trip to nz definately worth it
- Thread starter newbi
- Start date
Jeffgre_6163
Likes Dirt
Just got back from a 10 day trip Rotorua last week. We have also been to Queenstown for a specific riding holiday 2 years ago.
I will list points as I think of them in no particular order;
- Rotorua is dead at night unlike Q'town which is hip and trendy [God I sound old : (], packed with people and shops all open at night.
I would say Rotorua is no where near as touristy based as Q'town and hence has none of the holiday mode vibe of Q'town, unless you count the blue rinse set "taking the waters"
They don't call Q'town the adventure capital of the southern hemisphere for nothing
- Q'town bike shops are way better than Rotorua
- In Q'town the trails are literally 300 meters from the CBD, at least the gondola up to the top of Ben Lomond is
- The soil type and grip level in Rotorua will blow you away as will the fantastic flowy nature of the trails - awesome fun
- I ride a 140mm travel 27.5 duallie, my preferred riding type is moderately technical that I have to work for [I don't mind a good single track climb] I also enjoy a good, solid non-stop ride of 1.5 hrs plus. I found that in Rotorua it was difficult to put together a solid, semi technical XC ride in a loop. This would no doubt change with time in the forest as you got to know it but for my preferred riding style the 20 minute shuttle delay between 3.5km runs got a bit old, as a result I did not use all my shuttle passes and spent a fair bit of time in the lower, shuttle free, forest exploring, but that's just me.
My 15 year old son loved every second of the shuttle runs
- More to do in your down time in Q'town. If you are either in Q'town or Rotorua for in excess of 10 days I doubt most riders could ride 10 straight days without requiring a break.
- The geography [scenery] in Q'town is better, again personal opinion
- You cant do heli biking in Rotorua from what I saw - its f**king awesome and a must do in Q'town!
- From memory I recall the technical level of riding in Q'town is at another level LOTS of northshore type wood work, a massive, work of art, jump park etc. but at the same time you can head out in to the mountains for a fantastic XC loop past crystal clear lakes.
- No rain forest in Q'town - most of the riding is either open tussock country or introduced pine forest. the upper reaches of Rotorua have some brilliant natural bush tracks
- Rotorua is a bit like riding in a desolate, post apocalyptic world in places as you ride through some of the recently harvested forestry areas - I enjoyed the trails through them [E.G. challenge or Gonna Gotta] but hated the feel of the open harvested forest where not a green thing was taller than 2 feet.
- The Whaka forest is no place for a Carbon HT 29er or any HT XC bike for that matter, either leave it at home or take it and hire a 5 inch duallie and wish you had not wasted the time packing it.
My son and I discussed the trip on the way home at length. He is a very good rider who loves technical, fast trails with heaps of airtime. At 15 he also likes the young buzz around back packers etc
We both agreed that when we do NZ again probably in 12 months or so that it would be Q'town for sure.
Rotoruas' riding is awesome IF you have a 5 inch plus AM bike, don't mind sitting in a shuttle bus [or waiting for one] for half your riding day or don't mind trails that are only 2.8km long and start and finish on a fire road.
Admittedly we did not get out of town other than to do the GO Native Enduro [my son was 24th : )] so cant speak of Taupo etc but for us I think our next OS riding dollar will be spent in Q'town
Some final bits of advice.
- If you have spent a couple of $k on the trip make sure you are physically up for it.
If you don't ride 4 times a week at home you will wind up smashed after 4 days of shuttles or XC riding.
Put some time in to your fitness before you go - it makes the trip much more fun
- Take some critical spares! don not assume you will be able to find that replacement derailleur hanger for your bike in country.
- If the bike can go wrong it will, particularly with 6 hour a day use for a week, either get it serviced before hand or allow a budget for it in country
I will list points as I think of them in no particular order;
- Rotorua is dead at night unlike Q'town which is hip and trendy [God I sound old : (], packed with people and shops all open at night.
I would say Rotorua is no where near as touristy based as Q'town and hence has none of the holiday mode vibe of Q'town, unless you count the blue rinse set "taking the waters"
They don't call Q'town the adventure capital of the southern hemisphere for nothing
- Q'town bike shops are way better than Rotorua
- In Q'town the trails are literally 300 meters from the CBD, at least the gondola up to the top of Ben Lomond is
- The soil type and grip level in Rotorua will blow you away as will the fantastic flowy nature of the trails - awesome fun
- I ride a 140mm travel 27.5 duallie, my preferred riding type is moderately technical that I have to work for [I don't mind a good single track climb] I also enjoy a good, solid non-stop ride of 1.5 hrs plus. I found that in Rotorua it was difficult to put together a solid, semi technical XC ride in a loop. This would no doubt change with time in the forest as you got to know it but for my preferred riding style the 20 minute shuttle delay between 3.5km runs got a bit old, as a result I did not use all my shuttle passes and spent a fair bit of time in the lower, shuttle free, forest exploring, but that's just me.
My 15 year old son loved every second of the shuttle runs
- More to do in your down time in Q'town. If you are either in Q'town or Rotorua for in excess of 10 days I doubt most riders could ride 10 straight days without requiring a break.
- The geography [scenery] in Q'town is better, again personal opinion
- You cant do heli biking in Rotorua from what I saw - its f**king awesome and a must do in Q'town!
- From memory I recall the technical level of riding in Q'town is at another level LOTS of northshore type wood work, a massive, work of art, jump park etc. but at the same time you can head out in to the mountains for a fantastic XC loop past crystal clear lakes.
- No rain forest in Q'town - most of the riding is either open tussock country or introduced pine forest. the upper reaches of Rotorua have some brilliant natural bush tracks
- Rotorua is a bit like riding in a desolate, post apocalyptic world in places as you ride through some of the recently harvested forestry areas - I enjoyed the trails through them [E.G. challenge or Gonna Gotta] but hated the feel of the open harvested forest where not a green thing was taller than 2 feet.
- The Whaka forest is no place for a Carbon HT 29er or any HT XC bike for that matter, either leave it at home or take it and hire a 5 inch duallie and wish you had not wasted the time packing it.
My son and I discussed the trip on the way home at length. He is a very good rider who loves technical, fast trails with heaps of airtime. At 15 he also likes the young buzz around back packers etc
We both agreed that when we do NZ again probably in 12 months or so that it would be Q'town for sure.
Rotoruas' riding is awesome IF you have a 5 inch plus AM bike, don't mind sitting in a shuttle bus [or waiting for one] for half your riding day or don't mind trails that are only 2.8km long and start and finish on a fire road.
Admittedly we did not get out of town other than to do the GO Native Enduro [my son was 24th : )] so cant speak of Taupo etc but for us I think our next OS riding dollar will be spent in Q'town
Some final bits of advice.
- If you have spent a couple of $k on the trip make sure you are physically up for it.
If you don't ride 4 times a week at home you will wind up smashed after 4 days of shuttles or XC riding.
Put some time in to your fitness before you go - it makes the trip much more fun
- Take some critical spares! don not assume you will be able to find that replacement derailleur hanger for your bike in country.
- If the bike can go wrong it will, particularly with 6 hour a day use for a week, either get it serviced before hand or allow a budget for it in country
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I was in Queenstown early December. Spent 2 x half days riding in the Bike Park and found enough variety of trails to ride.
On my second day of riding I rented a Demo 8 from Outside Sports for $100 plus around $10 for insurance. (from memory this covers the first $1000 damage if you bin it). The bike was fantastic and ran faultlessly. I believe that Outside Sports only have 1 of each size so it pays to book it in early. They don't seem to be a mass hiring type of business so the bike was in first class condition.
I hired a bike from another mob on my first day of riding, but had a mechanical on my first run and had to swap it over. The bike I swapped to was not in the best shape either. Whilst it did not cost as much as the Demo 8 to hire, I guess you get what you pay for.
Something to be mindful of is that the Gondola can be closed to MTB'ers at certain times. It was closed to MTB'ers from 25th December until around 8th January this year to cater for tourists going up to the lookout.
Plenty of food options in Queenstown. Didn't have a sub-par meal in the 6 nights I was there.
