Howdy!
I haven't found much on this but I was curious if its possible to bike the trail or not? I only have enough time to walk one island but if biking was possible then I could see both islands. I read somewhere though that there's a lot of bushwacking involved so I'm not sure about biking.
Thanks!
no way jose on large sections of it
No way! It's illegal to ride a bike in National Parks anyway (except for a very few exceptions).
NZ is however a great place to off-road mountain bike. On the roads - hmmmm - as there are few roads you often have to ride on main highways which is not all that nice, and can be scary/dangerous.
Some sections could certainly be cycled, but like already said many parts are in National Parks where cycling is not allowed. Plus many sections are quite rough and you would be carrying your bike more then riding.
It would be difficult logistically to transport a bike just for the ride able sections.
Assuming you're talking about Te Araroa, I'd say just walk one island and leave the other one for some other time. The South Island has some challenging terrain and weather conditions. If you have experience on long walks elsewhere, I think you will find the North Island is most in line with your expectations.
I wouldn't recommend the South Island section to anyone who didn't already have New Zealand backcountry tramping experience -- people do it anyway but they are gambling on good weather, which is dangerous.
Check this out: http://www.nzcycletrail.com/ . It's not so much a single trail, but a set of long trails. You certainly can cycle the South Island, and do a lot of it off road. You might like to try the Molesworth then over Arthur's Pass to the West Coast for example. It would be pretty great!
All good advice. Amazing how some people still like to give it a try however… Some Americans thought they'd head over Brodrick Pass with their mountain bikes. The predictable outcome was they had to call a chopper to lift them out up the Huxley River North Branch as they got trapped by rising flood waters.
There are some spectacular bike trails in the South Island and it's possible to ride a lot them over a season which would more than give a visitor a taste of the diverse landscapes this country has to offer.
http://www.nzcycletrail.com
http://nzbybike.com
You could always cycle the road sections. ;)
But yeah, as JETNZ says, there's some quite brilliant cycle trails around. In fact, my company has close ties the West Coast Rail/Wilderness Trail.
It's an area of ecotourism that is being heavily pushed here in NZ, and there are some really exciting developments.
The timber trail in pureora forest park is a nice day ride.
