Rotorua Lakes and Forest
A 510 km loop
Open this ride in the planner →
Why this ride
Leave the city behind and spend the day on roads with texture. Out of Auckland and back again: 510 km, roughly 9 h 17 in the saddle. It goes by way of Paeroa and Rotorua.
Roadbook
- Auckland
start
Auckland is built on a volcanic field. More than fifty cones and craters, some now covered in grass and sheep, others in houses, stand across the narrow isthmus between two harbours, the Waitematā to the north and the Manukau to the south. The Māori name for the city, Tāmaki Makaurau, is often translated as Tāmaki desired by many, a nod to the fertile soil and the sea on either side that made it a prized place to live long before Europeans arrived. The largest cones, such as Maungawhau, Mount Eden, and Maungakiekie, One Tree Hill, still carry the terraces of old fortified villages.
Today the city is the largest in New Zealand, home to roughly a third of the country's people, and the pace is quick by local standards. The Sky Tower, rising over three hundred metres, dominates the skyline, and the harbour is full of yachts, which is how the city got its nickname of the City of Sails. The Harbour Bridge, with its clip-on lanes added in the 1960s, links the central city to the North Shore.
Riding in Auckland itself means motorways and congestion, with peak traffic that can be slow, so aim for the middle of the day or the weekend. The reward comes when you leave. West of the city, the Waitākere Ranges rise in thick native bush, with twisty roads through tree ferns to wild black-sand beaches like Piha and Karekare, where surf pounds against the cliffs. To the east and south, the road to the Coromandel Peninsula runs along the Firth of Thames, the start of a classic New Zealand loop.
Fuel is easy, with stations throughout the city and on every major road. Weather is changeable, with the saying that Auckland can have four seasons in a day, so carry waterproofs. The best months for riding are November to April, though winter is mild and often clear. Remember to ride on the left, and watch for gravel on corners, since New Zealand roads are often chip-sealed, which gives less grip than smooth asphalt in wet conditions.
- Paeroa
fuel
Every New Zealander knows the slogan: L&P, World Famous in New Zealand. The soft drink, originally Lemon and Paeroa, was made with mineral water from a spring near this small Hauraki Plains town, and Paeroa has never let anyone forget it. A giant L&P bottle stands by the main road, and you will probably stop for the photo. Nobody will blame you.
Beyond the bottle, Paeroa is a modest farming town on the Ohinemuri River, with a main street of antique shops, cafés and the usual services, and it makes a useful fuel stop before the next stretch. For riders, the real attraction lies just east of town, where State Highway 2 enters the Karangahake Gorge. The road follows the Ohinemuri River through a narrow, steep-sided gorge lined with native bush, with tight bends and the river tumbling over rocks below. It is short but sweet, and it can be busy with trucks and tourists, so pick your moment.
The gorge has a rich gold mining history. In the late nineteenth century, it was a busy mining district, with stamper batteries, tramways and tunnels, and the ruins are still visible along the river. The old railway line through the gorge is now part of the Hauraki Rail Trail, popular with cyclists and walkers, and there are short walks through old tunnels and past mining relics. At the eastern end of the gorge, Waihi has a huge open-pit gold mine right next to the town centre, which you can look into from a viewing platform.
The plains around Paeroa are flat, fertile and green, drained from swamp for dairy farming in the early twentieth century. The roads across them are straight and can be windy, with long views of the Coromandel Range to the north and the Kaimai Range to the south. Fuel and food are easy to find in Paeroa, and Thames, gateway to the Coromandel Peninsula, is about half an hour away.
- Rotorua
food
Rotorua smells of eggs, and everyone is soon used to it. The city sits in the crater of an ancient volcano, on the shore of a lake, and the ground beneath it is alive: steam rises from roadside drains, mud pools bubble in parks, and in the thermal reserve of Te Puia the Pohutu geyser erupts many times a day, throwing a column of boiling water twenty metres or more into the air. The sulphur is the price of living on a hot spot, and the nickname of Rotovegas, half affection and half mockery, covers the tourist bustle.
The land belongs to the Te Arawa, who have lived around the lakes for centuries and who still run living villages. At Whakarewarewa, residents cook food in natural steam boxes and bathe in hot pools, a way of life that continues. A hāngī, a feast cooked in an earth oven heated by hot stones, is one of the best meals to try here. Another chapter of the story lies at Lake Tarawera, where an eruption in 1886 killed many people and buried the famous Pink and White Terraces, once called the eighth wonder of the world. The Buried Village excavates houses covered by ash.
The riding is wonderful. The highways through the central North Island, including the route known as the Thermal Explorer Highway, run through pine forest and farmland, past steaming vents and blue lakes. East of the city, the road toward Lake Waikaremoana, deep in the Te Urewera forest, is a winding, remote route through native bush, with sections that may be unsealed or affected by slips, so check conditions before setting out and carry what you need. Mist and rain can come quickly, and the central plateau can be cold even in summer.
Fuel is easy in Rotorua, a town of more than sixty thousand, with stations on all main roads. The forests of giant redwoods on the edge of town are lovely for a walk after the ride, with trees planted in the early twentieth century. The best months are November to April, and winter mornings can bring frost on the higher roads.
- Auckland finish