This package is ideal for those with more limited time to spend on the trail.

(Please note that your driver may recommend some modifications to this itinerary, depending on circumstances at the time.)

Day 1 - Clyde to Lauder 44kms

• Pick up in Queenstown between 8.00 and 8.30am
• Transfer in Off The Rails' vehicle to Rail Trail start in Clyde.
• Bikes, helmets, panniers fitted to begin cycling around 10.30am
• Our driver will meet you in Alexandra, to make sure everyone is comfortable and riding well.
• A couple of hours' cycling across the Manuherikia River and through Tucker Hill gold diggings.
• Lunch at the historic Chatto Creek Tavern. Our driver will check in with you here and see how you're all going.
• After lunch, grab Tiger Hill by the tail (at a gradient of 1:50, there's nothing to panic about!)
• Downhill to Omakau and Lauder. Our driver can meet you at either destination and will bring you to our properties in Ranfurly.
• Dinner: Ranfurly Lion Hotel

Day 2 - Lauder to Ranfurly 48kms

• After breakfast, our driver will return you to wherever you finished cycling the day before.
• Across the Manuherikia River again, through the Poolburn Gorge tunnels and onto the 37m high Poolburn Viaduct.
• Then down the Raggedy Range to the Ida Valley and the Ida Burn, which is a natural skating rink in winter.
• A side trip to the Hayes Engineering Works before morning tea at Oturehua Tavern.
• After lunch the Rail Trail's other hill takes you up to Rough Ridge and the highest point of the Trail at 618m.
• Then an easy ride down to Wedderburn and the possibility of afternoon tea at Wedderburn Tavern.
• Cycle across the Maniototo Plain to Ranfurly, where you'll have earned a freshen-up before heading to Naseby for a spot of curling and dinner.

Day 3 - Ranfurly to Middlemarch 60kms

• A quick 8kms to Waipiata and then a pretty run following the Taieri River to Kokonga and Daisybank, where you might like to pick up some home baking for morning tea from the Daisybank picnic spot.
• Before you reach Hyde, Prices Creek brings you a 32m high Viaduct and a 152m long Tunnel (this is where you really need that torch!).
• Lunch stop is the Otago Central Hotel in Hyde, with its view back down the trail you've just ridden.
• The final 28kms will take you past Hyde Railway Station, where 21 people lost their lives in a tragic accident in 1943.
• Then you leave the Taieri Gorge behind as the land broadens into the Strath Taieri plain.
• Look out for cloud formations known as the 'Taieri Pet' over the Rock and Pillar range.
• Off The Rails' driver will meet you at the end of the Trail in Middlemarch and take you to one of the charming cafes for some well-earned refreshments.
• However, if you have chosen to travel on to Dunedin via the 4.45pm Taieri Gorge Railway, you may have to skip the cafe as our driver will need to take you and your luggage to the 'station' at Pukerangi.
• Otherwise, it's all aboard for the scenic drive back to Queenstown.

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