Nydia Track photo epic
The May-June issue of Mountain Bike Australia has just been published with my feature on the Nydia Track and should soon hit news stands in New Zealand. Below are a few shots and stories behind the scenes of this iconic track.
Firstly I would like to thanks the "On the track Lodge" and The Mailboat for making this trip happen
Photo: Virginia Woolf
Day 1 Opouri Bridle track
Day 1 started off with a late evening shred down Opouri Bridle track to camp for the night at the mint Harvey Bay camp site, a superb spot.
Brews at Harvey Bay campsite
Opouri Saddle
Cook up with the jetboil sumo
Stealth looking Nomad prepped and ready for the root fest.
Day 2 Nydia Track
Photo: Virginia Woolf
Zack was on form for this trip and hit a banger turn down on a root feature to start the day off
So the plan for this trip was to ride Nydia Track with Catharine, Zack and Virgina Woolf photographer, over two days. Starting at Duncan Bay and riding through to "On the track Lodge" at Nydia Bay. The second-day we would ride through to Kaiuma Bay to be picked up by "The Mail Boat" which would travel through the scenic Pelorus Sound to Tennyson Inlet back to the start of Nydia track, Duncan Bay.
Photo: Virginia Woolf
After pancakes, we started off with checking out the Duncan bay wharf. A sublime, still morning and cracker way to start the day.
Photo: Virginia Woolf
Photo: Damian Stones
The nomad was primed and ready yeoow
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“Rescue Helicopter Trust provides an Incredible service they even transported her bike back to Nelson.”
"On the track Lodge," a rad place to stay
You can ride this trail with just a day pack making riding this tech track much more enjoyable as the Lodge provides a range of accommodation; from a yurt, chalets and train carriages! They can provide everything you need from meals & drinks to comfortable beds with linen etc.
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Superb way to finish the day on the trail with a few stories around the campfire
Day 3 - Nydia Bay - Kaiuma Bay
The plan for the day was to ride from Nydia Bay through to Kaiuma Bay to be picked up by "The Mail Boat". This involved a climb out of Nydia bay up through some farm land into the true climb in the scrub up Kaiuma Saddle.
The fun begins again from the Kaiuma Saddle where there are some similar trail features like on the Nydia Saddle on the first half of the descent, from rock and root features with lots of line options down the trail to keep things interesting
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The Mailboat
The second day on the Nydia track involved a trip on The Mailboat, this was one of the highlights of our journey. It gave an entirely different perspective on the landscape of the Marlborough sounds. Our route for the boat trip was from our pick up point at Kaiuma Bay up through Pelorus Sound into Tawhitnui Reach and then Tennyson Inlet back to our starting point of Duncan Bay Wharf where our ute was. The Mailboat service saves a lot of hassle with vehicle relocations or a really long boring bike ride on the road!
This photo sums up The Mailboat, Jim The owner of the Mailboat is a super enthusiastic fella and has a wealth of knowledge of the region. Later this year they will be getting a new boat complete with bike racks. There is lots of options with boats in the Marlborough sounds and linking up with other trails such as the Queen Charlotte track. Give Jim a holla to work out some options for creating your epic Marlborough Sounds MTB adventure.
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