Pedals, Pinot, and Podocarps: Riding the Remutaka Rail Trail Through Wairarapa

The morning air on the Remutaka Rail Trail tastes like peat and sea spray—clean and sharp, carrying a promise. You start on a low ribbon of track that once carried steam, pedal gently past a tunnel mouth that yawns like a black throat, and soon the forest leans in: kohekohe and rimu crowd the trail, trunks mottled with lichen, and ferns unfurl toward your handlebars. The route climbs at a forgiving grade, the old railway grades engineered for steam engines now generous for modern legs and electric motors. Above the treeline, the land opens to farmed slopes and a wide view of Wairarapa’s stitched patchwork—sheep, hedgerows, and the occasional red-roofed barn punctuating the green.