Saturday was my last day in Queenstown for riding on this trip and I wanted to make the most of it. We planned Friday night to get up early and try and get in as many runs before I had to head to the airport at mid afternoon.
I awoke to bird chirping, sunshine and blue skies at 8:30am it was straight to breaking down camp. No time to laze around. I packed up all my gear; tear down tent, prep bike for day of riding, find some clean clothes for flight and pack it into the car. Then it was into Bob’s Weigh for breakfast to charge the fuel tanks for a fun fuelled day of downhilling. After some eggs benny and a couple coffee’s it was off to the skyline for some riding.
We were first riders up on the day! Just like the other days it was non-stop action. We managed to squeak in 12 runs in just 4 hours. I wanted to hit each track at least once more and we easily did so. No crashes on the day either, which is always good for the last day of a bike trip. The bike gods were taking care of me!
At 2pm I had to get ready for my flight, so we went downtown to grab some lunch and then I went to the park to break down my bike and get myself ready for my flight. My mate left me at the park and he returned back up the hill to ride – lucky bastard. I broke down my bike for the airplane, changed out of dirty/stinky riding gear and into jeans and a t-shirt for my flight home and then caught a bus to the airport.
Once at the airport I checked my bags, had a celebratory beer, read my book and then it was time to board the plane. On board I easily fell asleep dreaming of returning back to Queenstown to ride once again. I should be back in Jan or Feb to ride again… it cant come soon enough.
With this trip now done it is time to start planning the next. So what is next on the ride radar? Of course there will be a tonne of rides around Auckland; Woodhill, Riverhead, Maraetai and hopefully Dome Valley. But I really want to make a long weekend trip to Rotorua and Taupo in the near future. Ive ridden Rotorua heaps, but Taupo is completely new to me so it’s on my ride radar!
Before I even arrived in Queenstown I was a little apprehensive when it came to camping. When I flew into Queenstown there was a cold front coming through and it was snowing/raining, but thankfully that first cold night I was in a hostel. Last night though was my first night camping and luckily I managed to stay nice and warm in my tent. I had the thermals and was rocking a toque as well, which kept me nice and cozy all night long.
I first awoke at daybreak to the chirping of birds – as you do when you are camping! I grabbed my ipod and tossed on some tunes allowing me a couple more hours of sleep before getting up for good! I crawled out of my tent at 9 am ready to go. We cleaned up the bikes, loaded the car and went into Queenstown for breakie. After a quick bite to eat we hit up the skyline at 10:30 am to start a great day of riding.
The weather was a bit overcast and there was a chance of showers, but the rain seemed to hold off for the most part and when it did rain it just made the tracks sticky! There wasn’t a track we didn’t ride! I ended up hitting some tracks that I didn’t really mean to hit. I thought they were a bit above my ability but I pulled through. Basically I was just following my mate and then all of a sudden it was drop after drop after drop through narrow trees… there nothing I could do but ride it out. There was no where else to go but down so I just rolled with it. When I came to the end of that track there was definitely a smile on my face – I survived ahah! After that it was game on for all the tracks; Vertigo, Hammy’s, Shit Sandwich, Thingymajig, Armageddon, Rock Garden, Drop Garden, Ants, Grundy.. it was steep and gnarly. Fawk yah!
We had a lunch break at 1pm and then back up the skyline. We rode until the days end and managed to get in 20 runs and we weren’t even going that hard. It was a casual 20! Everyone we spoke with thought we were completely mad for doing so many runs in one day. I would say on average people will ride 8 runs… smoked them all. When you are visiting from out of town you def want to make the most of your time.
At the end of the day we definitely deserved a beer! We headed into town to grab some Indian for dinner and then out to the house to drink some beers and play some ping-pong. My body was feeling pretty good; the only thing that was sore was my hands. It was an early night to bed as I was rinsed. The rained and wind picked up throughout the night, but it didn’t matter I managed to keep warm and sleep through the lot! Another epic day of riding! My riding has improved ten-fold… man I love this place!
My prayers were answered and I awoke to blue skies and sunshine on Wednesday. The lifts weren’t opening until 1pm, so I lazed around as long as I could at the hostel and then went back to the library to jump on a computer and read.
At about noon I headed back to the hostel, changed into my riding gear, built up the bike and then it was off to the skyline for an afternoon of riding. Being that it was mid-week there wasn’t too many people out riding so no waiting to get on the skyline! Last time I was down I managed 12 runs in a half day so that is what I was shooting for.
