Things to see and do...

At over 300km the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail delivers awesome scenery on every Section and no two sections are the same.  Once you have decided to set a little holiday time aside to cycle some or all of the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, you may also like to consider what else you can do with your time to get the most of your trip.  

Whether you are scheduling to tick off a section or two of the Trail at a time over long weekends, or you are planning to cycle the whole thing in one go with family and friends, we strongly recommend building some R&R (Rest and Recreation) time into your schedule.   

Whether you are starting from the foot of New Zealand's highest peak Aoraki Mt Cook, with the National Park's host of alpine walks, glacier fed lakes and native fauna and flora or from Tekapo, located in the largest Dark Sky Reserve in the world and perfect for observing out of this world celestial bodies, there is surely something to write home about (or rather, post on socail media!). 

You will be immersed in the movie lands of Narnia, Lord of the Rings and the forthcoming Mulan, so you know the scenery is cinematic in both beauty and proportion.  

The geology too has quite a story to tell, with Zealandia's 'drowned continent' status being a hot topic for debate as recently as 2017.  The great divide of the Southern Alps has its highest at Aoraki Mt cook at 3,724m. Due to tectonic forces, the peak is rising about 7mm each year but has lost 40m in height in the last 30 years - such is interplay of thrust and erosion that continues to place.  Maori folklore describes the Waitaki River as the the tears of Aoraki and the cycle trail essentially follows these tears to the coast. 

As you approach Oamaru you get to ride through and over what would have been the sea floor about 25m years ago.  Fossils of giant 1.6m tall penguins, shark toothed dolphins and ancient whales are all there to be discovered in the limestone deposits.  At the end of your Alps 2 Ocean Journey spend a little time discovering your own limestone gems in the well preserved Victorian architecture that is Oamaru, at the coast of the great Pacific Ocean.  

To help you with planning your itinerary, here is a list of Official Partners that can help with some ideas to make your time in the area even more memorable...