My exploring of the South Island started with a five day Alps 2 Ocean bike ride which goes from Mt Cook down to Oamaru on the coast. It was a perfect way to unwind from work and get into a breakfast, ride, lunch, ride, beer, dinner, bed and repeat mode!
Day one starts up at Mt Cook and follows the glacier moraine bumpy track along the shoreline of the turquoise waters of Lake Pukaki. There is the small issue of the glacier fed Tasman River being in the way and the lack of a bridge. This was easily enough worked around by a helicopter trip! After this trip I firmly believe every bike ride should start with a helicopter ride.
Despite a rainy start to the day, it soon cleared up and I had some nice clear views of Mt Cook to distract me from the rocky ride. The gravel track finally gave way to some nice single track, with a cool little detour to the Mt Cook salmon shop. I was very much ready for a few beers and a nice curry when I finally made it to Twizel to spend the night.
The rest of the trip had scenery changes throughout the day as I left the alpine scenery of Mt Cook and went through farmlands, winelands, lakes and eventually hit the sea. It was a fun mix of tracks, single track and quiet country roads.
Five days of this and it was nice to roll into the victorian styled seaside town of Oamaru. After hitting the must do photo frame at the finish line, there was a brewery straight over the road 🙂
It was fun bumping into other cyclists and groups along with way that were doing various different options and different numbers of days on the Alps 2 Ocean route. I was lucky enough to get adopted by Jon and Karen that were visiting from Oz and doing the same route. We would leap frog each other as we made various pie and pint stops during the day but it mean’t I never had to drink alone in the evening! Cheers guys and thanks!!
