Twin Coast Cycle Trail

I have always wanted to try biking in the New Zealand backcountry.

It turns out a new bike path called the "Twin Coast Trail" has just been opened for the public. It is 80km long and crosses the Northland from the Est to the West coast, from Opua to Horeke.

The trail starts in the Bay Of Islands. It is a very beautiful place looking over the ocean with all these little green Islands that contrasts with the blue water. Starting there just gives you energy for the day!
You will bike to Kawakawa following the old train rails and the Waikare estuary. This gives you quit a vintage impression before arriving to this little village where the public toilets are amazing. Yes, the toilets...You will not see similar ones elsewhere. In fact, they were built by an artist called Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1998. These toilets became famous for how they look with recycled materials. The second part of the day will be more surrounded with fields and farmland and the trail will be hillier.

I am very happy that good weather stays with me for the second day. After a 10 minutes ride on the road, I find and arrive back on the bike trail very easily. Once on it, I am surrounded by farms but in a magnificent landscape with low mountains. On this path you will go through a tunnel, see the wide New Zealand vegetation and water...as the landscape changes all the time. I stopped in the Okaihau village for a little snack before proceeding. The next part is where I had the more fun! The trail is downhill with a lot of turns and what surrounds you changes again for and becomes a trail next to a beautiful river at the bottom of little mountains. The end of the way is pretty flat after going up and down.
You will end in the Horeke village, a great place full of historical memories with only one bar in this wooden house on the edge of the water. This place is great and having a drink on the porch looking at the view just made my day.
You actually think “I was next to the Pacific Ocean yesterday and today I am at the Tasman Sea”.

These two days were quite an amazing experience for myself and I really want to share it with others so that can live the same happiness while riding a bike and see New Zealand with new eyes.