Archive for December, 2010
December 23, 2010 · Filed under NEW ZEALAND, AUCKLAND · Tagged backpack new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, blog new zealand, new zealand blog, canadian working in new zealand, work new zealand, nz blog, auckland blog, travel blog, work abroad, work in new zealand, canadians working overseas, AUCKLAND, outdoor adventure, canadians working abroad, adventure, travelling new zealand, travel new zealand, working overseas, backpacking new zealand
Christmas in New Zealand has arrived. It’s Christmas Eve and I am starting to feel a little more in the Christmas spirit – not sure why? Maybe it’s the excitement of being off of work for 2 weeks or maybe it’s that Santa comes tomorrow morning. All my shopping is done, though I have to wrap a few things – that can be done with a beer in hand. Work has slowed down completely and it has been a week of Christmas parties, meaning a lot of drinking. Ive kind of broken the budget when it came to going out this week, but that is what happens this time of year I guess. I will be spending Christmas Eve, Christmas & Boxing Day with Michelle’s family. Last year we had Christmas in Canada with my family, so this year it is reversed! It will be great to spend the holidays with Michelle’s family as it will make being away from home much easier. I do have to admit that this past week I have been the most homesick I have been while in NZ. It’s not that I want to return home, it’s just that I miss my family and mates. I guess that is natural at this time of year.
After three days at Michelle’s folks place we will set off for Nelson. We have the catch the ferry on the 28th of Jan at 1pm. So we have 2 days to get there and no real plan on where to stay the night of the 27th. We looked at some doc sites in the National Park, but have decided to go with the flow and find a place as we go. This could work out really well or it could mean that we are sleeping in the car somewhere. As for plans in Nelson; sun & sand! I have about 30 tracks I would like to ride, though I doubt I will get to ride half of that. We’ve got 5 or 6 days booked at the Tahuna campgrounds which is right in Nelson, on the beach. NICE! After that we will head over to Abel Tasman National Park to do some kayaking and hiking. Pretty stoked! I doubt I will be updating my blog while on the road, so this could be the last posting for about 2 weeks. I should have heaps of pics and maybe even some video when I return back to Auckland.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 21, 2010 · Filed under AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged AUCKLAND, auckland blog, canadian working in new zealand, christmas in the park, christmas in the park auckland, christmas in the park new zealand, coca colas christmas in the park, live and work in new zealand, nz blog, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, travelling new zealand, work in new zealand
Michelle and I at Christmas in the Park
For the past 17 years Coca-Cola has put on Christmas in the Park in Auckland and Christchurch. Being that I am from the great white north, the idea of sitting in a park at Christmas is pretty foreign. To be honest it is tough to get in the Christmas spirit without seeing snow, but I am sure that will pass. Christmas in the park is a holiday concert/show held in Auckland’s Domain, where you bring your picnic basket and watch entertainers, dancers, and musicians. Michelle and I met some friends there where we all brought a dish to the picnic. Unlike Canada they let you bring some alcoholic bevies to the park to celebrate the season. We took a 6 pack of ciders and a bottle of whisky.. nothing screams the holidays like booze! We managed to polish it all off, which made the show a little bit more enjoyable. If you are in either Auckland or Christchurch over the holiday season definitely try to make it out to the Christmas in the park.
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 20, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND, AUCKLAND · Tagged backpack new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, live and work in new zealand, blog new zealand, new zealand blog, canadian working in new zealand, bike new zealand, nz blog, auckland blog, canadians in auckland, travel blog, AUCKLAND, outdoor adventure, mountain bike new zealand, i heart mountain biking, travel new zealand, backpacking, mountain biking, mountain bikes, single track new zealand, mountain bike, nz mountain biking, single track in auckland, bikes, hunua ranges, hunua ranges mountain bike tracks, bike trails in hunua ranges
The weekend after I got back from riding on the west coast I was inspired to check out some other local tracks in the Auckland area, rather than just hit up Woodhill Bike Park. As I have said in earlier posting, Woodhill is sand based so it is great when wet but pretty shite when dry. When dry it is just a tough slog through all the sand. Ive also rode at Riverhead, which is in the Auckland area and found that it had some decent tracks. It also has some pretty stupid tracks, meaning stumps in the middle of transitions, dumb ass jumps and gaps… just some stuff that really isn’t very well thought out. As for the good, they are spread out and have to be ridden in the dry as it is clay based and if you choose to ride when wet you will be slipping and sliding everywhere. Not to mention a good two hours cleaning your bike. Now that winter has passed I will be heading out their a little more often, but want to give it a good month to dry out. The week of constant rain hasn’t helped that plan! The new tracks I was going to check were in the Hunua Ranges.
