Dirt Bike Heaven with Ben Townley and 101 Adventures

DirtWorld opened its gates for the first time in 2022. The hype was built on Instagram, and that was the first time I laid my eyes on what looked like dirt bike heaven, but that’s all it took, I knew I had to get over there and experience it. With one World Championship and another Supercross title under his belt, you can’t get a better tour guide than Ben Townley (BT), so we gave him a call to see if we could make our New Zealand riding dream happen. Lucky for us BT was keen, so Guy, Sam, and myself travelled across the ditch to meet up with BT and 101 Adventures in Rotorua, New Zealand. We couldn’t embark on our trip of a lifetime without documenting it, so we got Cayo on board too.

The central North Island of New Zealand is known for its volcanic soil and epic riding conditions, so we knew we were in for a few days of the best riding any dirt bike fanatic could ever dream of. Tours are catered to you with a fleet of Yamaha’s and world-class motocross tracks, cross-country trails, and adventure riding at your fingertips. Our trip? We tried a bit of everything; trail riding, motocross, we threw in a bit of adventure riding, and even hit the renowned Redwood mountain bike trails on some electric bikes (E-bikes).

Experience Our Adventure

What To Expect?

101 Adventures have the bikes, Ben handles the maintenance, a delicious lunch is sorted, and you can bet the riding is going to be world-class, so what do you need to sort? Arrange some flights to get yourself to the Bay of Plenty, bring your riding gear, make sure to book some accommodation, organise a car, and let the good times roll.

Burts Trail Ride

Burts Trail Ride was on our itinerary for day one, this place is one for the bucket list, but if you don’t trust me, believe Ben Townley when he says “Burts is one of [his] favourite places in the world to ride.” Burts’ is held on private land with over 20 km of power-harrowed trails, I’d describe it as a narrow flowing motocross track, through the natural terrain and hills, but without any jumps.

DirtWorld Pukemara

If jumps are more your style, day two saw us ripping up the motocross track at DirtWorld Pukemara, they claim this place to be the home of hero dirt, we can confirm this is no word of a lie. DirtWorld is owned by Ben Townley, it’s a private facility that opens its 25 km of trails (which Ben has plans to expand) to the public. For tours, there’s also a motocross track that is groomed to perfection by Ben himself.

Adventure Riding

Another branch of 101 Adventures, BT’s adventure tours allow you to explore the incredible New Zealand countryside on two wheels. We were lucky enough to experience the beautiful Bay of Plenty landscape on a set of Ténéré 700s. Unfortunately, after a few hours on the bikes our day got rained out, not to worry though, we had more plans for the afternoon…

Mountain Biking

Rotorua, New Zealand is home to some of the best Mountain Bike trails in the world, so we couldn’t leave without riding the Redwoods. BT organised some e-bikes and we spent a couple of hours exploring. Quick tip, if you’re going to ride the Redwoods we highly recommend doing it on e-bikes, you can cover much more terrain, plus there are a few big climbs to the top, so chuck it in turbo mode.

I’m only scraping the surface here, follow along with Guy, Sam, Cayo, and myself on our epic adventure in Rotorua, New Zealand with Ben Townley and 101 Adventures… and don’t forget to add your 101 Adventures tour to your bucket list. Thanks Ben!