I want to ride my bicycle.....I want ride my bike

Mountain biking is an excellent way to get outside and exercise, reduce stress and take in some fresh air. When we arrived on the South Island of New Zealand, Mike and I were both keen to explore the Canterbury region via bicycle. This post will describe some of the easy mountain bike tracks that we have conquered since moving to Christchurch. I look forward to trying some more challenging tracks in the Port Hills soon, so stay tuned.....

     1. McLeans Island

McLeans Island bike track is located about 2 km from the Christchurch International Airport, which is northwest of the city. The Orana Wildlife Park is directly across the road. Part of the Waimakariri River Regional Park, this popular track consists of the "Main Loop" - 10.5 km (~ 30 minutes) and the "Coringa Loop" - 5 km (~ 15 minutes). There is a "River Track" but it has been closed ever since we started riding here.

This is a super fun one-way track that can be enjoyed by any skill level. You can also hire a bike right in the parking lot. The track is very smooth with lots of fun corners, small hills and a couple jumps. We like to ride here for exercise, but it is very tame compared to downhill mountain biking in British Columbia. 

Map to the McLeans Forest - Bike Track


A section of the Coringa Loop at McLeans Island Forest

    2. Bottle Lake

Bottle Lake is another fairly easy mountain bike track about 10 km northeast of Christchurch. There is a lot of scenic variety on these trails as you wind through pine tree forest, breeze alongside of the ocean or cruise in the sand dunes. There are some challenging spots with tough sandy terrain and some more relaxing flowing sections. In total there 8 tracks at Bottle Lake (some are one-way only), totaling 21 km.



Access Bottle Lake off of Waitikiri Drive.


Bring your sunscreen, plenty of water and a muesli bar! Weeeee!

   3. The Little River Railtrail

The Little River Railtrail is a long track that follows the route of the 19th century railway. It starts just south of Christchurch from Hornby Junction, heading south through the Selwyn District all the way to Little River via Prebbleton, Lincoln, Motukarara and Birding Flat. The one way distance is about 50 km. People can walk or bike the track and there are some cool old wooden bridges and nice landscape views of the rolling Selwyn hills.

Mike and I rode a small section starting at the Motukarara station down to Birding Flat, which runs along the the edge of Lake Ellesmere where were enjoyed nice views of pied stilts, royal spoonbill, white-faced heron, black swan, Canada geese, barred-tailed godwit, paradise shellduck, black-backed gull as well as swamp harriers hunting in the nearby grasslands. A couple of short sections of the track ran through sheep pasture, and during the lambing season they were very jumpy (see video below).

For more information on the Little River Railtrail see: http://www.littleriverrailtrail.co.nz/



Watch out for sheep shit!

Always remember to wear your helmet, bring plenty of water, an energy bar, a pump and spare tube/ patch kit and slap on some sunscreen.....happy trails!!!!

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