Ive researched these tracks and they sounded ok, pretty much some single track in native bush. I set off to Papakura which is about 35 mins outside of Auckland. Once I found the car parking lot and the tracks I set off on Moumoukai Farm Track & River Track and also hi the Mangatahiri Challenge Track. It is tight winding single track that twists through forests and fields with some gravel road riding in between. There were some steep ups and downs too. Maybe it was because I was spoiled from the west coast riding but I was not overally impressed with the tracks. I didn’t like how they laid gravel down in some areas. Too easy to wash out on and I much prefer sticky earth and the natural soil to the area.
I don’t think I will be heading back to these tracks, just wasn’t very impressed. I will hit up Riverhead once it dries out. Woodhill is great when it is wet and will pretty much keep it as my local riding spot. Next I think I will hit the Whitford Forest, which is supposed to have some decent trails. I of course will be hitting Rotorua as much as possible as nothing in the Auckland area has anything that can compare with those tracks.
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 15, 2010 · Filed under AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged AUCKLAND, auckland blog, backpack new zealand, backpacking, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, canadians working overseas, iep new zealand, jack johnson at vector arena, jack johnson concert review, jack johnson in new zealand, music blog, new zealand music, nz music, tegan and sara concert review, tegan and sarah in new zealand, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, work in new zealand, work new zealand, working overseas, www.swap.ca
Jack Johnson at the Vector Arena, Auckland New Zealand.
On Dec 2nd a day after returning from the west coast I hit up the Jack Johnson show with Michelle and her aunt. I’ve seen Jack Johnson before back in Canada (he opened for Ben Harper – amazing show by the way) and was pretty stoked to be able to see him in New Zealand. I guess he loves NZ, as he and Ben Harper both have a place in Raglan – the famous surfing spot in NZ. Jack Johnson tunes definitely fit the New Zealand lifestyle – chill and beachy!
The open act was Tegan and Sara, a Canadian band that did a great job of warming up the Vector arena. They played a great mix of their older hits and some stuff off of their new album. I was surprised to hear they were opening for JJ, but in a good way. I’ve been a fan of T & S for quite sometime, so it was nice to be able to take in a live show! Overall they sounded great and are worth the price of admission.
When Jack Johnson came out and after the crowd settled down he jumped right into his set, no saying a word to the crowd. This continued for the first hour and then he finally broke the silence explaining how he gets nervous and just prefers to play music. He switched between acoustic and electric, though his voice remained crystal clear. He played all of his signature tracks and also covered Steve Miller Band’s The Joker, which was really good too! One of his band mates, Zach Gill was quite impressive in his own right. He was switching between tickling the ivories, rocking the accordion and busting out some sweet dancing as well – def a show stealer. Jack Johnson tried to leave the stage once but was cajoled back for more songs and a very entertaining version of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer before it was over. All of the profits from his NZ shows went to the Christchurch earthquake relief fund. It was a very entertaining show and I would def recommend that you take in a Jack Johnson concert if you have the chance, as you will not be disappointed.
