Milford Road Expedition · part 1

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fuel stop near Arrowtown

   Lake Hayes is the small lake that every photographer in the Queenstown area seems to know about, and on a still morning you will see why. The water mirrors the brown and gold hills around it, and in autumn, from April into May, the poplars and willows along the shore turn a brilliant yellow. It sits in the Wakatipu basin between Queenstown and Arrowtown, along State Highway 6, and a walking track loops around the shore in a couple of hours, a fine way to loosen up after a morning in the saddle.

   Read the complete Fuel stop near Arrowtown write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Milford Road Expedition is where the day begins. Next is Queenstown / South Island return.

2. 2. Queenstown / South Island return

   Look at a map and this point sits in the middle of nowhere: high above the head waters of the Dart and Rees valleys, in the wild mountain country between Lake Wakatipu and Mount Aspiring. There is no road here, not even a good track for a bike, only ice, rock and bush on the slopes of peaks like Earnslaw, whose snow-capped summit dominates the horizon from Glenorchy. The label calls it a return to Queenstown, which tells you what the route does: it brings you home, and the actual road runs far to the east.

   Read the complete Queenstown / South Island return write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Queenstown / South Island return comes up about 229 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Queenstown.

3. 3. Food stop near Queenstown

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 440 km.