Planning in an Auckland Lockdown | Time Out 2021-22

Time to plan, thanks to nowhere to go

Robin Capper

31 Oct 2021 — 6 min read

I finished work on September 25 2021 with the intention of cycling New Zealand over the summer months, to be dubbed my “Time Out NZ 2021 – 2022” trip. The initial plan was to revisit Northland, then head South to explore trails between Auckland and Wellington before returning to Auckland for the Christmas/New Year break. Later in January, after the peak holiday season crowds (and prices) had subsided, I would head to the South Island for a few months.

When I got my Abarth I kept my 20-year-old Fiat Bravo HGT ‘as a spare car’. It runs OK, good condition, but had done 270,000km so not worth trading or selling. It's also rare, maybe ten left in NZ?, so parts availability meant a newer daily was needed. For this trip It would be an asset as I planned to drive South, with two bikes inside, and leave it there flying back to Auckland between regional legs.

It is a bit bigger than the Abarth, although not as much as you'd think, and better suited to 'touring': The GT part of the label is no lie. The two-litre five-cylinder engine likes to rev, some say 'Hasn't Got Torque', but sounds great. It spins at 3000rpm doing 100km/h in fifth gear and averages ~8l/100km (38mpg) on the open road.

The (refurbished) air conditioning and sunroof are great for summer. Even though the ride is far more forgiving than the Abarth Essseesse it handles OK, if a bit front biased thanks to all that engine. Another touring advantage is a proper, albeit space-saver, spare wheel as the Abarth just relies on sealant and hope!

Going nowhere

My initial challenge was the inability to go anywhere. Auckland was still in the middle of a COVID-19 lockdown which had started as a strict national Level 4 lockdown on 19th August, the middle of my eight-week notice period. That meant home isolation, only essential services and food stores trading and no travel. I hoped it might finish by the end of September and for much of NZ it did, to a degree.

On 1st September all of NZ except Auckland and Northland relaxed to Level 3 which was still restricted but more businesses could open. On 8th September, the rest of the country was relaxed to Level 2 which would have allowed regional travel, were I not in the Level 4 Auckland/Northland zone. On 22 September Auckland & Northland relaxed to Level 3 which meant I could ride within ‘walking home’ distance. For me that was a a self-imposed ~5km radius which still opened quite a variety of riding.

Waitakere Ranges towards Lower Nihotupu Dam & Parau

Planning to go somewhere

I spent the first week after finishing work scoping a possible itinerary based on the lockdown easing in October (ha!). I always planned to do day, or maybe overnight, rides from a base and drive between regions. This meant I could leave the bulk of gear at the accommodation and ride from there or perhaps a short drive away. It meant less gear in the car, to tempt thieves, and saved the unpack/repack tedium of daily moves. It also meant I could flex plans around weather and cycle with just day ride gear.

I used MindManager as a planning tool. It’s ability to simply marshal details like dates, web links, costs, resources (bikes mainly) and display it in map or timeline (Schedule/Gantt) form was brilliant. I worked in the simple map view (below) massaging dates, adding estimated costs and juggling around fixed times like public holidays.

In the background MindManager was reflecting this information as Schedule or Gantt views which were great for planning.

The initial plan

I was looking to attend a conference in Wellington in November so planned to cover the md-lower North Island before Xmas. I didn’t want to travel at all over the Xmas/New Year time as everyone else is. Prices, traffic, accommodation all become premium around then. I would leave the big ‘away leg’, the South Island, until after the January School Holidays finished.

The initial plan looked like this:

North Island

Northland (October)

Home 1 week | Northland <> Wellington

Wellington (November) | Cycling & NZ Skeptics Conference

Home 1 week | Wellington <> Waikato

Waikato/Central (Nov-Dec)

Home 1 week | Waikato <> Hawkes Bay

Motu & Hawkes Bay (December)

Home 3 weeks | Xmas & New Year

Coromandel road and trail (Mid January)

Home 1 week | Coromandel <> Upper South

South Island (drive down in Fiat Bravo)

Upper South | Nelson & Golden Bay (Late Jan-February)

Return Trip Home 1 Week | Leave Bravo in Christchurch

Otago & Canterbury | Queenstown, Alexandra, Roxburgh, Otematata A2O leg (Feb)

Return Trip Home 1 Week | Leave Bravo in Christchurch

West Coast Trails | West Coast Wilderness, Paparoa & Old Ghost Road Trails (March-Early April)

Drive to Picton, Cook Strait Ferry & Auckland

When I started looking at booking only the West Coast rides presented any real problems. Although September it was already getting hard to coordinate accommodation on the trails in March due to limited availability. I decided on joining organised tours for the West Coast Wilderness trail as it involved a bit of shuttling around (both bike and gear) and for the Old Ghost Road because of its remoteness. One other factor was the Hokitika Wild Food Festival coincided with the weekend I wanted to do the Wilderness Trail so Hokitika was already quite heavily booked.