Fiordland is a wild and spectacular part of New Zealand. On a recent trip there in February 2022, organised by Ride Holidays, we were lucky to experience some of the best the region has to offer the cyclist. This is a photo diary of the four days we spent riding in the area. Alpine climbs, remote gravel roads, tons of amazing views and an overnight boat trip on Milford Sounds were some of the highlights.
This is not the best map – its a screenshot of my Strava heatmap – but it shows where we rode on each of the days.
Day 1: Te Anau to Knobs Flat (64km, 616m ascent)
Our first side started in the town of Te Anau. After leaving the lake, the road followed the Ellington River to Knobs Flat. Carl’s bike was damaged on the flight down so Karl, the owner of Ride Holidays, lent him his Pinarello Dogma. That’s the bike in the blue and pink Ride Holidays colours. It was a generous gesture but may end up costing Carl a lot of money as he wants to buy one now!
This open section of the valley is approaching Knobs Flat. There was a strong headwind and ominous clouds in the distance. We were very lucky not to be rained on.
From Knobs Flat we travelled to Milford Sound by minibus and then hopped on the Fiordland Navigator for a cruise up the Sound and an overnight stay moored in Harrison Cove.
Day 2: Milford Sound to Te Anau (121km, 1838m ascent)
It rained heavily during the night and we woke up to walls of the Sound streaming with waterfalls. It was awe inspriring although we were hoping that the weather would clear before 11.30am and the start of our ride. This photo is from the mouth of the Sound. We also got to meet some of the local dolphins. Video here.
There was a surprisingly clear line between the fresh water floating on the surface of the Sound and the Tasman Sea.
The weather started to clear as we disembarked from the boat and prepared for our ride. This would follow the route of the Milford Mountain Classic, 122km from Milford Sound to Te Anau. We had originally all entered this event but it was cancelled due to Covid.
Some of the Ride Holidays group has overnighted in Te Anau and were travelling to Milford Sound by bus, with freshly made frittatas. Here are Carl and Lillian tucking in theirs… perhaps not the best thing to eat before tackling a 900m climb!
The ride to Te Anau started up the climb to the Homer Tunnel. After a 5km flat/rolling section it’s a steady 14km to climb up to 919m. It’s never very steep with the hardest bit being the last kilometre through the tunnel at an gradient of 10%. We could not see much other than waterfalls flowing out of the clouds on the Milford side of the tunnel, but on the other side we were welcomed with some blue sky and a spectacular view of the McPherson Cirque.
Although it had stopped raining it was still cold up high. At this point (at the Hollyford Valley Lookout) we were just about to reach The Divide (which is where the Routeburn Track starts/ends) and a long descent to Knobs Flat.
After Knobs Flat we had to reverse the 64km we had ridden the previous day. It was nice riding with Lillian, Godwin and Carl as a tight group with other riders joining us at various points along the way.
As we entered Te Anau we were cheered on by groups of schoolkids. The experience was the same as if the event had officially taken place. Here’s a photo with Karl, the man who had made it all happen.
Day 3: Around the Mountains Trail past the Mavora Lakes to Walker Peak (82km, 605m ascent)
We were happy to see the Coffee Cat van – which had also opened for us at Knobs Flat on our first day – at start of our gravel ride, about 10km up the Mavora Lakes Road.
The gravel on the road to the turn-off to the Mavora Lakes was heavy going in places but improved on the final section out and back to the Lakes (pictured above).
The Lakes were a perfect location for lunch and more coffee.
After reversing the road to the Lakes we regained the Around the Mountains route.
It was a pleasant ride with a good surface and no traffic after we left the Mavora Lakes turn-off.
A couple of fords added some fun. Lillian made it all the way across.
The road climbed gently as we headed north until we reached a steep descent as we skirted the left side of the mountains ahead.
More ford action.
Carl, Lillian, Godwin and I just before the descent… which would take us to Lake Wakatipu.
As we approached Lake Wakatipu (the lake that Queenstown is beside) we could see the glacier on Mount Earnslaw shining in the distance. Spectacular.
It felt like a long ride through farmland beside the lake to our final destination of Walker Peak High Country Farm, although it was only about 12km!
Ride Holidays had booked us tables at the Gourmet Barbecue dinner at Walter Peak. This was delicious. Highly recommended. Following which we all piled onto the TSS Earnslaw, a coal fired steam-ship, to travel back to Queenstown.
Day 4: Queenstown to Dart River Bridge and back (128km, 1928m ascent)
Glenorchy is at the end of the lake below Mount Earnslaw, which is behind us in this picture. We are on the opposite side of the lake to where we had been the day before.
The Ride Holidays group, reduced in size because many including Godwin had flown home that morning, all met for a sandwich lunch in Glenorchy.
I pushed on up the valley 17-8km beyond Glenorchy to this bridge over the Dart River. From here is is about 6km up a gravel road to the other end of Routeburn Track. It became incredibly windy; on one section, which was several kilometres of grind into the wind, I doubled my speed on the return leg!
Lillian and Carl rode back ahead of me and thankfully for all of us the wind mainly helped rather than hindered. The road to and from Glenorchy is surprisingly hilly. Lillian clocked over 1700m of ascent going from Queenstown to Glenorchy and back.
Lillian and I had a couple more nights in Queenstown but this was the last of the Ride Holidays organised rides. We had a fantastic time. Every day was different in character and as every ride (with the exception of the Glenorchy one) started and finished at different points it would have been very difficult to arrange by ourselves. It was great to have Karl and the Ride Holidays team manage everything for us, we met some nice people and made some new friends and also helped support some of the local businesses that had been really badly hit by the Covid-induced reduction in tourists. And finally the weather played ball.
Thanks to Carl and Lillian for many of the photos plus Richard Chiu for the one of me going through the ford. And to Carl for the dolphin video. The featured image for this post is Lake Wakatipu from the road to Glenorchy.
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