CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A proper escape from Queenstown with roads worth waking up for. 958 km round from Kingston - plan on about 14 h 12 of riding. The climbs: near Kingston, Scenic stretch near Te Anau and Lindis Pass and Tekapo. It tops out at about 1,050 m. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 83 km this is Milford Road (SH94), a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Next is High point near Kingston.
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch near Te Anau.
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Lindis Pass and Tekapo photo pull-off.
The nearest way in is a walking track, the Hollyford, which runs for days through the valley to the sea at Martins Bay, and the nearest roads stop well short of it. The ride is named for the Lindis Pass and Tekapo, which lie a long way east, so take this stop as a nod to the wilderness behind the road.
Read the complete Lindis Pass and Tekapo photo pull-off write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The high point of this section. Next is Queenstown / South Island return.
Omarama sits in the Waitaki basin, a wide, high, dry valley in the lee of the Southern Alps, and the land around it has the stripped look of the South Island's high country, with tawny tussock slopes, braided rivers and a huge sky. Omarama is best known to pilots, since the wind that comes over the mountains makes it one of the best gliding sites in the world.
Read the complete Queenstown / South Island return write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Queenstown / South Island return sits at 397 km, about halfway. Next is Food stop near Wanaka.
Food stop near Wanaka is where this day stops to eat. Next is Lindis Pass and Tekapo checkpoint 8.
South of Queenstown, the road to Kingston follows the eastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, squeezed between deep, cold water and the jagged wall of the Remarkables. In winter they are white to their bases; in summer the bare rock glows gold and grey in the evening light.
Read the complete Near Queenstown write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Lindis Pass and Tekapo checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Lindis.
Here the lake country gives way to northern Southland, a region of broad river flats, low mountains and farms that stretch to the horizon.
Read the complete Lindis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Back to Lindis. That is the ride.
This High point near Kingston → Scenic stretch near Te Anau stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
Scenic stretch near Te Anau → Lindis Pass and Tekapo photo pull-off is the technical section. Hairpins, gradients and mixed traffic can stack up quickly; use low drama inputs, stay wide of centre lines and expect buses or riders appearing exactly where optimism says they will not.
This Lindis Pass and Tekapo photo pull-off → Queenstown / South Island return stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
Queenstown / South Island return → Food stop near Wanaka can flow quickly, but only if you keep village limits and junction sightlines sacred. Fast connectors are where rides get untidy when fatigue creeps in.
Food stop near Wanaka → Near Queenstown is the logistics leg. Watch junctions, villages and speed changes, then let the roadbook do its job: move you out of the clutter without spending your best attention too early.