By Chrissy Wickes, Biodiversity Ranger, Te Anau

Over two days my partner, our child and I biked the Rimutaka Incline outside of Wellington and camped at Cross Creek. DOC and the Wellington Regional Council jointly manage the incline as the Rimutaka Rail Trail.

Riding along the Rimutaka Rail Trail

A tunnel along the way

It was fabulous and the surface of the track was excellent for our two and a half year old son Shannon in the chariot. The only rough bit was coming down from the summit where there had been a washout. This was the only section that we had to push the bike and the rest of the way could be easily ridden. The incline was an easy grade as it was originally used by a train.

Camping was great and we were treated to the wonderful call of a passing morepork.

It was an easy trip and you could do a day trip to the summit and back. The western side is the better track.

Setting up camp.

There are lots of cool tunnels so take torches to explore and make sure you check out all the neat interpretation signs along the way as there is heaps of historic stuff to look at.

There were quite a few people out there enjoying it, providing plenty of folk to chat with along the way.

There is lots to explore along the way