Ultracycle

actionchallenge in New Zealand This is an extremely challenging journey that takes us the full length of New Zealand’s . We cycle from the stunning Nelson Lakes in the north, along the rugged west coast, high over the mountains and down to Invercargill, one of the most southerly cities in the world. The route takes us on an incredible two week journey we’ll never forget.

New Zealand is a cyclist’s paradise with varied terrain and breathtaking scenery. Our cycle begins alongside apple orchards and wineries before opening out onto huge sheep country. As we begin to climb, the landscape changes. We enter lush rainforests, we climb challenging snow-capped mountains and follow picturesque roads hugging stunning lakes. Together we watch the sea surge through blow holes at Pancake Rocks and cycle past the flat calm of deep, crystal clear lakes.

We push ourselves to the limit as we take on exceptionally challenging climbs and hair-raising descents. Grit, determination and team spirit helps us climg the steep roads to and the Gates of Haast, whilst adrenaline and nerves of steel take us on an exhilarating, fast descent down hairpin bends, from the summit of the Crown Range to Arrowtown. After the mountain roads, we hit the flat as a peloton and cover 188km across the Waimea Plains towards Invercargill, the most southerly city in New Zealand. The sights throughout our trip are stunning, from the mighty Mt. Cook and the snowcapped Southern Alps to the rugged coastline, tumbling waterfalls, pretty towns and rolling sheep paddocks.

Our incredible journey comes to an end in Christchurch were we celebrate our epic ride with our new-found friends in style with a dinner and partying. at a glance trip highlights

● Activity: Cycling - Road biking ● Cycle through Orchards and vineyards ● Location: Nelson to Invercargill, South Island, NZ ● Ride Challenging climbs up to Fox glacier ● Duration: 14 days / 8 days cycling ● Descend steep hairpin bends to Arrowtown ● Difficulty: Tough ● See the blow holes at Pancake Rocks ● Distance: 1,096 km ● View Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps ● When: December 2014 / November 2015 ● See the stunning Lake Mapourika ● Group size: 15+ ● Celebrations in Christchurch

Action Challenge have been leading inspirational team adventures across the world for individuals, private groups, charities and corporate clients since 1999. Our trips enable people to experience the world’s most exhilarating locations, often in aid of charity. Our ‘Ultimate Ride’ series offers challenging cycling trips designed to test our endurance in exciting environments. Together we rise to the challenges, achieve formidable goals and forge friendships for life.

www.actionchallenge.com Ultracycle New Zealand

introduction This fully-inclusive endurance cycle in New Zealand will begin as soon as you register! Dec 2014 & Nov 2015 You will receive a challenge pack including a training guide, kit list and discounts for all the essentials you may need. If you are raising money for a charity, we will sort out all Please visit our website for more details the formalities so you can concentrate on your own preparation and fundraising. We offer pre-challenge briefings to prepare you for this extremely tough and demanding trip. On the day of departure you will meet your group and Action Challenge leader at the All inclusive trip cost from £2,799 airport in London. Whether you’re joining the challenge on your own or with others, you Initial £399 deposit to sign up will instantly be made to feel welcome. As a team we will board our flight to New Zealand, ready to take on the endurance bike ride of a lifetime! Three payment options available brief itinerary Please visit our website for more details

Day 1 Depart UK Day 8 Haast Day 2 Transit Day 9 Wanaka Day 3 Arrive Christchurch Day 10 Queenstown Day 4 St Arnaud Day 11 Invercargill Day 5 WestPort Day 12 Christchurch Day 6 Hokitika Day 13 Depart New Zealand Day 7 Day 14 Arrive UK what’s included

· International flights · Action Challenge cycle leader · Full support team, including local guides This tough challenge requires an · UK medic excellent level of fitness. The route has · Support vehicles numerous climbs and we will be covering · All accommodation up to 188 km on some days so we will be · All meals, except in free time physically tested throughout this trip. · Airline taxes · Treated drinking water · All transfers Why not stay on after the challenge and · National Park entrance fees explore some more of Australasia’s · Celebration dinner in Christchurch highlights? · Invitation to a challenge briefing in London · Discounted training weekends Extensions include: · Fitness and training guide ● The Milford Trek · Discounts from UK retailers ● Tongariro Tracks · Reduced rates at Nomad Travel Clinics and Masta Health ● Visit Abel ● Add-on-flights to Sydney or Melbourne topography

The ideal time to travel to New Zealand is between November and March , during the countries summer months. The temperature usually averages between 20 ltitude

A to 30 degrees C, however the temperature decreases as you cycle south due to the country’s location in the Southern Hemisphere. Distance

+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] Ultracycle New Zealand

itinerary

DAY 1 / 2 - Depart UK / Transit

We begin our journey with a long flight to New Zealand.

