Category: Biking

A Week or Two in the Manawatū

February 2026

In the past, the Manawatū has mostly been drive-through or fly-over country for us – flat, apparently featureless, and home to Palmerston North (famous for making anywhere else look attractive) and Bulls, the pun capital of New Zealand (Coffee on the Moove and toilets labelled Relieve-a-bull).

When we biked through on our Tour Aotearoa ride in the summer of 23/24 the route took us on remote tracks through untouched parts of the Whanganui National Park, and down into the very charming river city of Whanganui. The next section was northern Manawatu and the Eastern Ruahines which are neither flat nor boring, however for logistical reasons at the time we missed out a part of that route. We therefore decided this summer, while travelling in the Egg, our faithful motorhome,  to do an overnighter to plug that gap.

Ashhurst

Once renowned for its concentration of fundamentalist churches, Ashhurst is actually a pleasant small town with an excellent council-run campground. It has free, clean hot showers and powered sites at $10 per head per night – a perfect place to leave the Egg overnight (especially with buggered solar). I’ll always remember it for the branchling tūī.

I learnt that word after sharing a photo and video of a baby tui with the Birds of NZ Facebook group, hoping someone local could check out the chick we rescued after we left. It was sitting on the ground at the edge of the campground road, having clearly fallen from the tree overhead, while its concerned parents called from above. I tried to encourage it to move to a more sheltered spot without touching it, but after three or four short attempts at flight it gave up.

Branchlings are youngsters that have left the nest but haven’t yet grown their tail feathers. They hop around on branches, still being fed by their parents for a few days until they fledge properly. I put my hand in front of it and it climbed onto my finger, letting me carry it closer to some bush where, I was assured by proper bird people, its parents would teach it to camouflage itself for a few days. We have plenty of tūī at home and I’ve watched fledglings grow and return year after year, but I’d never seen one this young.

Apiti and Makoura Lodge – Pohangina Valley

The Tour Aotearoa route between Apiti and Ashhurst had changed in 2026 due to road closures on the original line, so we rode it in reverse – up Spur Road, up Zigzag Road, and more up Ridge Road. We stuffed ourselves with roadside blackberries and wowed at the expansive rural views across to the Ruahines.

The roads were mostly quiet gravel (we saw three cars, two cyclists, and a walker), but there was more climbing than we’d bargained for – which is to say, we’re out of shape – and we very nearly flattened our batteries. We recharged both ourselves and the bikes at the Apiti Tavern, where we were pleasantly surprised by excellent pub dinners of smoked wild pork burger, and pork belly.

With replenished batteries, we rode a few more kilometres to the very comfortable Makoura Lodge, perched high on a narrow plateau between two spectacular gorges.

For the return ride we had two choices – the flat, tar-sealed Pohangina East Road or the hillier, gravelled Pohangina Road, potentially impassable. Reassured by the Kennett brothers, we chose the latter, of course. As on the previous day, traffic was minimal, the views excellent (though sadly no blackberries), and we discovered Totara Reserve – a perfect, quiet camping spot by the river. It would be very easy to lose a week or two in this neck of the woods.

Flying Fox

Back in Whanganui for a few days to get the solar sorted, we decided to fulfil another ambition and stay at the Flying Fox, up the Whanganui River towards Pipiriki. It’s an easy 50 km ride – rural at first, then for the last 10–15 km right inside the National Park.

The Flying Fox is accessible only by, you guessed it, a flying fox across the river. Big enough for two people and their luggage, it takes about three minutes to cross to what’s rated as a mid-range hotel but is really a collection of rustic, self-contained cottages, all solar powered. Hosts Kelly and Jane are friendly and laid back, and make it feel as though you’re staying in a hand-built house in a friend’s back yard.

We cooked our own meal in the kitchenette rather than use their catering; I grabbed a beer from the fridge in the main house (honesty box), and next time we’ll stay a couple of nights. There will be a next time, because the Tui Cottage is one of the four best places we have ever stayed anywhere in the world. List available on request, but the common factor is a total lack of pretension.

This post is purely to keep a record of this trip for us, although anyone who chances upon it is very welcome.

Tasman

December 2025
After Golden Bay our first stop was Marahau, nestled into the foot of the Able Tasman National Park, and existing solely to serve the tourism industry based on the park. There’s no hype, just a few slightly competing business based around water taxis, with a good general store, a couple of cafes and a few camping options. We were there to catch up again with Jill’s cuzzies, Sue and Ian, and their dog, Miss Daisy.

Abel Tasman

The water taxis buzz  to the bays  along the track all day taking hikers to and from various sections, and The Navigator got to work. We took a taxi to Torrent Bay, walked to the Anchorage (6 km) from where I took a taxi back with a bit of seal-spotting along the way, and Jill walked the remaining 14 km. I can see why people go tramping, around here anyway where it’s fairly flat and scenic.

