Easy cycling through Central Otago
Central Otago has breathtaking landscapes and cycling is a good way to take them in. Cherie Sivignon goes for a ride.
It was snowing the first morning of our planned three-day cycle journey through stretches of Central Otago. A strong wind was also whipping across the plains, blowing with it a healthy dollop of concern for our wellbeing.
We weren’t worried. Coated in a thick layer of blissful ignorance along with our thermals, we assured the organisers of our spring sojourn that we would be fine.
Those organisers were a little uneasy at sending three middle-aged women, who confessed they weren’t bike-fit, into the windswept and, in places snowy, countryside.
One of these women, Danette Buchan, hadn’t been on a cycle for more than 10 years.
Part of our bravado was due to the fact that we were to negotiate those off-road cycleways atop electric bikes. We chose ebikes because we weren’t cycle fit. As office-based employees and busy mums, we struggled to find time in our schedules to get on bikes.
However, we did want to experience key rides that snake across a swathe of the landscape – the Roxburgh Gorge Trail, the Clutha Gold Trail and the original ‘‘great ride’’, the Otago Central Rail Trail – three of 22 Great Rides across New Zealand.
Original rail trail
A 571⁄2km section of the Otago Central Rail Trail was on the itinerary for day one, from Ranfurly to Ophir. Buchan and I were fitted for our ebikes in Clyde by director Lisa Joyce, of Bike It Now.
Representatives of fellow itinerary planner, bike hire and transport provider Trail Journeys transferred our luggage to Ophir and us to Ranfurly.
After donning our gloves and helmets, we started what turned out to be a 60.9km trip because of little side jaunts. The first stage took us across the vast Maniototo Plain to Wedderburn, and then on to Oturehua in the Ida Valley. With magnificent views of the snow-covered Hawkdun Range, we tested the bikes’ capability along some of the long stretches of mostly deserted trail.
My Merida eSpresso 600 had three pedal-assist settings – eco, trail and boost. I could also turn it off, in which case the cycle would function as a regular bike, moving under my steam only.
However, when one of those settings was engaged, I got much more out of my efforts. In the boost setting, it felt as if I was being pushed by someone running behind the bike. That meant I could tackle the hilly sections without getting puffed or having to walk. It also made bearable those tough headwinds in the exposed areas on the first day.
The landscape was gorgeous and varied. Some of the early morning snow was still on the ground around the 618-metre highest point of the trail. We cycled over hills, across valleys and through farmland dotted with lambs.
Poolburn Gorge was a highlight. The trail cuts through schist rock bluffs at that point, and provided welcome shelter from the wind. We walked across the 108m-long Poolburn Viaduct, taking in the view 37m above the Ida Burn waterway. We also walked through the two tunnels that followed.
From there, it was pretty much downhill to Lauder, where the wind found us again. My battery died 2km after Lauder, about 7km short of our destination. It was on an incline, of course. Fortunately, after the incline, the terrain for the rest of the trip was fairly flat.
Despite having padded cycle pants, plus gel saddles and covers, our rumps were sore and we were pleased to reach our accommodation for the night in the beautiful, renovated Pitches Store, which dates to the goldmining era.
Lovingly restored and reopened in 2012, Pitches Store has six B&B rooms and a restaurant within its thick stone walls.
Roxburgh Gorge
Day two dawned clear and calm. It was mostly downhill for the final section of the Otago Central Rail Trail portion of our trip, between Omakau and Alexandra. Now familiar with our bikes and keen to make the most of the decline, we travelled most of that section in the eco setting. I also turned off the battery for part of the route, using the bike’s gears and my own pedal power.
Our rumps seemed to have adjusted to the cycling when we set off again after a break in beautiful Alexandra. We crossed the blue bridge over the Clutha River/Mata-Au to begin the Roxburgh Gorge Trail.
What a delight this trail was. Hugging the banks
of the river and then Lake Roxburgh, the route is undulating. It curves around majestic rock formations and hillsides covered in wild thyme, which was just coming into flower. Good use of the gears, and the boost setting on the inclines, made the trip smooth and easy.
The first 10km section ends at Doctors Point, where a 13km jet boat trip bridges a missing link.
Dave Crawford, of Beaumont Jet, hooked our bikes on the boat and provided a colourful commentary. The typically dry landscape of the gorge means many of the stone cottages and sluicings from the goldmining days remain intact. After an optional 360-degree spin, Crawford unloaded our bikes at Shingle Creek where the trail restarted.
This is the section for which we saved our battery power. That final 13km climbs high above Lake Roxburgh at one point, and there’s also a series of switchbacks. It was here the ebike came into its own, and not once did I have to get off and push it uphill.
We ended the trail at the Roxburgh Dam lookout and rode down into Lake Roxburgh Village. I still had more than 60 per cent charge in my battery when we stopped for the night at the revamped Lake Roxburgh Lodge, now in the capable hands of sisters Sarah and Leah Purchase.
Clutha Gold
Day three was a doddle, with just 30km to cover of the Clutha Gold Trail. The first 10km took us over Roxburgh Dam itself and down the east side of the Clutha, where we left the trail to visit Roxburgh. After a Jimmy’s Pie stop and a browse, we rejoined the trail for our final 20km to Millers Flat.
From Roxburgh Dam to Millers Flat, the trail mostly ran beside the river. Unlike the barren surrounds of the Roxburgh Gorge Trail, the Clutha Gold Trail is surrounded by the verdant richness of the Teviot Valley.
Ebikes can open the trails to people who don’t cycle regularly. The bike won’t go if the rider doesn’t pedal, but the battery boost definitely helps with uphill sections and any strong headwinds.
Joyce says ebikes are increasingly popular. A quarter of her company’s hire fleet of 180 cycles are electric. They also account for half the retail sales.
It costs $120 to hire an ebike for a single day, or $100 a day for multi-day hire, which includes panniers, a gel seat cover, ergo grips, a helmet, and a drink bottle.
Regional menu
Between September 20 and October 28, participating restaurants, cafes and cellar doors offered dishes made with local ingredients as part of the Eat Taste Central promotion, now in its third year. We tried several dishes, including a sticky pork bao with cherry chutney at the Maniototo Cafe in Ranfurly, meringues with house-made turkish delight and black cherry coulis at Hannah’s Cafe at Hayes Engineering Works & Homestead on the outskirts of Oturehua, and venison with locally grown fruit and vegetables at Pitches Store. My favourite was also from Pitches Store – a pear tart made by young chef, Megan Lee.