Harbour Cruise extended

Harbour Cruise with a lump extended

This is our normal harbourside ride. We go out along Tamaki Drive to St Heliers beach for lunch and then track through St Heliers to reach the new Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai path before coming back along the waterfront back to the city. All concrete, some road work but a lot of cycleways.

The starting point is the Buoy Cafe which is located next to the Roundabout under the harbour bridge. Coffee, Breakfast & Loos. If you want to pay for your parking then you can either use Z pier or the Westhaven marina however most of the latter are 120 minutes only. The best place is Point Erin Park which offers 240 minutes free. When you come out of the park on the bike go right, cross over motorway access to the bridge and you will then find a cycleway going alongside the water all the way to the Cafe just after the bridge.

After gathering at Buoy Cafe we go down the marine boardwalk all the way to Beaumont Street, shortcut across Victoria Park up to Nelson Street and then across to the pink pathway and down Grafton Gully which is long downhill run past the university towards the port. You need good brakes on this one and need to leave some room between cyclists.

We then track along the harbour side all the way to St Heliers to grab some lunch on the beach before we tackle some hills. There is a Bakery, Fish and chips and several good restaurants at the beach.

After lunch we track along to Kohi, along the Parade, up Fern Glen Road, along Long drive and St Heliers Bay Road to the beginning of Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai. Fern Glen Road is one long hill and St Heliers Bay Road is a bit messy for cyclists but the track at the end is worth it.

After swooping down Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai then we come out at Kings Plant barn where we track along Ngapipi Road (no road works at present) back to the waterfront and through to Auckland via the viaduct back to the Buoy Cafe.

This is a good ride for non-ebikes as it is mostly flat. There are however some hills on Nelson Street and Fern Glen Road but neither is particularly challenging or long. As normal then:

- This is weather dependant so if it turns to rain we will just re-run on another day.
- Please bring a spare tube for your particular bike wheel size.
- We travel at circa 15ks an hour except for down hills.
- We stop often to bunch up.
- We have a tail end Charlie to make sure riders do not get lost.
- We are not too fond of leaving people behind.
- Assistance will be rendered for any mechanical issues but we are not bike mechanics.
- If you are signed up for the ride but change your mind at the last minute please text or phone me on 021 348 979 to advise.