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This tour is mostly about the mountain biking, but on our journey through the South Island you'll be amazed by the natural awe-inspiring landscapes that continue changing even while travelling relatively short distances.
Your guides will be local New Zealanders, as experiencing New Zealand in the company of the locals is very important to us and will be a delight to you.
Please note that this tour can be shortened to 3, 4 and 5 days as required.
Arrive in Christchurch - Sort out bikes and head for Hanmer springs for a ride a BBQ and a soak in the hot mineral pools.
Ride Wharfedale Grade 3+ - About 4 hours of great single track. After an early morning coffee we head for the hills near Oxford for the first taste of kiwi single track. This is a reasonably challenging day, for those who are having issues with some of the challenges on the track. Greg, your guide, will give you a few pointers. But we are not in a race, so have plenty of time to enjoy the native beech forest. This track was originally an old stock route. Our night will be spent in the Arthur's Pass National Park at the Bealey hotel overlooking the Waimakariri River valley. Stunning alpine vistas while enjoying enjoy the solitude of the secluded mountain environment.
Ride Craigieburn Grade 4+. A relaxed start as we back-track a few km to the Craigieburn forest. A reasonably technical single track that was originally formed to walk the rope for one of the ski areas lifts in. The trail is quite exposed and challenging but so much fun should be about 3-4 hours riding. We have a bit of a drive to stay down the track and drive to Geraldine to sample a bit of small town New Zealand.
Ride from top of Danseys pass to Ride Naseby and single track at Naseby. An early start to make the most of the day. We will drive/ride over the Dansey's Pass, high tussock sheep land in the Kakanui mountains. This is a road less travelled but well worth the trip. A great ride off the top of the Pass, mostly down hill dirt road, then on to the 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow', single track in Naseby forest. We can and will spend hours playing around some of the best single track in the south, twisting and flowing under the canopy of exotic forest, earning a beer or two at the Hotel that is the hub of all the trails. Once a bustling mining town, now a town that boasts that it is 2000 feet above worry level. A night and dinner at the Royal Hotel Naseby.
Ride for the day will be farm tracks and sheep tracks on a Lord of the Rings filming location, the 'Land of Rohan'. The amazing thing about this ride is that you can look in all directions and not see a, power pole, house or shed, it's like you are in the middle of nowhere and the reality is that you are. There is a good option of turning this day in to a shuttle day where instead of peddling up for 3hrs and down for 2, we can drive up and ride down a different trail. A bit of a drive to the historic and charming town of Clyde and we will treat ourselves to a night out.
A leisurely breakfast as we have only a short drive to one of two trails. Weather permitting we will drive to the top of the Dunstan Mountains to Leaning Rock and ride the Dunstan traversel. This is a Grade 3+ 1700m descent with a ride time of 4-5 hours, stunning barren landscapes with huge rock Tors, narrow farm tracks and old gold mining water courses (Greg the guide's favourite ride) and 360° views. Or in the event of bad weather- Bendigo 3-4 hour cross country ride along an old disused water race created during the gold rush of the 1870s, now surrounded by sheep and high country farm land. If we have enough energy we will make a few stops to sample the local Pinot Noir that the Central Otago area grows so well. On to Queenstown for the last night of the tour.
Heli-bike option day. The trail of choice will be the Roaring Meg Heli- bike but weather can play its hand, so we will make this ride optional. The alternative is some fun single track around Queenstown for the morning, leaving time to throw yourself from a bridge or some other adrenaline producing pursuit that Queenstown is so good at delivering. The cost of the heli-tour is not included due to the variable weather component.
- Full suspension ‘Jamis’ bikes
- Helmets
- Gloves
- Guide
- Door to door transport
- Trail snacks and apres bike drink
| 17 November 2006 | 25 November 2006 |
| 02 December 2006 | 07 December 2006 |
| 20 January 2007 | 26 January 2007 |
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