I have another new bike for this tour. It's a Van Nicholas Pioneer: a Rohloff-equipped titanium-framed expedition touring bike. If you are interested in the details, you can read about the building the bike in a series of posts on my whispering wheels web page.

Edit: While dismantling the bike for packing I discovered a problem that could not be fixed before departure. I've been forced to pack the bike I used on my last New Zealand tour, the Sabbath Silk Route. Because this is primarily a highway touring bike I will have to adjust my itinerary to avoid the rougher back roads.

This trip will be only a shakedown tour, for larger plans are afoot, including a tour of Patagonia, South America along the Carretera Austral, built by the infamous Augusto Pinochet.

Once again, my equipment is almost entirely lightweight gear - stuff which I have used extensively for bushwalking in Australia and trekking in Nepal, and on my previous cycling tours. My philosophy is to carry no more weight on my bike than I would on my back, that is, less than 20 kg, and preferably, no more than 15 kg.

Here are my gear selections and checklist. Touring Gear Checklist