Set List:
Taylor
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
You and Your Heart
If I Had Eyes
Fortunate Fool
Flake
The Joker (Steve Miller cover)
To The Sea
Go On
Upside Down
The Horizon Has Been Defeated
Badfish / Boss DJ
Inaudible Melodies
Pictures Of People Taking Pictures of People
Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology
Bubble Toes
Wasting Time
No Other Way
Banana Pancakes Breakdown
Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)
Good People
At or With Me
Encore:
Do You Remember
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Johnny Marks cover)
Angel
Better Together
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 15, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged air new zealand, bike blog, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, i heart mountain biking, mountain bike dunedin, mountain bike new zealand, nz mountain biking, recreation blog, sports blog, travel blog, travel with a bike in new zealand, travelling new zealand, west coast mountain bike trails, west coast mountain biking, west coast nz mountain biking
Today there would be no riding, which I was ok with since I was exhausted from the 6 days of straight riding. I had to be at the airport around 2ish and Mark had to take care of his radiator problems. After breakfast Napalm showed off his collection of bikes – he had a variety of hard tails and a couple downhill rigs. Napalm will ride a down hill rig everywhere. Cross-country, single track, downhill, to work or the shop – anywhere. Downhill rigs are usually about 40lbs and now known for being easy to peddle – they are built to huss down a track fast and take a lot of punishment. I think you have to be a bit mental to ride around a bike like that – of course he was a bit of a nutter and he proved that when he took the corner at Craigieburn way too fast and went flying off the track. He is working a new build and told me how he scored a 2010 Giant Faith frame for $100. It was dented along the down tube in the earthquake so they couldn’t sell, so he picked it up cheap. That frame is usually worth a grand or so. The dent really wasn’t that bad either. It wouldn’t really compromise the ride or the strength of the frame.
I then had my first shower in 7-days. I thought my fellow passengers on the air new Zealand would appreciate it. Once all cleaned up I packed my bags and had Mark drop me at the airport. I was there way too early before my flight, so I was unable to check my luggage. For the first hour I broke down my bike and then I just people watched until I was able to check my bag and bike. Once everything was checked in I headed to the bar for a couple pints and a burger. The trip was over! Overall it was an amazing week of riding. We managed to do 2 rides a day – which was pretty tiring, but well worth it.
My favorite place to ride was Craigieburn and Kirwans. The day of shuttling the walking path was pretty crazy too. One thing is forsure, this trip has allowed me to see a totally different way of life and ride some of the best tracks a long the west coast of New Zealand.
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 13, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged backpack new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, live and work in new zealand, blog new zealand, new zealand blog, work new zealand, bike new zealand, nz blog, auckland blog, travel blog, outdoor adventure, adventure, travelling new zealand, travel new zealand, travelling, mountain biking, backpacking new zealand, new zealand mountain biking, mountain bike, nz mountain biking, nz biking, craigieburn new zealand, west coast mountain bike tracks new zealand, craigieburn mountain bike tracks
Our Craigieburn campsite
I woke up early to the kea’s squawking. Thankfully they didn’t see the bikes and hadn’t picked at them. One was picking at our cast iron pot from last nights dinner, but better that then my bike! On one of the trips to craigieburn earlier I guess one of the guys seat was pretty much shredded by these pesky birds!
The Edge runs a long both of the mountains.
Today we were hoping that two of Marks buddies, Dave and Napalm were going to join us for a ride. We waited until 9 and then decided to head up the hill, as we all thought they just couldn’t make it. We rode up to the trail head and then down the Dracophyllum track to a gravel road. The Dracophuyllum track was like the luge – through native beech forest, winding your way down the hill through forest – sweet! Once we hit the gravel road it was a half our ride to the Edge. The Edge is a hairy track that is steep, with sharp corners and steep drops, shingle rock scree slopes that were sketchy as. The scree slopes were totally open and off camber. You had to keep you speed up to roll over the rocks and if you fell off to the left it would have been a 300 foot tumble down rock scree until you hit the bottom. It would have been a helicopter ride to the hospital if you fell. This track had about 4 of these sections.. I rode 3 of the 4. The one section sketched me out too much and I walked it. There were also hair pin corners with rock face on one side and drops on the other. Take your time, pick your line well and concentrate. It was some of the most intense riding I have ever done. After the first time around we were having a breather on the gravel road and Napalm and Dave came flying down the track. They made it down and luckily enough caught us before we headed up for our next round. It was great to have these two show up. They brought a lot of new energy to the ride – which we needed after 5 days of riding. On our third lap of the track Napalm ended up taking a spill on one of the corners. He managed to grab on to a tree on his way down, but his bike was another story. It took 5 of us holding on to trees in various spots and passing it a long to one another to get it up. If you were to ride there a lone and were to take a spill, it would have been a lot of work to get the bike back. We rode the edge 3 times. It was gnarly and I can’t wait to hit it up again!
