Tour Aotearoa is New Zealand from top to bottom — 1,900 miles from Cape Reinga at the northern tip of the North Island to Bluff at the southern end of the South Island, stitched together from gravel roads, forest tracks, and sections of paved highway. It’s a route in the truest sense: a line on the map created by the New Zealand cycling community, freely shared via GPS, requiring a capable bike and genuine self-sufficiency.
The North Island opens through Northland’s pohutukawa-lined coast, across the central volcanic plateau past Mount Ruapehu, through the Hawke’s Bay wine country, and into Wellington. The Cook Strait ferry crossing to Picton is a ritual. The South Island section is world-class — Nelson Lakes wilderness, the wild West Coast under rainforest and glaciers, the climb to Lewis Pass, the Canterbury Plains, the Otago Rail Trail, and finally the push into Fiordland’s cold southern light before the flat run to Bluff.
February and March are ideal — New Zealand summer, stable weather, long days. The route requires a gravel bike or mountain bike; some sections are genuinely technical. Accommodation ranges from Department of Conservation huts (NZ$5-15) to luxury lodges if you want them. The GPS file is free from Kennett Brothers, who created the route. The sense of riding the full length of a country — touching both coasts, crossing a strait, finishing at a literal land’s end — is something you’ll carry for a long time.