Fruitbowl - Fresh Ideas from Hawke's Bay

Next month Jenny Ryan and Christine Gavegan launch their cycling tour company Takaro Trails, a first for Hawke’s Bay and an exciting addition to the country’s tourism experiences.

Self-guided cycle tours form the basis of the new business, with itineraries that include a day mountain biking on cross country trails and three or five-day tours of farmland, vineyards and villages.

Relocating from Auckland to Hawke’s Bay was central to Jenny’s long term plans, so she had to create an opportunity for herself in the region.

The business concept was fine-tuned as Jenny and business partner Christine trained for a marathon earlier this year. The motivated duo has complimentary skill sets, a love of outdoor adventure and six decades of combined travel industry experience.

The fact is kiwis love cycling, with more people now cycling than playing rugby.

In response to this rise in popularity, the Ministry of Transport has published a national strategy to help encourage more enjoyable and safe cycling on our roads.

Another factor in favour of Takaro Trails’ road to success is the Government’s announcement to invest $50milion over the next three years in a national cycleway.

“The cycleway will encourage more active tourists to travel to New Zealand, and we’ll look after the ones who are keen to experience Hawke’s Bay in a healthy way,” says Jenny.

For Jenny and Christine having fun is as important as enjoying the outdoors, hence the name of their new venture. Takaro is the Maori word for ‘play’ – an essential element to every holiday.

It’s also a positive way for people of all ages, sizes and levels of fitness to be more active. That’s more important than ever, given the recent alarming obesity statistics that put New Zealand as the seventh most obese country in the world, with 20.9% of the population falling into the obese category.

For Jenny, cycling tours are a great way to introduce children to the joy of active holidays and help them form good exercise habits into adulthood which is one of the reasons they have developed a family-friendly, three-day option.

Takaro Trails – just for the fun of it!