It is time to head off to the magical South Island of New Zealand again for Julies' annual Wee Tiki Tour, this is the 4th iteration of this adventure and like the Lord of the Rings movies series each one is a good as the last and the excitement builds from the moment the preliminary itinerary is released and the departure date eagerly awaited.
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| Catching the early flight to Christchurch from Brisbane. Although the flight was smooth and trouble free the check in process was atrocious. Checking in online usually makes this process a breeze, not so this time with the recent introduction of a self check-in system that was still having teething problems. Luckily we had all given ourselves plenty of time unfortunately our time was not spent chatting over a coffee waiting for departure it was spent in long queues, caused by inefficient and insufficiently tested systems |
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| Bike assembly HQ at Phil and Alice's followed by dinner and pre-tour briefing |
5th Port Hills Crater Rim
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| Sunday 5th All kitted up and ready for the first ride of the tour. We meet at Julie and Kees place (which looks surprisingly like the neighbours place whom we dropped in on a few times wondering who the strange people in the drive where, turns out the strange people was us at the wrong house ...again!) |
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Unfortunately Alice, a regular on the Tour, is only going to be able to join us for this one ride :(
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| We bike through the beautiful streets of Christchurch to the tracks in the Port Hills |
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| Very busy on Rapaki on a Sunday morning, especially so when it is a beautiful day and many of the other tracks are closed due to the recent fires |
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| About 2 thirds of the way up Rapaki we detour to the left and ride the Montgomery Spur Track which is an easy scenic loop, a nice break from the climb up Rapaki |
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| After the Montgomery Spur we head to the top of Rapaki and off onto the single track which winds up, over and along the rim of an extinct volcano to Godley Head, popping out onto Summit Rd occasionally |
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| No sure what it's purpose is but we found this along the way, oh and an old concrete bunker as well! |
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| Time to get my head in the rock game, lots of concentration required to get through this stuff without pedal strike bringing you undone |
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| Why the hump in the bridge...why not |
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| Winding our way down to Taylors Mistake on Anaconda |
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| Almost to the beach where lunch awaits |
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| Julies wonderful friends Barb and Marie provided us with a much anticipated sit down lunch, finding us the perfect spot under the trees |
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| The isolated black sand beach is packed to capacity on a hot Sunday afternoon |
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| While the cars took some of our number home in comfort a small but hardy group headed back to home base pedal power style, with a steep climb out of Taylors mistake we were rewarded with a fast downhill and then a flat ride home and although we had been warned about heading into the dreaded westerly it failed to rear its ugly head and the ride home was very pleasant despite being on the road |
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| Alice found some nice trails off the road |
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| Julian didn't enjoy all of the ride home...after a disagreement with a chain that was hiding in plain sight he lost the argument and was unceremoniously thrown to the ground |
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| Route out to Taylors Mistake |
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| Route back home (forgot to start my watch, but close enough) |
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Take away Pizza for dinner at the lovely Air B&B house a group of us shared for the 4 days in Christchurch
6th Double Fence Line |
A forty minute drive from Christchurch is the settlement of Little River, the staging post for the next adventure, The Double Fenceline.
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| Morning Tea at a quirky Cafe in Little River |
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| While some drove to the top a group of us rode from Little River up, up, up and up Western Valley Rd |
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| Reunited we head into the land of many fences |
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Suzie shows us how this climbing thing is done
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| Safe to say it gets pretty windy in these parts |
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| Better get moving if I'm going to catch up |
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| Double fence line! |
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| We got plenty of practice using stiles with Mountain Bikes |
I think this must have been a lesson on how to pose for a photograph
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| Richard in charge of the sorting gate |
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| Andrew trying to convince me it's a good idea for him to jump off this random rock pile |
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| Lunch stop with a view |
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| Very liberating for the Aussies to be able to walk and sit in the long grass without fear of animal, insect or plant attack! |
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| Julie showing us how to climb this time |
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| Perfect spot to stop and take a few photos |
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| Kees explaining to Jane how the big poo got on his seat! |
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| Rolling the road back to Little River |
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| Quirky accommodation in Little river |
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| Julians afternoon tea has been sabotaged |
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| Forgot to start my watch again but we started where we finished |
The 7th was intended to be a day spent at the Christchurch Downhill Adventure Bike Park but due to the recent fires it was still closed so the day was spent washing getting organised for departure the next day, a group lunch at Speights and collecting the last member of the tour, Erica from the airport.