Our last track for the day was the National Downhill track from 1996. It really isn’t open to the public, but one of the guys knew of it so we jumped a fence and pushed our bike for a while. Once at the track it was a little over grown, but still pretty mint. It was steep as, to begin with but opened up nicely, which allowed you to huss it. The track was overgrown in some spots so it was bush/tree branch face slapping fun. Half way down Dave got a flat so we all waited for him to fix it. Once we started to ride again, I found I was done. I was tired and my focus wasn’t there. Up until that I was riding real well, but after I felt like I was just hanging on for dear life. I was happy when the track ended.
We rode until about 4pm, so it was a pretty full on day – 7 hours on the bike. We headed back to camp site and had a couple beers. After a couple we took down our tents, packed the vehicle and headed back to Christchurch.
Once back in Christchurch we dropped off Hubby and set off for Napalms place were we would be crashing that night. A couple more beers and it was bedtime. Today’s ride was the sketchiest, intense, extreme and fun ride of the trip. Day 6.. fuck`n eh!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 11, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, backpack new zealand, backpacking new zealand, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, canadians working abroad, craigieburn mountain biking, craigieburn new zealand, kea birds, live and work in new zealand, mountain bike on new zealand west coast, mountain biking, mountain biking on the west coast of new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand batch, new zealand mountain biking, nz blog, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling new zealand, west coast mountain bike tracks
Just past those shrubs is the ocean. Falling asleep with the sound of the waves crashing in was pretty chill!
Woke up this morning cold and damp. Maybe it was because we were camping by the ocean – not sure, but it didn’t rain. Kind of felt like I was getting a cold as my throat was sore, but I just soldiered on. Cup of coffee and I am good to go! We pack up the batch, and then head of to Blackball to ride the other side of the Croseus track. You can ride both sides in the same day, but there is a hike-a-bike section for 5km a long the top ridgeline. From what we heard it was one hand on a secured line and bike on your other shoulder.. fuck! We didn’t have the time to do that, but I am sure it would have been intense to say the least. Maybe next time.
When we first woke up it was cloudy and grey, but as we made our way to the trailhead it was clearing and the sun was starting to burn down. Luckily enough most of the track was in the bush so the sun wasn’t as punishing as it could have been. You can ride up a gravel road to the trail head, but I would recommend driving as riding up a gravel road for a ½ hour.. sucks! We drove up.
On the way up to the top of Croesus Track. Everyday on this trip it's been one amazing view after another.
We prepped our bikes and headed on our way up. The plan like always was to ride-hike to the top of the track and bomb down. It took us about 3.5 hours to reach the top hut. We ran into a DOC worker at the hut and he told us that they just released some kiwi birds in the bush. Pretty cool, though we wouldn’t have a chance to see a kiwi since they only come out at night and are pretty elusive. After a feed and breather at the top it was time to drop the seat and fly!
This side of Croesus Track was pretty much all rock gardens! Sweet!
The track was rough and steep. It was pretty much all rock gardens. This would have be the biggest/longest rock garden sections I would have ever ridden. The other side was of the track (we rode the day prior) was not as rocky and rutted. This means you really have pick your line well and just giver hell! The faster you can push yourself the better! I thought it was a crazy ride yesterday, well today was going to be better. The ride down was fun as! Hussing it over huge rocks and hearing them bounce off your down tube was crazy. Feeling your back wheel bounce around and slide side to side was awesome. 45 mins later we are at the bottom of the track and it was time to get on the road to our next destination, Craigieburn.
