When Liv was 2years old, she began her life's first big adventure. She together with her parents, flew to Brussels in Belgium, where after assembling their bicycles, the three of them cycled off towards France. To be honest Liv didn't do much cycling. In fact she didn't cycle at all. She had a comfortable cycle trailer to sit and sleep in while her dad did all the hard work.

Thirteen kilometers cycling from the airport brought the three of us to a campground. It was here we stayed our first night. We were taking our parental leave, a year of it in fact. Ditte and I had cycled long distances before but never with our child. Living in Denmark, we cycled daily to work and to University and we'd toured long distances in New Zealand and Europe. We were unsure how Liv would except sitting in her wagon for hours at a time. we developed a routine, whereby Liv would play in the mornings while we packed up and and made breakfast. She generally slept for a few hours and awoke around midday. We stopped, she played and we all ate. We played some more and then we cycled some more. By the time we stopped to camp she was ready to play again. We averaged 50klms a day, when we started our tour but increased this to about 80 towards the end. In New Zealand we averaged much more.

After an uneventful night, (the first in our new tent) we departed towards France via Namur. We followed the river Meuse into France and arrived at a lake not far from Rocroi. Liv took to the water like a fish. It was September and the days were still warm. Two days were spent beside the lake.

From here we headed south to Charleville and then on to Rethel and across to Vousiers and stayed two days beside a picturesque lake, but it was not the best to swim in. As it was still very hot we thought it best for Liv to be as cool as possible. We rigged a sarong over the front of the cycle wagon, so as ensure Liv was as cool as possible. We chose, where possible small backroads to keep away from heavy traffic and the back roads of France are indeed quiet. We pased through some charming villages where Ditte could always find a Cafe and Liv and I could find a Patisserie, to stock up on cakes. Much can be said for the French drivers, who were the best and most considerate, that I have ever encountered.

On the last day of good weather we arrived in the town of Châlons-en-Champagne, where we watched some old men playing boules in the town square. We cycled out of town to a camping ground and awoke to drizzeling rain the next morning. We didn't know it but the weather wasn't about to get better for a while. In fact we didnt see sunshine again until we arrived in New Zealand, in a months time. We sheltered against the weather in a motel and the next day when it was somewhat milder headed south to St. Dizier and from there we headed to Troyes. The weather became dismal agian and we stayed a couple of days there. The city itself is quite beautiful, with a Cathedral surrounded by medieval houses, built using timber frames to enclose the brickwork.

Troyes was ss far south as we ventured. From here it was back to Brussels through Champagne. We headed first to Epernay and then to Rheims. The weather wasn't going to improve and it was dismal all the way back. We retraced our route from Rethel through to Rocroi. Rocroi is an attractive fortress town built on the French Belgium border. The weather became very bad our night in Rockroi. Thankfully our tent was waterproof and kept us dry and warm.

We decided to take the most direct route back to Brussels and the way we chose did nothing to endear Belgium to us. Lots of traffic and inconsiderate drivers and rain were our lot all the way to Charleroi. Because of the weather, we stayed two days in what has to be the worst city in Europe. From Charleroi, we cycled direct to Brussels airport and were that very evening enroute to Aalborg in Denmark, to spend some time with family before heading off to New Zealand and Australia.

We had cycled just over 1200klms and although it was not a long tour, it gave us an idea of what to expect in New Zealand. We knew what kind of daily routine suited our daughter. We knew how far we could cycle in a day, taking into consideration the amount of time Liv could spend in the trailer without becoming bored.

The trailer we chose for our every day conveyance of Liv and for our tours was a Burley. We had no problems at all with this and it was almost maintenance free. Our tent was and still is a Macpac. We carried a selection of toys and books to keep her amused.

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