Extremekid Productions

Sam Jones and Deane Harper set out on a five-day round trip from Springfield across the Main Divide via the Harper Pass.

The trio set out from the small town of Springfield, headed up to the Hurunui Lakes, then took the Harper Pass route across the Main Divide, dropping down into the Taramakau River valley before heading back via Arthur's Pass and the mountain biking mecca of the Craigeburn Forest Park.

Simply put, bikepacking is the synthesis of mountain biking and camping - although in this case, Harper, Jones and ​Gerschwitz slept inside shelters and, on one night, against the side of a barn.

Extremekid Productions

Harper says the most unique thing about the 380 kilometre trip was the landscapes the trio passed through.

The trio did about 10 to 12 hours a day, variously riding - and where the terrain got too steep or too difficult - wheeling or carrying their bikes, which weighed in excess of 20 kilograms inclusive of gear.

Harper says the most unique thing about the trip was the scenery, more specifically the myriad landscapes and sweeping, dramatic changes between them.

"We went from the beech forest of the Wharfedale to the big backcountry stations, to the tussock land of the upper Hurunui and on to the temperate rain forest of the West Coast," he says.

Extremekid Productions

Jones and Parker were accompanied by Dylan Gerschwitz, of Extremekid Productions, who shot a short film of the journey.

And while it was visually stunning, the journey - which Harper and Jones first thought up five years ago - was physically and mentally gruelling. 

"As much as you're fatigued and you want to rest, your brain has just got to keep your body going."

"It's the sort of fun you don't actually enjoy while you're doing it. But as soon as the pain goes away, the memory of that experience doesn't get any better."

 - Stuff