Pedalling regional collaboration

Five councils, two government departments, two regional tourism organisations, Maori and a myriad of interest groups are all collaborating to pull together a tourism product that will showcase the southernmost reaches of New Zealand's north island.

For more than 20 years, a group of dedicated residents have planned and lobbied, fund raised and manned the tools to develop cycle routes like the Hutt River Trail which stretches 28 kilometres up the Hutt Valley from Petone to Upper Hutt.  At the same time, other trails along the historic railway routes of Tunnel Gully and Rimutaka Incline have been developed for recreational cyclists and walkers.

Now a collective including the councils of Wellington, Hutt City, Upper Hutt, South Wairarapa and Greater Wellington, Department of Conservation and Ministry of Economic Development, Positively Wellington Tourism and Destination Wairarapa are working to link these already popular trails into a single marketable cycling product.

 Maori Bend on the Hutt River Trail

 Summit on Rimutaka Incline

 The last stage in Wairarapa - Lake Oneke

 Luxurious Wharekauhau, Wairarapa

Made it! Ocean Beach, Wairarapa

 

The cycle trail can already be ridden, with some small interruptions and a touch of local knowledge, from Petone on the shores of Wellington Harbour, up the Hutt Valley and over the Rimutaka Ranges to the Wairarapa wine country.  Tidying up the connections between the individual cycle trails to make the transition and navigation for visitors a seamless experience is what the collective is working hard to achieve.

There are bigger plans for the cycle trail after the core route is established but even now cyclists can take in an iconic part of the region's history with a not so challenging ride through spectacular scenery of harbour, river, mountains, lakes and the ocean of the rugged south coast.

The whole cycle trail can be done in 2-3 days but best of all there are shorter rides including day trips available.  I'm pleased to be leading the charge on this project and with all going to plan we should see this cycling experience up and running by next summer.

David Hancock is the visitor development manager for Hutt City, Wellington, New Zealand and would be delighted to receive comments on this or any other topic.
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