Join us to explore the North Island, Te Ika-a-Māui, by bike! A fully supported version of the Kennet brothers 1590km classic route means you can enjoy each day’s riding knowing there is a comfortable bed waiting, snacks, lunch and water are sorted, and your gear is being hauled to the evening’s destination by our trusty sag wagon.
Beginning our ride at the iconic Cape Reinga lighthouse and with a pedal down 90 Mile Beach, we continue south. Riding on quiet roads, through small town NZ and stands of giant kauri. You will experience the hustle and bustle of Auckland city, enjoy historic tracks, cycle trails and get well off the beaten track in the rural back blocks of the North Island.
No tricky logistics! With two crew providing meals and riding sweep with mechanical support, your accommodation booked plus the van and bike trailer if you need it… we are here to help your bike packing dreams become a reality. If the full tour is too much at once, then why not tick off one island at a time.
*Please note if you are coming from overseas and bringing your own bike, we are not able to carry empty bike bags or boxes. You can either courier them from Auckland to Wellington or package your bike to travel in a cardboard box that you can recycle on your arrival.
Meeting Point: Pukenui (or optional transfer from Auckland)
Ride Start: Cape Reinga
Ride Finish: Petone
Tour Ends: Wellington
The trip was easily one of our best travel experiences and a great physical challenge. We loved the supported nature of the tour, which made it so easy to just get up and ride every day. Theresa and Tim did a fantastic job at leading the tour – keeping everyone’s mood up, and making sure we knew where we going and were well-fuelled with food, drinks and snacks. The cycling was great and we enjoyed seeing the country at a slower pace and riding along back roads that we would not otherwise have visited. Best of all, it was a great buzz discovering we could manage any hill, any gravel road, any long-distance ride in front of us.
I have just completed my North Island cycle tour biking with the excellent Tim and Theresa. Gee what a committed and hardworking couple, giving us a truly fully supported adventure. They were really happy days through beautiful pastoral country with heaps of edibles, expertise and encouragement.
Forever proud of myself! It was a great adventure. One of the hardest tests I have ever put my body and mind through but it was worth it. The NZ scenery you steered us through was amazing – shame most New Zealanders will never see it. It did come with its challenges prior to take off but you guys handled it all so well it was quite seamless for us riders. I would definitely advise anyone interested in doing the TA or a bike trip to Africa to contact you. It was certainly one adventure I will never forget and will forever be proud of myself for completing – even if I did do it on an e-bike! Cheers to you both and to your wonderful people who guided and fed us – they are pretty amazing humans!!
I rode from Cape Reinga to Auckland with Escape Adventures in November 2020. The highlights for me were the Legendary 90 Mike Beach, hard sand, bright sun, rolling lines of surf; the ferry crossing to Rawene & night overlooking Kaipara Harbour; Riding through the huge tree heads of the Kauri Forest – WELL comparable with Madagascar’s Baobabs ! – A great leg of TA , and highly recommended. Go for it!
I had a blast !. Despite my pre-trip panic of have I done enough training and will I make it, the trip went really well. I’d sum up the experience as Escape Adventures were adventure enablers. The team enabled me to get away and have an “active relaxing” holiday without the hassle of transport, directions, food and accommodation. Of course the really neat thing was meeting other super cool people and seeing parts of NZ that I’d not been to before. I‘d love to do another trip ; )
