We don’t know how to say it (yet), but we’re going to ride it (soon).
The Aotearoa Trail is a 3,000 kilometer (1,900 mile) linear trail in New Zealand that begins at the top of the North Island at Cape Reinga and ends at the bottom of the South Island in Bluff. The route also includes 4-5 ferry transfers.
A Grand Depart takes place each year and the start date and time is based on the tide levels since the first 90 miles (not actually 90 miles but that’s another story) of the trail is on the beach and must be cycled during low tide.
Per usual, we aren’t signing up for the actual event which starts on February 22, 2025. Instead we’re heading to Auckland a couple weeks before the start to begin our ride so I’m sure we’ll meet up with some cyclists participating in the Tour Aotearoa proper.
To be honest, it doesn’t look as challenging as our border to border ride on the Great Divide in 2021, however last time we made that claim, we got spanked with unseasonably cold weather and relentless headwinds on the 3,700 mile ride from San Diego to Key West ride in 2023.
Below is a three minute video showcasing some of what we can expect in the way of views and climbs on the Tour Aotearoa. Not gonna lie, you’re probs going to want to cycle it as well. It’s stunning!
The road surface is a good mix of sealed roads, cycleways, gravel, dirt, single track and some hike-a-bike thrown in to keep it challenging.
We’re dipping our toes into international travel with bikes… well besides two short stays in Canada during our Northern Tier ride in 2018.
Below are things we are thinking about:
- Do we need visas to visit New Zealand?
- Should we book Economy or Economy Plus plane tickets for the 15 hour plane ride?
- Should we take a stove? We didn’t on the Great Divide Ride and didn’t miss it.
- Do we need an International Plan for our iPhones?
- What about electric adapters to charge our Garmin’s, phones, bike lights and headlamps?
- How long will it take to learn how to drive and cycle on the left side of the road?
- If we fly into Auckland with our bikes, how do we get six hours north to the start at Cape Reinga? Where should we store our bike boxes? How will we retrieve them when we finish at the southern tip of the south island in Bluff?
- Should we go to Australia? I mean… it’s in the neib. And if so, what should we do there?
And lets talk about Imperial versus Metric measurements. I’m already trying to memorize and use the mnemonic “King Henry Died by Drinking Chocolate Milk” for metric prefixes. And for me, the quickest way to convert miles to kilometers is to think about running race distances, 5K, 10k, 15k, 42k, 100k.
All of the above and we don’t know how to pronounce the ride. We’re getting there though!
Now that we’ve completed the TA, we know we can not only ride it, we can pronounce it. If you’d like to see what our first day looked like, click here. For a wrap up of the 40 day tour, click here.
Keep Calm and Pedal On 