Sstalder5's New Zealand Adventure Thread

[Demomonkey]

It seems like the kind of place that got over hyped as a resort town in the 90's, people started building all over the place and now it's a ghost town. Happened to a lot of little towns in America too. I haven't seen anything about the trails, I guess I'll have to ask at one of the 50 bike shops in town. I think I'm just going to chill out at the hot springs this weekend. I may have pulled or broken something in my foot avoiding a car on my longboard in Auckland the other day. Hurts like a b!txh but it's still useable but I'm going to rest it a day or two anyway.

So are the trails lift/shuttle access or will I actually have to pedal uphill? And where the fvck are they? All I've seen so far are crappy tourist traps.

Rotorua has always been and will probably remain, a complete **** hole. I only go there for the riding. If you're inclined, get a car and drive 20 minutes to Lake Tarawera or Okareka. Not much to see but purtyness.

[jdcamb]

I find his thread awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[sstalder5]

For a while there I thought I was missing something huge about this town. You guys could've warned me that the town itself was a ****hole.. I'm actually too young to rent a car so I guess I'm stuck here til I go back to Auckland wednesday for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover. But the campsite I'm at is pretty sweet. I've just been resting up in the lodge drinking Stella from these weird cans.


I'm taking this weekend as a much needed rest then hitting the trails hard Monday!

[MikeD]

You don't have a car? How the hell are you getting around?

And if you don't ride while in Rotorua, a bitch-slap would be too good for you. It's the only reason to be there!!

Edit: Thankfully now that I re-read your post, you'll have at least 2 days' solid riding. Right on.

And I wasn't joking...there is a natural hot spring/stream outside of town (Kerosene Creek; thanks Google!) that was really cool to hang out in for a while. You will likely meet a lot of old Europeans skinny-dipping at some point, but watching wrinkly tube-sock Belgian boobs snake around in the water is just sorta hypnotic anyhow.

[sstalder5]

Yeah I'm heading out to the hot springs tomorrow for some more relaxation. Intercity coach lines is really good for getting around the country and I took a surf shuttle to/from Piha. I use my longboard to get around once I get to a town. I can cruise along at about 20kmh no problem as long as there's pavement. And long distances are no problem. I rode it from Auckland CBD to St Heliers beach and back no problem the other week.

[ralf007]

So are the trails lift/shuttle access or will I actually have to pedal uphill? And where the fvck are they? All I've seen so far are crappy tourist traps.

rotorua not too bad, you just need to look past the Asian tourist traps and know where to go and what to doo

just walk out side and look south, you should see a hill with pine tree's and the trails just go on and on

http://www.southstaradventures.com/s...s_rotorua.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/South...14156411928522

the shuttles run on a sat /sun and tue / thurs in the afternoons if its fine

also next weekend they have the oceania champs on witch should see a few of the better riders from Australia and NZ turn out.

flick me a pm and i will try and take you out for a ride in auckland or rotorua next weekend if your down. May be even a sail in auckland if the weather not bad this week

[sstalder5]

PM sent.

I finally got to hit the trails today!! They're pretty much amazing. Super flowy with what seems like way more descending than climbing. I didn't see much use for a DH bike, but I didn't make it all the way to the top. I'll do a more detailed mini ride report with pictures when I get back tomorrow

[MikeD]

IIRC, the DH track is a totally separate entity than the trail network, but it was closed entirely when I passed through.

And on the trail network a DH bike would be really stupid.

NZ bike park trail builders have a real knack for making the most of even small terrain, and crafting what feel like endless swoopy descents with seemingly gentle climbing to get back up. Even Woodhill near Aukland, in flattish, sandy terrain, was still fun due to the skill and ingenuity of the trail builders.

[sstalder5]

Yeah It seems like those trails could've been cut into just about any terrain and been awesome. I rode it on a spec hardrock today, but I'm getting a Rockhopper 29er tomorrow. The trails seemed like they would suit a 29er pretty well.

[Whoops]

Yeah, many of the locals are going to 29". Dicks.

The DH tracks are proper scary at speed - don't underestimate them...

[bizutch]

No pics. Interest waning.

[sstalder5]

The 29er actually did pretty well for the most part. The closest I rode to DH trails was Hot X Buns which was fvcking terrifying at speed on a 29er hardtail. Some of those axle deep ruts were pretty scary as well. Overall I had a great time on the trails and it made staying in Rotorua well worth it. If I make it back there I'll just plan on riding every day I'm there.

And Butch, it sucks uploading pics because I can only upload them one at a time from my phone to photobucket where I have to copy the img code over to RM all on my mobile. But I'll follow up this post with some of the highlights, and the rest will come later.

[sstalder5]

They gave me a brand new Spec hardrock for my first rental bike. I ruined the wheelset and the brakes, but for some reason instead of charging me for it they gave me a discount on my second day rental for riding hard. The rockhopper 29er was a way better bike for those trails.



The campground's thermal pool. Great for sore legs.

[N8 v2.0]

Good stuff. Get over to Mt Maunganui if you can.

[N8 v2.0]

Kia Ora Bro! Air NZ rocks, aye?

Don't forget Rotorua! Dude... seriously DON'T FORGET ROTORUA!

Central Auckland isn't representative of the rest of NZ (and we're all migrants here any way), though there's some awesome Dum Sum restaurants downtown. Cracker day in Auckland today.

My kiwi buddy taught us that Auckland was a bumhole and its residents tossers.