NZ Bound - Riding the Rameka Track

Stepping out of the minuscule Nelson Airport after a rain-delayed flight on a very small aeroplane, neither Suzie or myself quite knew what to expect of our new life at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. While we had heard a few stories and opinions about what we should see, which areas were prettier and where to find good coffee, our preparedness consisted of emailing our Kiwi friends to have them pick us up on arrival and organising to stay with them for a few days. With both of us keen on spending a couple of lazy weeks exploring the local area for both recreation and later employment, one thing I was very sure of was that I was going to be doing a lot of mountain biking.

On the way from the Airport through the driving rain in a tiny Lanica Stratos, Carl casually informed me that he had organised a group shuttle ride on Sunday in 3 days time. Although a supposedly cross country ride, "steep and rough" was his description, followed by; "what sort of bike do you have again?"

Over the next few weeks I was to learn that "Cross Country" in New Zealand means a very different thing...

Nelson is a smallish town of about 50,000 people, though swells over Summer under the weight of tourists, travellers and Kiwis holidaying in one of the country's favourite destinations. Mountain biking is incredibly popular here, mainly due to the fact that it takes 10min from the CBD to get to the local trail head. Situated next to the sea with scaling mountains on the other side, the riding here is very natural with steep & rough trails winding through indigenous forests and pine plantations.

The Rameka Track is a famous mountain bike trail that leads from the top of Takaka Hill on the other side of the bay from Nelson. Meeting at Carl's shop at 8am on Sunday morning, a Land Rover trooper rolled into the carpark towing an impressive home-made trailer on the back, ready to take us to our startpoint. After chatting with Warwick (the experienced owner of 4WD E-Tours) while loading the bikes onto the trailer, I quickly got the impression that he possessed much wisdom of the local area and seemed to know the trail network like the wrinkles on the back of his hands. Bearing in mind his long mountain biking history, it was with confidence that I would ask him where the best place was to get coffee in Nelson. "Ah, I know just the place on the way!" Warwick exclaimed, while proceeding to word me up on the car ride about some the best coffee and eateries around Nelson - valuable local information indeed. Stopping in Motueka at a place called the Toad Hall, my empty stomach called out for a breakfast muffin to go with my flat white as I had neglected to eat anything before heading out the door earlier that morning. The first photo was taken from our coffee stop looking out to Nelson on the other side of the Abel Tasman bay, while behind me loomed our destination of Takaka Hill, with some 790 metres of elevation between us.

I had been warned about the driving in New Zealand. Mostly about the , but also about the narrow passing lanes and. After living here for 3 months, I would also like to add poor driving skills on behalf of most Nelsonians to that list. There are some interesting 'give-way' concepts in the NZ driving laws that had us second guessing ourselves regularly, but Carl quickly put our minds at ease; "Don't worry about it, the locals don't even know what the rules are". The drive up Takaka Hill is nothing short of epic, with super tight switchbacks, 15km/h speed restrictions and Britz hire campervans being driven by angry tourists trying to get used to being on the left side of the road. While the coffee and muffin sloshing around inside my tummy served to remind me that I was hungover, Warwick's clear confidence in driving the familiar terrain showed no signs of us taking it easy around the cliff-hugging corners and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had pulled out a bandana to put over his eyes to make it less boring.

Finally arriving at the carpark, though slightly paler than before, we unloaded our gear to begin the 17km Canaan Loop that traverses the plateau around the top of the Takaka mountain range.

Recently re-furbished by the Deparment of Conservation, the Rameka Trail and Canaan Loop are both glowing examples of the amount of time, effort and money that goes into building and maintaining mountain bike trails in New Zealand. While Kiwis are blessed with amazing terrain and elevation, they are also fortunate to have support from both government and local resources to build and ride some amazing trails. The walking path opened into some loose and rough singletrack as we began the loop, crossing a number of creaks and rocky wash-outs that kept your concentration up. Around the plateau it was mostly scrubland and made for some fast and fun riding to warm us up for the main ride. Returning to the carpark to the smell of sausages being sizzled on the gas stove, Warwick put on some more coffee to fuel us before the descent.

The Rameka Track is approximately 2 hours of downhill riding down into Takaka, where you lose 700 metres of elevation winding your way down through beautiful native bush, pine plantations and farmland towards the bottom. As we began to roll down it became apparent that Carl's description was particularly accurate, though while only steep in sections, the majority of the singletrack was rough, root-strewn and leaf-littered and separated by rocky creak crossings that had you picking your line to avoid dipping a foot down into icy cold water. While I certainly enjoy riding groomed man-made mountain bike trails thinking I'm Brian Lopes, there is a certain amount more satisfaction in riding natural trails that make you feel like you're the only human around for miles. The challenge of scaling technical climbs either by bike or by foot, then trying to find the smoothest line through streaky roots and patches of soft loamey mud can not quite be replicated at a mountain bike park.

Breaking out into the sunshine towards the bottom of the hill with achey wrists and ankles, I was almost in disbelief at just how good the trails were that we had just ridden and how much elevation we had both gained and lost in the space of a few hours. Arriving at the carpark in Takaka to a cold Heneiken from Warwicks extended arm, my first mountain bike ride in New Zealand was sure to set the bar very high. However, the combination of technical trails littered with either roots or baby-head rocks, steep switchback descents and changing bushland around us has thus far proved to be an excellent example of the local riding to be had.

I think it goes without saying that I will find it very hard adjusting to living in Melbourne again...