I have done so many trips with Adventure South I had to make a list to count them. Trips 1-11 were led, many custom designed, by long-time* Adventure South Guide (now friend, cycling and life mentor) Bas Kruisselbrink. He's now on another adventure, still cycling, but the team
Cycling The Old Ghost Road, Upper Buller Gorge, with Adventure South: About: * The Old Ghost Road Great Ride (nzcycletrail.com) * The Old Ghost Road Mountain Bike Adventure (adventuresouth.co.nz) Ride Posts [WIP!]: * Port Hills Shakedown Ride * Craigieburn Trails Ride * Old Ghost Road Day 1 | Lyell to Ghost Lake Hut
So true, I didn't write the script for this video, but could have because experienced it... Congratulations on thirty years Adventure South NZ, who I've travelled with since 2003.
So, it ends: 10 months, 2 weeks (317 days) cycling or drive/cycling across most of New Zealand. Highlights? So many... there are 95+ blog posts... but a few highlights: Expected, but unexpected In many cases I knew what I was getting into, but sometimes it was the unexpected which
Let's be honest, today's ride is all about lunch... I was back on En-Trance Rob, although quite a lot of tarmac today there is enough gravel trail to keep it happy. Besides, ~90km is a bit far for me on a two-speed, due to still broken
Mid-winter 2002, on a bleak wet Sunday, I channel surfed into an episode of the Australian 'Getaway' TV travel show. It featured a supported cycle tour in the South Island of New Zealand shot the previous summer; perfect weather, glorious scenery and what looked like a fun time.
A cycle trip in the South Island was a perfect opportunity to take the Abarth on a road trip: 1. Auckland to Whanganui (Red NI Drive) 2. Whanganui to Wellington (Yellow NI Drive) 3. Wellington not quite as planned (Wellington Drive) 4. Wellington Weta & Manual Car Meet-up (Wellington Drive)
The last day of our Alps To Ocean ride started with breakfast at Burnside Homestead. Most large NZ houses of this era were laid out as rooms along corridors/wings. Burnside is unusual in having a huge octagonal centre parlour with most of the rooms radiating off it. It was
Signs of more snow arriving on the hills overnight but seeing this sunrise, and blue sky, was a nice start to the day. After breakfast at Waitaki Braids we loaded up and drove back to Otematata to ride the best part of the trail we skipped yesterday. While waiting I
I had a late night watching F1 on my phone as mobile data was faster than WIFI. Awoke to grim weather, cold and wet, and it didn’t look like it was passing. At breakfast Bas suggested a change from the scheduled ride to Kurow. We jumped in the bus
Sunday dawned (very) cold and (comparatively) fine. After breakfast in Twizel our destination was Lake Ohau Lodge for lunch. I’d ridden in this area before, on road long before the trail, but was looking forward to revisiting it from a new perspective. Up early after staying up too late
The short walk to breakfast and view across Lake Tekapo was sufficient to see the forecast grim weather had arrived. The good thing about riding with people with extensive local knowledge is they know where not to go. Instead of battling head/side winds, and rain, on the first part