Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 4: Omarama to Otematata

April 8, 2021

By this point in the trip I had learned that it was a good idea to let the big groups of electric bikers past me at some point. Before we got to Lake Benmore I took my first tea break and let them ride on by.

This section had a lot of squeeze barriers that you have to get off your bike for so it pays not to be behind a lot of riders.

Like a lot of lakes in New Zealand the edges are thick with introduced willow trees

The newest, trickiest and most fun part of the A2O trail is the section between Sailors Cutting and Lake Benmore dam. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind one very wobbly rider who was not confident enough on her electric bike to stop to let me go past, even though there were plenty of passing points. So I stopped for an extra long tea break at the next peak that had stunning views over the lake.

Then it was a fun, winding ride around. The track is at least 1.5 m wide and there is fencing along the steepest drop offs so I was never afraid. And I'm a real scaredy-cat.

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After my spectacular skinny-dip it was a bit of a climb to the top where you could look over Lake Benmore dam and down over Otematata. I stopped for lunch at the top.

After I freewheeled down to the town I stopped for a last swim in the lake below. Swam out to a raft with a white heron on it. I meant to leave it alone but it flew away so that I could go and dive from it. And an apple tree beside it had sweet little apples to follow my flask of tea and chocolate.

It was worth stopping a lot this day, because there isn't much to Otematata apart from a friendly pub. We stayed in one of the apartments behind for $110.

Forgot to put down my times, but it wasn’t too much.

Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 3: Lake Ohau Lodge to Omarama

April 7, 2021

A good place for a cup of coffee on a cool autumn morning before starting off from Lake Ohau Lodge

This was the part of the trail that I was dreading. When you look at the elevation map, it looks like an incredibly steep climb followed by an incredibly steep descent and it was all off road. But I needn't have worried as there are worse hills in Lyttelton. If you can take your time, you can really enjoy it and the views over the Mackenzie country are incredible.

Rain clearing and a rainbow to see us off

The only real issue was ebikers passing and then stopping, often in the middle of the track. The track is rough, but not technical, just rocky, so I had to go slow and stand on my pedals downhill. There were lots of distractions uphill, which made it much easier to bear. I saw a falcon fly across my path a few feet from my face.

Burnt bush over the Mackenzie

There are a few easy fords to ride through

It’s a beautiful ride down through the grasslands

I had lunch at the old woolshed and was left on my own, which gave me more of a chance to explore. Yay.

Quailburn road was my least favourite part of the trail. It is a long shingle road, shared with traffic and though there aren't many cars, the problem is you can't hear them because of the gravel. And it is hard to stay left as when you get towards the side of the road the gravel becomes deep and I found my back wheel sliding all over the shop.

I didn’t take the side trip to see the clay cliffs. It’s a very rutted dirt road with lots of traffic and a 14km round trip. To see dirt. So onward to Omarama via the Ahuriri (great to see the community work on remediating the waterway by replacing willows with native plants).

We stayed in a cabin at Omarama campground for $85.

Left at 9 am and arrived at 2:30. Time in saddle: 4 hours.

Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 2: Twizel to Lake Ohau Lodge

April 6, 2021

The centre of Twizel is a little confusing in a Land Rover because of the way the road snakes around it. But it is really easy to walk or bike around and the central village square has a great café called Hydro. Next to it is a tiny little bookshop and an awesome independent shop called Jake’s. Jake’s sells everything you might need. They have more biking gear than my local cycling shop, plus hardware, toys, gardening stuff and a lot more.

The weather forecast was bad with rain and wind. It was windy with gusts and we had some small rain showers, but it wasn’t that bad and we had good views. Early on in the day I stopped at Loch Cameron to swim. I wish I had decided to swim every day on the trail as there were amazing wild swim opportunities. I regretted not swimming at Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau.

I met Sue at the loch. She was only a year younger than me (50) and was also doing the Alps to Ocean on a non-electric bike. She had a mountain bike with suspension, but more gear, as she was bike-packing and camping along the way.

