Cycling through the vineyards in Gibbston Valley. Photo / Destination Queenstown
As the summer comes to an end, cycling the Queenstown Trail makes an attractive autumn getaway, writes Eleanor Hughes
The Queenstown Trail is a 140km cycleway of trails throughout Whakatipu Basin. Trying to decide how to ride them without excessive backtracking led me to Around the Basin - a Queenstown company specialising in mountain bike hire and multi-day ride packages. Their three-day tour looked perfect.
On hire bikes, we cycled the edge of Queenstown Gardens amongst mighty old conifers and willow trees along the foreshore of Lake Whakatipu to reach Frankton and its deserted, yellowish, shingle beach. At Kawarau Falls Bridge, sweeping above Kawarau River's icy blue waters tumbling white over rocks, we left the lake and joined the Twin Rivers Trail. Riding towards desolate brown hills backdropping blazes of yellow and orange foliage under a moody sky, we later look down on the Kawarau River and then the Shotover, one of the world's richest gold-bearing rivers.
Shingle islands in the braided Shotover make it look difficult to negotiate but a Kawarau Jet boat blats below the Old Shotover Bridge as we cross it, disappearing around a bend in the direction of snowless Coronet Peak. I read of gold discovery, in 1862, in the Shotover and Kawarau Rivers, and that by the late 1800s a hotel, blacksmith and school occupied the Lower Shotover. The wooden Ferry Hotel was shifted to near the bridge in 1915 and is now a B&B.
We leave the river behind to skim the edge of Lake Hayes Estate then cycle up slightly torturous Old McDonald’s Hill. Views are rewarding; a palette of warm, shimmering tones, the intensely blue Kawarau River wending through.
Rabbit burrows are prolific in dirt banks and we pass by a paddock of deer close to Morven Ferry Intersection where the Twin Rivers Trail meets Arrow River Bridges Trail. An information board reveals the ferry, a punt, was used to cross the Arrow River from 1867 until the Kawarau Suspension Bridge was built in 1880.
There’s nothing remaining of the Whitechapel Flat Gold Mining community except for rows of golden poplars. Rowan trees blaze with scarlet berries near the narrow Southern Discoveries Bridge suspended high above the Arrow River. Descending to its banks we ride through autumnal willows to reach Arrowtown, passing gold-panning families on the riverside.
There’s time to ride the approximately 18km return trip around Lake Hayes before dark. We traverse the perfectly manicured grounds of Millbrook Golf Resort. A wheat farm in the late 1800s, the flour mill and waterwheel remain. Whizzing down Christine’s Hill, we reach Lake Hayes Reserve and the undulating, narrow trail circling it. Homes cluster the eastern shoreline, and tawny ranges and autumn foliage are reflected in the still lake, making the cooling day feel warmer.
Next morning we explore Arrowtown, recognised as Tohu Whenua for its heritage. Its oldest wooden building, part of the Police Camp and possibly once a gold deposit office, was built around 1863. At the bottom of Buckingham St, it contains information on the first European sighting of Lake Whakatipu in 1853, pastoralists Rees and von Tunzelmann’s arrival in 1861 and gold discovery. Chinese miners began coming here in 1865, residing at what is known as the Chinese Settlement from the late 1860s to the 1880s. Two stone stores, restored stone huts and rock shelters, along with information boards, provide glimpses into their lives. Invited by the Government, they outnumbered European miners by 1871 and drew growing resentment. In 1881, their immigration was discouraged by introducing a £100 fee for them to enter the country.
We cycle up to the war memorial for a spectacular vista of the town’s autumnal display. Back on Buckingham St, the historically-listed buildings, timber verandahed structures dating from the 1860s still bearing old business names, make me feel like I’ve wandered into the past. Further on, European miners’ cottages stand compactly side by side, their front doors opening on to the footpath.
Displays on the gold rush, mining, early settler life and industries such as wagon and wheel making, printing and breweries are exhibited at the Lakes District Museum. On Cardigan St, the 1876 stone gaol contains great stories from the late 1800s of gold robberies, drunk and disorderly women and law enforcement.
By 2pm we’re cycling through fallen, faded leaves on Arrowtown Anniversary Walk alongside the river. Rejoining the Arrow River Bridges Trail back to Morven Ferry Intersection, we continue east toward Gibbston Valley. The tree canopy is a golden blanket along the base of rock-walled Arrow Gorge and the river runs far below. Ascending, I look out to Chard Farm Winery opposite. Its greenish-yellow vines carpet flattish land, tan hills rise beyond. The Arrow runs into the turquoise Kawarau River where chartreuse willows form ribbons either side. Flame-like poplars line a precarious-looking road cut into the side of a range.
Screams ring out from Tohu Whenua landmark, the Kawarau Suspension Bridge. It spans the 120m wide gorge, 42m above the Kawarau, schist towers anchored by cables into the rock face behind. In use for 82 years, until a two-lane bridge was built, the red bridge became the AJ Hackett Bungy site in 1988.
Arriving at Gibbston Valley Resort at 4pm, we decide to cycle the around 14km return Gibbston Wine Trail. Stunning scenes of the Kawarau River and autumn foliage are just “wow”. The trail brushes by Peregrine Wines where two old stone buildings, once a cookshop and shearing quarters, and a corrugated iron woolshed stand. We stop for a tasting at the cellar door, admiring its wing-shaped roof.
A few bare paddocks break up golden-leafed vineyards, vines covered with netting lining the highway, and we reach the Gibbston Tavern before 6pm. The old hotel with its sacking walls is cosy, the fire blazing.
The setting sun leaves a pink tinge across the sky, nature's colours intensify, rabbits bound across the trail in front of us. It's dark when we reach Gibbston Valley Resort and our luxurious villa.
Morning brings views out of our ranchslider of leafless grapevines. We take a half-hour tour of one of New Zealand’s only two wine caves. Dug into schist rock and a constant 14C, it contains French Oak barrels in which pinot noir ages. The wine library, a small “room” in the echoing cave, contains a dusty bottle or two of every vintage produced from the vineyard planted in 1983. A tasting follows; Late Harvest is deliciously sweet.
Around the Basin shuttles us at 10.30am to Jacks Point, lying at the base of The Remarkables and high above Lake Whakatipu’s shore. From the golf course, with views to Frankton and Queenstown, we brake down a steep gravel path then undulate along a twisting trail with extensive views of the lake. Cycling the water’s edge around Kelvin Heights, Queenstown central opposite,we pass tranquil bays and sculpture pine forest and autumnal trees shedding golden, fluttering leaves.
Reaching Kawarau Falls Bridge we return to Queenstown as we left it, via the Frankton Trail. Plying Whakatipu Lake since 1912, the TSS Earnslaw arrives at the same time and sounds its horn - a fitting finale to a ride that has provided so much history and variety.
For more, see queenstowntrails.org.nz
This story was first published on 19 Mar, 2023
The trendy spot is just six minutes from the Waikiki beach.