Muddy Wheels

Education Tours NZ - Muddy Wheels

"Rotorua’s trails are the stuff dreams are made of: perfect dirt, with amazing flow, weaving through towering Redwoods. They’re mesmerising, fast, fun and practically endless.”

This is how the team from Flow Magazine in Australia described riding the world famous trails of Rotorua, and with the most renowned and knowledgeable company for everything that is mountain biking in Rotorua leading the way for us, we know that you’ll be able to form your own riding in Rotorua story from this week long mountain biking epic.

Arriving in to Auckland Airport we waste no time and get on the road, heading two hours South, to the cultural hub, geothermal wonder land and Mountain Bike Mecca that is Rotorua. On arrival we check in to our hotel and take an opportunity to chill for the evening together around the poolside enjoying pizzas, stories, getting to know each other and an introduction of what to expect for the week.

The next morning after a hearty breakfast we make our way to the renowned crew at Mountain Bike Rotorua to have our bikes custom fitted to each of us. These latest model full suspension mountain bikes will be our steeds for the week. The legends at Mountain Bike Rotorua will also teach us how to maintain the bikes before we head out for the first ride with our professional guides. This week will involve learning bike riding techniques such as braking, cornering and descending. If students skills allow us to, we will advance to tackling small drops and potentially jumps. Not wanting to over-do the cycling for the first day, we spend the afternoon enjoying another activity that Rotorua is renowned for, Zorbing.

Day 3 and we continue our progression on the bikes moving up the grades. Having a range of guides on tour with us allows those who are progressing faster to continue their advancement while others who are still working on basic skills can have the focus of the guide attention on their needs. We again change activities for the afternoon and hike to the summit of Rainbow Mountain before returning back to our vehicles and soaking in the locals geothermal hot pool spot, Waikite Thermal Valley.

We change pace today with our riding, swapping out our regular bikes for E-Bikes and taking on the 33km Forest Loop. This trail circumnavigates the Whakarewarewa Forest and provides awesome vistas and great local legends. We take our packed lunches with us as we enjoy a few stops along the way. At the end of the ride we return back to the hotel to chill, play games and enjoy some down time hanging by the pool.

For our final day of riding we have the privilege of enjoying our very own private shuttles, one of the “best experiences you can have in mountain biking”. We take the skills we’ve learned during the week and put them to use, riding some of the most renowned trails in the forest. We’ll stop for lunch at the wonderful Lake Tikitapu even taking the opportunity to have a swim if people choose, before continuing for another couple of hours of shuttling. Later in the evening we’ll head out to one of our world famous Hangi and Concert shows to get a taste of the Maori culture and cuisine.

As every student will tell you, the end of the week will have come far too quickly. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun. After an epic time of riding and doing other adventures we take a far more leisurely start to the morning by heading to Mount Maunganui to enjoy beach time and shopping. To round out an awesome week in Aotearoa, New Zealand, we finish with a bang, rafting the amazing Kaituna River.

Itinerary – Daily breakdown

1. Arrive Auckland Airport and travel to Rotorua – Hotel Accommodation – Rotorua

2. Morning: Mountain Biking in Rotorua. Afternoon: Zorbing – Hotel Accommodation – Rotorua

3. Morning: Mountain Biking in Rotorua. Afternoon: Rainbow Mountain Hike and Waikite Hot Pools – Hotel Accommodation - Rotorua

4. All Day: Forest Loop Ride – Hotel Accommodation - Rotorua

5. All Day: Mountain Bike Shuttles in Rotorua and swimming at Lake Tikitapu. Evening: Cultural evening show and feast – Hotel Accommodation - Rotorua

6. Morning: Relaxed beach visit and shopping. Afternoon: Whitewater Rafting. Evening: Trip awards and Redwoods Treewalk – Hotel Accommodation - Rotorua

7. Return to Auckland Airport for flight home