Thank goodness for the rails

'Dunedin 55 km' was written on the green and white signpost in the center of Milton. Despite the fact that Dunedin was our destination, we ignored the sign and, following the advice of our friendly campground manager, headed in the opposite direction, following the inconspicuous, gold-brown signs that led us away from State Highway 1 to the start of the Clutha Gold Trail.

This was the beginning of an inland route that would take us 400 kilometers to Dunedin, the second-largest city on the South Island. We chose this route because it allowed us to take advantage of two of the 23 Great Rides that New Zealand offers for cyclists. Both Great Rides, the Clutha Gold Trail and the Otago Central Rail Trail, follow the routes of former railway lines and were therefore perfectly suited for our fully loaded bikes.

Along with many other cyclists, most of them on e-bikes and carrying light luggage, we wound our way along well-maintained gravel roads through the fantastic landscape of the Otago region, stopping in small towns, visiting the local restaurants along the way, and enjoying the long "detour" from beginning to end. (Dunedin, New Zealand)

A lost (cycling) paradise?

For us cyclists, there's nothing better than touring from one place to another on good roads that wind through spectacular landscapes, stopping for breaks at cozy cafes, eavesdropping on conversations at local tables, sharing our experiences of where we're from and where we're going, and thus getting to know the country and its people. And if we also manage to find a campsite nestled in nature at regular intervals, we feel like we're in cycling paradise.

New Zealand could be such a paradise for cycling tourists, if it weren't for the many motorized vehicles. The narrow roads and reckless drivers who overtake at high speed, leaving so little space that their rearview mirrors touch, can easily ruin our day.

However, upon closer inspection, such situations aren't a problem of sheer numbers, but rather a problem of behavior. If drivers treated cyclists as equals, we could share the road, and everyone would be happy.

Therefore, I (as an optimist and dreamer ;-)) believe we need as many bicycle tourists as possible so that everyone gets used to the fact that it's not just four- and multi-wheeled vehicles on the road, but also bicycles that are part of the streetscape. In that spirit: "Keep on touring!", paradise is not yet lost :). (Alexandra, New Zealand)

See ya Oz - Kia ora Aotearoa

It wasn't easy for us to say goodbye. After ten months and ten days in Australia, we had become so accustomed to the country and its people that we were already feeling a bit like locals.
There was still much to see and experience, especially in the north and inland. However, it was already too hot there, so it made sense to head for the somewhat cooler New Zealand.
Since no cruise ship was sailing from Cairns to Auckland at the time ;-), we chose the air route and flew to the North Island via Brisbane. After immigration was completed in a few minutes with a passport scan and facial recognition, and we shortly thereafter had our luggage together, we faced questions from a biosecurity officer. He also wanted to see our clean shoe soles, after which we had to hand over our tent – ​​fortunately freshly laundered – to a whole team of friendly officers for laboratory testing.
It didn't take long until we got the tent back with the confirmation "all good." So we had made it: "Kia ora Aotearoa!" (Auckland, New Zealand)

Tropical Bird

Eine ganze Küstenregion wird nach ihm benannt, grosse Plakate informieren über seine Verhaltensweisen und Verkehrsschilder warnen vor einer Begegnung mit ihm, dem flugunfähigen, gefährlichen, tropischen Vogel - dem Kasuar.
Wir sind froh, ist er uns bisher nie vor's Velo gerannt, aber sehen würden wir den bunten Vogel schon gerne einmal.
In Mission Beach haben wir zwar ein schönes Exemplar zu Gesicht bekommen, jedoch nicht lebendig, dafür lebensgross dargestellt als Mittelpunkt einer Wandmalerei, die in den Winkeln des kleinen Business-Centers darauf wartete, entdeckt zu werden.
Der Kasuar ist Teil des tropischen Australiens, das wir in den letzen Wochen kennenlernen durften: Palmenstrände, an deren Ufer giftige Quallen durch das klare Wasser schweben, Sumpflandschaften, in denen gefrässige Krokodile lauern, undurchdringliche Regenwälder, erfüllt von exotischem Vogelgezwitscher, dazu Kulturlandschaften wie Bananen-, Zuckerrohr- und Teeplantagen, welche die ursprüngliche tropische Vegetation auf kleine Restbestände schrumpfen liessen. Obwohl damit auch der Lebensraum der Kasuare eingeschränkt wurde, existieren sie noch - und dies nicht nur auf Verkehrsschildern, wie uns ein Einheimischer versicherte ;-). (Atherton, Australien)

Brissie

'Cyclists only' stand auf der Tafel, die uns 20km vor Brisbane den Veloweg anzeigte. Eine super ausgebaute Piste mit aufwendigen Überführungen und grosszügigen Auf- und Abfahrten ermöglichte uns eine sichere und entspannte Fahrt ins Zentrum der Hauptstadt von Queensland. Auch wenn der Radweg über weite Strecken dem vierspurigen Highway folgt, war es für uns doch das abschliessende Highlight der 1250km langen Etappe, zu der wir vor 6 Wochen anschliessend an die Zugreise Melbourne-Sydney aufgebrochen waren.
Die Stadt selber erleben wir dann als sehr velo- und fussgängerfreundlich. Entlang dem Brisbane River gibt es lange sogenannte Boardwalks, von den vielen Brücken über den Fluss sind einige nur für Radfahrer und Fussgänger, Velospuren sind gut markiert und sogar Polizei und Sanität sind mit dem Velo unterwegs.
Gemeisam mit Einheimischen und vielen Touristen geniessen wir das sonnige Winterwetter, schliesslich sind wir ja im 'Sunshine State'. (Brisbane, Australien)