My mate wasn’t arriving until the evening so I rode solo just getting used to the speed of riding downhill again. Around Auckland it is mostly single track so it does take a few runs to get used to flying down a hill with trees, roots, rocks and drops all over the place. I warmed up on Hammy’s track, which is the easiest, but one of the most fun trails. It is pretty wide trail, but it littered with HUGE berms, lips, tabletops and jumps to pop off of. Also hit up Vertigo, Armageddon, Original, Shit Sandwich and Thingymajig. I managed to get in 11 runs in about 4.5 hours. Not bad, just one short of my goal of the day.
At 6pm the skyline stops taking mountain bikers up as it gets pretty dark in the forest, so my day was done. Complete success, no crashes just heaps if fun. My mate arrived just at 6pm and met me at the bottom of the hill as I was coming off the trail. He was all geared out and ready to get up the hill, but he missed the last run of the day.
Hungry from riding we hit up Fergburger for a feed and then we head out to our accommodation to set-up our tents. We are staying on a mate’s front lawn about 20 mins outside of Queenstown. The location is stunning – over looking the lake surrounded by the mountains! One of my favourite things about this place is the outdoor shower. Nothing beats a steaming hot shower while gazing up at the stars.
Since my mate didn’t get any laps in he was itching to ride so we quickly tossed up our tents and headed out to 7 mile to get some runs in. We were told of a short cut to the trail head, but in typical fashion we ended up in the middle bush just making our own track through the bush. We ended up going to high in elevation and had to ride our way down which was an adventure in itself. We soon found our desired track; Kochong, which is one of the best tracks at 7 mile as it is super flowy with jumps. We were able to get in 3 laps as the sun fell. Once back at home we drank some well deserved beer. I was beat and was wondering how my body was going to feel the next day. I had a full day of downhill a head of me… fawk yah!
What an epic day – 11 laps at the bike park, 3 laps at 7-mile. Sweet!
Yesterday Michelle and I went to see Last Paradise. This doco was forty-five years in the making and looks at the history of Kiwi adventure sport. It starts with the focus on adventure sport in New Zealand but has a definite underlying ecological message that the places we consider paradise are now in peril. It’s a great film, that I would highly recommend to anyone.
Work has been great! I just got back from a trip down to Wellington and Christchurch. Any time you get out of the office is nice.Wellingtonwas pretty average, grey, windy and cold – the usual for Welly.Christchurchthough was bluebird skies, sunny and fairly warm. The flight down was impressive and looking back I wish I had my camera. The mountains were stunning. After the dumping of snow we had earlier in the month they are all covered and looking amazing. The best I’ve ever seen them. Super scenic.
September is looking good for work travel too! I’ve got heaps on the go and spring starts, so no complaints here. I’m off , to Wellington and Christchurch again. I’m loving it! Just found out that I will be heading to Queenstown mid September, so I have tacked a couple days on that trip to do some riding!
I maybe getting to GoldenBayfor some back country riding near the end of the month.. fingers crossed! It all depends on timing and funds!
The Rugby World Cup is only a week or so away and I’ve just scored some tickets too the Canada Vs Tonga game.Ill be going with another Canadian and a couple of Kiwis. STOKED!!! Life is good.
This past weekend I got to ride some new tracks around Auckland. I was pretty stoked to get shuttle-runs in, without having to make the 2.5 hour drive to Rotorua. The plan was to hit up Maraetai on Sunday where they run monthly shuttles. I always get a little nervous before I ride a new DH track, as you never really know what you are going yourself into, but in the end it wasnt too bad. They had 1 steep downhill track called ‘the trig’ which was wet, slippery and muddy. It wasnt a long track as it only took a few minutes to get to the bottom. It had some jumps, but overall it was just steep and slippery.The track def wasnt the best ive ridden, but not bad for around Auckland. The track needed some trail mainteneace as it was pretty rutted and in need a serious sweep since it was covered entirely in needles making line choice a bit sketchy. I think there were 8 trails at the drop point. I didnt ride all of them as i was told some were pretty cross-country which wasnt why i was there. I wanted down, fast, flowy with some jumps. I pretty much spent my time between ‘the trig’ and ‘two dead cows.’ My favorite of the day was definitely ‘two dead cows!’ It was a bit more flowy with a variety of jumps, from nice booters to some step ups.
Overall it was a great day! It is always good riding some new trails. Once summer hits and it really dries out it could be sick. The local mountain bike club is investing a lot time building so it is definitely a spot to watch. If you do plan to ride there make sure you get a permit as it you need one to be allowed in the forest.
This past week I hit up the Banff Film Festival in Auckland with Michelle and some work mates. This is the 2nd year I have attend the festival and I found the films not as good as last year, but still enjoyable. They split the festival into two days, rather the one night. Personally I feel it would have been better if they kept it one night as the film selection was a little week. I felt that half of the films were good, while the other half were something I would have seen on TV of on youtube.
