HURUNUI Trail
Five Rivers, Around the Mountains Cycle Trail © Tourism NZ
KAIKŌURA to CHRISTCHURCH 3-5 days
BEST FOR: Submerging yourself into the rural good life, where every inch of scenery confirms that our countryside is seriously good-looking. HEARTLAND RIDE • HURUNUI TRAIL
Friends cycling with a view of the sea © Andrew Spencer BELOW: St James Cycle Trail ©Bevan Triebels
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South Island’s rural beauty is allconsuming. This is a ride where you’ll stop often; bike stationed before yet another glorious landscape while you pause to appreciate the rolling views.
resh country air, punctured permanently, yet somewhat pleasantly, by the rich smell of farmland, the Hurunui Trail provides a quieter, safer alternative to SH 1, through gorgeous countryside communities laced by large pastoral farms, tussock land, creeks, rivers, vineyards and hilltops crackled with remnants of snow.
Connecting Kaikōura to Canterbury, the trail can be ridden in either direction via a series of low traffic country roads. Cars are infrequent but trundling tractors must be expected. Cattle being moved may also slow your progress, but is there anything more delightfully rural than stopping to watch a farmer work their land?
TOP TIP – If you want more, this trail is conveniently close to the St James Cycle Trail Great Ride, as well as the adjacent Molesworth Muster and Rainbow Trail Heartland Rides.
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The journey will see you crossing both the Kowhai and Waiau rivers, using a mix of seal and gravel roads over a mostly flat terrain, but with just enough segments of undulated track to allow for some fun slopes. Fling your legs up and re-enact childhood. There is an opportunity just past the small village of Culverden to detour off the trail by 36km to Hanmer Springs. Cyclists feeling the aches of exertion will welcome the hot pools at Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa. Back on the main track, solitude is an expected highlight; sometimes there will be nothing but you, the road and views as far as the eye can see, but keep a look out for ancient landforms chiselled into their new faces by the massive 2016 earthquake, the beautiful vineyards of the Waipara wine region and limestone outcrops along Pyramid Valley Rd. Once in Christchurch, your ride expels its agricultural cloak, and the fizz, pop, whizz of a modern city takes centre stage.
260km