From the Aussies to the Tassies

Geelong, die zweitgrösste Stadt Victorias, hat nicht nur eine aussergewöhnlich schön gestaltete Strandpromenade, die unter anderem mit vielen buntbemalten Holzfiguren dekoriert ist, sondern auch einen Hafen mit täglichen Fährverbindungen nach Tasmanien.
Nachdem wir ab Adelaide tausend Kilometer der Küste entlang Richtung Südosten gekurvt waren, bei besten Bedingungen die Great Ocean Road mit den spektakulären Küstenabschnitten bei den Zwölf Aposteln befahren konnten und schliesslich in Geelong landeten, packten wir gestern Abend die Gelegenheit, einen Abstecher nach Tasmanien zu machen, beim Schopf und schipperten mit der "Spirit of Tasmania II" über die Bass Strait nach Devonport. In den vier Monaten, die wir inzwischen in Australien verbracht haben, fühlten wir uns immer sehr wohl und willkommen bei den Aussies. Nun sind wir gespannt, wie wir uns mit den Tassies verstehen werden ;-).
(Devonport, Tasmanien)

Barbie

It's found in every park, is part of every camping kitchen, is a side pull-out feature of every Outback caravan, runs on electricity or gas, sizzles anything that can be sizzled, from breakfast bacon to fried eggs, bratwurst, prawn skewers to steak with a side dish of vegetables, and is the centerpiece of every social gathering outdoors: the 'barbecue' – nicknamed 'Barbie' in the Australian style.
On the day of our arrival in Australia, while walking around Lake Monger in Perth, we first noticed it from afar and naively thought, "That's funny, someone's cooking in the park." We now know how vital this appliance is: It might happen that we end up at a campsite that doesn't have potable water, but a barbecue is always ready and readily available ;-). (Torquay, Australia)

Goodbye WA - Hello SA

2600 kilometers of highway was the result of a rough route planning for the drive from Albany in Western Australia (WA) to Adelaide in South Australia (SA). A large part of the route leads through the treeless Nullarbor Plain. Our previous daily cycling average of 50 km didn't quite match the 200 km distance that has to be covered from one roadhouse to another on this plain in order to get water, food and accommodation. We therefore looked for alternative means of travel.
Apparently, however, it is not so easy to leave WA, as we discovered that it is not permitted to cross the state border in a rental car. So the idea of hiring a car was quickly put to one side and we hopped on a bus that took us back to Perth. There we were able to pick up our bike boxes from our former accommodation and get the bikes ready to fly again.
It was interesting that we had booked a domestic flight from Perth to Adelaide, but it was handled like an international flight with passport and security checks in the relevant terminal. However, we made it to our Jetstar economy seats without any problems and were served our ordered piece of banana bread (a favorite among our Australian snacks) with coffee.
After a butter-soft landing in Adelaide, when we blocked the queue at customs with our bulky boxes, the friendly border police officer whisked us straight past the baggage check and we were standing in the arrivals hall - Welcome to South Australia. (Adelaide, Australia)

Munda Biddi - Path through the forest

“There are a lot of idiots on the road after Christmas, avoid the highways,” was the advice of our country lady when we set off south from Perth in mid-December with the aim of reaching Albany. We knew that there was a mountain bike trail that led to Albany, but we were advised not to ride it in summer as it could get too hot inland. We also couldn't imagine bumping over hill and dale with our fully packed touring bikes.
After two weeks on beautiful cycle paths along the coast and on the hard shoulder of highways where cars roared past us at 110 km/h, we ventured onto the 'Munda Biddi', which means 'path through the forest' in the indigenous Noongar language of Western Australia.
It began with a camp in the forest. Next to the solidly built, airy hut, which offers sleeping accommodation and protection from the sun and rain, we set up our tent in a designated area surrounded by trees and bushes to protect us from mosquitoes and other small animals. New Year's Eve was quiet, but in the morning we were woken by the loud squawking of parrots. Then we hit the trail. We balanced our bikes over a narrow, former railroad track, the surface of which consisted alternately of loose gravel, firm forest floor and soft sand and was repeatedly garnished with dry branches of all thicknesses. High above us, a canopy of huge eucalyptus trees provided cool shade.
We were delighted with this first stage and now had the confidence to continue cycling on the trail. After 605 kilometers, several overnight stays in the middle of the forest, many very steep ascents and descents on foot and sweaty sandy passages, we reached Albany - without an unreasonable driver being able to do us any harm.
Thanks to everyone who was and is involved in this unique trail, from the idea to the realization.
The scent of eucalyptus will always remind us of this wonderful trail through the forest. (Albany, Australia)

Auf Du und Du mit dem Känguru

Das erste sahen wir auf dem Verkehrsschild als Warnung, das zweite lag tot am Strassenrand, von den nächsten nahmen wir nur noch die Skelette wahr und dann, als wir lange genug in den Süden gefahren waren, hüpften sie eines Tages quicklebendig über ein grosses Feld: die ersten Kängurus, die wir in der Natur beobachten konnten. Von da an sahen wir unterwegs täglich mindestens eines dieser putzigen Tiere und nachdem wir uns auf den Weg durch den Wald wagten, kamen wir ihnen auch immer näher. Wir scheuchten sie frühmorgens auf, wenn sie an unserem Pfad hockten, sie überrannten uns beinahe, wenn wir in ihrem Weg Pause machten, sie hüpften vor uns ins Gebüsch, wenn wir auf der Schotterstrasse daherpolterten, bis wir ihnen im Donelly River Village so nahe kamen, dass wir ihnen übers Fell streichen konnten. Seitdem sind sie unsere Begleiter auf der Fahrt durch den Süden Westaustraliens. Und wenn es Tage gibt, an denen uns kein lebendiges Känguru begegnet, so sehen wir doch eines fotografiert oder gedruckt, zum Beispiel auf der Etikette unserer australischen Lieblingslimonade. (Denmark, Australien)