On The Trail – Queenstown – Bikes, Boots, Bush & Boat

I was going to say that I had not really had much bike time despite lugging the things around on the roof of our car. However, on checking the km traveled on the odometer, since we left home in January, it is reading 542km. Where did all those km materialise from? Well 100 or so have been gained out on The Queenstown Trail.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0978. — Between the lower Shotover and Quennstown the trail hugs the Kawarau river which in turn hugs the base of the Remarkables – Picture taken on GoPro.

Queenstown is tourist central in NZ, the place is ‘chock-a-block’ with tourists, the town is overcrowded and not particularly our scene. We decide to stay out of town, in an airbnb half way between Queenstown and Arrowtown. Very convenient for biking ‘The Trail’ except for the near vertical hills on both access roads to our accommodation and all of the bike trails. Fantastic to ride down (carefully) but worthy of a call to Ruth to come and collect me at the bottom of the hill for the return journey.

dscf9832 — Another suspension bridge on our travels, this one crosses a Gorge on the lower Arrow River (top). Ruth wisely chooses to walk across it (lower).

The trails are well formed and provide excellent riding conditions and in addition, the weather has been perfect for riding, both from a scenery and heat perspective. Every turn on the rides offers up a new amazing vista and if you ride out to the Gibbston Valley, as we did, a superb lunch and wine rewards you.

fullsizeoutput_53b2 — Ruth has a cold drink and lunch on her mind as she powers towards the Gibbston Wine Region (lower picture)

Ruth has been lucky enough to have my sister Barbara joining us for the Queenstown leg. It has given her an excuse to ‘pass’ on some of the rides but not all of them. For me, it has been great to have the opportunity to have someone to collect me at the conclusion of a ride saving me the slog back over territory already covered. Not that it matters that much, the view going in one direction is often different from the view going the other way.

fullsizeoutput_53cd — Christine’s Hill (they all have very personable names) was a challenge especially after grinding my way to the top only to find that I had left my drink bottle on the table in the AirBnb.

dscf9935 — We were lucky enough to see Lake Hayes in a reflective mood (also picture below) when we biked around it.

There were a few hills that involved a bit of huffing and puffing but the view at the top of each hill is kind of worth the effort but the ride down the other side never lasts long enough to justify that effort.

We have around another two weeks of cycle trails to tackle. After we drop Barbara back at the airport tomorrow Ruth will be a bit thin on excuses. I note that she has also finished the book that she has been burying her head in whenever I rustle the riding gear.

fullsizeoutput_53d0 — Between rides there was the opportunity to take in some of the stunning scenery in surrounding areas – Mt Aspiring

fullsizeoutput_53c9 — AirBnb potential? – near Glenorchy

dscf9878 — glenorchy folks had built a ‘history wall’ on the community center using photos from their collections.

1 comment

Smart of you to skip the crowded (and expensive) center of Queenstown! I (Beth) find myself in Ruth’s shoes when it comes to heavy-duty up-and-down cycling, though Joe would be right out there with you, Cliff, and loving every minute. The scenery is certainly quite lovely in that area whether on a bike and hiking.

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