Hero photograph
 

Year 13 Outdoor Education – Alps2Ocean Cycle Tour

Merryn Herlihy —

At the end of Term 3 Year 13 Outdoor Education students went on a cycle adventure on the Alps2Ocean Cycle Tour. 

Cycle touring is like tramping. You must carry everything you need for the entirety of the three- day tour on your bike for approximately 150km.  All food, clothing, sleeping bags, bike equipment had to be carried in cycle pannier bags for the duration of the trip.

The students decided on which cycle tour they wanted to do and had to do all the planning and preparation. This included finding and booking accommodation, making menus and cooking their own food, maintaining bikes, navigation, safety planning and leading sections of the tour.

The boys were challenged and completed a 3 day cycle tour in a beautiful part of New Zealand.

Articles from:

Ryan Stokes

'My experience on the cycle tour was a memorable one. After many weeks of planning the tour turned into an enjoyable experience which I will remember for the rest of my life. Instead of cycling the normal way, Alps to Ocean, we decided to travel from Omarama to Lake Ohau, then to Twizel, to finish at Lake Tekapo. This made the trip relatively more challenging being faced with a head wind most of the way. On the first day we were challenged with a 900 metre high point in which we had to bike about 400 metres uphill to reach. When we reached the summit the view was spectacular and the downhill to the lodge made it worth it. The second day was the shortest day and the best day because of it, the sun was out which allowed us to relax and made it more enjoyable. The third day was the longest day at 52km, with the ground being flat following a canal most of the way and a rough head wind, this was the hardest day as it took over six hours and just seemed to go on forever, turning it into a mental game. Such an achievement reaching the end and overall the cycle tour was well worth it, great bunch of people in a scenic part of New Zealand made this trip memorable'

William Grocott

'Our Year 13 Outdoor Ed class planned and then went on a cycle tour in the South Island, from Omarama, to Tekapo over a period of 3 days. We started cycling on Tuesday where we started from Omarama and finished up in Lake Ohau. The hardest part about this day was the climb up the hill to an attitude of 900 metres. The best part was coming down the hill and not having to pedal. The second day we went from Lake Ohau to Twizel. Tthis day was our easiest and was a good day to get a tan from the sun while riding. We could also relax and chill out while cycling. Since it was our easiest day we got to Twizel with a lot of spare time for the afternoon and night which meant there was a lot of banter between the boys. Third day from Twizel to Tekapo, the longest day with strong winds and hot as weather while not in the shade. During this day we pretty much followed the canal from start to finish while fighting some pretty strong winds but we also had some tale winds which was handy. We eventually made it to Tekapo after biking for too long. I had such a good go shower and we chilled out for the rest of the night. Felt so good to get home'