Testimonials

Retrouvailles, New-Zealand : going to Waiheke

Cyril and Elodie have been travelling through New-Zealand on their way to Wellington the capital, then farther to Waiheke island.

“After travelling through the South island, it’s time for us to take the ferry to Picton to reach the capital of New-Zealand, Wellington !

The crossing on the ferry took us 3 hours and it was beautiful ! We sailed through the ‘sounds’ or ‘little fjords’ and we saw beautiful landscapes (we were lucky to have such nice weather.) We even came accross dolphins playing in the waves of the boat : the Hector’s dolphin (the smallest in the world) and the common dolphin.’

The activity of the capital was in contrast with the almost uninhabited island the couple just travelled through. However there were very few vehicles on the roads.

After visiting the capital (25mn on foot to go from one end of the city to the other), the couple began their trip to the North of the island, along the ‘Hut River Trail’. It’s an old railway.

‘Only a part of this trail is really for MTB because of the collapse of a bridge where we have to cross a river. Our Aevon bike trailer meets our expectations. Mud, sand, road, it follows us easily. We almost never have to question ourselves whether the roads we will be using will be compatible with our bike trailer.’

Then Cyril and Elodie continued their trip to Whanganui with a beautiful view on the volcanos.

At Turangi, spas offered to take a hot bath coming from natural sources. Then from Turangi to Taupo, 55km on the bikes offered an amazing view on lake Taupo, the biggest in the country.

‘Upon our arrival to the city of Rotorua, the smell is very strong. The city is build on a sulfur deposit and there are holes everywhere in the city. This is also why the lake looks yellow in some places. The city is famous for its population of Maoris. But here they look and live like anybody else. So we are not sure if we met some of them. Only certain tattoos betray the rank of a person in his tribe.’

Cyril and Elodie took the ferry again, in the direction of Waiheke island, famous for its vineyards and only 15km long for 3km wide maximum.

The item spent their last days there before flying to Adelaide in Australia where we’ll follow them soon !