Coast to Coast with Britz - Britz

Two nights in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, following the course of the Coast to Coast, the multisport race that crosses the South Island in a day.

The race runs from Kumara Beach on the West Coast to the east coast by bike, on foot over Goat Pass and by kayak down the Waimakariri, and has been held since the 1980s. For a competitor or a supporter the campervan is the practical answer to a course that finishes a long way from where it starts.

The drive goes out through Sheffield to Kumara and Kumara Junction, where the race begins, then back east to Klondyke Corner, the transition at the foot of Goat Pass, with the mountain run crossing the Southern Alps from there. The Waimakariri carries the kayak stage down to the plains, and Brighton Beach closes the route.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Three days is the length of a race weekend rather than a holiday, and the itinerary is built for exactly that: somewhere to sleep at each transition and no hotel bookings to arrange. Access to several of the transition areas is restricted on race day. For anyone not competing, the same drive works as a two-night crossing of the alps and back, with Arthur’s Pass and the Waimakariri gorge the two things worth stopping for.