I am from Christchurch, New Zealand, but like many Kiwis, I live in Australia, where I work as a solar cell scientist.
Before that I completed a Ph.D. in microelectronic engineering in Queensland. I’m hoping to return to NZ and find a less stressful occupation in a few years. I turned 30 a few days after this expedition, time to settle down!
I like most outdoor activities, including cycle touring, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking and kayaking. I also spend a lot of time building stuff in my shed. I spent two years in a Chinese lion dance team (as the tail), played soccer for six years, raced yachts for more than ten years, play tennis and squash.
My Favourite books: Small is Beautiful, The Hobbit.
My Favourite Musicians: Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Marley
My Favourite Food: Infinite Yumminess (Recipe of Christine Ross)
Peking to Paris, 1907-2007
I started planning for this trip in 2004, along with my partner-in-crime Wu Yi-Ting. At the time we were cycling near the Yunnan-Sichuan border, when I found a magazine article about the 1907 Peking to Paris challenge.
I also found an article entitled “Kingdom of bicycles”, full of beautiful Chinese bicycle pictures. That inspired another project, which be found at Carfree Asia.
The theme here is to promote cycling, and carfree living, hastening the end of car-culture. All our projects are listed on our ApproTrans website. The 1907 event was a daring adventure and a bold statement of things to come. We want to capture that spirit in 2007!
