Our tour began long before we arrived in New Zealand. It began months before our departure date, when we were living in
Copenhagen. Ditte being a model of Scandinavian efficiency began planning our parental leave a long time before our daughter was even walking. We decided that 2 years of age was a good age for our daughter Liv to see some of the world outside Denmark. Two is also the age where air travel stops being very cheap for a child. Any younger and she would be too restless to sit in the cycle trailer for more than an hour. So we decided that we should travel just before her second birthday. We spent a lot of time trying tents and sleeping bags before we purchased them and I spent a lot of time making sure our bikes were in tip top shape.
Ditte and I had cycled long distances before in Europe, Asia, North America, Britain and New Zealand, but we hadn't done so towing a two year old child in a wagon. We were worried that our daughter Liv may suffer being cooped up in a bicycle trailer for hours on end. We decided a routine was in order. We used a months cycling in France to develope this routine. We decided that Liv should be at al times comfortable. She should have plenty of time to play and run around. And most of all she should be safe. Whilst in the trailer, she wore a helmet and the trailer had a red flag that could easily be seen for a long distance. Ditte always rode behind us so that we could easily be seen by approaching traffic. The trailer we used was a Burley. It was wide enough to be comfortable plus there was room for our tent in the luggage compartment. It had seatbelts and could be folded up for transport on a plane
Our routine started when we woke up. The first task was to cook breakfast. Then it was time to pack up. Ditte played with Liv while I packed up the tent, sleeping bags etc. We knew from past tours that most New Zealand campgrounds have excellent playareas. Just the thing to tire a 2 year old out. We found that usually after half an hour the motion of the trailer sent Liv to sleep. We made sure she had picture books and plenty to drink. We stopped for lunch where she played and had something to eat. After a couple of hours she was ready to start again. As in the morning she usually quickly fell asleep. We tried to make camp betwen 4 and 6 o'clock in the evening. The New Zealand campgrounds are amongst the worlds best. They are very reasonably priced and are very childfriendly. Once we reached a campground Liv was free to play again. We set up camp and to be truthful after between 80 and 130k cycling, entertaining a two year old and setting up camp, one is totally exhausted. So sleep is very welcome at the end of the day.
Photos from New Zealand
Our trip to France went well. We flew from Aalborg in northern Denmark, first to Copenhagen and then to Bangkok. We stayed in Bangkok a week so as to make Liv's first trip an easy one. When we arrived in Auckland, we made our way to the nearest hostel and allowed our sleepy two year old to recover from her journey
Two days after arriving in Auckland, we were on our way north. Ditte had never been through Northland, so we thought that was a good place to start. Shortly after Whangarei, we left the main road and headed north along a backroad in the direction of The Bay of Islands. The road involved a difficult 450 mtre climb on a dirt road. It started raining which didn't help and eventually we made it to Paiha, where we stayed. The rain stopped and we continued on toward Cape Reinga. After we reached the northernmost point of New Zealand we headed back down the west coast toward Dargaville, stopping in Kaitia. After Kaitia the road was very quiet and it wasn't until we reached Oponui and later the famous Kaurie forrest that we began to see an increase in traffic.Oponui is a beautiful settlement on the side of a gorgeous inlet. After Oponui the road climbs. At first steeply and then the gradient softens. The highest point is where the famous Kaurie trees are. We stopped for a while here before continuing on towards Dargaville.
After Dargaville we continued on to Auckland. The road from Dargaville meets up with the main north south road and the intensity of traffic increases dramatically.
We usually cycled with Ditte following closly behind Liv and myself. The trailer had a flag on it and with Ditte cycling behind us, we felt more visible and were always confident that we were easy to see.
From Auckland we caught an overnight train through to Wellington and then sailed over to Picton on the South Island. We toyed with the idea of cycling down through the North Island, but we had done that a couple of years before. In fact all three of us had been in New Zealand before. Liv was conceived on our last cycle tour to New Zealand.
From Picton we had the choice of heading towards Nelson and then down the west coast or heading toward Christchurch and then cycling back up the west coast. The prevailing summer winds are notheasterly on the east coast and south west on the west. So we chose the down the east coast and up the west coast and we were glad we did. The west coast had some of the worst weather in a hundred years. The road was washed away in many places. In fact the recently tarmacked Cardroma road betwen Wanaka and Christchurch was washed away. Queenstown and Wanaka had their worst flooding ever. We on the other hand were cycling blissfully down the east coast in sunshine.The Southern Alps stopped the weather from reaching the East Coast. The East Coast between Picton and Kaikoura is spectacular. As one nears Kaikoura the mountains close in on the coast and the views are fantastic. About 15 k out from Kaikoura are seal colonies and its not uncommon to be see seals basking in the sun just metres from the road. We stayed two days in Kaikoura before heading onto Christchurch. We declined to whale watch as we felt the whales could do without our intrusion. We overnighted at Waipara as our progress was stopped by strong headwinds. (the first we experienced) It can become very hard going towing a trailer into a headwind. The next day was fine with no wind and we cycled into Christchurch. We sat it out in Christchurch while the weather on the west coast turned very bad . After a few days, we headed west toward the mountains and had a wet night camped not far from Rakaia Gorge. The next few days were beautiful from Rakiai Gorge to Geraldine and on to Lake Tekapo.
Lake Tekapo must be one of the most scenic places in the world. The colour of the lake is a very light turquoise and it is surrounded by mountains that for most of the year are snowcapped. From Tekapo we cycled to Omarama with Mt Cook on our right hand side all the way. The next morning we cycled over Lindis Pass in 28 degree sunshine.We camped in the school behind the Tarras Tea Rooms and woke to freezing temperatures and sleet in early December! We met some girls who cycled over Lindis the day after we did to find it snowing. Theywere forced to hitch a ride with a van.
We cycled as quick as we could into Wanaka and revived ourselves. Liv was the warmest as she was rugged up inside her bike trailer. We spent two days in flood ravaged Wanaka before making a very late departure to the west coast after replacing a deraileur. We cycled in the late evening toward Haast, stopping midway. The next day began with a climb over Haast Pass and a hard ride against a headwind all the way into Haast.
Haast is the sandfly capital of the world but they weren't too bad this time.
From Haast we headed up the west coast to Fox and Tasman Glaciers. From Haast to Fox was the longest day of the tour at 130kms. It was difficult for Liv, but there was nowhere to stop. We had little choice. She slept most of the way but was grumpy when she woke. From Fox we continued on to Greymouth and then on to the pancake rocks at Punakaiki. The weather was good all the way up the west coast. A contrast to those we met who tried cycling down the west coast during the heavy rains with a strong headwind against them.
In sunshine we cycled to Westport and then headed to Collinwood on the northwest tip of the South Island. This meant cycling over Takaka hill all 800mtres of it. Takaka Hill begins at sea level so it means cycling the entire 800mtrs. It also meant cycling over it to get back again. It was satisfying to see buses going back loaded with bicycles, knowing that we had cycled it both ways and with a trailer..
The end of our tour was approaching. We reached Nelson and stayed there for four days, before heading back to Picton to wait for the ferry.The campground at Picton was a contrast from the month earlier. The campground was full to overflowing unlike when we passed through a month earlier. We spent Christmas in Picton before embarking on the ferry and catching the train back to Auckland and then the plane to Sydney.
I'd recommend a cycle tour with their child, to anyone who was interested. Our daughter thrived on it. We planned our tour so that every evening we would arrive at a campground in time for her to play in the playground. She always met other children to play with and as often as not they were Danish, so she was able to speak her native language while away. We met many Danish families touring New Zealand, making the most of their parental leave. Liv was very secure in her trailer and loved the New Zealand playgrounds of which there were plenty.
Most important was the planning of our tour. We met other families from Denmark, who had given up on their tours and had hired a car. With some it appeared that they thought that one could just gather child and bike together and take off. Unfortunatly it isnt that easy. A succsssful family tour requires a lot of planning. firstly we made sure she was comfortable in the trailer and comfortable with the concept of riding in a trailer. We used the trailer for our daily commuting and travels around Copenhagen, so it wasn't strange to her. We made sure that Liv was comfortable in her trailer and didn't mind spending time in it. She always had drinks, picturebooks and toys,if she wanted them. We always planned our day so she could have time to play and in doing so be ready to sleep. We planned our route, so that we arrived in a campground in time for Liv to play. We used a guide called "Pedaller's Paradise" which has route maps, elevation scales and lists of accomodation and facilities that could be found on the way, so we always knew what was around the corner and this was important should an emergency arise. Thankfully it didn't.
