Cycle Touring Route - Around Wellington

Usually when visiting Wellington because it is a compact city with lots of hills cyclists tend not to think of it as a place to cycle in. If you are visiting Wellington do some exploring on your bike. Go to Oriental parade and ride around the bays through Evans Bay Parade and then past the airport to Shelley Bay Road. The coastal road goes past Scorching and Worser Bay and then past the airport on Moa Point Road to Lyall Bay.

Then ride past Houghton Bay to Island Bay where there is a cafe the Bach cafe that overlooks the Cook Straight. This can be a wild ride on a windy day but a fantastic ride on a fine day. Then go back to the city on Happy Valley Road to Aro Valley. At this point go uphill into the suburbs of Northland and Wadestown before heading back down into the central business area via Wadestown Road.



This ride is around 50ks and will give you an appreciation of how hilly Wellington is and how different it is from most cities. Although it is hilly a tour on your bike is the best way to see it.

One word of warning is that you need to take care because of the narrowness of the streets and one local rule is that bikes are not permitted in bus lanes so watch out for the buses. There is also the one way street system to contend with.

New Zealand Cycle Touring Route - Masterton to Wellington

This route is important to cycle tourists because it allows them to ride from the Wairarapa to Wellington without the need to cross the Rimutaka Ranges on the main highway. It is also a scenic ride well worth doing.

From Masterton travel on SH2 through Carterton and Greytown to Featherston a distance of 35.7 kilometers. Then use the Rimutaka Rail Trail to ride into Wellington. The rail trail is ideal for touring bikes because the Rimutaka incline was built for the Fell railway engines and is therefore not too steep. There is one small section that is difficult to negotiate. Once you have crossed into the valley on the west side you can use the Hutt River Trail to travel into Wellington. The bike trail is well sign posted. When you reach Petone turn right and cross the bridge and then head south into Wellington.
The Hutt River Trail includes gates that are designed to exclude vehicles but they are not well designed as they are difficult to get through with bike panniers. There is the option of riding on the road rather than the bikeway if this proves to difficult.

Link to further ride Images

 My New Zealand Two Islands Ride 2015

Rimutaka Incline

Rimutaka Rail Trail

Hutt River Trail

The bikeway alongside the motorway into Wellington is not well designed and needs further work to make it more usable.
There are campsites on the Rimutaka Rail Trail after you reach the top of the incline where you can camp rather than riding directly into Wellington.