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 How
'bout some cycle touring this summer? It's great - cruising the highways,
scoffing excessive quantities of over the top food, hanging out with the
locals and absorbing the culture at its own pace. It's a breeze to set
your self up and is cheap so you get a lot of bang for your holiday bucks.
There's lots
of awesome cycle touring opportunities lurking around New Zealand. If
you need convincing just check out the number of gear laden Euros that
infest our roads. Here's a couple of classic tours, hand picked by the
Style Police, to add to that long list of adventures you'll have planned
for the summer.
East
Cape
 Basking
on golden beaches, surfing (the real thing - no cyberspace aquatics here)
and troughing fresh sea food. Heaven.
You can tackle the trip in either direction but you can bank on a little
extra tail wind if you travel from Opotiki around the Cape to Gisborne.
Total distance is 334 km. It's a little hilly, but not too arduous. Allow
4 to 8 days depending on your mood and fitness - we reckon it's best not
to rush it. Allow another long day to return to Opotiki via the Waioweka
Gorge (144 km). Otherwise catch the bus ($24-34 plus 10 notes for your
bike).
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Wind
swept coastlines, snow clad peaks, acres of native bush and sandflies
on steroids. You can spend a lifetime cruising the coast, but for a taster
how about zooming from Arthur's Pass through Haast to Wanaka? Total distance
is 520 km - figure on it taking between 6 and 10 days. There are some
biggish hill climbs and the infamous West Coast weather could force some
time spent sheltering in a pub quaffing Monteiths Bitter and whitebait
fritters. If you're starting from Christchurch then jump the train to
Arthur's Pass - it's a wild way to kick off your trip. Costs $47 plus
10 bucks for ya steed. Busing from Wanaka back to Christchurch costs $40-86
plus $10 for your bike.