We drove through Arthur’s Pass, which is a must if you are visiting New Zealand. Winding roads throughout the mountain range. Beautiful scenery everywhere! Half way there Mark noticed that the engine seemed to be over heating. We stopped to take a look and the rad blew it’s overflow. It was a hot day and climbing through the mountain passes took its toll on Marks car. Luckily we had enough water to refill and went on our way. It was still running hot but luckily enough it got us to Craigieburn.
Get off my bike you damn Kea!
While taking a look at the rad these kea birds were flying around bugging the hell out of us. These birds, look like a parrot, (must be in the same family) are attracted to anything shiny. They will pick the rubber right off your windshield wipers, actually they will pick at anything. I was chasing them around the car keeping them off the bikes – little bastards!
The Luge track at Craigieburn. Root infested!
Craigieburn is about 100km west of Christchurch and has a variety of track, from easy to advanced. We were able to camp there by a stream, another mint spot! We arrived at about 7pm, set up our tents and then started our climb up to the trail head. For this track you have to climb for about 45mins and then you can choose which track you want to ride. This entire trip we’ve been trying to get in 2 rides a day and successfully doing so. I thought we maybe pushing it today since the sun was setting as we were hiking up the hill. We decided to ride a track called the luge. It was a pretty awesome track. It weaved through beech forest and had some pretty narrow sections where you had to really make to get your handlebars through the trees or it could have gotten bad pretty fast. It was a super fun track to ride. It was fast and flowy and very easy to the speed up! We were at the bottom in no time. We headed back to the site to make some dinner. Once we were fed it was pretty much bedtime. Another great day on some amazing New Zealand trails! Day 5 didn’t disappoint!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 9, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged backpack new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, live and work in new zealand, blog new zealand, new zealand blog, canadian working in new zealand, work new zealand, bike new zealand, nz blog, auckland blog, canadians in auckland, travel blog, canadians working overseas, outdoor adventure, mountain bike new zealand, canadians working abroad, adventure, travelling new zealand, travel new zealand, backpacking, mountain biking, backpacking new zealand, bike blog, nz mountain biking, sports blog, recreaction blog, west coast mountain biking new zealand, west coast mountain bike rides nz, mountain bike tracks new zealand, biking adventure new zealand
Today we started the day with a wee bit of labour! One of Purples mates need assistance putting in this massive window, so after breakfast we piled into his van and shot over to his place. About an hour later we had installed the window and it was back to the house truck to take down our tents, prep for the days ride and collect our bikes. The plan was to ride the Britainna track and then head to Berrytown to ride one side of the Croesus Track.
The first track of the day was Britainna which was an old mining trail as well. This track we were abel to ride most of the way up and like the bridal path track from the day before, bomb down! It was a good ride and a great starter for the day. It was all single track, so it was pretty enjoyable! After hussing the track we headed off to Berrytown. Here we were going to meet up with one of Purples mate, who also lives in a housetruck. On the way to Berrytown we stopped for a swim to. Mark was keen to jump off the bridge, even though he didn’t know how deep it was.. not a good idea! We asked a goup of people sitting on the beach if it was deep enough to jump into and they thought so. That was enough for Mark and he then calmy jumped off the bridge. Now the water wasnt that deep and he ended up jamming a two on the bottom, but luckily that was it. Being that none of us had showered in three days we all went for a swim – I am sure we were pretty rank after 3 days of hard riding! Maybe that is why we were getting those strange looks at the grocery store ehehe
After the swim we continued on our way to Barrytown. Barrytown is a popular stop for many travellers. All that is there is a pub, but a lot of the tour opertors stop there for then night. I beleive they have a dress up party there, as the walls are covered in photos of travellers dressed up. We met up with Purple at the pub to have a beer. It went down way to easy so before we ordered more we decided we best get up the hill for the 2nd ride of the day. We had to meet up with Purples mate, Pears who lived just down the road. He has an amazing piece of property over looking the ocean, backed onto the mountain! He also lived in a housetruck. Pears is a character! He had long brown dreads, was rocking jean stubbies (stubbies are short shorts) and gum boots. A couple years back he had a stroke and lost feeling to one side of his body, yet he can still use it, he just cant feel anything. We unloaded our bikes and then headed to the trail head. We were able to ride the first bit, but then it got to steep so it was once again time to hike a bike. This track was super narrow, unlike all of the mining tracks we had been riding, very rocky/mossy and rooty with sharp corners and steep drops off one side. You definitely didn’t want to go off