Otago Rail Trail
If you're thinking of doing the Otago Rail Trail, it's thoroughly recommended - the scenery is awesome. If you want a few ideas on how to go about it, below are some notes on how we did it and few tips.
For more info a great resource is www.otagorailtrail.co.nz
Day 1 - flew Wellington to Dunedin with bikes (packed in a Tardis bag from Ground Effect). If you pack carefully you can fit a pannier in the bag and take your other pannier as a cabin bag, but an extra bag on Air NZ is an $15 each way so no major drama if you need to check in another bag. Took KiwiShuttle to city and stayed in Hogwartz Backpackers.
Day 2 -Took the Taieri Gorge train to Middlemarch - some days it runs to Pukerangi only but you can easily cycle/shuttle to Middlemarch (19km). Stayed at Blind Billy's holiday camp (note: if you need to transport any luggage to the end of trail they can arrange it for around $10/bag)
Day 3 - Started trail, great morning coffee and fodder stop at Otago Central Hotel in Hyde. Turned off trail at Waipiata and headed to Naseby. Approx 70km in total. Stayed at forest house in Larchview Holiday park - nice peaceful spot with swimming dams and forest tracks. Dinner in Naseby pub.
Day 4 - Enjoyed curling at Naseby's indoor rink Maniototo then rejoined trail at Ranfurly and continued to Lauder with pub stop in Wedderburn. Stayed at Lauder Railtrail School B&B with dinner in Lauder pub. Approx 70km.
Day 5 - Cruised 44km down to Clyde and finished trail by late morning. Lunch at the Old Bank Cafe and checked into the lovely Hartley Arms Backpackers. Spent afternoon hooning along the river trail to Alexandra and back. Great dinner in the Post Office Bar & Cafe - they even serve sushi!
Day 6 - Packed bikes and explored walking tracks around Clyde then caught lunchtime Wanaka Connections shuttle to Queenstown airport to fly back to Wellington.
Tips - March/April is probably the ideal time of year to go for temperatures and settled weather. We went in February and it was pretty hot although you can just start early to avoid it. The prevailing wind is NW so to get the best chance of a tailwind ride from Clyde-Middlemarch. Hybrid bikes are ideal (thinner tyres and bigger wheels than MTBs) but it's fine on a mountain bike too. Recommend a side trip to Naseby for curling and general relaxing. Most people do it over 3-5 days - you need to be reasonably fit to do it in 3 days carrying your own luggage.