Baby on board - New-Zealand
International Exchange
On the road to Taurangua, we went by a small, secluded store where two cyclists taking a break in the shade invited us to join them. Bart and Sonja were from Belgian and were on a world bike tour. While sharing lunch with them, we had a great time speaking about bike equipment, beautiful scenery, and baby bottles. Karine spent the entire time with Sonja who was as fascinated by our adventure as we were of hers. After lunch, we decided to ride together. We later caught up with two British cyclists, rounding off our now international bike tour to seven cyclists from Europe and North America on a road in New Zealand.
Baby on Board
On the road a few days later, we stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand owned by Maoris natives, the first peoples to inhabit New Zealand. They gave us a warm welcome and soon the whole family, aunts, uncles, and children, was buzzing around us. They showed us their craft centre and took some pictures. Thinking we were missing something, they made us a Baby on Board sign. We fastened the sign to Marjolaine’s bike, over-thanked our hosts, and were back on the road an hour and a half later with 3 tomatoes, 1 avocado, and 10 kiwis.
Conclusion
The hospitality and warmth of New Zealanders greatly helped to reduce any anxiety we had with respect to the well-being and adaptation of the baby. New Zealanders had easily lived up to their reputation as superb hosts. As an outdoor vacation wonderland, New Zealand offers a wide-range of facilities: campgrounds (with and without services), YHA hostels, B&Bs, reasonably priced transportation, common full-service kitchens at all campgrounds.
And for babies: baby baths at campgrounds, seat belts on shopping carts, washrooms for babies (some were even equipped with a garborator for diapers!). Almost everywhere the backpack or the saddlebags on the bike were like a free pass. The baby... a veritable diplomatic suitcase. Our baby trailer was quite an attraction as well. It was a very rare site in New Zealand, and, consequently, people thought it contained our luggage. Boy, were they surprised to find a baby inside! Each of our stops quickly became a theater of comments, discussion, and picture taking. Everyone waved and honked their horn as they drove by. As we would go through towns, we would hear comments such as, “Amazing, it’s a baby!” 
Many times, upon arriving at a campsite, some campers would follow us to our site, with the owner of the campground carrying Karine. Our small family was one of the most popular. Our trip was even mentioned in a local paper. New Zealand on a bike was, for the three of us, an unforgettable, enlightening experience.