Tasman's Great Taste Trail
Stormy weather and talk of an ‘atmospheric river’ put an abrupt halt to last year’s attempt to cycle Tasman's Great Taste Trail. This year we got lucky, enjoying calm sunny days and warm temperatures (just before the weather turned to upset everyone else’s plans for Easter).
The trail is located at the top of the South Island and is one of New Zealand’s 23 Great Rides. It’s a loop trail, and loosely follows the shape of a diamond:
From Nelson city, the trail heads southwest through farmland and the towns of Richmond, Brightwater and Wakefield to Spooner’s Tunnel (an old railway tunnel).
After the tunnel, the trail swings around to the northwest and continues on to the small settlement of Tapawera (a hops growing area) and the remote Baton Valley.
The trail passes over a saddle and then veers to the northeast, following the Motueka River through the Motueka Valley back to the coast at Riwaka (another small settlement known for its hops and orchards).
From Riwaka, there’s an option to detour further north to beautiful Kaiteriteri, popular for its golden beaches and easy access to the Abel Tasman National Park.
The final leg of the trail heads southeast back to Nelson, passing through the town of Motueka and the beach settlements of Tasman, Ruby Bay and Māpua, before winding around the coast to the city.
All up, it’s about 200 kilometres, with a mix of grade 2 (easy) and grade 3 (intermediate) riding.
Chris and I originally planned to cycle the trail over three days, cycling from Nelson to Tapawera on the first day, and then on to Kaiteriteri for an overnight stay before heading back to Nelson. But, having recently cycled the Nelson to Tapawera leg as part of the Tour Aotearoa, we decided to base ourselves in Kaiteriteri and do a couple of days trips instead.
Tapawera to Kaiteriteri
We arranged a shuttle bus to drop us at Tapawera so we could cycle back to Kaiteriteri at our own pace. Our first stop was the coffee cart across the road, where Chris didn’t require much convincing to buy knitted egg warmer in the shape of a hen. “They’ve been really popular with cyclists; they like to pop them on their bell.” So, that became his new mascot.
The Tapawera to Riwaka leg of the trail is grade 3 and described as more challenging than other sections. But it’s actually a very easy ride (and much less demanding than the grade 2 Kawatiri Coastal Trail we cycled only a few days before). The intermediate grading is due to much of the trail being on narrow country roads and shared with cars and the occasional logging truck or milk tanker.
Cycling out of Tapawera, I felt like we were back on the Tour Aotearoa - partly because we were on a quiet rural road in what felt like the middle of nowhere with noone else around, and partly because we started at the same place as one of my favourite days on that trip (a heartland ride through the Tadmor Valley and on to Murchison).
The road is sealed initially and passes by many hop gardens. Most of the hops had already been harvested when we came through, but a few were hanging on and looking splendid in their autumn colours. Before long, the road becomes gravel and climbs up through forest to the Baton Saddle, and on to a swing bridge purpose-built for cyclists to cross the Baton River.
From there, it’s a relaxing ride to the end of the gravel and onto a sealed road alongside the Motueka River. The trail is on the opposite side of the river as the main road to Motueka so we saw very little traffic most of the way. There are lots of orchards in this area, with ripe pears and apples ready to be picked at this time of year, and for sale at small stalls on the side of the road.
At a couple of points, the trail crosses the river for a short stretch, but there’s a separate gravel track for cyclists to keep people off the road. The road gets a bit busier closer to Riwaka, particularly in the last few kilometres, when the trail leaves the river and detours down local roads servicing the bigger orchards in the area.
Coming into Riwaka, there’s the choice to turn off to Kaiteriteri (which we did) or start the ride back to Nelson along the coast (which we left for our next ride). The trail to Kaiteriteri cuts through an orchard away from the main road and then heads over the hill alongside the road, before detouring through the local mountain bike park to the end.
We were staying just short of Kaiteriteri (at Stephen’s Bay) so skipped the mountain bike park and opted for the road instead. It’s a narrow winding hill road that I wouldn’t want to tackle at the height of summer when there are many cars on the road, but it was fine at this time of year.
Overall, we cycled 70 kilometres at a relaxed pace and really enjoyed the peacefulness of our ride. There are no big sights or attractions along the route but it’s very pretty countryside and we enjoyed soaking up the sun and the views of the orchards, hills and river.
Kaiteriteri to Māpua (and back)
A couple of days later we biked back to Riwaka to continue the trail to Māpua. (We cycled from Nelson to Māpua several years ago, so didn’t feel the need to go all the way to Nelson this time.) It’s about 44 kilometres from Kaiteriteri to Māpua (less from Stephen’s Bay) so manageable as a ‘there and back’ ride.
From Riwaka, the trail takes back roads towards the larger town of Motueka - sometimes on the road, sometimes on a gravel track next to it. It’s flat and easy riding. The trail doesn’t go into the centre of Motueka, but we wanted to visit the Sunday market so saved the quiet estuary bypass for the trip back. (And ended up with several jars of honey and smoked mushrooms to carry for the rest of our ride. It’s not called the Great Taste trail for nothing.)
Rejoining the trail on the other side of town, we took more (uninspiring) back roads until we finally turned up a quiet hill road. That led to a rough gravel track with fantastic views of the sea and distant mountains on one side, and the Motueka Valley and more mountains on the other. That’s more like it.
The trail winds along the aptly named Tasman View Road past lifestyle properties and drops back to the coast, where we made another detour to visit Kina beach. The Tasman area is known for being an arty place and there are lots of working studios and galleries to visit on the way.
From Kina beach, we cycled back to the trail and carried on over a few more hills and down again to Ruby Bay and on to Māpua. Apart from the rough gravel section (complete with warning signs about being an unmaintained road), it’s all grade 2 (easy) riding.
Māpua is a seaside village and a popular weekend destination. It’s a picturesque spot, located next to an estuary and has a re-developed wharf area full of eateries and small shops. There’s also a Sunday market and Chris quickly zeroed in on a stall selling hubcap guitars made from all sorts of recycled materials. So, now he’s hauling around one of those in his pannier (leaving me in charge of all the jars of honey and mushrooms for the ride back to Kaiteriteri).
If you’re continuing to Nelson from Māpua, you would take a short ferry ride across to Rabbit Island, which is a forested recreation area with a long beachfront, picnic areas and walking and cycling tracks. There’s road access on the other side of the island, which takes you back to the mainland and around the coast to Nelson. It’s a 35 kilometre ride and easy cycling.
But we retraced our steps to Kaiteriteri. We both preferred the return trip to the ride there. The views were better cycling from Māpua to Kaiteriteri (especially the views of sea and coast), and we enjoyed the detour around busy Motueka. This part of the trail follows a quiet coastal road around the estuary, past the shipwrecked Janie Seddon. It’s a great area for birdlife too.
Stunning weather undoubtedly contributed to our enjoyment of both rides on Tasman’s Great Taste Trail. Everything looks better on sunny blue-sky days, and it’s more relaxing riding on calm warm days than in cold blustery weather. The trail is not quite as spectacular as some of the other Great Rides, but it’s still pretty good and well worth doing.
Stunning. I almost felt like I was there with you!
You two are great for the economy, and wonderful ambassadors for NZ.
Great read. Thanks xx
Beautiful scenery Ange, and the weather is the bonus.