Paul Petch

Little River Rail Trail-Christchurch

Today was another beautiful sunny day so Amy and I decided to go check out the Little River rail trail just outside of Christchurch. With a flask of coffee and some tasty lunch we headed out nice and early to enjoy the best part of the day. I took the single speed Cove and swapped out the pedals on the Wolf so Amy, who is no mountain biker, could enjoy some comfort over the leisurely 42KM ride ahead. First things first though…. we had to call into the city on route to buy Amy a new helmet as I noticed last night that her current one had a large crack in the side??? Weird.

The official Little River Rail Trail website describes the ride as;

“A picturesque bike ride on an old rail embankment from Motukarara to Little River following the shores of Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) and Lake Forsyth (Te Wairewa), giving magnificent views across the lakes and out toward the Southern Alps. There are ample opportunities to view birdlife, including herons.  The full length of the track is 21 km from Motukarara to Little River. However, there are other start options for shorter rides and you can arrange a car-swap with a group of people traveling in the opposite direction”.

20 minutes outside of Christchurch we arrived at Motukarara to a full carpark and after smothering ourselves in sunblock off we went. The gradient was “100% wife friendly” the whole way to Little River and the amount of  birdlife along the trail due to the lakes and rivers was simply stunning. The views were pretty good but the company was better :) and we stopped regularly for snack and coffee breaks to soaking up the warm sun.

Arriving at Little River we were greeted by a very English looking river (duh) and three magnificent black swans. After some more photos and “swan talk” (read squawking randomly to attract their attention for photos), we headed straight to the cafe which by all accounts is quite famous. Parking up the bikes outside this busy cafe, we walked in to see what can be best described as  a “spread from heaven”…..the food looked bloody amazing! I had some organic egg sandwiches and a flat white while Amy had a Vegetarian samosa, fresh orange juice and a decadent fudge brownie and cheesecake slice……nomnomnomnom. The coffee was great (cheers Spencer!) so I had another…..but this time as a take out that was blatantly larger for the same cash as in a cup ;) I highly recommend the Little River cafe……it is a friendly little place to inhale some yummy food!

With full bellies, we headed back the way we came and with the sun starting to lower in the sky. We were keen to get back so with heads down and bums up……off we went to get back before it got to cold and dusky. With the sun hanging on the horizon by the time we got near the river leading  back to the Motukarara carpark the light was a fantastic Autumn orange and once again the birdlife was buzzing…. it was everywhere from large black swans, geese to the wonderful native Pukeko…. a true ornithologists dream! Arriving back at the car our timing could not have been better as the temperature had just started to fall. Amy was very happy to get back and off the bike as the 41KM effort had made her arse red raw….. :D

So what was the Little River Rail Trail like? Well to be honest I found it to be fairly boring and it flanked a main road for at least 80% of the ride (or you could see a road and hear cars)…. which was quite dissaponting! Amy enjoyed the ride overall but she also commented on the car noise :( If you are expecting tranquility and the feeling of remoteness like so many NZ locations, you will not find it on the majority of the Little River Rail Trail being so close to the main road. To be fair though, the Little River Rail Trail is designed for recreational riders and families with saftey in mind so its perfect for exactly that. Most people we met on the track were friendly and commented on the “challenge” of teh track which is what its all about right? I think that I’ve experienced such extremes since arriving in NZ that sometimes its easy to forget that for most peaople riding a distance of 41KM is infact a fair go and epic! Having a road so close also promotes that people can ride “sections” if their fitness is not upto the whole trail, which works really well. To see so many families with young kids enjoying the outdoors was priceless and great to see :D

Amy has never ridden 41KM before on a MTB so today was a real buzz for her, even though her bum is now red raw and her legs won’t work tomorrow I’m sure that she wont forget her effort today :D Another thumbs up for the Marin Wolf Ridge too as I’m sure it helped smooth out the “bits” of rough today so Amy had no complaints!

Overall, the Little River Rail Trail offers some reasonable views, great birdlife and a nice quaint village with a spectacular cafe as a reward! Famalies and novice riders (like Amy) will find the distance a bit of a challenge and a great way to get out there and “mountain bike” without any hills!!!

For more details on the Little River Rail Trail visit the official website.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 12th, 2009 at 7:31 am and is filed under Bike Rides, Featured and tagged with amy, christchurch, Trails & Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.