Other active opportunities were declined as well. I remember one weekend refusing to join my father and sister on a tramp into the Tararua ranges because a certain boyfriend had said he would phone me. (He didn't.)
The writing was on the wall, if I may continue the chirographic motif, when said boyfriend morphed from a reluctant part time university student to a fully qualified physical education teacher. At which point I promptly married him. Oh the irony.
Anyway. Forty years later, here we are on another stunning cycle trail, this time the Alps to Ocean ride. At 300-plus km, this is NZ's longest trail ride, encompassing a number of our biggest hydro-electric power schemes along the Waitaki River. We began at Lake Tekapo and will finish in Oamaru tomorrow. All of those scenic kilometres allow plenty of time for thinking. So I've been doing just that about cycling's role in saving small rural communities.
The Otago Rail Trail began it all, of course, and famously a number of local naysayers were against the proposal. John Key has never pulled my ponytail, but I have to give him credit for proposing the National Cycleway Project in early 2009. Since then, cycle trails have popped up all over the country, and generally in areas that desperately need a boost to their economy.
The tiny settlement of Seddonville on the West Coast still has a pub thanks to the success of the Old Ghost Road, now an internationally renowned ride. The West Coast Wilderness Trail further south has provided the impetus for the refurbishment of Kumara's landmark Theatre Royal hotel. In the remote Pureora Forest, cyclists are flocking to ride the Timber Trail, staying in a newly built luxury lodge at Piripiri (I wrote about this here ).
We saw this when riding the two-day Twin Coast trail a couple of years ago. Graffiti along the trail suggested that cyclists weren't particularly popular. Yet, on every trail we've ridden, throughout New Zealand, we've met welcoming locals. Many have taken the opportunity to offer accommodation or food. Others are at times bemused by the helmeted hordes but always willing to offer help, or just pass the time of day.
On the Alps to Ocean trail, the only cafés in town have recently closed in both Duntroon and Otematata, making it a long ride between coffees. But let's hope these establishments can reopen in the future. And why not? This cycling renaissance is driven by time-rich baby boomers, and no doubt helped by the increasing numbers of e-bikes on the road.
This trip reminds me of last year's long distance adventure, following Hadrian's Wall on foot across England (which I wrote about here , gotta keep those reader numbers up). The Wall was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 and the dedicated pathway became an official national trail in 2003. But the walk itself is delightfully undeveloped. Amenities are limited (don't get me started on toilets), while pubs open at 12 noon so a morning coffee is out of the question.
Things might be slow in New Zealand's rural hinterland but Emperor Hadrian would have had more chance of sending out a minion for a flat white in Featherston than in his own back yard.
