Day 15 – Rail Trails, Possums and Lake Kaniere

A slower start this morning — legs feeling the last few days — but still on the road by 8 am.

Cool, clear and calm, although the wind-sculpted trees along the road suggest that’s not always the case. Looks like the kind of place where it can blow the dog off a chain when it gets going.

The West Coast Wilderness Trail starts right at Ross Beach. The section through to Hokitika follows an old rail corridor, so it’s flat as a pancake.

A couple of kilometres in we came across a large river crossing with the bridge officially closed, complete with concrete bollards carefully installed to make sure no one crosses.

We put in a similar amount of effort to get over those bollards and cross it anyway.

Looking at the structure, there’s probably a good reason it’s closed.

Officially closed


Along the trail there are dozens of possum traps, and interestingly every single one of them was empty.


Possum trap. I expect the food is connected to that pink ribbon which would show the ranger when there’s somebody home.

In Australia you’re lucky to see a possum. Here, in the last two weeks, we’ve seen hundreds of them — mostly dead on the side of the road.

They clearly like it here.

Apparently the New Zealand government has a goal to eradicate possums by 2050. Based on what we’ve seen, that’s going to be a long, hard road. I hope they can get there, they seem to be a major invasive pest.

One of them even got into our gear overnight and ate our breakfast apples, which led to a quick upgrade to bacon and eggs in Hokitika.

Hokitika is a good-sized town by West Coast standards — plenty of facilities and a good place to resupply.

From there the trail heads inland toward Lake Kaniere, and this was probably the best riding of the trip so far.

A mix of hard-packed gravel trail, forestry roads and quiet sealed sections, all winding through dense forest. At times the track follows an old mining aqueduct, with a narrow path, water on one side and a decent drop on the other.

You need to keep your wits about you, especially with fit riders flying past in both directions.

There are also countless small bridges and photo opportunities along the way.

At the end of the trail we met the trail manager, collecting rider details to help justify funding.

Fair enough.

Not entirely sure why she needed my email address, but I suspect I might find out soon enough.

We’re camped tonight at Lake Kaniere, which is an outstanding spot. A small community, a few very nice houses, and excellent camping facilities — shelter, toilets and sinks — all in an idyllic lakeside setting.

After a few longer, hillier days, the shorter ride today was very welcome.

Tomorrow we head on to Greymouth.

Day Summary

Route: Ross → Hokitika → Lake Kaniere
Distance: 47 km
Riding Time: 2 hr 52 min
Climbing: 210 m
Weather: Cool, calm and clear
Best moment: Riding the forest trail along the aqueduct

Ride Links

Ross → Hokitika
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/22254286724

Hokitika → Lake Kaniere
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/22254286787

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