Harwood’s Hole

We nipped back to the top of the Takaka Hill, getting caught by the 20 minute delay through the one way roadworks. Campervans and caravans are not allowed on the 11 km road to the Hole so we parked at a lookout and had a very pleasant ride up and down a small hill, then a 2 km walk through a Tolkeinesque forest to a large pile of enormous rocks guarding the actual hole. We couldn’t get close enough to look down but I imagine that were a group of goblins at the bottom, 176 m down, gathering up the gold rings that LOTR fans would chuck down. It’s a DOC site and there are bike and hiking trails to amuse the young and agile, and a farm for sale if you really crave remote living.

Down the hill again, with a 30 minute delay this time – thank goodness for motorhomes with tea-making and toilets. We stayed at Riwaka in a very well set up POP, The Big Shed, where the owners had built themselves a enviably huge dutch barn with their house on one side, and on the other a very tidy ablutions block on the other side where we parked under a stunning sky.

Resurgences

You have to admire the literary pluck of a surveyor naming a spring a “resurgence”, but the Riuwaka River starts with two of them. I read later they use the term a lot in karst country where it’s quite common for a river to disappear for a while.

We biked there from Motueka, following the Great Taste Trail to Kaiteriteri, a favourite spot of a lot of people judging by the expensive homes and vast camping area, and it’s also a centre for Abel Tasman activities. The trail is a very easy, well maintained family focused route, but the last part into Kaiteriteri took us through an easy section of the MTB park, fun but just bumpy enough to trigger my recently sprained elbow which made me whimper audibly. We paused for an excellent coffee and pie while the pills kicked in then went hunting for resurgences.

The resurgences are not as pristinely clean as they were even ten years ago according the the locals, the once-fabled purest water in the country now bubbling up over slime covered rocks, but that didn’t stop a group doing manu into the icy cold pool. It’s a cool spot, with good bush and nicely maintained paths without woke railings.

Tapawera

The Great Taste Trail does a big loop around the back of Nelson, but sections had been badly damaged by the great floods 3 years ago and are still being repaired. The Spooner Tunnel has only recently been made accessible, but only from the East, so we went out to the charming and slightly feral Tapawera Cycle Trail Campground run by the delightful Julie. We shared the grounds with her dog, an enormous unsheared sheep and a large goat.

The trail runs right beside the camp, and it’s probably not the most interesting part of it, but the tunnel, the longest bike able tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere at 1352 m long, made it worthwhile.We did another section the other way to the top of Baton Pass, passing too many hop farms before the small bushy hill climb.

The next day we parked at Woodstock triggering a 1970’s earworm (thank you Joni Mitchell), and biked up the Baton River to almost where we left off yesterday, discovering Lublows Leap Store & Museum, a biker’s dream.
From the official website:

Heading along the remote Baton Valley Road, you will find farmland with a cyclist rest stop. It is operated by Richard and Fiona Lublow who have a long history with the farm, dating back to 1906.

Today there is on-farm accommodation plus a shed and museum where people can learn about the history of the Baton Valley. The idea of the shed is to provide a stop for the cyclists – they can jump on the Wi-Fi, as this is the most remote part of the trail and there’s no mobile coverage.

Cyclists can also fill up their water bottles, buy ice cream, make a cup of tea and read about the area’s history. The shop runs on an honesty system and is unmanned, it has Eftpos and a cash box.

We drove over to Mapua where we stayed at the Mapua Leisure Park, once famous as a nudist resort, now unclothed only in February and March, but when Jill stayed here decades ago she remembered there was plenty of skin to be seen. The legendary fish ‘n’ chips on the wharf are as perfect as ever, but there are now loads of boutique stores as well.

Baton River

Mapua

Just a quick ride on more of the Great Taste trail to Motueka for coffee at the apparently famous Toad Hall. No photos.

Cable Bay

Through Nelson with a brief pause for Christmas shopping – what a ghastly season this really is – and along to Cable Bay, named for it being the site of the first trans-Tasman cable connecting NZ to thee world. Messages could be sent to Britain in only 4 days for as little as 1 shilling and ninepence – $30 when adjusted for inflation today. The nearby Pepin Island is connected by a tombolo and the shallow bay surrounding it is covered only briefly by a high tide. We biked around it as far as we could to Maori PA, finding an interesting reserve, Paramata, but no information as to why the ethnicity of the pa had to be so carefully defined.

Before embarking on next year’s Paitua I thought I would shake the cobwebs off this interweb thing and tell you what we’ve been up to recently.