Good purpose-built track around Lake Ohau

We stopped at the Maori pou for lunch but should’ve stopped 100 yards ahead where there is a picnic table. The lake was beautiful and there was almost enough surf to swim in. The only other riders I encountered on this day of the trail were in a group of twentysomethings who insisted on broadcasting their music from a phone as they rode. Very annoying and I’m glad we weren’t riding with them. I was mostly riding on my own but occasionally stopped with Sue.

It was a day of beautiful mountain scenery, fantastic clouds and lots of birds (very few native).

You could see where there had been the massive fire. There was a lot of green regrowth and now finally people are taking down the big pines around buildings. Maybe they will plant some natives that are less likely to burn.

Because of the poor weather forecast, we had changed our camping plans to the basic accommodation at Lake Ohau Lodge. $125 got as a fantastic little room with an ensuite. And the lodge is great fun with a good bar (beers are less than $10 a pint and a big plate of nachos was $15) and hot tubs that you can use even if you are camping. Unfortunately I shared the hot tub with a very unfriendly woman from Blenheim (originally French, "from all over France"). When asked what she likes to do in Blenheim, she answered, “lots of things”. Every question was viewed with distain and answered so that she gave nothing away. Which was a shame, as she was walking the length of the South Island on Te Araroa trail. But I guess she was doing it to get away from people.

The lodge was one of many businesses along the trail that have been kept afloat by the Alps2Ocean. Otherwise its main business is the ski season.

Departed 9:30 arrived at 1:30. Time in saddle: three hours.

Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 1: Lake Tekapo to Twizel

April 1, 2021

As a middle-aged woman on a non-mountain bike, I thought that the Alps to ocean bike trail might be too tough for me. It's advertised as an easy to intermediate off road trail, but my bicycle is designed more for on road. Before I went on the trip I had my bike serviced and changed the 700×28 tyres for 700×32 ones. But there were quite a few guys on their mountain bikes who looked at my bike doubtfully. I’m happy to say that I did the whole trail without having to walk sections of it and I didn't fall off. So I think most bikes could manage it and also most cyclists.

I began the Alps2Ocean at the alternative starting point of Lake Tekapo. I didn't want to waste fossil fuel helicoptering in to Aoraki/Mount Cook and you still see it a lot on the first day.

We took my bike down from Lyttelton on the back of Gertie the 1975 Land Rover

Lake Tekapo without the hordes of tourists you usually see around Church of the Good Shepherd

Lake Tekapo always used to be a terrible place to stop with an overpriced tiny supermarket and mediocre bars and restaurants. But now there is a little more choice and though the supermarket is still slightly overpriced it has a good selection as it is much bigger. We had beer at Mackenzies, which looks fancy but was actually cheaper than Our Dog Friday. ODF did an amazing variety of burgers. Fish burgers weren’t available so I went with the vegan Pardoner burger. I’m glad I did as it was really different, tasty and something that would’ve taken me a long time to prepare at home, for only $16.

The beautiful Mackenzie Country (without irrigation)

My bike. A specialized sirrus dating mostly to 2003 with a 2008 frame. The panniers were for wet and cold weather gear, tools, spare tyres, an Anne Tyler book, lots of food, water and a flask of Lady Grey tea. The essentials for day biking.

A lot of the first day’s cycling from Lake Tekapo is along the canals. This would be boring, but for the views of the mountains including Aoraki/Mount Cook.

There are salmon farms in the canals and a lot of guys try their luck, but I didn’t see anyone catch anything.

The best part of the day’s ride was the narrow bicycle track around Lake Pukaki. Good going and interesting terrain with amazing views of the lake and mountains. I had my picnic lunch by the shore, in the shade under the trees as it was really hot - 27 degrees C (March is the most popular time to do the trail).

It was lovely to be off road going through the dry grass land of the Mackenzie through Pukai flats. There was very little road cycling to worry about on day one and the going was easy, particularly as there was no wind and the sun was on my back. Like most of the trail, it merits taking a packed lunch as there aren’t many options for stopping off except at the salmon farm shop.