Cycling in New Zealand vs Australia - What Australian Women Should Know

You Have Cycled in Australia. Cycling in New Zealand Feels Different.

A practical guide for Australian women thinking about their first multi-day ride in New Zealand.

A lot of the women who ride with us come from Australia. Many have already done a rail trail or two at home - the Mawson, the Murray to Mountains, the Riesling - and they arrive in New Zealand with a reasonable sense of what multi-day cycling feels like. That experience is genuinely useful. But New Zealand riding is different in a few specific ways, and those differences tend to catch people off guard if they haven't thought about them beforehand.

This isn't a warning. More a useful heads-up before you arrive.

The terrain is more varied

Most of Australia's famous multi-day trails were built on old railway lines. That's a practical fact with an obvious consequence: the gradients are gentle and predictable. Mostly flat, with an easy roll here and there. New Zealand's trails are not like that.

Even trails classified as “easy” usually include a hill or two. The country is more compact, more dramatic, and the riding reflects that. You won't be doing anything technical, but you will feel the difference in your legs by the end of day one.

The landscape also feels different. In Australia, many rail trails follow broad farming valleys and former railway corridors. In New Zealand, the trails move directly through the landscape itself - beside glacial rivers, through native forest, along lake shores and into high country that often feels surprisingly remote.

The terrain rewards you constantly, but it asks something in return.

The good news is that all of our cycling tours are Ebike tours. The electric assist doesn't remove the hills, but it turns them into something much more manageable and enjoyable. If you regularly ride a bike at home, but don't necessarily have technical mountain biking or any Ebike experience, that's usually absolutely fine.

The surfaces change more often

Australian rail trails are typically smooth and consistent. You know roughly what you're getting for the whole day.

In New Zealand, the surface can change several times in a single morning. You might start on a sealed path, move onto packed gravel, cross a wooden boardwalk over wetland, then hit a section of looser gravel before arriving at a café for morning tea.

None of it requires mountain bike skills, but it does ask you to pay attention in a way that Australian trails generally don't. You spend a little more time reading the trail surface ahead rather than simply rolling along side by side chatting.

On some of our tours - particularly the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Tour, Lakes, Fiords & Mountains Cycle Tour and Backroads, Rivers and Ranges Cycle Tour - a support vehicle travels with the group. That means if there is a section you don't feel comfortable riding on the day, you always have the option to hop into the vehicle for that part and rejoin the group later.

The weather deserves a mention

Australian cyclists are usually very good at managing heat. New Zealand asks for something slightly different. The weather changes more quickly here, especially on the South Island. A calm blue morning can become cool, windy or wet by the afternoon. On the West Coast particularly, rain is not an exception to the landscape - it's part of what creates it.

The West Coast has a reputation for rain. That reputation is not entirely wrong. Our advice is always to pack good rain gear regardless of the forecast.

That said, the reality is often kinder than people expect. This past season, across all our West Coast Wilderness departures, we had just two rainy days in total. The rest was sunshine, mist lifting off the Paparoa Range, and those particular West Coast mornings where everything is green, quiet and almost unreal in the early light.

Elsewhere on the South Island, conditions are often drier, but New Zealand weather is never something to take completely for granted. Good layers, a proper waterproof jacket and a bit of flexibility make a big difference.

One of the advantages of a guided tour is that someone else is watching the forecast, adjusting plans if needed, and carrying the spare gear. You don't have to make those decisions yourself while standing beside the trail wondering what the clouds are doing.

The days feel full

New Zealand cycling days are often shorter in distance than what Australian rail trail riders are used to, but they rarely feel short.

The varied terrain, changing surfaces and scenery mean that a 35-kilometre day can feel surprisingly satisfying. Most women find the pace comfortable, but also notice they feel more pleasantly tired at the end of the day than they expected.

Not because the riding is extreme - simply because New Zealand asks for a little more attention and energy throughout the day.

Which tours tend to suit Australian riders well?

If it's your first time cycling in New Zealand, the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Tour is a very good starting point. The ride takes you from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Coast and combines big landscapes with generally manageable riding. Most of the trail is gentle and very well suited to Ebikes. There are two shorter sections that are a little more demanding, and we always explain the options clearly beforehand.

The West Coast Wilderness Trail offers something quite different - dense native forest, wetlands, historic bridges and long stretches of quiet riding through remote country. It's softer, greener and more atmospheric than many Australian riders expect.

If you've already done one of these and would like something with a little more challenge and variety, our Backroads, Rivers and Ranges tour explores quieter roads and high-country landscapes through Central Otago and is exclusive to Sidetracks Women. A little more confidence and experience on an Ebike is helpful here.

The Lakes, Fiords & Mountains Cycle Tour, which includes impressive rides like the Dunstan Trail and the Around the Mountain Trail, is also very popular with returning guests who enjoy varied scenery and a slightly more adventurous feeling without needing technical riding skills.

None of these tours require racing fitness or technical riding ability. They do require a reasonable level of general fitness, a willingness to ride several days in a row, and an openness to being somewhere a little different from what you're used to. Everything else is taken care of.

And when you think about it, that's exactly what a good cycling holiday should feel like. Just with bigger hills, greener landscapes, and very possibly a kea trying to inspect your lunch.

If you'd like to talk through which tour might suit you best, feel free to get in touch. We're always happy to help.