The 8th was a travel day with us loading up the cars and heading to Murchison
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| John fueled up with a flat white in a bowl |
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| Heading for the hills |
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| Snow on the not so distant hills |
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| Accommodation in Murchison |
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| Kids play room at the pub.It's not that kind of play room Andrew! |
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| Pot Pants |
9th The Old Ghost Road Lyell to Stern Valley Hut
The Old Ghost Road is a bucket list item for many a mountain biker, 85kms of single track through pristine NZ backcountry wilderness, stretching from Lyell to Seddonville. The track was opened in late 2015. There are many options when it comes to the Old Ghost Road including, getting a gear drop, heli biking so you only do the downhill to riding the whole thing in one day, we chose to carry our own gear and do the track in two days. This can be done with a larger backpack or extra roll attached to the bike, either to the handle bars or on a rack, within our group we had all these options in use and all worked equally as well.
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An early start loading up the bikes and heading to Lyell
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| With the West Coast is renowned for it's high rainfall the blue skies brought with them high spirits |
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| All packed up and ready to hit the trail |
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| The first day starts with 25kms of uphill |
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| After riding through dense forests we pop out into the open of the big slips |
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| Exposed sections of trail are common and not for the faint hearted |
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| Heading up to Lyell Saddle |
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| Lunch stop at Lyell Saddle Hut where we say farewell to Suzie and John who are going to shuttle the cars to the other end |
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| Into the forest again |
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| We pop out of the trees and are rewarded with views that seems to stretch forever |
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| Pretty pleased to have the 25kms of climbing behind us |
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| Heading into a very exposed and rocky section of track |
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| Andrew is pretty excited |
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| View from Ghost Lake Hut |
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| A quick break at Ghost Lake, this is where many mountain bikers stay the night, we need to keep moving as we still need to get to Stern Valley Hut |
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| From the vantage of Ghost Lake Hut we can see some pretty tricky switchbacks in the next section of track |
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| Happy to have survived the switchbacks |
Up on Skyline Ridge
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| Julian's at it again |
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| Riding the length of Skyline Ridge |
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| Kees contemplating the Skyline steps |
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| They are pretty steep |
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| Now for some very sweet downhill that just kept on going taking us all the way to Stern Valley Hut |
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| Our accommodation for the night, Stern Valley Hut. The sand flies were numerous and vicious so no exploring the surrounding area and it was fairly late when we arrived anyway. We took up the entire hut with 4 bunks in the kitchen and six in the adjoining room. The hut has gas cookers all cutlery and crockery and the bunks had mattresses as well as a heater which we didn't need as it was fairly warm, especially for those of us on the top bunks while those on the bottom bunks were not so warm. I had a silk sleeping bag liner and a light woolen blanket which kept me plenty warm enough, Kees on the bottom bunk with only a cotton liner was not quite as happy. |
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| An intimate dehydrated meal for ten by torchlight |
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| Julian get medical attention for his grazed knee |
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| Those who were sympathetic to Julians injuries got to share dehydrated strawberry cheese cake, the verdict...interesting |
10th Old Ghost Road Stern Valley to Seddonvile
After a pleasant breakfast of porridge we headed out in dribs and drabs with Andrew and I the last to head out
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| The track takes us up the valley past lake Grim and Lake Cheerful then up through the Bone Yard |
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| The Bone Yard, where the track winds its way through and up a bolder strewn slope |
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| The lovely lady behind me in this pic was running the Old Ghost Road while her husband, whom I titled the Royal baggage train, provided support vehicle services on his mountain bike |
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| The climb trough the Bone Yard was rewarded with a sweet downhill that just seemed to last forever |
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| For the remainder of the track we followed the banks of the Mokihinui River |
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| Many and varied swing bridges dotted the track, the one thing they had in common was that nobody wants to be on a swing bridge at the same time as Andrew |
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| Old mining equipment off the side of the track |
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| John and Andrew have missed each other! John and Suzie have shuttled the cars to the Rough and Tumble Lodge and ridden up the track to meet us |
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| The Rough and Tumble Lodge is a welcome sight and a wonderful place to relax after two days on the trail |
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The Lodge is situated on a bend in the river and is the perfect place to enjoy some luxury and escape the sandflies
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| If you are interested in riding The Old Ghost Road I thoroughly recommend reading "Spirit to the Stone" by Marion Boatwright which documents the making of the track and details the incredible effort that was required to complete this mammoth task |
11th Charming Creek
After having perfect weather for the Old Ghost Road we wake to a wet day, but with our clothes clean and dry and a night spent in comfort we happily collect or packed lunches and head out for the next adventure
4km down the road from the Rough and Tumble is the township of Seddonville
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| A group of us do the "flat" 10k road ride to the beginning of the track, turns out to be quite a climb |
The track starts at the old mine site