The longest and I guess feature film of the nights was ‘Miracle in the Sky’ and it was about a paraglider who got stuck in a massive thunderstorm during a race. A lot of it was renacted, which to me is what a festival film shouldnt be, but still pretty crazy. She was sucked up into the clouds to about 10000 meters, which is pretty much the stratosphere. No one should survive such an event, but luckily enough she did.
My favorite film of the night was ‘Man vs Eiger.’ The film documents Dean Potter as he attemps to climb the north face of the Eiger, which is revered amoung climbers. What makes his attempt uniques is that he scales this face with no ropes, but with just a backpack containing a parachute. Think base jumping combined with free climbing. Yah.. bat shit crazy!
The funniest film of the night was ‘Cross-country Snowboarding’. Follow Joel & Tate as they event a new xtreme sport and try to take it too new levels! Funny as hell!
Another great film was called ‘ As it Happens.’ Here you follow two mates as they climbMount Everest, but what makes this unique is that they film, edit and update there website as they climb. This has never been done, as usually all the film is edited by a third party once the climb is over. Pretty cool! Think mountaineering and social media.
The best water film of the night was ‘Dream Result’. It’s a white water kayaking film about some friends who travel aroundNorwayriding some gnarly white water, with some very huge drops. I have no idea where these guys get such big balls!
Another cute film was called Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit. Here you watch the trails and tribulations as one man takes on the north face of the parking garage
There was also a long boarding film, where a bunch of crazies rip down a mountain road inCalifornia, dodging cars and passing the camera off to each other.
Here are a couple of the films I wished were played inAuckland, but were played else where on the tour around NZ.
Life Cycles.. epic mountain bike film.
LastParadise, which is a kiwi film.
Follow-me, another crazy, fast paced mountain bike movie
For the final day in the Southern Lakes district we would take a bit of a tour to Wanaka. Up early as usual we hit up Bob’s Weigh for breakie. It’s a great little place downtown Queenstown that great food and coffee. After a good feed we loaded into the car and headed through Crown range, which I believe is the highest range in New Zealand. Once again, stunning scenery everywhere. This is the kind of road that buses aren’t allowed on as it is windy, narrow and steep!
The first stop of the day was for a beer at the Cardrona Hotel, located in the Cardrona Valley. It is one of New Zealand’s first hotels as it was established in 1863 because of the gold rush. Now a popular tourist stop, it’s a great place to have a drink and take a break while driving through the crown ranges.
After a beer it was back into the car and 45 mins to Wanaka. Wanaka is a small town that started because of the gold rush. Now it is your typical tourist town, with a huge number of people moving their over the winter months because of its close proximity to the ski hills. It’s located on the southern end of the Lake Wanaka, so it is busy in the summer with many locals visiting during their holidays. We didn’t spend too much time in Wanaka, as there isn’t much to do. Pubs, cafes, tourists shops pretty much own the town center.
From Wanaka we headed to puzzle world. Here you can find your way through a maze, (which completely frustrated me) visit the optical illusion rooms and try to figure you more puzzles from all over the world. We spent about two hours here and that was enough. I’m not one for puzzles, so not really my kind of stop, but when you are in the area.. why not!
Done with all of the games it was into Queenstown to head up the Gondola to watch the sunset. We managed to time this perfectly. Some photos on the viewing deck and beers in the pub. From here we had dinner at the speight’s ale house, where you can always count on a hardy meal. That pretty much sums up the last day of our southern trip. I love it down south and hope try life in the south sometime in the future.
Milford Sound; the most beautiful place in New Zealand!
Today we are off to Milford Sound! This meant for a really early start since we had our boat cruise booked for 10am. Since we stayed in Mossburn we only had a 2.5 hour drive into Milford Sound. We had to get up at 6:30 am to be on the road for 7am. It was a bit of a groggy start since we stayed up too late watching rugby and drinking beers, but we did have enough time to have a stop in Te Anau for breakfast and a coffee! Te Anau is a small community outside of Fiordland National Park, that survives on Milford Sound tours that travel year round. Here we had a great breakie and coffee that fuled the drive to Milford Sound!
If you don’t know, Milford Sound is acclaimed as New Zealand’s, number 1 tourist destination and has been called the eighth wonder of the world. Milford Sound runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that raise 1,200 metres or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at 1,517 metres said to resemble an elephant’s head, and The Lion, 1,302 metres in the shape of a crouching lion. Lush green rain forests hang from the cliff walls. Some wildlife that can be seen is seals, penguins, and dolphins frequent the waters and sometimes if you are lucky you may see some whales. Milford Sound sports two permanent waterfalls all year round, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain however, many hundreds of temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord.
Milford Sound; home of the waterfall!