the track because it would have been a hell of a fall down. I was pretty nervous pushing my bike up this track, just seeing that there really wasn’t a lot of room for error. The track demanded all of your attention. We decided we would follow Pears as it was his local track. I think he felt the pressure to huss it, as Mark was on his back tire. I find that when I have Mark following me I tend to open it up a bit more. I think it is the feeling of being chased that really gets you going. Not even 2 mins into the decent Pears caught a branch that was sticking out on the track to the thigh, sending him through the air kart wheeling. Insane crash! Luckily since he has no feeling on that side of his body he was able to pick himself up and keep riding. Now if that were me, I would’ve had a mean Charlie horse and would have most likely laid me out for the rest of the trip – it was a crazy crash. Once back on the bike it was a fast, technical single track ride down to the bottom. It is funny how the nerves disappear once you start riding. You just focus on the track and huss it. All of the obstacles that you were worried about before become a blur and you just sale over top of them. This track had been the knarliest of all the tracks so far. Mark was keen to hike back up again, but I was knackered and happy that I survived riding it once. I was not going to push my luck. We headed back to Pears housetruck for a cup of tea. There we took a look at his leg and it was already starting to bruise and was swelling. He still didnt feel a thing!
A batch by the sea.. not to shabby
That evening we were going to be staying at Hubby’s mates batch by the ocean. This batch was cool as! The ocean was a stone throws away and you could hear the waves crashing in. You couldn’t have asked for a better spot. I was camping since Hubby is one mean ass snorer, I was opting for the tent. It was cool laying in the tent hearing the ocean – definitely something Ive never experience before. Day 4 was sweet! Croseus was the best track so far. The trip has been pretty full on so far.. 2 rides a day, cant ask for much more!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 6, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, bike blog, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, downhill mountain biking new zealand, i heart mountain biking, live and work in new zealand, mountain bike blog, mountain bike new zealand, mountain biking, NEW ZEALAND, nz west coast bike trails, recreation blog, sports blog, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, travelling new zealand, west coast mountain biking new zealand
Charming creek has everything; tunnels, bridges, waterfalls, huge trees the whole lot!
It was another early morning. We were all a little worse for wear because of the beers the night prior, but that just the way it is on the West Coast. After a feed we loaded up Purples black van (think A-Team) and decided to ride a track called Charming creek. It is a pretty chill ride. It takes you over suspension bridges, through tunnels, under rock faces, around huge trees and waterfalls. The track is all old mining trail. I guess they used to mine coal in these parts and the old rail track is now a cycle/walking track. If you do end up walking this track it has lots of info and old machinery a long the way to give you an idea of what and how it was used. Pretty cool. This really wasn’t an overally challenging track, maybe Grade 3, but it was a decent warm up to the day.
My rock'n ride! The bike handle everything the west coast could throw at it.
The real challenge was going to be the bridal path. We had to drive up the mountain and into the clouds to get to the start of the trail. We decided to just do shuttle runs as everyone was beat to hell after Kirwans track and to tired to peddle/push back up. Now this track is a walking trail and it is not supposed to be ridden on a bike, but we kinda ignored that. We met the group of riders we ran into on Kirwans track and after showing them the start of the track they packed up there bikes and bailed with out even attempting to ride it ahaha. This track is Purples backyard so he was quite familiar with it. He was all geared out, which kinda made me a little nervous. I was thinking ‘if this guy is wearing full gear and it is home track, maybe I should be rocking gear’, I didn’t have any gear so that thought quickly passed. The sheer steepness of this trail was intimidating! There were two corners that I didn’t even try to ride. Both were all rocks covered in moss with a quick right hand 45 degree turn and if you didn’t make the turn, it would be a whole lotta hurt. Only Purple attempted to ride them and he only made one corner successfully. There was one section of the hill that totally washed out from a landslide. I guess Purple an and a mate cut a path across and strong a rope so you could hold that in one hand, your bike in the other and then inch you way across this tiny track. You definitely didn’t want to slip here as it would have been a long way down and something would have gotten broken and I am not talking about the bike. Overall the track was great! Being that it was an old gold mining track it was about 4-5 feet wide so you could really fly! The corners were a little sketchy, but you just had to watch your speed coming into them. There were a couple spots you had to get off and cross a stream/rock boulder garden or where a tree had fallen across the track, but overall it was an amazing trail. We shuttled it 4 times and then we were beat.
