Why I am doing it?
I love challenging myself both mentally and physically and travelling by bike from NZ to the UK seems like a perfect way to do this. When travelling by bike you get to really see a country and how people live. It means that I can travel through the countryside rather than just from city to city and I can visit places where public transport does not venture. I am particularly excited about crossing the Himalayas. The section from Kathmandu to Lhasa takes me via Everest Base Camp and the wrong way up the longest downhill bike ride in the world :-)
Why Oxfam?
I choose Oxfam as the charity to support as they always seem to be on the ground to provide worldwide emergency support and are also involved in longer term development projects and with fighting climate change.
http://www.justgiving.com/NZ2UK..
The Route
25th Sept: Fly to SA to spend 3 weeks chilling with Uncle and Sister.
15th Oct: Fly to Sydney
16th Oct - 3rd Nov: Cycle from Sydney to Cairns
4th Nov: Fly from Cairns to Darwin
5th Nov-10th Nov: Darwin cycling round
11th Nov: Fly from Darwin to Alice Springs
12th Nov-17th Nov: Alice Springs cycling round
18th Nov: Fly from Alice Springs to Melbourne
19th Nov - 8th Dec: Cycle from Melbourne to Sydney
9th Dec: Fly from Sydney to Christchurch
10th Dec - 17th Jan: Cycle from one end of New Zealand to the other
18th Jan - 19th Jan: Fly from Auckland to India – Kerala
20th Jan - 15th Mar: Cycle up through India and into Nepal
15th Mar -15th Apr: Cycle through Nepal to Tibet and to Lhasa
15th Apr - 20th Apr: Train to the start of Great Wall of China (Jiayuguan) from Lhasa
20th Apr – 1st July: Cycle from Jiayuguan along side the Great Wall of China to Beijing
1st July - 15th July: Beijing on Trans-Mongolian Railway to Ulaanbaatar and then travelling round Mongolia on bike for 2 weeks.
15th July - 10th Aug: Across Russian on Trans-Siberian Railway stopping off at major cities and biking round for 2-3 days in each place. End at St Petersburg. Biking across all of Russia is not possible as I can only get a visa for 30 days.
10th Aug - 15th Aug: Get out of Russia by bike before Visa expires and into Estonia.
15th Aug - 15th Oct: Bike home through Europe (Estonia, Lativa, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Belguim, France)
15th Oct: UK!
Details
Dates are approximate other than the days flying. I am doing Aus and NZ the wrong way round because I don't want to be biking in the heat of the Aus summer. I am biking from Melbourne to Sydney but with some internal flights so that I can also see Darwin and Alice Springs.
I love challenging myself both mentally and physically and travelling by bike from NZ to the UK seems like a perfect way to do this. When travelling by bike you get to really see a country and how people live. It means that I can travel through the countryside rather than just from city to city and I can visit places where public transport does not venture. I am particularly excited about crossing the Himalayas. The section from Kathmandu to Lhasa takes me via Everest Base Camp and the wrong way up the longest downhill bike ride in the world :-)
Why Oxfam?
I choose Oxfam as the charity to support as they always seem to be on the ground to provide worldwide emergency support and are also involved in longer term development projects and with fighting climate change.
http://www.justgiving.com/NZ2UK..
The Route
25th Sept: Fly to SA to spend 3 weeks chilling with Uncle and Sister.
15th Oct: Fly to Sydney
16th Oct - 3rd Nov: Cycle from Sydney to Cairns
4th Nov: Fly from Cairns to Darwin
5th Nov-10th Nov: Darwin cycling round
11th Nov: Fly from Darwin to Alice Springs
12th Nov-17th Nov: Alice Springs cycling round
18th Nov: Fly from Alice Springs to Melbourne
19th Nov - 8th Dec: Cycle from Melbourne to Sydney
9th Dec: Fly from Sydney to Christchurch
10th Dec - 17th Jan: Cycle from one end of New Zealand to the other
18th Jan - 19th Jan: Fly from Auckland to India – Kerala
20th Jan - 15th Mar: Cycle up through India and into Nepal
15th Mar -15th Apr: Cycle through Nepal to Tibet and to Lhasa
15th Apr - 20th Apr: Train to the start of Great Wall of China (Jiayuguan) from Lhasa
20th Apr – 1st July: Cycle from Jiayuguan along side the Great Wall of China to Beijing
1st July - 15th July: Beijing on Trans-Mongolian Railway to Ulaanbaatar and then travelling round Mongolia on bike for 2 weeks.
15th July - 10th Aug: Across Russian on Trans-Siberian Railway stopping off at major cities and biking round for 2-3 days in each place. End at St Petersburg. Biking across all of Russia is not possible as I can only get a visa for 30 days.
10th Aug - 15th Aug: Get out of Russia by bike before Visa expires and into Estonia.
15th Aug - 15th Oct: Bike home through Europe (Estonia, Lativa, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Belguim, France)
15th Oct: UK!
Details
Dates are approximate other than the days flying. I am doing Aus and NZ the wrong way round because I don't want to be biking in the heat of the Aus summer. I am biking from Melbourne to Sydney but with some internal flights so that I can also see Darwin and Alice Springs.
