We were staying at our friends’ bach in Reefton and the West Coast weather was amazing. After riding the Kawatiri Coastal Trail, we were keen to fit in another ride while we were there, and the Globe Hill Track was right behind Reefton, so it seemed like a good one to try.
I was riding with Darryn, Pauline and Glenn. I was on my Specialized Levo Comp gen3, which I was really enjoying on these West Coast rides.
The Globe Hill Track is about 22km return and takes you out to the abandoned Globe Progress gold mine. It was easy to follow, with a steady climb on the way out and a few switchbacks thrown in. I'd call it an intermediate ride.
We weren't in any great hurry. The weather was beautiful, there were birds around us as we rode through the bush and, of course, we stopped along the way to take photos.
The old Globe Progress mine was well worth riding out to. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but there was a lot more to see than I thought there would be. There has been a lot of planting done around the old mining areas and it was really interesting wandering around and seeing what was still there.
There is a shelter with tables and toilets at the mine, so it was a good place for us to stop and have lunch. We sat there for a while, had something to eat and looked around before eventually deciding it was time to get back on the bikes.
After doing most of the climbing on the way out, coming back down was fast and fun. I was having a great time until we reached some of the switchbacks, which definitely slowed me down a bit!
I was very happy to have the Levo on the climb out to the mine, but once we turned around it was just a really fun mountain bike to ride back down.
By the time we arrived back in Reefton we'd been out for about two hours, including stopping for photos and having lunch at the mine. It felt like just the right amount of riding for the day. To finish off our ride we went for pizza at Bassano Pizza Parlour. This would have to be the best pizza!
The Globe Hill Track is definitely one we would do again. It wasn't a huge day on the bikes or an overly difficult ride, just a really enjoyable couple of hours exploring somewhere we hadn't ridden before.
Sometimes those are the best rides.