After the ride we hit up the grocery store for some grub. We ate like kings – 3 roast, heaps of veggies and even deserts. Of course the beers were flowing once we got back to the housetruck and we ate fairly late, but another epic day. The rides just keep getting better and better. Day 3.. wicked!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 5, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, amazing new zealnad mountain bike tracks, backpack new zealand, backpacking new zealand, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, canadians working abroad, kirwans mountain bike track, kirwans track, mountain bike new zealand, NEW ZEALAND, New zealand DOC tracks, nz blog, outdoor adventure, travel blog, travel new zealand, west coast mountain biking new zealand
Marble Hill - our DOC site. Great place to camp!
The thing about camping is you are pretty much up as soon as the birds start to chirp and the sun comes up… which means around 6am. We had a bit to eat and then headed off on the first ride of the day – Lewis Daniels, it is more of a cross country/single track trail. It wasn’t overally long, maybe 2 hours but it was a good warm up for the day. The trail goes to a DOC hut on lake Daniels, which is pretty amazing! The amount of amazing DOC huts in NZ is crazy!!
Lake Daniels, New Zealand
After the Lake Daniels track we packed up our tents and headed further west to Reefton. Reefton is small town on the west coast of the south island that has a real sleepy feel. From what Ive read, Reefton is the mountain bike hub on the west coast, so we were in the right spot. What is also amazing about Reefton is their skate park. This park had 2 different bowls, rollers, steps, rails.. pretty much everything. Im no skater, but if I were it would have been heaven. It was definitely the best skate park I have ever seen. After checking out the skate park we hit up a tea room for some coffee and then hit the local grocer to get some food for the evening.
Our next ride of the day was Kirwans Track. This is considered one of the most enjoyable hardcore rides in New Zealand. It is rated a Grade 5 (expert) and it about 4 hours of up and then one hour of technical downhill! Before we started the ride we waited for one of Marks mates, Purple to join us. We had a bit of a cook out at the trailhead while we waited. Once Purple arrived we geared up and started the trek up. At pretty much the beginning you have to cross a suspension bridge that was made of chain fence. We crossed heaps suspension bridges over this trip, many we could ride across, but this one was tight – 1.5 feet wide so it was definitely a challenge to get the bike across. Once across we were able to get ride for the first bit, but it was soon ‘hike a bike’. It was basically 4 hours of pushing, but it was in native forest so the scenery was a good distraction. We ran in to another group of riders on the way up and later found out that took a heli ride, instead of pushing, lucky bastards!
View from up top of Kirwans Track.
The view from the top was amazing! You could see for miles and once again there was an amazing DOC hut there. It would be great to hike up one day, stay the night and ride down the next day! Even if you are not into mountain biking you can hike this track and stay in the hut, which I would totally recommend.
It is worth the work once you get to the top of Kirwans Track!
After catching our breath, taking in the views and having a feed it was time for the downhill! It was steep, fast, rooty and rocky.. what more could anyone want! You could just open it up and huss it! The ride down of course went by way to fast, but it did make the march up worth it! The ride down was an hour of adrenaline!
When we rocked back to the car it was time for a beer and then off to Purples place for the night. Purple lives in Westport in a housetruck.. it was cool as! He built it himself and it had a lounge, kitchen, bedroom and shower… I now want a house truck! We celebrated out ride with more than a couple of beers and then it was off to bed!
Day 2.. amazing! Kirwans Track has to be one of the best rides I have ever done. It was so much fun I would actually go back and hike another 4 hours to ride it again.. that says a lot!
Like this:
Like Loading...
