Wellington: Winding through the Windy City

Photos: Richard Quail and Adam Macbeth

New Zealand is a paradise for a sporting holiday – but the North Island has a lot more to offer than just a maze of trails in the Redwoods at Rotorua.

‘It might be a little windy up the top, but you should be fine,’ was the advice I received from my relatively new but awesome group of Wellington friends. We’d met on a road trip to Rotorua, spending a few days riding and cooking and playing drunken Jenga until the wee hours. I loved Rotorua for sure, but prior to going I had developed a very solid expectation of what it would be like. And with its seemingly endless flow and groomed goodness it met and exceeded those expectations. It was Wellington that had made me really excited about riding and exploring New Zealand.

The first thing that will make you smile about the riding in Wellington is how easy it is to get to good trails. Having trails that held a UCI World Cup round less than five minutes from the CBD is not something many other major cities can boast. But there Mount Victoria is, with trails from tame to insane, it’s the perfect after work destination for locals.

THE PEAK PRIZE OF WELLINGTON

Makara Peak, Wellington’s premiere dedicated mountain bike park is forty minutes ride, or fifteen minutes drive from town. With something for everyone and more trails than you could ride in a day Makara cannot be missed. Like all trails in Wellington Makara is signposted with the difficulty level of the route you’re taking and you should keep in mind that these are occasionally understated and it’s best to shoot slightly below where you think you’re at to avoid getting a little out of your depth early in the day.

WELLINGTON’S TEMPERAMENTAL TEMPERAMENT

They say, You Can’t Beat Wellington On A Good Day, and it’s true that Wellington does have a reputation for unpredictable weather.

That said if you do find yourself unable to ride you won’t have a hard time filling a couple of days in town. With a focus on the country’s heritage, history and culture Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand is amazing. Even if you wouldn’t describe yourself as a ‘museum person’ you’ll definitely take something away from an afternoon at Te Papa. And if you are preparing to ride you have to eat, right? There is no shortage of venues in Wellington, regardless of your taste. My personal favourite is Big Bad Wolf specialising in all kind of techniques to preserve meats in delicious ways.

THE WELLINGTON EPIC

It was now my third trip to Wellington and I was keen for an epic. I had ridden Polhill and Makara separately but up high I could see all kinds of trails running down into valleys and up hillsides and was convinced that there must be a way to link it all up. Actually finding details online about how to do this was not easy but there’s no resource like local knowledge when it comes to finding trails.

‘You should ride the Skyline trail from Johnsonville,’ suggested the crew. ‘That will link you up with Makara. Then you can choose a way down to the trailhead and climb up to the old gun fort and follow your nose to Fenceline which will drop you in to Car Parts. Then you can come down and get a beer at Garage Project. It might be a little windy up the top, but you should be fine.’

And so, I rolled out of town at 8am into a mild headwind, taking the cycleway for 10km north along the Wellington Urban Motorway before turning left toward Johnsonville. A quick stop for a chocolate milk and a little suburban phone navigation and I was climbing to the start of the Old Coach Road and the beginning of the Skyline Walkway which, despite it’s name, is shared with bikes. As I climbed though, it was clear that what had been a mild headwind down in Wellington was simply the left overs of a raging gale that had been slowed by the mountains that border the city to the west. The mountains I was about to crest.

From the backstreets of Johnsonville the Old Coach Road is basically singletrack and winds its way through farmland onto the ridgeline and becomes the Skyline Walkway. Passing through gorgeous green farmland, with spring lambs running around nervously at their first sight of a bike rider, I snaked my way along the narrow trail that obviously saw as much livestock traffic as mountain bikes. Being on the very top of the ridge the views along this section of the trail are nothing short of breathtaking. Vistas of the west coast and its rolling hills and wind farms stretched off to my right, and to the left Wellington city hugged the bay. Across the water the Rimutaka range looms ominously.

After the initial climbing to the top of the ridgeline though, the wind was squarely at my back and I descended Skyline slightly too fast in the direction of Makara Peak. The entire Skyline trail is marked with fence pickets. If there’s an intersection, take the one with a picket. Simple.

After a few kilometres of rarely ridden but flowing pine forest singletrack  I crossed a tarmac road into Makara Peak trail park making my way to the summit via the smooth and gradual climb of Zack’s Track.

Chewing on a piece of brie I had brought along I decided on the fast and technical Ridgeline followed by Swig and Starfish as my route to the bottom. Dropper seatpost down, rear shock on Descend and GO! After the smoothness of Skyline, riding the loose-over-hardpack, the kickers, drops and deep berms of Ridgeline is laugh-out-loud fun for what feels like half a day. Swig and Starfish take you back into the darker wooded trail and the grippy black loam for which New Zealand trail riding is renowned.

HOMEWARD BOUND

A quick stop and a glance at the Makara trail head map clearly showed the route home. Makara has water, toilets and a full blown bike wash area and is a busy place on the weekends. It was Tuesday though and I hadn’t seen another rider so far today.

A hundred metres on backstreets and it was onto the climb of Salvation trail. Like most of the climbing in Wellington, Salvation gains elevation very gradually, making seated climbing a breeze. Owning an enduro style bigger travel bike would make a lot of sense in this town. I reached the old battlement on Wright’s Hill that stood to protect Wellington during World War 2.

From here I was on the home stretch. Around 500 metres vertical down hill to Garage Project, firstly on a little used singletrack from the fort with sunglasses off thanks to the dense foliage. This ended quite abruptly, dropping me onto the Fenceline firetrail that surrounds Polhill nature reserve, but the double track was short lived. Car Parts eventually leads to Serendipity – great, flowy trails that are scary if you push hard. They are built and maintained by locals that love riding and make for a fantastic way to finish an interesting, varied and scenic ride.

Wellington has something for everyone. Loads of great trails that are easy to get to from a proper city with all the post-ride entertainment benefits that go along with staying in one. Ride them separately or link them together. If you’ve been to Rotorua and Queenstown and are curious about what else New Zealand trail riding has to offer, Wellington is definitely worth checking out.

HOW TO GET THERE:

There are direct flights to Wellington from most Australian capital cities. Check the routes by Air New Zealand.

For more information on accommodation, and other activities, head to www.wellingtonnz.com