NEW ZEALAND (WASHINGTON POST) - When some long-time friends started tossing around the idea of a bicycle trip through New Zealand, no one took it seriously at first. Someone knew someone who had done it, and it sounded fantastic - all Lord Of The Rings, sauvignon blanc and lamb chops. But really? It was hugely expensive and required hours of travel to the other side of the world.

Also, it sounded like a trip for "Real Bicycle People", and I didn't like Real Bicycle People all that much, with their ropy calves, clicky shoes, proud sweat, fancy Spandex and Fitbit tyranny. In my 20s, I rode everywhere. I thought nothing about strapping a tent and sleeping bag onto my back and riding off for a week. But now, at 58, I hadn't been on a bike for 30 years.

Still, we all browsed away some luscious hours on websites full of sparkling scenery, none of us thinking it would really come together.

And then, suddenly, it did.

Aside from the sheer adventure, it was a rare chance for old friends to spend time together when we were all in between fledging children and scheduling hip replacements and finally had - sort of - both the time and the money for a big trip.

There are many bicycle tour companies working in New Zealand. We chose Great Bike Tours, a Vermont-based company because it tailored the ride to all levels of experience, provided support vans and offered a variety of activities in addition to cycling, including kayaking, beach-combing, city tours, a visit to a sheep ranch and nature walks (our curiosity was piqued by the promise of "eel feeding" at one destination.)

The actual tour would cover nearly 1,000km of the South Island in 12 days, starting in Dunedin and ending in Christchurch, travelling mostly near the West Coast.

• BICYCLE TRIPS

• Great Bike Tours

  
  The company at Fletcher Lane, Shelburne, Vermont, offers bicycle trips throughout the eastern United States and New Zealand that accommodate all levels of fitness and experience. Its next New Zealand trip is scheduled for February 2018. Other dates can be arranged for groups of 10 or more. The cost, which includes lodging, ground transportation, van support, bicycles, guides and most meals, is US$4,995 (S$6,800). Additional activities such as skydiving, speedboat rides and helicopter flights to the Milford Sound and the Franz Josef glacier are offered at additional cost and are dependent on weather. Visit greatbiketours.com.

After nearly 30 hours of travel time from the district, I met up with two friends at Dunedin airport, picked up a rental car and drove to the city of Dunedin on the nearby Otago Peninsula, where we had rented a house. We felt smart to have added three days before the start of the tour to rest up, but even smarter when we discovered that Dunedin is a fun, artsy city with ubiquitous murals and a lively town centre.

A 40-minute drive took us to the Royal Albatross Centre at the tip of the peninsula, where the enormous birds soared overhead along the cliffs.

The first day of actual cycling, a bright summer afternoon in February, found us in Central Otago after a scenic train ride through Taieri Gorge. There we faced a shiny row of bicycles, our guides fitting one to each of us with the attention of a Parisian couturier.

The Otago rail trail, a two-day ride on a smooth, mostly flat trail converted from old railroad tracks, was the perfect opening leg. We pedalled past low hills dotty with sheep, then through the fantastic Raggedy Range. Here were granite pillars, gorges and fields of tumbled boulders, draped in blue lace by shifting cloud shadows.