In 2022 I cycled the Tour Aotearoa in the official event. I absolutely loved doing this tour! Besides being a cool challenge, its a great way to see the country and meet people. In this blog I want to share some info, highlights, my bike setup and some tips, hope you enjoy the read!
Tour Aotearoa is a 3000km tour through New Zealand, from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island. The official website has lots of information about the route and how to participate. The organisation is mint! You can download the gpx files on the event page, and you can also buy up-to-date booklets that have all the info and tips you can need. There also is a great community around the route on facebook. You can do the route anytime, but every 2 years there is an official event. You apply for this on Maprogress, where you rent or register a GPS tracker. Maprogress provides a very cool real time tracking dashboard, which is awesome, as your friends and family can track your progress through the event! You can replay the 2022 event here.
If you are used to bike-touring in Europe (like me), it is good to know there are some key differences. Although most of it is on sealed roads, a significant portion of the route is on tricky single-track that is only really suitable for skilled mountain-bikers. There is also quite a large portion of gravel, and not always the nice kind of gravel. Being a noob on anything that is not a sealed road, this meant quite a lot of hike-a-bike for me. But it were those tricky trails that lead to the most beautiful remote places, so it was 100% worth it! And I did like the challenge, most of the time ;) Then finally you need to be prepared to climb lots, if you are from the Netherlands like I am, that means you will be wise to train this beforehand. This reminds me of a quote that one of the riders posted on facebook:
The boat from Pouto Point to Parakai
I loved the little boat and how the bikes had to be lifted onto it. Also cool that all cyclists gather on the beach to wait for the boat, its a good moment to meet each other.
Whanganui National Park and River
I was super excited and nervous for the Kaiwhakauka track, known to be tricky. So when after this seriously challenging stage I found myself surrounded by lush wild national park beauty, I felt pretty ecstatic. Not to mention all the cute wild goats roaming around. After completing the Mangapurua track you arrive at the Bridge to Nowhere, where you take the jet boat to Pipiriki. This jetboat ride across the Whanganui River was absolutely breathtaking. A day to never forget.
Steamship from Queenstown to Walter Peak and the trail to Mavora
At Queenstown, you have to cross Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station. You can take a water taxi, but the historic steamboat TSS Earnslaw will also take your bike. I took the steamboat and loved it, cool to see the ovens as well! I highly recommend camping at the freedom camping at Walter Peak, absolutely stunning and so peaceful. The bike ride from Walter Peak to Mavora was an absolute highlight. You bike through remote and stunning farmland, between the loosely roaming animals. The latter meant I had to overcome my fear for a couple of huge bulls that stayed put on the side of the road. The mountains, the land, the fastness, its just a magical place.
The people and animals
people participating in the tour were all absolutely epic. Although I mainly cycled alone, I often saw 'the gang' during the coffee breaks. I definitely felt safe doing the event alone, but it really helped knowing I could rely on my fellow participants, and I have been asked many times how I was doing, and if I wanted to join people if it was getting dark.
I was also overwhelmed by the hospitality. Everyone was very helpful and I loved it when someone waved on the street or from their car, which gave me a real boost. Although I camped most of it, some days I would stay in a guest room via airbnb. I stayed for dinner a couple of times, and met some lovely people this way.
One thing I like about bike-packing is that you become very vulnerable. I feel this makes me connect with people and the surrounding in a very different way. I find this a great experience.
Not to forget the animals! I often found myself cycling through or next to a bunch of cows on their way to the milking shed. There were also some paths that went through an area where the animals walked free, resulting in some funny encounters. Lots of wild goats, lots and lots of birds and ofcourse the bugs hiding in my tent. Less lovely were the infamous sand flies on the west coast, never again will I forget to bring anti-bug lotion. Being with lots of animals is definitely something I love about bike-packing and New Zealand is great for it.
I was lucky to buy a bike second-hand from a girl that works at a bike shop, she created the perfect bike-packing setup. Its is a
If you are a mountain bike lover, and technically skilled, then I definitely don't recommend this bike. Its very fast on sealed roads and the nice kind of gravel, but its a pain on technical trails. However, even if you had given me a mountain bike with fat tires and suspension, I would not have had the skills to handle it so hike-a-bike was a good deal for me, I made up for the lost time on the nice parts. Bike-packing events such as this one, that mixes endless sealed roads with crazy mountain bike paths will always mean its a trade-off when it comes to choosing a bike. Just pick something that fits you. For example, I met a girl who did the same event who loved mountain biking. She had a steel surly with fat tires and suspension and she finished 2 days earlier than me. She definitely was stronger in general, but especially at least twice as fast on the mountain bike paths.
