Cycle trail spur for Mapua ferry users
Mapua’s newest ride, the Flat Bottom Fairy, is doing a roaring trade thanks to families keen to try out the Rabbit Island leg of the Great Taste Trail.
Ferry co-owner Paul Nankivell said since October’s opening day, which saw 1000 people make the return trip across the estuary, they have been averaging about 200 people a day, with 580 people through on New Year’s Day.
The 50-person ferry is fitted out with 15 bike racks, and links to the 6.8km leg of Tasman’s cycle trail, the Great Taste Trail, which links up trails between Nelson and Motueka.
But it’s not just the super-fit cyclists making the journey, according to Mr Nankivell.
‘‘Families, mostly. We’re getting many older groups too, just out to get themselves fit. Not just cyclists either – local people who want to use the beach, or just go over for a picnic.’’
Mobile bicycle hire outfit Wheelie Fantastic coincidentally set up around the same time as the Mapua ferry, and said both the ferry and the Rabbit Island trail have been great for business.
‘‘The trails allow generations of families to do something together. The other day we had three generations of a Dutch family out there together, and they just had a ball,’’ said co-owner Nicky Mcbride.
‘‘There are also people who haven’t been on a bike for years who come and try it, and come back loving it. Some local people come to try it and then go out and buy bicycles.’’
Ms Mcbride said they are building up their business to be fully functional when the Great Taste Trail is completed in the next few years.
The only issue at the moment is a lack of publicity for Mapua Wharf and Rabbit Island as a cycling destination.
‘‘I feel like I’m selling a secret at the moment,’’ said Ms Mcbride.
Christchurch visitors Phil Edwards and Sara Kelly predict that once the secret is out, the place will ‘‘go off’’.
‘‘We can do it together as a family, get a bit of exercise, we get to go to nice places,’’ Ms Kelly said of cycling as a family.
‘‘For a child, like [son] Charlie, if we say we’re going for a walk he’ll whinge, but if we say we’re going for a bike he’s happy to go.’’
It’s been good for business too, according to Hamish’s Icecream Parlour and Cafe owner Adele Calteaux.
‘‘We love it when the ferry comes in, we get flocks of people.’’