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or how about…..?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Romantic-Mama and a strapping six year old on one of these

hasebikes studiobild    

with a three year old on the back in one of these

Co-Pilot Limo Child Seat

and the five year old helping push from behind on one of these

Burley Burley Piccolo Trailerbike - Compare and Buy

Then the dadda, 13yo and 14yo could be the main powers on three remaining bikes just like the first one, and pull a trailer behind, as per yesterday’s plan. Second power would be the eight to twelve year olds.

On the flat they could all swap and change positions – because all those second powers *will* want their turn on the tag-along, won’t they? (and I won’t mind a bigger stoker giving me a hand occasionally!)

Main advantages: 1) a child seat and tag-along is six hundred dollars cheaper than the child trailer and 2) the five year old would be able to contribute some power instead of just being a dead weight pulled along.
But I doubt it would be as comfortable for them, and two kids sitting side by side would probably make the miles go much more quickly than one sitting on her own behind her mother.

Not that it really matters, because the idea has not met with much favour with Anyone Who Makes Decisions anyway.

(But it’s nice to have a record of some of the crazy plans we hatch along the way)

Posted in preparation, transport | 2 Comments »

transport me baby

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Remember how we can’t tow a caravan around England? Remember how we can’t even fit our whole family in a vehicle at one time *legally*? Remember we were thinking of picking up a couple of campervans second hand in Germany instead? (well, that seems to be as fraught with difficulties as cutting through British Red Tape)…..and so…….

introducing the latest wild idea…..

which, just for the record, Rob is in no way keen about…at least, not until each person can contribute meaningfully to pedal-pushing…and THEN he wants to ride across America (not just little England).

And which, still for the record, Grandpa has also deemed a bad idea. Though he wants us to do the bike across America not too far in the future, so he can join us.

The idea………………………………

Four of these:

hasebikes studiobild  

pulling three of these:

and one of these (it attaches to a bike with a thingy not in the photo):

CHARIOT CARRIERS Cougar1

Using three of these:

You think that’s not possible?
Let’s take another look at that.

Rob with L8 on the front can tow T5 and ER3 (ages they will be by the time we get to the UK)
J13 and K10 would come in next towing a trailer with first aid kit, toiletries, towels, toilet paper and “the kitchen”
J14 and K12 would tow all the clothing
Rachael with M6 on the front could tow a trailer with tents (<10kg), sleeping bags (10kgs) and electronic equipment (ipod, gps, lappie, chargers, steripen, camera) and journals and a deck of cards

Grandpa, who already owns (and uses, what’s more, even though he’s approaching eighty years old) one of these, can fit in anywhere he likes in the *caravan*:

GT1

Of course, we could chop and change, riding in different combinations, but that list is merely to indicate the plausibility of the exercise. *nods head thoughtfully*

Arguments for those who still require convincing:
* we would have no passenger number difficulties
* no registration headaches
* no insurance problems
* no choosing left-or-right-hand drive
* no petrol costs
* we would have a green conscience
* we wouldn’t have to pay for the vehicles at campgrounds
* we wouldn’t have to drive separately (although on a bad day, *that* could have its advantages!!!)
* we wouldn’t be stuck (potentially) with two vehicles we cannot sell
* we could keep the bikes, using them when back in NZ, reducing our petrol costs forever
* four bikes would be easier to keep track of on the road than ten
* if necessary, the Pinos can be ridden without a passenger
* the UK is a good place to start bicycle touring – it’s compact (even riding at just 12km an hour for only five hours, you could get 60km in a day, which is enough to get from one point to another – unlike in America where it would take you all year to get anywhere at that rate!)
* the UK even has cycle tracks
* there’s a good network of camping barns throughout England, and when you get up into Scotland you can camp wherever you want! For free! (OK, so the campervans would be preferable, especially if it’s raining, but where’s your sense of adventure?)
*once we’d done that we’d feel more ready to cycle across America or round New Zealand or hop over to Europe (Swiss Alps anyone?)
* we’d be all set to make the most of any of these cycling tours

As I said to Rob, early on in this discussion “I have suggested crazier things.”
He thought I was mad when I proposed taking trains instead of aeroplanes, and now look!

Of course, if World War III breaks out we may not get *into* Russia, let alone out the other side. But the dream exists 😉

And I’m not as crazy as this guy, Brian Zupke.

Brian Zupke and family

Or this one, Joe Kurmaskie.
 

(Not as strong either, I suspect)

I am, however, inspired…and more inspired…and even close to convinced.

Coming soon: rebuttal against the proposal 😉

Posted in preparation, transport | 4 Comments »

well, whaddya know?

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
We went to the library and there on the shelf was a Lonely Planet guide to Mongolia published a mere couplea months ago. I had become used to our local library offerings being at least two years out of date, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in postcard: Mongolia, preparation, transport | 1 Comment »

S.E.A.

Sunday, June 15th, 2008
South East Asia. Some Easy Arrangments. After the how-to-transport-the-family-in-the-UK headaches we've been wondering about for the past week, it was comforting to see a post from the school we'll be volunteering at in Cambodia.....if you click here and scroll all ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in preparation, transport | 1 Comment »

Lest we forget

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
We never expected it to be easy. But I'm not sure we realised it would be this tricky! For the past couple of months *impossible* has been ringing in our ears. But we don't do impossible. Roadblocks call for detours, not an end to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in preparation, transport | 4 Comments »

transport traditions

Friday, March 21st, 2008
these boots were made for walking...... they're broken in....and served me well on this hike last week: but when we have further to go, we have other options: [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in tradition, transport | 1 Comment »

tourists for a day

Friday, January 25th, 2008
Earlier this month we went camping "up north". It seemed a good time to try doing-the-tourist-thing, especially as we had never taken the children to this part of our country before. Some of them have sighted the Treaty of Waitangi ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in postcard: New Zealand, transport | 2 Comments »

what if?

Monday, September 10th, 2007
what if we can't find a caravan when we get to England? The European part of our trip hinges on being able to find one at a reasonable price....and a van......preferably within a few days of each other.....most likely on ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, preparation, transport, Travel | No Comments »

a Pre-Big-Trip Mini-Trial-Run Possibility

Monday, September 3rd, 2007
Cheap airfares to anywhere around the country have prompted us to consider flying down to Wellington for a Capital Getaway. We'd visit Te Papa (because we *like* museums) and the Beehive (where bickering bullies aka politicians pass laws the majority ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, children, preparation, transport, Travel | No Comments »

*plane* rhymes with…….

Monday, August 13th, 2007
Last week we realised our plans included arriving in Beijing when the Olympics are on. We're not snobbish travellers, but we'd really prefer not to be where half the world is at one particular time! Given that the Chinese academic ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 2008/09, itinerary, preparation, transport | 1 Comment »

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