Tour Te Waipounamu

The land between the Southern Alps and the plains of the South Island of New Zealand is mostly occupied by the high country stations. I’ve explored this region by bike in the past and always wanted to connect a route through this awesome landscape. After many evenings examining Google Earth, reading horse trekking blogs and searching 4WD and off-road motorbike chat sites I came up with the initial route.

I thought about what experience I wanted to create for myself and others. The route changed, it got harder, it got easier, it got harder again. I spent forever chasing up contact details for landowners and even longer trying to get in touch with them. I sent a proposal out to riders whose opinions I valued. The route changed again.

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And here it is; the Tour Te Waipounamu, a bikepacking race the length of the South Island of New Zealand/ Aotearoa.