Wakamarina Wilderness Trail, South Island, NZ

The Wakamarina Track, an old goldminers’ trail, crosses the Richmond Range from the Wairau Valley to the Wakamarina Valley. Mountain bikers could complete the trip in one day (or do a there and back style ride to Fosters Clearing - Intermediate Grade). The track is best ridden from south to north.

What I did in this video is a third option: Park at the end of the track in the north at Butchers Flat and push the bike to the first summit. The pushup is massive. 3-4 hours for a normal human. Then going back is great fun and I would consider it a max grade 4/ dark blue.