Otago rail trail, South Island New Zealand. Waipiata to Clyde

I felt good after a decent night’s rest and a great breakfast. It has been a rather big day yesterday. Today was sunny, but quite windy. These open plains and mountain backdrops sure cause a bit of a blustering, and I’m glad to have a good set of wrap around sunglasses to keep the dust and bugs out.

Excerpt from the Otago rail trail brochure:

Cycling Time / Distance in km on the Trail in sections

Clyde Railhead to Alexandra, 8 km cycle time - 1 hour
Alexandra to Chatto Creek 17km - 1hr 45
Chatto Creek to Omakau, 12km - 1hr 30
Omakau to Lauder, 7 km  - 0.45
Lauder to Auripo, 10.5km - 1hr
Auripo to Oturehua, 12km - 1hr
Oturehua to Wedderburn, 12km - 1hr 15
Wedderburn to Ranfurly, 13.5km  - 1hr 30
Ranfurly to Kokonga, 18km - 2hr
Kokonga to Hyde, 14.5km - 1hr 30
Hyde to Rock and Pillar, 14km - 1hr 30
Rock and Pillar, 13.5km  - 1hr 15

I am just outside of Kokonga, I reckon I could complete the ride today with 135km to go: the wind is going to make it tough in areas, but I have the day to get there. There are many side trip options on this trail; I have elected not to pursue them as my main objective to this trip is to do the Alps-2-Ocean trail. It actually would not have been a bad idea to spend perhaps a couple of extra days exploring the side trips and other accommodation options.

I am glad that I took the mountain bike as the trails are quite gravelly. The tires and suspension are soaking up the bumps with ease.

There are plenty of shelters and toilets along the way and some of the stations are well preserved or rejuvenated.

One thing about a day of hard riding is that you can get away with eating a few foods on the less correct side of the diet plan.

Bridges of functional design abound to carry us over may gorges. The shaped stone piers and light grey paint adds some aesthetic break to what could be a hideous structure.

The Otago trail is quite popular. Looking at the bike hire business in Clyde, it is popular enough to support the hire of a large number of bikes, and all the business offer luggage transfer and pick-up services along the length of the trail. Observing the overall approach by all concerned, I think Australia – especially in Victoria (as we have the most) can learn a lot about how to do rail trail tourism right from the Otago example.

The wind made it a very long day for me, and 135km is no trivial distance anyway on a mountain bike. I arrive just before dark at my lodgings in Clyde.

I stayed at a pleasing cottage, by a very pleasant lady who provided a lovely meal and good conversation. (Sorry,I cannot remember the address as I just plucked it at random from the trail listing) The bed room was compact , but as I was the only one, I had no issues with space limitations.