Description

The name Molesworth Station evokes New Zealand’s high-country identity – musterers and stockmen and their dogs working livestock in vast tussock landscapes, while for Maori, the area was an easy summer route to the West Coast. Administered by the government for over 50 years, Molesworth Station covers over 180,000 hectares & is the largest farm in New Zealand. Sitting in a valley that endures a continental climate of extreme weather with hot dry summers balanced by harsh cold winters and surrounded by alpine ranges on either side, the landscape is stark and arid with a surreal beauty. The Dept. of Conservation now manages the farm at the same time as protecting the threatened alpine landscapes.

Inclusions

• Cycle via the scenic Ashley Gorge to Oxford where we visit Jo Seager’s famous café & cooking school Spend a night on a vineyard in the Waipara Valley 
• Soak in the therapeutic hot springs at Hanmer 
• Cycle the remote Molesworth Road and visit the historic Molesworth Cob Cottage and Acheron Accommodation House You will dine with a third generation farming family as you overnight in the shearer’s quarters of a high country merino sheep farm 
• Cycle alongside a spectacular river as it makes its way to the sea via the famous Sauvignon Blanc producing vineyards of the Awatere valley 
• Picnic in a modern environmentally sustainable vineyard alongside the Pacific Ocean 

Take an optional swim with the dolphins, whalewatch or pelagic bird (albatross) tour in Kaikoura

Rental of our Trek 7500 hybrid bikes is available at NZD $130, these bikes are perfectly suited to the varying road surfaces you will encounter. 

All accommodation provided

Other Information

One of our newest tours, the Molesworth starts out of Christchurch, with five days of cycling in the Northern Canterbury & Marlborough districts. We visit the emerging wine growing district of Waipara Valley and travel via Hanmer Hot Springs onto the isolated road through the Molesworth Station, New Zealand’s largest farm. After a night in the shearer’s quarters of a back country Merino sheep ranch, we follow the river down the beautiful Awatere valley to emerge amongst vineyards alongside the Pacific Ocean. We overnight in Kaikoura with options to view whales, dolphins and albatross before returning to Christchurch via the spectacular Inland Kaikoura road.