Songlines – Bruce Chatwin which we re-read after visiting the Red centre and Far North Cicada – Moria McKinnon. Highly recommended and written by a colleague of Paul’s that comes from Western Australia and now lives in Canberra Island Home by Time Winton and Australia Day by Melanie Cheng both of which Lois discovered during our travels Movie: ...

Dunedin to Christchurch – 361 km (by bus) We are on the traditional territory of the Maori In Māori mythology, Rūaumoko is the god of earthquakes, volcanoes and seasons. He is the youngest son of Ranginui (the Sky father) and Papatūānuku (the Earth mother), (commonly called Rangi and Papa). His movements (explained in various stories) account for ...

Clyde to Dunedin – 197 km (by bus) We are on the traditional territory of the Maori The University of Otago, based in Dunedin, boasts the city has produced many of New Zealand’s greatest novelists, poets, artists, scientists, journalists, musicians, athletes, business people and leaders. Dunedin comes from the Gaelic word for Edinburgh. The city celebrates St. ...

    We were interested to learn about New Zealand’s relationship with its “first people’s”, the Māori, who make up 15% of the population (Indigenous Canadians = 5% pop; indigenous Australians = 3.3% pop.) 85% of Māori New Zealanders live on the North Island. The Māori language – Te Reo – is an official language of the country, ...

Cromwell to Lauder – 75.5 km (by bike and taxi) Lauder to Clyde – 51 km ( by bike and van) We are on the traditional territory of the Maori In the morning we began climbing out of Cromwell along Highway 8, the only way we could get through the Cromwell Gorge to reach the Otago Cenral Rail ...

Queenstown to Cromwell – 66.5 km (by bike) We are on the traditional territory of the Maori New Zealand’s South Island is considered even more beautiful than the North Island and it’s easy to see why.  Rugged fiords, snow-capped peaks, deep gorges, raging rivers and fertile valleys reminded us variously of the BC Coastal Range and Okanagan ...

Auckland to Queenstown –  1044 km (by air) We are on the traditional territory of the Maori We spent the past 17 days on an incredible road trip of New Zealand’s North Island with Maritia, Steve, Jade, Rhys and Emme.  Maritia devised a great itinerary, with the help of New Zealand Tourism, which took us across the Coromandel Peninsula ...

Loganholme to Brisbane – 37 km (by bike) We are on the traditional territory of the Yuggera People It was a relaxed final day, with no highway cycling, the end of our 1155 km bike trip in Australia, nearly 800 kms for Wayne. The ride began with a stop at Shorties Espresso, just down the road from the ...

Main Beach to Loganholme – 53 km (by bike) We are on the traditional territory of the Bundjalung Nation We are staying in City of Logan. “The acknowledgement and acceptance that Logan has a vast and rich indigenous and cultural history, enhances our commitment to reconciliation and gives us a deeper understanding of our past“ (City ...

Kingscliff to Main Beach – 44 km ( by bike) We are on the traditional territory of the Yugambeth People of the Bundjalung Nation We followed the Tweed Cycle Way alongside and across the Tweed River, which took us under and then up and over the Pacific Highway. From the path, we could see Wollumbin (previously Mount Warning), ...