Otaga Central Rail Trail - Easter Break Week 1

What happens to towns along a recently closed rail road route? 

These towns sprang up during the gold rush years of late 1800’s.  They bustled with people, taverns and shops.  A railway was constructed to get food and equipment to these shanty towns.  With a short lived gold rush, farming became the livelihood for people who stayed in the area.  From the early 1900s to 1980 (not that long ago – the year I graduated high school!) the railroad brought life to these towns.  (Well not life as I know it…these are very SMALL rural towns).  As road transport became more economical, the government subsidized rail transport.  Finally, in 1990 the rail line closed, lines rusted and stations were abandoned.  Kiwi characteristics include not letting anything go to waste,  a can do attitude and determination.   So, I’m not surprised that within a few years of looking at an abandoned railroad, the idea was born to transform the rail route to a bicycle route using information from the Rails to Trails movement in the US and Canada.

DOC now owns the 150 km rail trail corridor and provided project management for the transformation from a railroad to a bike route.  Sixty eight bridges were redecked, safety issues were addressed on the bridges, at the tunnels and at road crossings.   Although transforming the rail road corridor to a bike corridor was challenging, I think what was more challenging was creating a network of lodging, restaurants and supplies for bicyclists cycling the trail.  Lots of visionary hardworking kiwis have pulled together what must be one of the nicest, family-friendly, enjoyable experiences a person who likes to bike can enjoy.  The trail is managed by DOC, the support services are all privately operated. 

Greg, Lea and I rode for 4 days and 3 nights along 150 km of trail, crossing awesome incredible railroad bridges, through beautiful tunnels and enjoying gorgeous countryside including river gorges and rolling, mountainous farmland.  We stayed in lovely, unique and comfortable lodging and ate some great fill me up food.   We enjoyed it as much as everyone said we would.   Many people coordinate the trip themselves, including shuttles and camping or lodging but we booked the trip through a bike shop.  We rented bikes from them and they coordinated all our lodging, meals and shuttles.  All we had to do was follow directions, pedal and enjoy!   Every person we met on the trail had big smiles on their faces, including us!

We rode from the city of Dunedin to the start of the rail trail, Middlemarch on a restored trail through beautiful gorges on the Taieri Gorge Railway

The Trail

DOC sign at start of trail

Cuter sign at start of trail - The bikes we rented were sweet! Nice sitting position for viewing the scenery, big pannier bags, cushy seats.

And we are off.  Turns out 80% of the people ride the trail in the opposite direction from us.  We rode into the prevailing winds often, but that was fine.  It just meant more exercise which meant more food intake allowed!

One part of the trail.

One of 68 bridges - love those engineers!

One of the gorges - nice fall colors.

Flatter country - it's much drier here than the West Coast.

The tunnels - still loving those engineers!

Signs recommended dismounting bikes and using a flash light - what's the fun of that?

My usual position - Lea in the lead, followed by Greg and me pulling up the rear.  This gave me lots of time to get to know the sheep.

Nice stopping spots to get out of the rain (which we didn't have to do)
or to wait for your mom (which Lea did have to do)

Old train stations - indicator of arriving at a big town!

TRAIL ART

Lots of visuals to keep me entertained.

There was a section of fence lined with a dozen or more bike relics - what happened to the riders? 

The People

The trail is ideal for families...young and....

old!  This family decided it wasn't a good idea for gradma to ride a bike since she'd recently had a stroke.  No worries, she'll ride her electric wheelchair..why not?  They learned the battery lasted 20km.  Once the battery died they had a rope to tow her to the next place they could recharge the battery.  She was thrilled to tell me about it.

Ngaire Sutherland - hotel and event center creator, owner, entrepreneur, minister, orator, nurse you name it.  All in the last 8 years.  This lady had more energy than anyone I know.  She was amazing.
 We ate at her event center in Hyde, see below. 

The Stops

Hyde - population, 9 + bike riders. Our fist stop.

Our fist stop, Hyde.  This was a really wonderful hotel. Restored by Ngaire.

The doorway to Lea's "2nd floor suite" - one room made up the entire 2nd floor.  It was hers...cozy and cute! 

Restored (by Ngaire) old school house, no expense spared. It's now an event center, we had a YUMMY Easter dinner here which included lamb, veggies, potatoes, salads and desserts (plural).

Event center courtyard - look closely it's a converted swimming pool.

Nice stop for a coffee, muffin, or beer.

Lodging along the trail for those who preferred to camp.

Greg had heard about this place for miles - we had to stop for pie.  (Meat pie not fruit).

Restored Jail - she looks too happy to be in jail!

Restored Post Office - still functions.  I bought a postcard and got to hand cancel it myself.  Little joys in life.