Bike Touring with Kids : The Oceania Odyssey
** NOW available on Amazon e-books and Print-on-demand!**

Ever since our first adventure with our kids - an eight-month Parental Leave epic hiking across Europe and South America - the people we meet have said, "You should write a book!" Well, now, finally, we have!

 

Bike Touring with Kids : The Oceania Odyssey is the story of our six-month, 6,000km family adventure across New Zealand, Australia and French Polynesia when our sons were seven and five years old.

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On our folding family Bike Friday tandems, we cycled the very northern tip of New Zealand to its southernmost point, then up the Gold Coast of Australia from Sydney to Brisbane, and finally many times around the ring road of the snorkelling paradise of Mo’orea. In this riveting and hilarious tale, you’ll read of:

• Towering mountains, pristine beaches, rugged rocky coastline, glow-worm caves, hot-spring pools, recently-active volcanoes, coral reefs and dozens of ferry rides

• Exploding camp stoves, broken spokes, parrot-chewed tent flies, impassable cattle fences and a lot of barfing

• Day-long ascents, brake-broiling descents and smooth, sweet cycling

• Close-up encounters with kiwi birds, penguins, kangaroos, poisonous snakes, reef sharks and sting rays (and also dolphins, koalas, pelicans and camels)

• Tornadoes, downpours, sub-zero nights with frozen tent zippers, and plenty of warm, sunshiny bliss

• Stepping in humongous piles of cow poop, used spaghetti water, and mud up to our knees

• A supporting cast of dozens upon dozens of quirky, fascinating characters who offered us delicious local food, spontaneous sleepover invitations, surfing lessons, ATV tours, horseback riding, sheep-chasing, and lifelong friendships

• Pannier-loads of practical tips and advice – from packing lists and grocery lists, to budgeting and planning and how to entertain curious kidlets on a bicycle for many hours a day – so that you, too, can bike tour with your kids and have the adventure of a lifetime (with a lot of barfing)!

 

Most of all, you’ll ooh and ahh, laugh and cry, gulp in fear and cheer along as this ordinary family of four pedals through a journey like no other – seeing new sights, experiencing new cultures, meeting new friends, and learning so much more than can be taught in a four-walled classroom. You’ll live through seemingly insurmountable family challenges and the pure elation that erupts when the whole team overcomes them. You’ll see how escaping everyday routine and leaping into family adventures allows for the best, most unforgettable moments of family bonding.

 

And you’ll have proof that “life after kids” can be just as adventurous and daring and disastrous and invigorating as anything you’ve done in your life before kids.

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