The First Six: Bikepacking

Welcome to Aotearoa, The Land of the Long White Cloud. After a whopping 50km day trip to test out my set up, I set out on a two year bikepacking journey around NZ. Here’s the first 3000km in six months! Läs mer

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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
River’s Edge
4 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
65km to a sweet campsite, River’s Edge Holiday Park. Nice dip in the cold water! No photos sadly.
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Scenic Seaside Freedom Camping
5 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
59km to Pōrangahau, a sweet town on the South East Coast of the North Island. Camped metres from the beach at a well maintained freedom camping spot. We ended up getting invited to a local’s house for coffee the next morning and got a better sense of the history.Läs mer
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The Longest Place Name in the World
6 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
Nice 35km ride back down to the coast at Herbertville. Passed by the longest place name in the world: Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu. Also visited a seal colony at Cape Turnagain with massive dunes.Läs mer
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Sheep & Scraped Knees
8 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
67km ride to Dannervirke Holiday Park. Took a nice tumble about 2km into the day—trying to tell a joke and fell off the side of the road 😂 banged knee and bruised ego but that didn’t stop the day from rolling! The landscape reminded me a lot of interior BC with the mountains and pine trees. A little taste of home.Läs mer
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Woodville
9 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
37km to Woodville. No photos!
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Pahiatua Carnival Park
10 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Cruisy 25km ride to Pahiatua Carnival Park. Cute puppy on the property to hang out with. Tried canned spaghetti on toast for the first time, a kiwi classic. Not bad!
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Eketahuna
13 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
35km to Eketahuna for the sweetest stay at the campground. Only $20 for an awesome cabin that definitely caters to cyclists.
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Jam Packed Day
13 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Packed in all the fun today with a visit to the Pūkaha Wildlife Centre followed by a ride into the Tararua Ranges. A juicy 4km vertical hike up to the Herepai Hut for a night’s stay. Hid our bikes in some trees, tied on our sleeping gear to small day packs, and ventured into the forest to use some different muscles. Absolutely stunning views from a sunrise hike up to the peak.Läs mer
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
New Friends
16 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
A beautiful 63km ride into the Tararua Ranges to Holdsworth Campsite. Stopped in town for groceries and ended up connecting with Pip, the awesome owner of Whare O Māra. Pip shared about their journey as a vegan chef and reminisced about the queer scene in the 80s and 90s. They told me about owning a gay club in Queenstown and all the shenanigans that come with that. I was sent back on the road with lots of vegan treats and a full heart. My night at Holdsworth just continued the kind stranger train: I ended up sharing dinner under the shelter of a couple’s RV. The next day I enjoyed a 10km hike on the Gentle Annie Track.Läs mer
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Beautiful Farm Stay
17 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
34km ride to a beautiful sleep out on a friend’s farm. Sheep, chickens, and lots of recently restored native bush.
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Sometimes Forwards is Backwards
20 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Back on the road for a 50km ride into Featherston. This book town was right up my alley and I was able to hide away from the weather amongst the shelves. But as the rain got more torrential and thunder rolled in, I realized camping wasn’t an option. I reached out to Pip and they connected me with their amazing friend Max who put me up for the night. His place may have taken me 50km backwards, but it was well worth it for a comfortable place to rest my head for the night (not to mention the g&ts!). I really enjoyed touring through Max’s property and learning more about his work as a gardener and botanist.Läs mer
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Onwards
21 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
40km ride back to Featherstone: Bucks Road Reserve.
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Train Time
22 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Awesome train ride through the mountains into Lower Hutt.
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Home for the Holidays
25 december 2022, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
30km ride into Wellington for a house sitting gig over the holidays. Beautiful listening to the kakas calling from Zealandia. Stunning sunsets too!
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Hello South Island
18 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
After a couple of weeks enjoying the city wonders of Wellington, it was time to take the leap down to the South Island. I took the bluebridge ferry because they offer a 10% discount to folks travelling by bike (whoop whoop!). There were some pretty cool windmills to check out as I left the North Island behind, an invention that makes a whole lot of sense in windy Aotearoa. It was bitter sweet to leave the island that held me for 4.5 months but I was feeling excited to see what all the hype was about in the South. Ended up at the gorgeous Whatamango Bay Campsite after hanging out in Picton for a couple of hours. The ride in was breezy and the campsite a beautiful spot to rest my head for the night.Läs mer
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Gravel worth the Grind
19 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Back on the road for a scorcher ride to Whites Bay. 30km of undulating gravel with gorgeous ocean views. The last climb was too chunky to ride so pushing the bike it was! Took a lovely rest day and hung out at the beach all day. Superb.Läs mer
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The First Six: Bikepacking Resenär
Blenheim Kindness
21 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Nice 28km ride into Blenheim where I stayed in a sweet sleepout of some kind Warmshowers Hosts. Treated myself to a big vegan breakie in town and stopped at the beautiful Rarangi Campsite on my way in.Läs mer
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Backpackers for the Night
22 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Chill 34km ride back up to Picton to complete my Blenheim loop. Decided to spend the night at the Backpackers to get all rested up before hopping on the TA towards Nelson the next day.
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Link Pathway & My First Stingray
23 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Chill 16km hop down to Aussie Bay. Sweet ride on the Link Pathway to start but it got a bit too rough for the old bike. One mudslide meant taking all the bags off and precariously walking everything across a skinny ledge. Saw my first stingray in the ocean from my waterfront camp spot. Had a good swim too!Läs mer
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Damn, Pelorus Bridge!
24 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
40km ride over to the stunning DOC campsite, Pelorus Bridge. Enjoyed many swims in the river and wished I had time for another night. Gorgeous!
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Over the Hills to Nelson
25 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Nice 67km ride to Nelson. Some construction along the hwy but, as my luck panned out, I had the descents all to myself as the cars happened to be stopped. Spent a fun couple of days in Nelson with a wonderful visit from Nati.Läs mer
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Day Ride with Nati
28 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Sweet Nati flew down from Welly to visit me for a long weekend so we did a 60km round day trip to Māpua. It was nice to check out the area where I’d be Wwoofing for the next month and we had lots of fun soaking up the sun and surf. Enjoyed many a sunset and good meal with this one!Läs mer
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Day 1: Great Taste Trail
30 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
Cruisy 39km ride to Waiti Reserve, a Dark Sky Reserve. Felt nice to be back on the road!
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Tunnel!
31 januari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Awesome trail riding through forest and relatively flat. A definite highlight of the day was riding through the 1.3km long Spooners Tunnel. It’s the 5th longest tunnel in the world open to walkers and cyclists. The air was thick with particles illuminated by my headlamp and the darkness felt like it went on for ages. Stayed at Tapawera Campsite.Läs mer
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The White Elephant
1 februari 2023, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
Stunner 70km ride to Motueka’s White Elephant Hostel. Beautiful lush climbs on gravel roads, fun swing bridges, and lots of bike gates to pass through.
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