Queenstown: Around The Mountains

The Around The Mountains Cycle Trail is a 180km, sign-posted cycle-way from Kingston, 48km south of Queenstown, around to Walter Peak High Country Farm (which we visited on the TSS Earnshaw for the BBQ dinner cruise yesterday).

Most of the trail is on dedicated, gravel cycle ways, with only the occasional, brief stretch of road to contend with.

Cycle hire, transfers, baggage storage and accommodation-booking are provided to enable anyone with a bit of adventure and moderate fitness to sample all or part of the trail over a one, two or three day period.  So, with most of our luggage safely stowed in Queenstown, we set off to explore the beautiful Southland region of New Zealand by bike.

With the 50km stretch from Mossburn to Mavora Lakes currently closed due to a legal battle (of which more later), we had ahead of us 130kms of cycling over three days.

On the first morning, we were collected by the dedicated Sherpa Shuttle service which took us and our bikes across to Kingston.  With our lunch, and a few bare essentials such as a first aid kit safely packed away in pannier bags, our driver left us at the trailhead while he drove on to Athol – where we would be spending the night – to drop-off our overnight bag.

So far, so good… if a little cold.  The weather was forecast to improve later in the day, but the first hour was cold and occasionally drizzly, quite a change from the 35 degree temperatures we’d left behind in Brisbane the previous morning!

Kingston is a small town that was once famous for being home to the Kingston Flyer steam railway.  There are still a few reminders of its rail history, but no services have run since the last section of rail was closed in 2012 for safety reasons.

After a steady, sometimes challenging climb over the first kilometre of the trail, it leveled off, leaving us with no further need for the low gears that day.  With the spectacular Eyre mountains a constant presence to the right, we occasionally flirted with the main road from Kingston to Mossburn which we were essentially following, but for the most part found ourselves in blissful isolation.  We passed the deserted Kingston Flyer station at Fairlight an hour down the trail, and 30 minutes later reached Garston… and lunch!

With a population of 106, Garston looked every bit as small as Kingston, with its claim to fame being the title of most inland village in New Zealand!  As well as providing two lunch options for passing motorists (and cyclists), that population somehow manages to support two churches, a community centre, a nursery and a hotel!

Beyond Garston, the trail follows another section of the Kingston Flyer railway line for several kilometres, which means a lot of cycling in a very straight line!  We passed a few hundred sheep, most of whom turned tail and ran when we got within bleating distance of them.  With thousands of cyclists passing that way each year, you’d think they’d learn that humans on bikes are not prone to random acts of sheep-rustling!

Shortly after crossing an impressive suspension bridge which reminded me of that scene from Stand By Me, the sun came out, a first for the day.  Time to remove a few layers of clothing and enjoy the final few kilometres into Athol, where our accommodation awaited.

For our first night on the trail, we’d not be staying in a hotel or bed and breakfast, but a “cottage”, complete with unlocked front door and not a sign of life.  We only knew we were in the right place because we could see our bag through the window!  Nothing fancy, but the cottage was well equipped, and comfortable enough.

We didn’t see more than a dozen houses in Athol.  It does have two cafes though, so we were able to get an evening meal and a beer, and feel reasonably content with our first day’s work!

Whilst we had covered just 30 kilometres in day one, day two would prove to be a considerably bigger challenge, not just because we’d be covering more than twice the distance, but also because of the weather.  But more on that later…

The first few kilometres beyond Athol again followed the main road, though this time it was a little closer so our route was rather less pretty and a lot less isolated.  At one point, we passed a deserted roadside cafe which looked like it would – after dark – provide an excellent location for a spooky horror film.

When the railway lines were closed more than thirty years ago, many of the farmers whose land they had passed through “adopted” that land despite it being government-owned.  When the local council announced their intention to establish the Around The Mountains Trail along stretches of that land, most of the farmers happily relinquished it.  All of the farmers but one, in fact: a local land-lady who became highly antagonistic towards anyone associated with the Around The Mountains name.

Perhaps “antagonistic” is a bit of an under-statement when you take account of a recent event, when the boyfriend of said land-owner attempted to run over the owner of Around The Mountains, Mike Barnett, while he was in the vicinity of her farm working on alterations to the trail!  Mike dived out of the way, but the tractor hit his leg, and a court case is now pending.

So quite a scandal, and not surprisingly, one which divides local opinion.  As well as being a very entertaining topic of conversation to chew over with our hosts and drivers throughout our time on the trail, this incident did have a practical implication for us: an hour into our second day of cycling, we encountered the first of five locked gates blocking the trail.  We had been forewarned about these obstacles – they are not supposed to be locked, but the “antagonistic” land-owner is having fun at the expense of trail users with no action likely to be taken against her until the court case is over.

It really wasn’t much of a problem though – in fact, lifting two bikes over five fences served as a pretty good substitute for a visit to the gym!

(Apologies to everyone who just spent 20mb of their daily download limit looking at pictures of gates!)

Beyond the locked gates we continued through several kilometres of farmland.  At one point, we encountered a few sheep who had somehow found their way onto the trail, and felt like sheep-herders for a few hundred metres as they scarpered off ahead of us.  Eventually, they demonstrated some small amount of sense, scrambling up the verge as we cycled by.

After nearly 40 kilometres of riding, mostly in beautiful, warm (but not too hot) sunshine, we reached our lunch-spot, the town of Lumsden.  Significantly larger than any of the other towns on the trail, Lumsden has a hotel, a supermarket, and several shops / garages, mostly offering goods and services relating to agriculture.  There is also a high school serving 200 children from the local area, a decent-sized playground, and another deserted railway station, complete with restored steam train.

