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Driving down to start the Railtrail. For a good suggestion, READ ON !
Increasingly we have people driving to Central to start the Railtrail. A good TIP for those people is for you to drive to Middlemarch and leave your car with us for either secure inside or outside storage. Catch our bus that day to Clyde where you stay the night and then start the trail the next morning, cycling back to your car. This way you don't have to wait for the bus to take you back to Clyde. As most people will finish around lunch time, if they do 4 days on the trail, you will effectively be 5 hours earlier on the road home or to your next destination. Contact our team for more information. CLICK HERE
Hedgehog Bikes
Trail Journeys are pleased to supply display material for a promotion in Hedgehog Bikes Botany store. The display featured the Giant Bikes that Trail Journeys use on the Railtrail and created at lot of interest in the store. Click here to view the display
Bookings on Railtrail under pressure for March and April
Please don't book airfares prior to getting your accommodation sorted on the trail. We are increasingly finding people are expecting that accommodation will be available and are booking airfares prior to booking accommodation. This not only leads to disapointment, but also loss of money on airfares. Please contact us for information on availability, we will only be to pleased to help.
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Trail Journeys History
Neville Grubb and Ritchie Bailey founded the original Trail Journeys "Kayak & Outdoor" in Alexandra in 1990. The two experienced locals had been involved in outdoor activities in the Central Otago for numerous years, with multi-sport, kayak and cycling backgrounds. They both had (and have) a burning passion for the local area and what it offered (offers) to the outdoor enthusiast. They took and very much still take a pride in showing visitors to our beautiful region the best the area has to offer.
With the advent of the Otago Cental Trail Rail in the mid Nineties Nev and Ritchie began to focus the "Kayak & Outdoor" operation towards servicing the needs of people cycling the Trail. What began as a small sideline ended up becoming the main focus of the business in the ensueing years. In 2003 the business was renamed Trail Journeys and moved to a new location at the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail in Clyde, the Clyde Trailhead in an old Railway storage building.
From 2003 until today the business has continued to grow based around their unwavering committment and passion for excellence, their systems and their customer service (Take time to read a few comments and look at some of the photos in our testimonals page from customers who have cycled the trail with us. This testimonal page is regularly updated with our most recent customers feedback and any photos they may have sent us). The business has now catered for over 20,000 customers to date with very, very few problems.
In 2007 Ritchie Bailey sold out of the business to enjoy his retirement (and to continue brushing up on his paddling technique). Later that year Nev brought in four new partners to ensure that the business would continue to provide exceptional standards of service to it's customers as it grows. These partners are Shayne O'Connor (Nev's son-in-law), Hugh McIntyre, Mike Barnett and John Knight.
Nev and Ritch are also the organisers of the iconic (not a word used lightly here note !) 3 Day Goldrush Multi-sport event, now catering for 1200+ people on Otago anniversary weekend in March each year. This event has been going since 1997 and offers competitors a fantastic experience in the outback of Central Otago. Entry for this event is secured on the Goldrush webpage and goes online on the 31st August each year. It pays to enter early as it fills up within one week of being available online.