It is said you should see Milford Sound two ways, in the rain and on a clear stunning day. It was pissing down from the moment we woke up, so waterfalls, fog, cloud were on the menu. The drive into Milford Sound was stunning. Thick lush green rainforest, rushing rivers, water falls, steep rock faces, fog, mountains – the most stunning scenery Ive seen so far in New Zealand. The road through the park winds through the vallies and along side the river, tunnels through mountains and it absolutely breathtaking.
I was surprised upon arrival to Milford Sound to its small size. It had two hotels/lodges, but no grocery stores or dairy and main building was a visitors center – it is pretty much a port where tour boats take tourist through the fiords. It is no surprise that most tourists only stay for one day. We parked and headed inside the visitors center to wait to board our cruise.
We booked our cruise with Real Journey’s. Once onboard we found a booth seat beside a window and then it was off. The sheer size of the cliffs are amazing. After seeing it you can understand why it is the most visited spot in New Zealand. You are on a large boat, yet you feel dwarfed by the fiords that surround you. The rain and wind just added to the experience. Waterfalls were everywhere you looked. Because of the cloud cover you couldn’t see the top of the fiords. It had such a mystical and magical feel to it. The boat cruised a long one side of the inlet, taking time to put the nose of the boat into the waterfalls for those who wanted to get soaked. I spent the majority of the trip out of the inlet on the front deck taking photos and just trying to take it all in. Once we emerged from the inlet the captin took the boat out into the Tasman where it got a bit rocky. The boat heaved side to side, to the enjoyment of some and the agony of others. Once we headed back into the inlet it was down the otherside of the fiord where we managed to see some seals. The trip out and in was amazing. I highly recommend it. You cannot come to New Zealand and miss Milford Sound – that wouldn’t be a complete trip to New Zealand.
The best time to visit Arrowtown is in the fall. The colour of the leaves reminds me of Canada.
After my bunge and canyon swing I met up with a mate from Auckland and we checked into the the Queenstown Nomads for the night. We grabbed a case of beer from the grocery store and sat on the balcony drinking and talking about the plans for the long weekend. For dinner we hit up Sombrero’s, a shitty mexican restaurant in the heart of the town. The service was shit, the food was average and the prices were outrageous. Never go to Sombrero’s! We had a couple more beers out on the town and then headed back to the hostel.
The alarm sounded at 7:30am and it was going to be a busy day. Michelle was flying in from Auckland at 8:30am so that gave us a enough time to pack up our bags and drive to the airport. A coffee at the airport later and Michelle had arrived. We loaded our packs into the trunk and headed back into Queenstown. We wondered around town and the lake front for a couple hours and then headed off to Arrowtown.
Arrowtown is an old gold mining town founded in the mid 1800’s. When the gold ran out it became a farm service town. Although the population declined after the gold rush it soon became a popular holiday destination. Now Arrowowtown is a popular tourist destination and one of the fastest growing communities if all of New Zealand.
This town is as pretty as they come. All of the buildings have kept the original style, so it really takes you back in time. The town is situated a long a river and is renowned for its Oaks, Sycamores, Cork Elms and Ashes trees. These trees are not native to the area, but were planted by the early English and Irish settlers who missed the landscape of home and planted trees in 1867. What is great about Arrowtown is that it experiences seasons! Fall here is amazing. All of the trees turn yellow and orange and the the hill sides look stunning. It is a beautiful town and definitely worth a stop on your travels in New Zealand.
Arrowtown Bakery... good eats and treats!
We wandered through town and chilled out by the river. It has to be one of my favourite little towns in New Zealand. You have to hit up the bakery for some great bake goods and pastry. They had really tasty pies and deserts which we snacked on for lunch before we hit the road to our next stop, Mossburn.
One of my mates spots.. great place to have beer and take in the beautiful day!
On our way to Mossburn we hit up some backroads and went to one of my mates favourite secret spots a long the shotover river. It was super picturesque and another great place to stop, take some photos, chillout and have a beer! Nothing beats travelling with a local! You get away from the tourists and see hidden gems like this.
Mossburn is a sleep country village with a pub, hotel, dairy and that is pretty much it. If you were to blink you would miss it. It is here where we would spend the night with my mates brother who works in the area. The reason for staying in Mossburn is that we had a cruise booked in Milford Sound the next morning and it is half way in between Queenstown and Milford, saving us 2 hour drive in the morning and of course the cost of a nights accommodation. The evening was filled with beers, rugby and and endless ribbing of being Jafa’s (just another fucking aucklander). It’s kind of like home where the rest of Canada hates on Toronto. NZ doesn’t like Auckland unless you live in Auckland.. something’s are universal I guess – hatred towards the ‘big city’. It was a fun and entertaining night with a bunch of kiwi’s taking the piss out of each other while watching rugby. There is nothing more of an authentic kiwi evening than that – it was a great!