Also, whilst at the top of the Gondola, give the Luge a go. It looks a bit lame after doing DH runs, but it was actually a pretty good ride.
On my second day of riding I rented a Demo 8 from Outside Sports for $100 plus around $10 for insurance. (from memory this covers the first $1000 damage if you bin it). The bike was fantastic and ran faultlessly. I believe that Outside Sports only have 1 of each size so it pays to book it in early. They don't seem to be a mass hiring type of business so the bike was in first class condition.
I hired a bike from another mob on my first day of riding, but had a mechanical on my first run and had to swap it over. The bike I swapped to was not in the best shape either. Whilst it did not cost as much as the Demo 8 to hire, I guess you get what you pay for.
Something to be mindful of is that the Gondola can be closed to MTB'ers at certain times. It was closed to MTB'ers from 25th December until around 8th January this year to cater for tourists going up to the lookout.
Plenty of food options in Queenstown. Didn't have a sub-par meal in the 6 nights I was there.
Also, whilst at the top of the Gondola, give the Luge a go. It looks a bit lame after doing DH runs, but it was actually a pretty good ride.
loc81
Likes Dirt
Advise and excitement...
I've done both in the last couple of years plus heading back to QT over Easter and yep even though Rotorua is everything folks rave about and more, QT is a touch more varied and has the added bonus of being a tourist town second to none. This is also very handy if non-riding attendees are joining you. Catch my drift?
My NZ advise to anyone would be (and yes, I know this can be hard to organise) give yourself 2 weeks and "do them all" as the story of the old bull and young bull goes! Hire a Tarago with a trailer, 4-6 of ya mates and something roughly like this:
Aukland- 1 day
Rotorua- 3 days
Taupo- 2 days if lucky
Wellington (Makara Peak)- 1 day
Ferry to South Island
Cruise down and stay a night in Arthur's Pass. This is a decent size drive but the rest are easy. Ride Cragieburn please- a multi hour, shale slips on the side of a mountain style ride that has a blast of a descent at the end.
Cruise the west coast and spit back in to Wanaka. Sticky forest has some great jumpy push run tracks that are very addictive. Amazing lake views while washing down beers and tucker.
You'll need at least 5 days or more in QT to spread yourself over Coronet Peaks trails, Heli-biking, 7 mile trails and the gondola shuttles whenever you get time!
Drive out to Christchurch on the last night, freshen up and clean/pack bikes for the flight home.
We more or less did this on our first visit to NZ and these trails are the tip of the iceberg. The MTB trail books they have over there are mind boggling so with a hire car you can pick and choose dive and ride time. Accommodation is pretty damn cheap too so I'd hunt down some 2 bedder apartments so everyone gets a good shower and their own bed- you'll need it!
Also with QT, get on Qantas and Air NZ mailing lists as they have pretty solid weight and baggage allowances that you may get stung with if you go elsewhere. PLUS if you are hiring a car during your time, that cost plus "on special" flights will always be happening on Christchurch flights so you may as well do all that to and from there.
I can't stress that enough actually: pencil in a rough time frame for travel 12 months in advance, tuck a little coin away where you can, then as the year progresses and you get sweet email specials pounce on them. Thiseasliy saved us over $100 per person, each way. THAT'S AN EXTRA $400 IN YA SKY ROCKET GUYS!
In April we will have kids (under 2 = free he he) this trip so we are (2 couples with a kid each and a bike per couple) hiring a 12 seater Hi-ace with baby seats included and loading that bastard up.
April can't come soon enough as you can tell ha ha.
I hope someone gets inspired or takes away some info from this ramble.
CHEERS LOC
What this chap said here is my thoughts exactly.- very well said!
I've done both in the last couple of years plus heading back to QT over Easter and yep even though Rotorua is everything folks rave about and more, QT is a touch more varied and has the added bonus of being a tourist town second to none. This is also very handy if non-riding attendees are joining you. Catch my drift?
