Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

By any measure it’s a heritage-heavyweight, a blockbuster trail and a star specimen of Upper Hutt’s sparkling outdoorsy credentials. The Remutaka Cycle Trail is one of New Zealand’s Great Rides and the flagship section of this riveting circuit is indisputably the Remutaka Rail Trail, for the intimate experience with the Remutaka Incline. Built in 1878, this historic inter-provincial rail route between the Hutt Valley and Cross Creek, Featherston is now a politely graded 18 km walking and cycling track. Easily conquered by bike within two to three hours, I made my way to Kaitoke Summit Road in Upper Hutt, which is the official start point of the Remutaka Incline section.Under a bright blue sky and bathed in soft autumn sunshine, there were hordes of weekend cyclists and walkers striking out on this storied track, which many locals consider as their glorified open-air gym. After parking up the car, I hired a bike from Wildfinder, who operate a Kaitoke base adjacent to the trailhead, open from 10am- 6pm, weekend