This was an adventure of a different sort for me, in the last year I had gotten a lot more into biking and while most of that was road related a friend and I had started into the foray of bike packing. Our first trip took us into the St. James area which I am yet to write about.
A plan was hatched to ride the Heaphy track when it is open to mountain bikers out of the prime hiking season so huts were booked and as part of the plan a flight to one end of the track adding an extra bit of excitement.
We drove up on the Thursday night and stayed at one of a local campgrounds. A leisurely start Friday morning has us up and off to get a real breakfast and coffee before the plane, and if you are ever up that way I would really recommend the Last resort cafe for food and coffee.
Breakfast and a couple of coffees were consumed waiting till the plane would arrive it was time to head to the airport and get the bikes ready. We flew with Adventure flights golden bay and would totally recommenced Mit he was a great pilot with heaps of hard case stories and the best thing was we didn’t have to pull apart our bikes as some others had to for another company.
Just into the start of the actual track after riding down the road from the air field.
Not long after the bridge it was into the climbing, there was a decent size hill to climb up before hitting the plateau.
We stopped for lunch at one of the older huts, there was a big group of guys with some looking for the special Takahe, unluckily for them they weren’t out and just after they left a group of woman turned up and pointed the birds out to us that were hiding out the behind the hut.
After watching the birds for awhile an enjoying that we are some of the lucky ones to be able to actually see this bird in New Zealand it was time to head off to the next hut which was where our bunks were waiting for our tired legs.
After starting out from the hut and warming up with some coffee and breakfast it was gloomy looking outside with a slight drizzle, the rain increased and we managed to make it to the next hut to warm up a little and eat some snacks.
The next section was mostly downhill and lots of speed, it was a little hard to see at times with the grit flicking up made for a few near misses getting close to the edges on corners. I ended up meeting a work colleague who happened to be riding the track in the opposite direction and after a quick chat buzzing about the great ride it was time to head towards the next hut which didn’t take long being more downhill. Arriving at the hut covered in mud and harassed by sand flies it was time for a wash in the river and hide away in the hut in the warmth for the rest of the evening.
One interesting thing we came across was one of the giant trees, at the hut there was a rock ring out the front that depicted the sheer size of this tree.
The last hut on track was another of the flash big ones that have double glazing, insulation, lights and a really big lawn out front.
After checking out the hut and taking in the sites, it was time for the last stretch of the track along the coast line and we were not disapointed with a stunning ride through palm trees and trying not to fall off while looking at the ocean.
After making it to the end of the track, eating more snacks and having a rest we had bit of a ride back to the airport at around sixteen kilometers which felt like it was the longest part of the whole trip with a decent head wind.
Overall would totally recomend doing the Heaphy track it’s one of New Zealands great walks after all and it deserves the title, what a great experience and if biking is not your thing then you can always walk it.
