This is a trip with a difference; most MTB tourists visit New Zealand for the Heli drops and the bike parks and shuttles of Queenstown and Rotorua. This is the complete opposite, and to be honest this is the 100% pure New Zealand you hear about in the ad campaign. We had to earn our descents in this remote part of the world, completely cut off from any civilization, roads and people. While the trail has been maintained for MTB usage it is by no means sanitized and buffed out, which means that although it is a cross country ride by definition the terrain and downhills on offer are best ridden on the same bike you would shred the Rotorua and Queenstown trails on. The only difference is you would be carrying your sleeping bag and all your food and clothes for the three days.

We all put racks onto our bikes which we strapped our sleeping bags stuffed in dry sacks onto. The Blackburn SPX–1 rack was best suited for the job, offering the most clearance for the full suspension bikes, even allowing those of us with large or medium frames to still fully use our seatpost droppers. I was not so lucky with my small, but I was still able to lower my saddle a few inches for the descents. Everything had to go into dry bags, backpacks had to be used for all the premix–dehydrated food, clothes, rain gear, spare parts, jet boiler, coffee and of course alcohol, that we had to carry along with us for the next three days, plus a six pack of beers to ‘cheers’ Simon at the top of the hill on his birthday. Thank goodness you don’t even have to bother taking water with you in New Zealand, as you can just fill up a little bottle from the streams along the way, so you can use that water space and weight for some warming nightcaps and red wine around the fire instead. Perfect. Since there is no way to bail–out early we had to be prepared for any mechanical or emergency so we split the usual spares tools and first aid kit out between us; spare hangers, mechs, shifters, spokes, tubes, brake pads and appropriate tools, not forgetting the duct tape and zip ties of course.

Starting after lunch, the first day only covered about 24km, but with a big 900m climb up to the top and highest point on the track. A super fun descent down to our first overnight hut in the tussock downs of Goulands was our reward. We had this hut all to ourselves, and it was a perfect place to celebrate the birthday. There was a roaring fire, and we all had funny containers filled with alcohol. Vodka in a plastic (lighter) Fanta bottle, red wine in a water bottle, some hip flasks and even a proper bottle of whiskey to be passed around (yeah we could have travelled lighter). We all had to bring a mystery treat, and all of us wanted to get rid of our treats to lighten the load for the ride the next day. We had smores (weird marshmallow, chocolate biscuit things), cheese and crackers, copious amounts of chocolate, homemade caramel condensed milk goodness and too many other treats to mention, but the winner was a massive pot of dehydrated mashed potatoes that we inhaled fondue style.

The next morning we headed out towards Heaphy Hut some 38km away. Some high plateau riding with huge vistas and a couple of jungle climbs and descents before the big 15km sustained downhill dropping 800m to the coast and the Heaphy Hut. The descent was absolute heaven on our all–mountain trail bikes. Dropping down into the wet west coast where roots, ruts, rocks and drops are never ending was an absolute treat. The type of perfect gradient that maximizes your downhill time, high speeds and pumping flow only tapping your brakes when coming up to blind corners or obstacles. They have done a lot of trail maintenance over the past year, it hasn’t made it easier, it just enhanced the flow and helped us get over the high rivers and swamps a bit easier than the older swing bridges that are quite challenging to cross with your bike.>>