Pedals that are flat on 1 side and clip in on the other. I had the Shimano PD-EH500. Some tracks are muddy and make your cleats clog up. I also felt a lot more save on some tracks when not clipped in.
The Louise Dropper Post Harness from waywardriders. I have a small bike (size 49) and it still worked for me. I had my 1.5 kg tent in it and a puffer jacket. Just a very easy, light and versatile piece of engineering.
The Ritchey Comp Beacon Flare bars. Sooo many hand positions, and so comfy. I had 0 issues with my hands or upper back. Definitely also get some aerobars though, they will be great for the strong head winds, or when you need to rest your arms. And to put stuff onto it!
Fillmore tubeless valves . From the small experience I have with both tubed and tubeless, I find tubeless faster and more comfy. Also had 0 punctures so far. And when you go tubeless, these valves are pretty amazing; they allow a lot more air to flow through the valve, and prevent the valve from clogging up with sealant. I could pump up my 47mm tires with just a little crappy hand-pump without much effort. And the valve cap system makes its easy to let some air out when going off-road.
Foam mattress. I heard several people with leaking air mattresses. Its also a great way to pack your stuff, I just rolled it all up inside of the mattress. I had the RidgeRest SOLite sleeping pad from Thermarest which is only 0.4kg for the regular size. I did find it having a warming effect, and it was thick enough for me to sleep comfy.
Foam cover for the saddle. Although I used lots of chamois cream, my bum was not happy after 3 days in the saddle. Then I picked up a memory foam saddle cover in Auckland, and it was gone! In general chamois cream did not work for me. Bepanthen however, did magic.
Loose items tied to the bike. In my naiveness, I would do things like tieing my sweater with 2 knots to my saddle bag, or I attached my bike light to the front areaobar with a rubber band. But the roads on this event are not that forgiving, and anything that has the slightest chance of getting loose, will get loose. So I learned the hard way that unlike the bike-packing I was used to, you cant have a mug cutely dangling on the side of the saddlebag in this event: stuff needs to be very very very securely attached to the bike else its gone.
Bike locks. I brought 3 bike locks with me, which really was not needed. I could have done with 1 light one. Not sure if this is true outside of New Zealand, but many times it was fine to leave it outside of the cafe or shop, or at most 1 lock would be sufficient.
My tent. I camped 14 of the 21 nights. Firstly because I love camping, but also because especially on your own you save at least 50 dollars a night. You are also a lot more flexible when camping, as especially after Covid there are areas with no or only very expensive accommodations. I do recommend a room every 4 or 5 nights to get everything washed and dried, and to charge your things overnight. Anyhow, next time I would replace my tent with a bivvy bag and a tarp. A bivvy is a lot warmer, and just less weight, and a tarp would give enough shelter and is quicker to pack up. Although only being 1.5 kg, and its a great tent, I still think my tent was a bit of an overkill and packing it up in the dark was a bit of a hassle.
Start cycling early. It gets blazing hot in NZ and it really helped me to get as many miles done as possible while it was cool. Besides that its kinda cool to see the sun come up while you ride.
Wear a compression legging when not cycling. I did not fully recover yet from a knee injury at the start of the event, and my physio advised me to wear a compression legging preferably also at night. It really helped me, and I noticed that when I did not wear them, I would have more sore legs the next day.
Don't plan too much. I planned too much for the first week, which meant some days where too long for me, and some days where too easy. Better to see how you go and make the most of the good days when you can, and give yourself a rest when needed.
Don't forget to train the arms and core. I stopped going to body-pump long before the event and I definitely regret it. Strong arms would have been really nice during the hike-a-bike and there were also these bridges where you had to walk over with your bike vertically. I really wished I had more upper body strength as that would have saved me lots of bloopers.
I am incredibly grateful for having done this tour. I realize only view people have the freedom, the time, the health and the finance to undertake something like this. Its also incredible to see how much New Zealand is doing to keep nature flourishing, protected and clean. I was amazed by how well the trails, the freedom campings and even the public toilets were maintained. So thank you New Zealand ❤️