My NZ advise to anyone would be (and yes, I know this can be hard to organise) give yourself 2 weeks and "do them all" as the story of the old bull and young bull goes! Hire a Tarago with a trailer, 4-6 of ya mates and something roughly like this:
Aukland- 1 day
Rotorua- 3 days
Taupo- 2 days if lucky
Wellington (Makara Peak)- 1 day
Ferry to South Island
Cruise down and stay a night in Arthur's Pass. This is a decent size drive but the rest are easy. Ride Cragieburn please- a multi hour, shale slips on the side of a mountain style ride that has a blast of a descent at the end.
Cruise the west coast and spit back in to Wanaka. Sticky forest has some great jumpy push run tracks that are very addictive. Amazing lake views while washing down beers and tucker.
You'll need at least 5 days or more in QT to spread yourself over Coronet Peaks trails, Heli-biking, 7 mile trails and the gondola shuttles whenever you get time!
Drive out to Christchurch on the last night, freshen up and clean/pack bikes for the flight home.
We more or less did this on our first visit to NZ and these trails are the tip of the iceberg. The MTB trail books they have over there are mind boggling so with a hire car you can pick and choose dive and ride time. Accommodation is pretty damn cheap too so I'd hunt down some 2 bedder apartments so everyone gets a good shower and their own bed- you'll need it!
Also with QT, get on Qantas and Air NZ mailing lists as they have pretty solid weight and baggage allowances that you may get stung with if you go elsewhere. PLUS if you are hiring a car during your time, that cost plus "on special" flights will always be happening on Christchurch flights so you may as well do all that to and from there.
I can't stress that enough actually: pencil in a rough time frame for travel 12 months in advance, tuck a little coin away where you can, then as the year progresses and you get sweet email specials pounce on them. Thiseasliy saved us over $100 per person, each way. THAT'S AN EXTRA $400 IN YA SKY ROCKET GUYS!
In April we will have kids (under 2 = free he he) this trip so we are (2 couples with a kid each and a bike per couple) hiring a 12 seater Hi-ace with baby seats included and loading that bastard up.
April can't come soon enough as you can tell ha ha.
I hope someone gets inspired or takes away some info from this ramble.
CHEERS LOC
Puddleduck
Likes Dirt
Just about to start planning our trip to Queenstown late this year. Any recommendations on 5 or 6 AM trails we should definitely ride? We'll be most likely hooking up with QBT to shuttle us. Any excellent 1/2 or 3/4 day trail rides we should consider?
The Rude Rock run and Coronets run look sick.
The Rude Rock run and Coronets run look sick.
me and the gf did a 2 wk trip to the south island in feb.
wasnt just riding (did some hiking, kayaking and tourist shit as well)
but we did two solid days of riding:
1. the croisus track out of greymouth - awesome ride which follows a river up through the typical nz green rainforest, then pops you out above the tree line and ends one of nz's awesome huts. fantastic ride through some great scenery. would have been good to have our own bikes though cos the hire options in greymouth are extremely limited
2. the queenstown bike part - def some of the gnarliest dh riding ive ever done - the hobbit trail that bombs straight down the mountain is insanely steep. scary stuff. but a great day all round.
nz have it pretty good in that they seem to be keen to encourage mtbs just about everywhere, and its well and truly accepted as a sport. aussie could def learn a thing or two
super keen to go back - rotorua will probably be the next trip
wasnt just riding (did some hiking, kayaking and tourist shit as well)
but we did two solid days of riding:
1. the croisus track out of greymouth - awesome ride which follows a river up through the typical nz green rainforest, then pops you out above the tree line and ends one of nz's awesome huts. fantastic ride through some great scenery. would have been good to have our own bikes though cos the hire options in greymouth are extremely limited
2. the queenstown bike part - def some of the gnarliest dh riding ive ever done - the hobbit trail that bombs straight down the mountain is insanely steep. scary stuff. but a great day all round.
nz have it pretty good in that they seem to be keen to encourage mtbs just about everywhere, and its well and truly accepted as a sport. aussie could def learn a thing or two
super keen to go back - rotorua will probably be the next trip
donny70
Likes Dirt
It's easier to set up stuff like that in NZ. In Australia you'd have public liability insurance. I think that's the case feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Rotorua was good enough for me to go back twice, I'll go again and do some of the outlying trails and bring my own ride over next time too I think i'll ride a bit better.... Maybe not 
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