Remutaka Cycle Trail with Featherston and Cape Palliser (4 Day / 3 night)

Cycle the Remutaka Cycle Trail, with Featherston and Cape Palliser excursions. A great way to see more of the Wairarapa while completing the Remutaka trail in a shortish timeframe.

We provide:

• All Extra "Bike Bits"  |  Helmet, night-riding lights, bike lock, repair kit and instructions, carrier racks and trunk / pannier bags.
• All Accommodation  |  Stay with fantastic hosts at our favourite locations: Wallaceville House, The Royal Hotel and Lake Ferry.
• Breakfast & Lunch  |  Delicious breakfasts and lunches provided (with great recommendations for dinner), plus snacks and water for while you’re out on the trail. Please note that alcohol is not included, but feel free to BYO. For more about our food & to see a sample menu, click here
• All Transport  |  Shuttle right from your doorstep to the start of the trail (or a ferry pass if preferred), then back again at the end if required, plus shuttle support for the Cape Palliser day.
• Bag and Food Transfers  |  We take your luggage around the trail, along with any extra food and beverage you want taken ahead of you.
• Safety Support  |  GPS tracker and locator beacon supplied so you can call in the cavalry, with shuttle support and first-aid-trained drivers for anything less serious.
• Information and Daily Briefing  |  All maps and other info, plus an evening phone call to check in on the group and provide weather forecasts and briefing for the next day.

Upgrade your bike: If you're not taking your own bike out on the trail, we can supply one for you! Please see below our list of options, which you can choose once you click the 'book now' button. For more info on our bikes, click here

• Mountain Bike  |  Our mountain bikes feature quality components with front suspension, gel seats and adjustable geometry, for a rugged, capable, and comfortable ride. The best choice for most riders.
• Electric bike (eBike)  |  With a choice of either a step-thru frame (Moustache X Road 2s or Sinch Jaunt EZ 2.0) or a mountain bike frame (Avanti Montari E Performance or Merida ebig 9), our fleet of eBikes have the largest capacity batteries on the trail, powerful and reliable motors, rugged and capable mountain bike components for when the going gets tough, all with comfortable gel seats.

Itinerary:

Day One - The Hutt River Trail - 32km (49km with Pencarrow Lighthouse extension)

Start your adventure with either a 10am shuttle from Wellington / Hutt Valley or a 10am scenic cruise across Wellington Harbour to our start point at our base in Eastbourne. (If you would prefer to start at Petone Wharf instead please let us know, though you won’t have access to the Pencarrow Lighthouse extension, and long term parking can be tricky if you are driving). We'll have your bikes ready to go, and will give you a quick briefing on what to expect for the day. If you’re keen for a longer ride today, firstly head south around the Pencarrow coast on an out-and-back 17km ride to check out Pencarrow Head’s beautiful lighthouses and lakes, before heading back to join the main trail.

From Eastbourne, follow a meandering road around the harbour edge to the start of the Hutt River Trail. Ride this picturesque riverside trail through the Hutt Valley, stopping at the numerous picnic spots or swimming holes on the way. Follow the trail through Upper Hutt and to your accommodation at Wallaceville House, a beautiful hotel in a country setting. Find nearby Brewtown a great option for your evening dinner, with plenty of craft breweries and a distillery. Or, nearby Upper Hutt has a number of great restaurant options as well.

Food included: Lunch, Cheeseboard

Day Two - The Remutaka Rail Trail to Featherston - 51km

Begin your day heading back to the trail for a ride through the beautiful Pakuratahi Forest to the Remutaka Rail Trail and our base at Wildfinder Kaitoke. Check in for a cool drink or snack, then follow an historic rail line up a gentle incline, passing through tunnels (headlights provided!) and over bridges, while checking out information boards detailing the enormous task of constructing the old fell railway system. Keep an eye out for trout in the streams and native birds in the treetops - this is a very active and healthy little ecosystem! Reach Summit - a large grassy plateau with the remnants of an old township and railyard, the perfect spot for a picnic or cold drink - then enjoy a fun (but easily controllable) descent to Cross Creek in the Wairarapa, surrounded by some of NZ's most scenic farmland. Continue your journey north along a quiet country road to Featherston. Check out Featherston's many book shops, Fell Locomotive Museum, and for those who love cheese, we highly recommend a visit to ‘C’est Cheese’! You'll be staying the night at the historic and beautifully renovated Royal Hotel, boasting individually decorated rooms, all in a luxurious Victorian design. We highly recommend dining at the on-site restaurant, Brac & Bow, for dinner.

Food included: Breakfast, Lunch, Cheeseboard

Day Three - Cape Palliser and Lake Ferry - 41km (allow 90 mins for optional 3km Pinnacles walk)

We’ll pick you up in our 9am shuttle from Featherston and drive you out to Pirinoa in the Wairarapa. Follow country roads as you head out towards the epic Cape Palliser coastline. Continue your ride until you reach the Putangirua Pinnacles - aka The Dimholt Road or Path of the Dead from The Lord of The Rings. This is an incredible geological structure, allow 45 mins walk each way (we recommend taking the 3km return streambed trail - lock your bikes up in the car park before you set off, the trail is not suitable for riding). Please note the Pinnacles trail is prone to slips - please click here for any track closures.

Continue on the road as it weaves along the coast to the picturesque fishing village of Ngawi, then on to New Zealand’s largest fur seal colony, often found playing in the rocks just before the lighthouse. Climb the steps to the lighthouse, with incredible views over this epic coastline. We'll pick you up in our 3pm shuttle, and take you back to Lake Ferry, a quiet rustic fishing village on the south coast of Palliser Bay. You’ll be staying the night in one of the modern Te Wheke Lakeside Villas, with any overflow to the Hotel next door. Enjoy the restaurant for your evening meal (we recommend their ‘famous’ fish and chips!), with panoramic views of the Kaikoura Ranges.

Food included: Breakfast, Lunch, Cheeseboard

Day Four - The Wairarapa and Wild Coast - 63km (with optional morning / afternoon shuttle)

Start your day with a ride through the beautiful Wairarapa countryside, on flat country roads. (If you'd like to miss out this section, there is an optional 10.30am shuttle from Lake Ferry, which can drop you anywhere on the route to Ocean Beach - just let us know the day before if you'd like to take this option). Continue on to Ocean Beach and then around the coast to Orongorongo. This part of the trail is stunning - we've seen orca, dolphins and seals from the trail, and it really is an incredible part of the country. Though beautiful and one of the highlights of the Remutaka Cycle Trail, the coastal track is also quite rugged and may be a challenge for some riders - we provide options to get picked up from Ocean Beach at 1pm (at no extra charge) so you can take on as much or as little of a challenge as you like - we usually leave this flexible, and just confirm the night beforehand based on your experience so far and the weather forecasts for the next day. We’ll pick you up from the end of the trail at Orongorongo at 3.30pm, then shuttle you directly back to your accommodation in Wellington / Hutt Valley, or to Days Bay, where you can relax by the beach with a gelato or a coffee (or something a bit stronger) before finishing your adventure with a harbour cruise back to Wellington. Our default finish time for the tour is 4:30pm, but we are happy to discuss alternatives if this doesn't suit. For those getting shuttled to the airport, arrival time is approximately 5pm.

Food included: Breakfast, Lunch