Meals: B,L,D (in flight)

DAY 3 - Arrive Christchurch On arrival in Christchurch we have time to relax before transferring to Nelson for the start of our challenge.

Meals: L,D Accom: Hotel Transfer: 5 hours

DAY 4 - St Arnaud • Ten nights in comfortable hotels and We being our bike ride from , cycling up the Motueka Valley on a delightful, motels along our route quiet road through apple orchards, berry farms and vineyards before reaching open sheep country. We continue to climb through Golden Downs Forest before arriving in All accommodation is on a twin/triple- St Arnaud, set in a beech forest next to the beautiful . share, single-sex basis and we will pair you with someone of a similar age, where Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 97 km Total climb: 1484 km possible.

If you wish to share a room with someone DAY 5 - Westport you are travelling with, please specify this on your registration form. From St Arnaud, we follow the Buller River downhill through sheep farming country to the former gold mining town of Murchison, best known for the devastating effects of the 1929 earthquake. We continue alongside the river, before heading for Westport on the isolated west coast.

Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 160 km Total climb: 1172 km If you decide that you would like to have your own room on the challenge, we can DAY 6 - Hokitika accommodate this in the majority of places. At Punakaiki we explore the fascinating Pancake Rocks and watch the sea surge Please email us for more information through blow holes before heading south to the town of Greymouth, the site of the Mawhera Maori settlement. From here it is a flat run to Hokitika, famous for its 1860s gold rush and today visited for its ecotourism and greenstone (jade) found on the local river beds.

Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 141 km Total climb: 1294 km • Insurance - approximately £60 • Visa waiver program - £20 DAY 7 - Franz Josef Glazier • Vaccinations - up to date on boosters. • Tips for local staff - recommended Crossing the , we head south through native bush of rimu and kahikatea amount £30 (white pine). We cycle through stunning countryside with one climb after the town of • Airline fuel surcharge / supplement as Harihari and a final flat run from Whataroa. As we enter Westland National Park we applied by airlines. Please note that this is pass the beautiful Lake Mapourika, with superb views of snowcapped peaks. capped at a maximum of £150.

Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 135 km Total climb: 1143 km

+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] Ultracycle New Zealand

DAY 8 - Haast

The ride from the Franz Josef to Fox Glaciers is only 24 km but it includes three very Continental breakfasts each morning will challenging climbs and steep descents through beautiful native forest. From Fox to be at the accommodation, lunch will be the road is gently undulating, passing through lush rainforests of rimu and eaten en route and evening meals will be rata, across flax-filled swamps and past rugged hills. With fine weather, there will be at the accommodation or in a local restau- superb views of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps. Just south of , Knights rant. All meals are provided apart from Point affords excellent views of the rugged coastline where seals can often be seen those in free time. basking in the sun. We can cater for all dietary requirements Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance:145 km Total climb: 1517 km if informed in advance.

DAY 9 - Wanaka

From Haast we head inland, following the towards snowcapped peaks. We A kit list will be sent to you on receipt of cycle, past tumbling waterfalls looking out for keas, fantails and bellbirds. After lunch we registration. Many everyday items can be negotiate the stiff climb through the Gates of Haast before the gentle descent to used on this challenge, and we offer a kit Makarora. The country is now dramatically drier as dense bush gives way to open hire service to keep costs down. sheep paddocks. The scenery is breathtaking as we cycle as a peloton along roads hugging Lake Wanaka, crossing the Neck to Lake Hawea and back again to Lake Wanaka. If you are planning on travelling to New Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 152 km Total climb: 1742 km Zealand before the challenge or wish to organise your own flights, we do offer a DAY 10 - Queenstown land only option, with a significant discount off the trip price. You will be Our route today takes us up the Crown Range and over the Cardrona Road. We climb required to meet your group at the hotel past the historic Cardrona Hotel to the summit where we are rewarded with amazing on day two of the itinerary. views of The Remarkables mountains and Queenstown. We descend the exhilarating hairpin bends to Arrowtown, with its quaint old cottages and avenues of elms. A short Please email us for more information leisurely ride beneath Coronet Peak, a winter ski field, takes us to Arthur's Point where we cross the Shotover River on our way to Queenstown. Set on Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by mountain peaks, Queenstown is a pretty, buzzy town perfect to relax in after a hard days cycle. • Road Bike Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 78 km Total climb: 1188 km • Alcoholic drinks • Drinks and food outside of meals, DAY 11 - Invercargill other than water • Airline fuel surcharge / supplement as We follow the shoreline Lake Wakatipu as far as Kingston, the home of the famous applied by airlines. Please note that this Kingston flier steam train, and then continue south in the lee of the Eyre Mountains. On is capped at a maximum of £150. a good day there will be views of the Kepler Mountains as we continue south to cross the Waimea Plains for a final flat run into Invercargill, New Zealand’s most southerly city and home to the country’s only indoor velodrome.

Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance:188 km Total climb: 951 km

DAY 12 - Christchurch

Today we transfer back to Christchurch for our final night’s celebration after an incredible challenge.

Meals: B, L, D Accom: Hotel Transfer: 7½ hours

DAY 13 / 14 - Depart New Zealand / Arrive UK

+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] Ultracycle New Zealand

payment options A REGISTRATION DEPOSIT of £399 (for 2014) is required to secure your place. We ATOL is a scheme that protects you from offer 2 deposit payment options: losing money or being stranded abroad if your travel company collapses. Action OPTION 1: Deposit paid in full, by card at the time of registration. Challenge is 100% ATOL bonded, which provides you with full financial protection. OPTION 2: Deposit paid in two 50/50 split payments. The first 50% is paid when you On receipt of your registration fee, you will register and the second is charged to your payment card at the end of the following receive an ATOL certificate explaining month. For this option, a £10 supplement will be charged with the first instalment. your protection.

Once registered, there are 3 PAYMENT OPTIONS to fund the balance of the trip cost. Full details are on our website.

1) SELF FUNDED

For anyone who wants to pay for the entire trip themselves. It’s then completely up to you whether or not you choose to raise any money for a charity of your choice.

The total all inclusive cost of this trip is £2,799 (for 2014), which, after you pay the £399 Registration Deposit, leaves a balance of £2,400. This final balance is due for payment how to book 10 weeks before your departure along with any fuel surcharges levied by the airline. To book on to this challenge, please visit 2) SPONSORSHIP FUNDED our website; www.actionchallenge.com for a full list of prices and all available This is for anyone who wants to take on this challenge and will link it with fundraising a dates. significant sum of money for a charity of their choice. You would have to raise at least £4,800 (for 2014) via sponsorship and donations from friends, family and colleagues, private groups and be confident at the outset that you can achieve this total. If you are a charity, business, school or Pay the Registration Deposit and nominate a charity to fundraise for. All fundraising private group with a minimum of 10 goes directly to your charity and providing that you raise at least £4,800 (for 2014), your people and fancy your own bespoke trip, charity will pay for the balance of your trip costs to Action Challenge. That balance, paid please call us on +44(0)207609 6695 by your charity, is £2,400 (the same as if you were you were ‘Self Funded’) - the charity or you can send us an email to will retain at least £2,400 to help fund their work. You will have to pay any airline fuel [email protected] surcharges 10 weeks prior to departure. for more information.

3) MIXED FUNDED

A mix of the 2 options above! You pay about half the trip cost yourself, and also @actionchallenge fundraise for your charity. They pay the remaining balance of your trip costs. Ideal For anyone who wants to take on the challenge and also fundraise for a charity, BUT is happy to pay a reasonable proportion of the trip cost themselves, which with your www.facebook.com/actionchallenge registration deposit, is set at a level that covers at least the costs of flights & accommodation; perfect for those who feel more at ease asking for sponsorship in respect to the ‘challenge’ component of their trip.

Pay the Registration Deposit and nominate a charity to fundraise for. All fundraising Action Challenge UK Ltd goes directly to your charity and providing that you raise at least £3,600 (for 2014), your United House charity will pay a portion of your trip cost to Action Challenge. That balance, paid by your North Road charity, is £1,440. At the same time, you will be required to pay the remaining balance London yourself, which will be a figure of £960 (These two amounts add up to the same as the N7 9DP ‘Self Funded’ final balance) - the charity will retain at least £2,160 to help fund their United Kingdom work. You will have to pay any airline fuel surcharges 10 weeks prior to departure.

+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected]