruise' follows the Buller River from its source, starting as a stream leaving the Lake at St.Arnaud it progresively picks up water building into a fine powerful river that you follow towards the sea for the next couple of days

Total distance 38 miles

Murchison is the kind of sleepy NZ town I imagined I'd find.

What I also found was a fantastic pub and my first NZ 'Roast Dinner' - a real nosh for about £6.00 add a couple or three beers an easy day. I was in heaven. Cycled back to the campsite, drank more beers overlooking the turbid Buller River. I must have had a good drink because despite sleeping on the ground I failed to notice the 5.00 Richter scale earthquake that shook Murchison that night!

Leaving Murchison you follow the Buller river as it drops into the impressive Buller Gorge. The route undulates through this steep sided valley but is mostly downhill and a pleasure to ride. At Inangahua which is famous for its deadly earthquakes you have a choice of route. Leave the Bulller river and head towards the Mining town of Reefton or carry on to .........

After discussing it with the locals at the one shop/garage where I discovered the NZ delights of 'Hokey Pokey' Reefton was sold to me on the description of the people who live and work there - 'Cowboys, Gold, Hard Rock and Coal Miners' must be something happening there then! - the bars should be 'interesting' at least.

The next section was hard going not because its all up hill with a strong headwind but because for the next 24 miles the road is totally straight - stretching ahead to the far horizon - never seeming to finish.

Total distance 44 miles

Reefton was not what I expected - a nice, clean, safe small town with the best Bakery/Breakfast of the tour! Mind you a pub called 'Wilsons' run by two friendly guys and the other run by two friendly girls! - Interestingly one of the girls stem from Northumberland and organise a team of sheep shearers visit each year to fleece the sheep of the Cheviots - now that is a canny commute!

From Reefton you cross the watershed after a short climb to reach the Grey River Valley. The journey to the mouth of the Grey River takes all day - on one straight road, dotted with small villages, miles of flat farmland with fantastic blue mountain backdrops. The wind was strong and in my face all day so I was glad to roll into Greymouth and my first sight of the Tasman sea. I had crossed New Zealand!

Total distance 49 miles

Greymouth is a Town. A good place to recharge the batteries - in other words eat big roast dinners, drink beer and seek preparatory medicines to sooth the increasigly irritating Sand Fly bites that was starting to turn my skin 'reptilian' (and this was before the buggers get bad!)

It was also nice to check into the Kingsgate Hotel to get cleaned up - Camping is fun and cheap but I am getting old!. The Manager at the Kingsgate, Vaughan Brown was very kind and hospitable. It turned out Vaughan used to play cricket for NZ and had toured the UK in his youth. Disturbed by my route which had missed out the famous 'Pancake Rocks' some 70klm north of Greymouth, he took time out and drove me up the spectacular coast north of Greymouth just to see this spot. What it also showed me was the tip to turn off the Bulller and head for Reefton missing out this beautiful stretch of coastline was a good one because their are some serious up and downs on this stretch!

It is worth mentioning that Vaughan's hospitality was entirely typical of the Kiwis I met on this trip. The Kiwis to a one were kind and welcoming, very happy to hear your tail and generous with hospitality. Shakespeare said 'what is the city but the people' well the true joy of this journey, spectacular yes, but the people I met helped make it more memorable.

Leaving Greymouth in the first bad weather of the trip on the road again after a couple of days off was great despite the weather. Great showers rolled in off the Tasman as I headed south towards Hokitika. The route is south along the coast, so no escape from the weather.

Hokitika is the 'Jade Capital' which through some quirk of pro Maori legislation is controlled by the Maori people for their benefit. The stuff is beautifully cut mostly into tradional designs.

The weather improved in the afternoon and I rolled into the 'Historic Gold Minning Town' of Ross in the early afternoon - this is good cos Ross is the home of the 'Historic Empire Hotel' which is without doubt my favourite pub in NZ

Total distance 42 miles

(left finishing this Blog entry too long!)

To finish off: From Ross I cycled down to Franz Joseph Glacier - a long pull through Maritime rainforest
Reaching Tasmine sea thence inland in increasingly Alpine landscape. FJG is a 'Mini Chamonix' and as such like Chamonix
is full of Tourist, over developed and not that nice - not like the typical NZ towns I had experienced up to then.

The next section to Fox Glacier is short but steep - an easy day really - as it was my 49th Birthday! Fox is much nicer than FJG - a smaller version less developed.

The next section is a big day from Fox to Haast - over 100 miles! of up and down and the last coastal section is a bit brutal! Haast is more like it - a small clean town in a fantastic wide valley with high mountain backdrop and a great pub/roast dinner!

From Haast you follow the Haast river for miles - pretty level then until the Gates of Haast/ Haast Pass where you climb steeply for several miles out of the Alpine Haast valley. This is one of the big passes on this journey - hard but enjoyable and a fantastic high speed free wheel to the perfectly located Wakarora Resort where I holed up in bad weather for a couple of days.

The ride from here to Wanaka is spectacular- Lakes and Mountain scenery. Wanaka is a pretty lakeside community a wee bit like FJG but less 'tacky'. Eat lunch here cos you have a big steady pull up the Cardrona Road Pass. The descent of this alpine pass is fast and exciting but meant I had to replace my break pads in Queeenstown! Beautiful scenery here in this part of NZ reminds me of Scotland