The Long Way Home /
What started as a pie-in-the-sky idea turned into a 20,000 kilometre fundraiser: cycling from Switzerland to New Zealand.
Rebecca Wardell’s journey from Switzerland to New Zealand, on a bike
There were moments on her epic journey cycling 20,000 kilometres from Switzerland to New Zealand when former Olympian Rebecca Wardell wondered what on earth she was doing.
As the final destination of Lake Hawea came into sight, the heptathlete, who competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, couldn’t quite believe she was finally home. ‘There were definitely moments where I was like, what are we doing? This is not fun.’ Moments like sleeping in roadside drains, cycling uphill in strong headwinds, and suffering an injury that nearly spelled disaster.
I am chatting to Rebecca the week after arriving at her final destination. ‘It’s kind of surreal to be all done and dusted. I feel a little bit strange, almost like I’m having a rest day. I’m sure next week it’ll start to sink in.’
A warm bed and hot showers are luxuries having spent the year sleeping on restaurant floors, convenience stores, and in her trusty tent that travelled with her. The bike that carried her across the globe will remain in the shed, only coming out for the various talks she will give over the coming months.
It all started innocently enough with a chat amongst workmates. Rebecca planted the seed with two Kiwi colleagues at the International Olympic Committee – Olympic and World Championship rower Emma Twigg and former New Zealand Universities rower Sarah van Ballekom. ‘I must have seen something or heard something, and then mentioned it to Sarah and Emma. Over the course of maybe a year it snowballed into “we’re quitting our jobs...”.’
It was dubbed The Long Way Home, leaving Lausanne, Switzerland and travelling through Europe and the Stans to China and South East Asia, where Rebecca flew from Singapore home to Auckland with a quick stop to visit friends in Japan. From Auckland, she continued on, cycling the length of the country to her final destination, her parents’ home at Lake Hawea.
Sarah joined her for six months before heading back to work, and Emma peeled off at Istanbul to start training for Tokyo 2020 back in New Zealand. Along the way they caught up with local Olympians and took them to local schools to share their stories with the goal of inspiring the younger generation.
An added incentive was to raise $20,000 – a dollar per kilometre – for the Christchurch-based charity The Forward Foundation, which promotes young women in sport. ‘It’s a really cool fit,’ Rebecca says. ‘For us, sport plays a big role in terms of health, community, friendship, confidence … there are so many different facets to it.’
They exceeded that goal, raising a grand total of $27,268. They also raised $4000 for Victim Support in Christchurch following the 15 March terror attack, which happened shortly after she arrived back in the country. It struck a chord, Rebecca says, as she had spent 75 per cent of the journey travelling
through Muslim countries, and was well looked after.
The trio carried out as much preparation as possible before setting off. They stood in front of a laminated world map that for years Rebecca had stuck to the wall with Blu Tack, and carefully mapped out a route. ‘We knew we wanted to go Asia way, and there’s kind of only two options, above the Himalayas or below. We decided the Indian route meant going through Pakistan, which wasn’t a super safe option.’ They also borrowed a kit list from a friend of Emma’s who had done something similar. But even with solid preparation, there were still things that had to be dealt with on the road.
Rebecca had a crash course in bike mechanics via some ‘intense’ YouTube watching, learning the essentials of replacing brake pads and chains. Her mobile phone became her most vital piece of equipment. ‘We got a sim card in every country we went to. It meant we could stay in touch with friends and family, and update social media.’ It was also important for navigation and translation. ‘I actually broke my phone in Malaysia. That’s when I realised it is quite a necessity.’
Food was never hard to come by. They made the most of eating local food at roadside stalls and dining with friendly locals who invited them into their homes. But they always had a food contingency for when it was scarce. ‘Lots of Snickers bars, so not exactly a high-performance diet,’ Rebecca laughs.
To communicate with locals, Rebecca wrote letters in each language she came across, introducing herself and explaining
Her past Olympic training gave her the grit needed to get through. ‘You just pick yourself back up when it all gets a bit tough.’
what she was doing. ‘Plus I got really good at sign language.’
The kindness of strangers blew them away. ‘People would stop us on the side of the road. Lots of people would invite us into their homes. It’s not the sort of thing you experience regularly in New Zealand, or Switzerland for that matter.’
Battling the elements took an unexpected toll mentally. Hot days peddling through the desert were the hardest. And travelling through Western China with snow and freezing temperatures was really tough. ‘That’s where we ended up sleeping in a drain. It was bleak and overbearing. It’s an interesting story to tell now, but at the time it wasn’t much fun,’ Rebecca says.
As she explained on The Long Way Home website blog:
‘The reality is there have been some moments, especially of late, where I just want to drop the bike, fly away, have some beers with friends and sleep in my own bed. And almost always these moments of feeling really down are closely linked to a day of being beaten up by the elements.’
‘I never really thought about the tough days before we left, instead just envisaging warm sunshine and the wind at our back as we rolled through glorious countryside.’
But in reality, the wind, often strong headwinds, was a huge battle. ‘Wind can either be your best friend or worst enemy. Imagine endless flat plains, nothing but sand, dirt and shrubs to look at, and the wind in your face like a hairdryer, hour after hour.’
There were days they would trawl along at 13 kilometres per hour into headwinds, little more than walking pace. It could mean the difference in spending seven hours in the saddle, or as little as three. Trucks going past offered some respite, providing a little push in the right direction.
In Iran, disaster struck when Rebecca crashed into Sarah, both ending up in hospital and holding them up for two weeks. An injury to her knee required a number of stiches, while Sarah suffered a sprain. However, they were ‘incredibly well looked after’. Once recovered, they had to bus to the next country to keep within their visa dates. ‘We didn’t ride as much of Iran as we would have liked.’ But through those tough days her past Olympic training gave her the grit needed to get through. ‘You just pick yourself back up when it all gets a bit tough.’
Her favourite leg of the journey was ‘super mountainous’ Tajikistan, which reminded her of Central Otago. ‘They were the poorest people but they were the ones running across the fields inviting us into their homes.’
Rebecca’s parents, Peter and Jane, have been big supporters of her quest, although there were differing reactions when she first told them of her plans. ‘Mum wasn’t super happy about it. She’s the one that’s been worried about safety. Dad was of course like, “Oh, yep”.’
They joined her for a week in Turkey and again for two weeks in China, and two in Laos. ‘It was so good having those familiar faces.’ Her father was also there from Geraldine to Omarama and both were at her side from Tarras as she finally rode into Lake Hawea.
Although she’s not big on social media, she kept followers updated with a ‘pic of the day’, which provided spectacular images. ‘It became quite fun. It’s a cool way to keep people engaged in what we’re doing.’ The The Long Way Home Facebook page has amassed more than 1300 followers, and 4050 on Instagram.
Since arriving back in New Zealand, Rebecca has visited 39 schools and plans more. For now though, there are no adventures planned. She plans to ‘just sit still’ and enjoy being home with her family. ‘I’m sure there will be something fun at some stage, but there’s nothing in the pipeline.’