Lyon- London- Wellington.
France to New Zealand (mostly) overland.
20 countries in 7 months. A guided tour around each team’s own country -France and New Zealand, with an epic 7 month cross the world adventure in between.
The Route:
France:
We wanted to cover as much of France as possible in our month road trip, knowing that only a small part would ever be possible. But we are managing to visit:
- France’s oldest city and centre of gastronomy Lyon,
- Nice and the Cote d’Azur, Monaco
- Carcasonne
- Toulouse
- Bordeaux
- Pornic
- Nevez
- the Loire valley and Saumur
- the ‘centre ‘ of France, Paris
- Lille
In Between:
Over 7 months we ‘leap-frogged’ from one country to the next, mostly overland, all the way from France to New Zealand. After the frog’s guided tour of France, we set off from London, England to eastern Europe in Bulgaria and Romania. Then through Turkey and Iran via Train, a loop of India, across into South-east Asia covering Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore. A short flight to Darwin and into an epic drive across Australia, ready to fly to New Zealand and the Kiwi’s guided tour to repay the Froggies’ hospitality.
What We Missed…
Originally our plan was to drive as far as we could from France in a campervan – even thinking about going all the way to Singapore where the land runs out. However due to some ‘hot’ areas’ and budget concerns, we had to think about ditching our car in France and using public transport from there on.
We flew from London To Sofia, Bulgaria due to timing and budget constraints, and keen to get into Eastern Europe as quickly as possible.
We then flew from Iran to India, missing out Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2008 both countries were still active war zones and on the ‘Don’t Visit’ list by both French and NZ embassies. While in Iran we heard of other travellers crossing both countries, but with great expense and armed guards.
We then flew from India to Thailand missing Bangladesh and Myanmar. Again, the India/Bangladeshi border was a ‘hot zone’ and not recommended.
The next flights we took were forced upon us by water…. notably Singapore to Darwin, and Melbourne to Auckland.
We’re not saying don’t go to the countries we missed. I’m sure we will one day.
New Zealand:
Finally to New Zealand on the otherside of the world. The Kiwis now had to repay the generous hospitality shown to them while touring with the Frogs in France. The Highlights:
- Auckland: Rugby and Fish and Chips on the Beach in December.
- Morrinsville: Working on a dairy farm.
- Rotorua: Maori cultural home of NZ
- Thaihape: Gumboot throwing
- Ferry across the Cook Strait into Marlborough sounds
- Cromwell country station and vineyard
- Queenstown
- West Coast
- Moutere- wine tasting at Glover Estate
- Abel Tasman National Park
- Wellington for a summer Christmas
The Detail: ‘Carnet de Route’
More or less we never spent more than 2 days in the same spot. To read where exactly we stopped on our cross globe adventure or to get some ideas of where to stop, read our ‘Carnet de Route’ here.
Carnet de Route
