New Zealand

Haast Pass

From Omarama to Haast

From Omarama we stopped following the Alps2Ocean trail because we wanted to go straight to Wanaka. Therefore we had to cycle on the Highway, it was busy with holiday traffic. We climbed up Lindis Pass over 900m high, after the summit it went 30 km downhill. We did a 6 km detour on a gravel road to get to a free campsite. It has historic buildings and ruins, a rustic place. We had a bath in the river close by and felt very good after. The last day of 2014 started with rain and didn’t stop till midday. We went on the Highway to Wanaka and had strong headwind. The wind became so strong that we had to push our bikes. It was only 25 km but we had a speed of 5 km/h. I was thinking maybe we will not arrive this year in Wanaka. Yen wished that somebody could give us a lift. Her wish came true, a bus with young fellas stopped and took us to the center of Wanaka. That was our only lift in New Zealand, all the other way we did on our bikes. Wanaka was full of people who came for New Year’s celebration. It started to rain and got very windy so we stayed in the tent and went so sleep, we don’t mind the party. [...]

New Zealand

Southern Alps

From Christchurch to Omarama

I was full of excitement when I arrived in New Zealand, after almost 2 years in Australia my journey continued (and this time I have a travel buddy with me from the beginning)! At the arrival of Christchurch Airport our bikes and tent got checked for dirt, it was all clean. After answering a few questions about our stay and travel plans for New Zealand we got a three month tourist visa stamp in our passports. The first thing I noticed by coming out of the terminal it was much colder here. Only 15° C in comparison in Queensland we had 30° C. I assembled our bikes, there is a dedicated area in front of the terminal. Then we cycled to New Brighton a suburb of Christchurch by the sea. Here we camped in David’s backyard. We contacted him before on warmshowers.org. He runs a workshop for pushbikes in town, he is specialized in building custom bikes. Originally we wanted to stay two days in Christchurch. But we were tired and not that keen to ride our bikes straight away. So we stayed five days. We bought maps and a book which describes many bike rides in New Zealand. David repaired my bike, he changed the headset and I put new oil in my Rohloff hub. Polly and me went several times to the beach that was just down the road, but we had to wear long clothes because it was still cold. We went to the New Brighton Library, the best library I’ve been, it is cosy inside with a nice view to the sea through big panorama windows, the computers with internet access are free to use. [...]

Australia

See ya Australia – The bike journey continue in NZ

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I remember well when I first arrived in Australia I wasn’t sure if I can find work, I was prepared to leave after a month if I couldn’t find a job because I would run out of money. But I had big luck. It worked out all well. From the 20 months I spent in Australia I worked 14 month and travelled 6 months. I can’t really say anything bad Australia, except the truck drivers, they always rushing and not leaving much space when they pass a push biker. Okay, I should not drive on the Highway, I will give my best to avoid Highways in New Zealand. Also snakes scared me often, but this will not happen in NZ, because there are no snakes. [...]

Australia

More than two years abroad – Getting comfy in Australia

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After two years spending most of the time sleeping in a tent, sometimes in a hostel or at strangers I got my own home for a while. On the citrus farm where I’m working again is an old bus that belongs to my supervisor Andy. Around Easter he offered me to move into the bus.

At first I couldn’t accecpt. But then I considered elsewise, it was too attractive to have an own shower and bed. Yes, things that for most of you are natural. Before I had shower with cold brown river water. Now I have a shower cabin with fresh hot water. I can go upright in the bus and don’t need to crawl into my tent anymore. I have my own space and it’s a lot of space. I got furniture. An comfy armchair, table, cupboards and queensize bed. Also a sink, stove and even a fridge is inside the bus. It’s like heaven. [...]

Australia

Flight from Hobart to Brisbane and back to citrus picking

 710. Day of travel

20.590 km

On the 22th March I flew from Hobart to Brisbane. It was my fourth flight on this trip. Before I flew from Oman to India, India to Thailand and Singapore to Australia, always with my bicycle in the luggage. Also this time it was not a problem to take my bike in the plane. I flew with Jetstar and booked 40 kg of luggage in advance and paid 200 $ in total for the ticket. When I came on board I was very happy to be assigned a seat next to the window and the two seats next to me were empty, enough space for my legs. That was a comfortable flight. In only 2,5 h I flew the distance that I cycled before in two and a half months (from October to middle of December last year). [...]