Moseying merrily through our many-month marathon: New Zealand Week Ten

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Even Sitka could tell we were hooped. “We've already been this way, like, a thousand times,” our six-year-old groaned as we darted determinedly around a corner and into yet another dead end.

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Forget Ms. Frizzle, we’re riding the Magic School Bikes: New Zealand Week Nine

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Sometimes parenting is like a hyperactive game of Trivial Pursuit. “Where does water come from?” “What's my blood for?” “When did the first human happen?” “How are glaciers formed?”

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The simple art of spoiling your kids (and yourselves) on the road: New Zealand Week Eight

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

For two months Sitka has been compiling his 6th birthday activity checklist: ride a horse (must be a cute horse); eat a kiwi fruit cake on the beach; cross the 2,000 km mark for our trip; set a family one-day distance record; and pet...

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How we fuel four famished bike bodies

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

When we stop for groceries on a family cycling tour, the whole store knows it. After biking, camping and running wild in wide open spaces for a few days, our feral boys charge through the aisles like they've been licking moss off rocks on...

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Modern explorers, endless newness: New Zealand Week Seven

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

It's pure peace. Like I’m living inside a meditation tape, I hear only the soothing waves of the sea. Open my eyes and I'm still there – perched on a driftwood log, watching the tide slide out of Tasman Bay.

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Cruising to the Capital, and Away to South Island: New Zealand Week Six

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

On every cycle tour, there are stretches where little glitches start to nag: something rubbing on your tire that you can't quite figure out, never catching enough morning sun to dry out your tent, or every night someone different having to pee at 2am...

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Volcano treks and extraordinary kindness: New Zealand Week Five

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

It's easy to underestimate what a kid can do. Their little legs require double the effort to get the same results as the fully-grown, and their willpower is prone to simple distractions like a stick shaped like a sword, or a rock... any rock.

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Rolling like the hills: The ups and downs of New Zealand Week Four

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

After a rough night of wild camping and some upset tummies, we had almost completed a redeeming trio of spectacular hikes to a waterfall, an underground cave and a massive rock arch, when Sitka discovered the goopy insides of a seemingly dry, car-tire-sized cow...

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If it rains, go swimming! New Zealand Week Three

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

Over six months of cycling, it's gonna rain. Despite our lucky track record of great weather on bike trips, we knew we’d be in for the odd string of soggy days. And when it gets wet, we both get a bit grouchy. But Heron...

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Adapting adds to the adventure: New Zealand Week Two

by Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy

With enough willpower and protein bars, just about any place in the world is accessible by bike. Some fewer, however, if you're towing a 75-lb. trailer with a five-year-old.

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