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| The track is dotted with remnants of the areas mining history |
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| Turns out Erica has a keen interest in tractors |
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| I have a keen interest in blackberries and am not afraid to compromise the waterproofness of my poncho in pursuit of aforementioned tasty fruit |
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| Lunch stop, and we all grab out brown paper bag surprise lunches,just like school camp. Just like school camp I didn't like the sandwiches and had to do a bit of horse trading to swap my sandwiches and chips for fruit. Although it had rained gently on us all morning it wasn't cold |
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| The multi hued poncho gang, colourful, cool and dry |
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| The track follows and old rail line and in many places we were riding over the old sleepers |
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| Mangatini Falls |
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| Just past the waterfall the track was closed due to a recent rock slip and although we met other groups who had ignored the sign we saw it as an unnecessary risk especially considering the recent (overnight) earthquakes |
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| Back through the tunnel |
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| Johns tyre was a victim of a railway spike |
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| Why? Because he can that's why! |
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| This is one happy little engine :) |
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| Accommodation for the night was at the very quirky Charming Creek Hotel which provided what I'm assured is West Coast Hospitality and a great home style buffet dinner |
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| Doesn't every pub have a motorbike or two parked inside |
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| The drying room came in very handy |
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| One of the many artworks that dotted the walls |
13th The road to Hokitika
Breakfast is a self catering affair in the lounge room and the weather is dreary which is ok as today is a travel day
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| Plenty of energy left in the girls |
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| This jump shot is almost as quirky as the pub is. |
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| NZ roads are dotted with single lane bridges, this one was particularly slippery |
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| A roadside market at Fox Creek drew our attention and we stopped for some great food and coffee |
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| Lots of handsome fellows strutting their stuff at the market |
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| Andrew and I spotted a cave as we were wandering over the bridge, turned out to be a tunnel, even random coffee stops are scenic and interesting in NZ |
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| A stop at Pancake rocks was next on the agenda, the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy a stroll around the coastal track and watch a pod of dolphins frolicking just off shore |
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Hokitika was our destination for the night, a stop at the local bikeshop gave John a chance to get a new tyre to replace the one that was slashed on the Charming Creek Track. I learnt two things from this #1. You can use a $10 to wrap around the tube to stop it bulging out a slashed sidewall and #2. Spoons can be used as tyre levers. |
13th Cowboy Paradise
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| The staging post for the next ride was the Theatre Royal Hotel in Kumara |
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| An overcast day but luckily the rain stayed away |
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| This track which is part of the West Coast Wilderness Trail popped in and out of forest stands and had a variety of single track and gravel road (shingle as the Kiwis call it) with it being more road than single track |
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Why? Because he's a wild man!
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| Again Why? See above. |
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| A steady climb took us to the turn around point at Cowboy Paradise which is a work in progress, they are certainly putting a lot of effort in, including accommodation and light meals but still have a ways to go. |
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| Yeehaa, it's downhill from here |
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| Enjoying some refreshments in the pub post ride then on to Flock Hill for the next two nights |
14th Hogs Back
Finally some cold weather, well 9 degrees Celsius which isn't really cold I know but being from Queensland and just having endured the hottest summer on record it felt cold and it felt good. Only four of us set out into the heavy clouds and cold winds to ride the Hogs Back Track. We Drove to Castle Hill Village with the intention of doing the Hogs Back both ways.
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| The first part of the track is up through a lovely forest |
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| Fungi dotted the sides of the the forest track |
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| As we pop out of the forest cover the clouds are starting to lift |
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| Stopping to take a photo and somehow I managed to fall in-between the matagouri plants and avoid the worst of the spikes |
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| The Lightening Tree |
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| Now it's more blue sky than clouds as we head up the bare hillside to Picnic Rock Lookout |
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| Sitting at this vantage point looking down at the finish of the Hogs Back we decided to continue on and do the Dracophyllum Flat Track and Sidle 73 back to Flock Hill since the day had turned into a cracker. |
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| Dracophyllum Flat |
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| At the end of the Dracophyllum Flat Track which had alot of forest and hill for a flat track. Now we headed into one of our favourite tracks Sidle 73 |
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| Jan gets herself in a bit of a pickle, no injuries and apparently it wasn't as bad as getting trapped under a wheelie bin |
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| Jack the Jack Russell enjoying the grounds at Flock Hill Station |
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A beautiful afternoon gave us plenty of opportunity to do some washing and clean our bikes so all we had to do back in Christchurch the next day was to pack them into their bags ready for the flight home
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| Until next time NZ, it's been a blast as always. Thanks to Julie for putting together a fantastic tour once again, it was everything we have come to expect from these tours, magnificent riding, delightful company, beautiful scenery and scrumptious food. |
Photos for the Wee Tiki Tour 2017 by Andrew, Jane, Phil, Richard and me
