My second and longest day on the A2O trail, cycling 64km from Lake Ohau to Omarama, over the highest point of the trail, including a 14km side trip to the popular Clay Cliffs. From Lake Ohau Lodge the trail climbs steadily upward with big views of the landscape.

The Tarnbrae High Point, 900m above sea level, was easier to reach than expected, but I was on an eBike…

From here was one of the most enjoyable parts of the six days I spent on the trail, a long descent reaching speeds over 50kph, an exhilarating experience.

It’s a pretty pleasant landscape to be speeding through.

The downhill finished at the historic Quailburn Woolshed, which had clearly seen better days but somehow was still standing. I kept my cycling helmet on though while exploring inside and avoided touching anything…

From here the trail follows Quailburn Road, a super quiet and scenic gravel road with some entertaining safety signage.

Far less enjoyable was Henburn Road, a very busy rough gravel road leading to the Clay Cliffs. I was passed by dozens of vehicles, enveloping me in clouds of dust. Despite being a popular detour on the A2O Trail there is no bike parking here, the information board was the only secure thing to lock the bike to.

The cliffs were worth the detour though to explore their unusual rock formations, though they’re basically the same as the Pinnacles near home in Wellington.

The surrounding landscape was pretty scenic as well.

Returning to Quailburn Road the remainder to Omarama is sealed, so much easier riding but the cars pass much faster.

It was a relief to get off the road to a parallel bike track past fields.

Omarama is a tidy place, home to renowned Hot Tubs which were exactly what I needed after a decent day in the saddle. The private tubs surround a picturesque man made lake.