This was our first long trip together and my (Inge’s) first cycling trip. Although I’d grown up cycling every day in the Netherlands, it had usually been short distances. The idea of cycling 80 – 100km a day seemed impossible to me. But, after some training rides, gradually increasing the distances, I felt ready and … more
This is the first stage of our trip, but we didn’t cycle. The maps shows our route by train (in red) from Auckland to Wellington, the ferry (blue) to Picton and a very short ride (green) to Blenheim. December 19, 2004, packed and ready to go: two bikes, two duffel bags, and two day packs. … more
Second stage of the entire trip, but the first stage where we really cycled. We started in Picton, where we arrived by ferry and carried on to Blenheim, and from there to Christchurch. It was 346km and took us 5 days. In Christchurch we added a rest day before starting the next stretch. December 26, 2004 Just completed our … more
We’re slowly getting in shape and after starting to feel like cyclists. We leave Christchurch and the east coast of the south island and head inland to Lake Tekapo. Distance 367km in five days. December 29, 2004 We arrived in Christchurch and decided to take a rest-day. We had been cycling five days and I … more
This stage includes a bus ride (red) and day of hiking on the Kepler track. We cycled 367km in eight days. January 4, 2005 It rained overnight and we dressed for cold weather. However, while packing and loading our bikes, the weather improved by the minute. In the span of a half hour, we stopped … more