So far, locked gates notwithstanding, it had been a very pleasant day.  Whilst the scenery might not have been quite an majestic as we had been riding through on day one, the weather was certainly nicer.

Things however turned for the worst when we headed back out of Lumsden, with our sights now set on Mossburn, where we would be spending our second night.  During lunch, a strong wind had become a gale, and now we were heading in a different direction, we were cycling almost directly into it.  Though 25mph might not sound too bad, believe me, you do not want to be cycling into winds that strong, and it was a real battle.  Even worse than cycling into a 25mph headwind was the few occasions when the trail changed course so we were instead being buffeted by a side wind.  At times it was dangerous and we had to get off and walk to avoid the distinct possibility of being blown onto the road on one side, or a barbed wire fence on the other !

To add insult to injury, some bright spark decided that a good place to put some electricity pylons would be right into the middle of the trail, so for our final 10 kilometres into Mossburn, we were not only contending with the wind, but slaloming obstacles!!

Ah well.. it was an experience!  We arrived in Mossburn just after 4pm, and I am sure we would have been there an hour earlier had it not been for the wind.  In contrast to our experience at the Athol Cottage, our accommodation in Mossburn was Reels and Wheels, an almost brand new “hotel” with eight en suite rooms purpose-built for cyclists and fishermen (fishing being the other main tourist attraction in this part of the country).  The room was immaculate, and after the ordeal of that last 10km, the shower very much welcomed!  Wheels and Reels is a new enterprise by the owner and manager of the larger and much older Railway Hotel on the other side of the road, and our evening meal was cooked by his wife!

Mossburn’s claim to fame is being the location for New Zealand’s first ever deer farm.  Whilst farmland to the north of Mossburn is mainly used for sheep and dairy cattle, commercial deer farming dominates lands further south.

Although much of the route over our first two days on the Around The Mountains Trail had felt serenely isolated, the main road was, in fact, never too far away.  In contrast, we spent much of the final day miles from anywhere, in even more spectacular scenery.

The day started with another pickup by the Sherpa Shuttle and a 45km drive from Mossburn to Minorva Lakes.  It should be possible to cycle this section of the trail, but it is currently closed due to an ongoing legal battle between Southland District Council and Fish and Game, a group representing the interests of local fishermen.  Several members of Fish and Game provide guiding services to affluent out-of-towners looking for “premium” fishing experiences.  Having established cosy relationships with local landowners, these guides provide – in many cases – the only means of accessing prime brown trout fishing spots on upper Oreti River, and their objection is that cyclists would negatively impact upon fishing tourism in the area.

Unfortunately for these fishermen, the river is not privately owned, and this legal action was always likely to fail.  However, Southland District Council spent so much money defending the case that they are no longer able to afford the eye-watering sums required to prepare that final 45kms of the Around the Mountains trail for use… and so it remains closed.

Just to prove how much of a community venture the Around The Mountains Trail is, Brian, our Sherpa Shuttle driver, is the owner of the hotel in Lumsden that we had sat opposite to eat our lunch the previous day!  Once we reached Minorva, Brian very kindly drove a few kilometres off-piste to show us the lakes up close.  This is a very popular camping destination, though it was raining during our visit, and the few campers we did see looked a little sorry for themselves!

From the point where Brian left us, the ride to Walter Peak Farm is 40km.  This part of the trail is actually not a dedicated cycleway – we were riding on the only road connection to the farm, though because it is such a long way around by road, most of their traffic continues to go by boat, leaving this road almost deserted.

For the first half of the journey, we were riding down a wide valley with cattle and sheep grazing on both sides of the road.  The mountains beyond the fields are not quite of Everest proportions, but they are precipitously steep, with no roads and no sign of any footpaths.  Though we were down in the valley, the road was certainly not flat, and we got a good work out over several uphill stretches.

At the half-way point, we reached the top of Vonn Hill, a very long and very steep 10 minute descent with spectacular views back down into the valley that we had spent the last 30 minutes gradually climbing out of.

At the bottom of the hill we passed a deserted farmer’s cottage / refuge, before encountering a ford.  Not fancying riding the final 15kms with wet feet, it was off with the shoes and socks, and time for a paddle!

After the long Von Hill descent, it was inevitable that we’d soon be taking on an uphill section again.  Though we were definitely feeling the 120km in our legs by this point, it was worth it, because once we reached the top of the hill, we got our first views across lake Wakatipu – and what a view it was!

Finally, after three long days, and 130kms of riding, we rolled into Walter Peak High Country Farm.  It was very tempting to rest our weary legs over a glass of wine or three, but a boat was just pulling in and it would have been a 2-hour wait for the next one, so we took our bikes aboard the TSS Earnshaw and made our second voyage from Walter Peak to Queenstown in just three days.

Although the scenery was not spectacular for every one of the 130 kilometres we cycled during our three days on the Around The Mountains trail, this is a beautiful part of the world, and I can think of no better way (other than by hot air balloon, perhaps) to sample it.  It was fun rolling though Kingston, Athol, Lumsden and Mossburn, and our two nights’ accommodation were a real experience.   The two legal battles which we learned, and gossiped with the locals, about, added intrigue and left us feeling like extras in an Archers plot line!  If Mike Barnett ever manages to open the full 180km circuit, we’d definitely consider another loop around the trail some time, though not if there is any mention of gale-force winds in the forecast!