Great Ocean Road, Australia

So you'll probably notice that I didn't write a 'farewell' post for New Zealand. I thought about it, but it's hard to reflect on a single place you've visited when the journey is continuing. I think the best thing to do will be a full-on reflection post when my trip is over. In the meantime …

Rotorua, New Zealand

I was in Rotorua for two full days, which seemed to be the right amount of time. You could go through it quickly, but that's never fun. You could also spend longer, but I ran out of days :-). The city itself is pretty nice, good for walking around, several places to see without getting …

New Zealand, continued

I had around a week of time set aside for the North Island, which was enough to see some highlights but not get a full tour. Still, I did my best! There are fewer pictures here unfortunately - the roads had actual traffic (!) which made it harder to stop for random pictures. Also, I …

New Zealand, ongoing

So I should be upfront about this. There's a lot of things to do in Abel Tasman that I didn't. In fact, I just drove around a bit, saw some sights, and took it easy. I'd like to blame the weather (it was, in fact, overcast and semi-drizzly for most of my time there) but …

Kayaking and other things

After one adventure on the glacier, it was straight into another, kayaking on Lake Mapourika. I hadn't planned for both of these to be on the same day, but so goes. Worked out fine, anyway. This was billed as a sunset glacier cruise. The sunset part was true, although it wasn't a spectacular one*. We …

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Pools

What you aren't getting through your screen is the wonderful odor of sulphur throughout the area. It was especially pleasant when warm clouds of steam were blown right over you.

Fox Glacier

There are two famous glaciers in New Zealand, Fox glacier and Franz Josef glacier. They're surprisingly close to each other - only 30 minutes drive separates the two small towns at the base of the glaciers. Both glaciers offer similar opportunities for tourists. You can go to the base of the glacier and view it, …

Wanaka, New Zealand

Well, it's been far too long since I posted an update. That's partially due to the lack of reliable internet, and partially due to laziness :-). I'll let you decide the appropriate percentages. However, I've been having a wonderful time. New Zealand is...again with the adjectives. It's beautiful. Let's just go with that. I spent …

Milford Sound, New Zealand

I'm trying to fit in as much as possible while here in New Zealand, since it may be awhile before I come back (I've decided that's not an 'if' statement). Despite having a month, that's harder than it sounds! One thing I definitely wanted to do was a boat trip in the Fiordland area, which …

Milford Sound