Ticking off the bucket list

November, 2025
After a few months in one place (home) our feet started to itch so we treated The Egg to one of the new 1 year COFs, and dawdled off to Golden Bay on the top left corner of the South Island. On a previous quick trip we had missed getting to Totaranui, and I’ve been envious reading about motorhomers braving the narrow road to the Doc camp ever since. Bucket list #1.

Cape Farewell is the northernmost point of the South Island – BL #2 – And Farewell Spit is there too – BL #3.

And then there is the Whanganui Inlet and Anatori, the most southern car-accessible point on the West Coast. – BL #4.

Also: Cobb Dam and Harwoods Hole (BL #5 & 6) because we haven’t been there, but not Pupu Springs, because we have

That’s quite a list for one small corner of the country, so we switched on dawdle mode and started to tick  them off slowly. And just to clarify, these are not the only items on the BL, but are probably the only NZ ones left.

Also, I hate the term “bucket list”.

BL #1 – Totaranui

One of the stops on the Abel Tasman Trail which I will never walk due to an aversion, although it’s extremely lovely and I strongly recommend it. It’s not such a scary road, plenty wide with slightly corrugated gravel to slow down the hoons, and we stayed for 3 days because it’s so good there that I’ll never tell anyone about it. So was Awaroa, courtesy of the water taxi, so no tedious tramping for me.

We stayed for a couple of nights at the Pohara Top 10 to catch up with Jill’s cousin Sue, Ian, and their dog Miss Daisy, then …

BL #2 & 3 – Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit

28 Nov 2025

I love a good long beach drive, and if you can add in a worthwhile compass point and a few birds I’m a happy chap.  There’s only one way for the public to get along the spit – Farewell Spit Eco Tours – so we parked up at the Collingwood Motor camp, enjoyed their excellent bathrooms, and set off at 6:30am the next day. It’s a low tide tour, of course.

Our driver, Allan, had a great sense of humour and a well-rehearsed patter backed by in-depth knowledge, and he stopped to pick up the two bits of litter we saw in over 25 km of beach. They don’t go all the way to the end to leave the gannet colony alone, and you’re not allowed to walk on the beach above the high tide mark, so we felt that we were in a Very Untouched Place. There were occasional seals but don’t expect lots of birds.
A detour to Cape Farewell on the way back meant we can now tick off every major compass point around the two main islands.

BL #4 – Whanganui Inlet and Anatori

29 November, 2025

Only 50 km as the Kororo flies from Kohaihai, the northernmost road on the true West Coast, but 472 km by car, this is the southern-most car-accessible point on the West Coast of Golden Bay. We drove in past the vast mudflats of the Whanganui Inlet to Paturau on the coast, and hopped on our bikes to ride down a spectacular coast road too narrow for The Egg. The road continues to service farms but we were stopped by a thigh-deep “ford” where we watched locals coming down the road on the other side on their quad bikes for a leisurely dip in the ice cold river. We biked back and took a slow drive back along the now full and very lovely Whanganui Inlet.

The Pakawau Camping Ground was a peasant place to stay for a night before the next day’s small hike across the dunes to Wharariki Beach, famous for a hole in a rock. It’s a typical West Coast Beach, wild and vast and impressive like all of them, so I took no photos until we got back to the carpark and found the cafe closed and guarded by the resident peacock.

We stopped for a night at the Golden Bay Camping ground (the Best in the bay) after an unreviewable late lunch at the iconic Mussel Inn – if you can’t say something nice etc – although it was during a powercut and the roaring fire and impromptu live music did make up for it..

Battery use: 50%

BL #5 – Cobb Dam

1 December, 2025

At last, a bit of real climbing – an unrelenting 850 m up a gravel road through the spectacular Kahurangi National Park. I didn’t realize how much I had missed it. Not. A few months ago, after 3 months of Alpine biking around the elevated parts of Italy and the Balkans, we thought that 800 m hills were a great way to warm up in the morning, but we have returned to our usual level of fitness. We used a lot of power.

We parked in a rare wide spot at Sam’s Creek on the Cobb Valley Road, and if you’re reading this and plan to the same, that’s as far as you should go, and in fact the Blue Hole 5 km back would be even better. It’s very narrow above there, and far too lovely to waste on driving. There was the last of the snow on the peaks above the dam and the katabatic wind sweeping the length of it slightly reduced its charm when we descended the 200 m from the summit. Jill rode the full length of it, straight into the aforementioned breeze and both our batteries were very nearly empty when we got back.

We stayed that night in a freedom camping spot back towards Takaka where we were woken by the trucks arriving at 7 am. The front-end-loader driver laughed as he said “Well we have to be here and awake at 7 so why not you lot. Best time of the day!”

We moved on over the Takaka Hill, not pausing to do Harwoods Hole because the low cloud blanketed the tops. We’ll be back.

Battery use: 82%