Tongariro Alpine Crossing
From a base in Ohakune (carrot capital of NZ, and a huge ski and snoboarding center in winter), we did an amazing 19.4k walk called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, in Tongariro National Park. The full trek is multi-day, but this full-day hike was plenty for us, with some steep terrain heading up and an even […]
Diamond Lake, Beer and Puzzling
The Diamond Lake Track near Wanaka leads past it’s namesake body of water, then up to the summit of Rocky Hill. The views from the top were fantastic and gave us a great idea of how the glaciers had carved out this amazing landscape. We were a bit parched when we got back down the […]
The Road to Milford
Te Anau is a lovely destination on its own, and we took advantage of the lakeside setting for a morning walk. After checking out road conditions (there has been snow and sleet), we rented snow chains from the service station and head north 119k to Milford Sound. It was still quite cold, so we bundled […]
Curio Bay
Before leaving town for Curio Bay, we decided to check out an “est,” (bigg-est, tall-est, deep-est, etc.) In a suburb of Dunedin is the Guinness record holder for world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street. We left the van at the bottom and walked up. It was a good workout and challenging coming back down as well. […]
Departing the Daintree
On the way out in the morning we did the last boarwalk: Dubuji, which looked different than the others had on previous days, due to the heavy rain the night before. There was lots more water in the creeks and everything seemed sort of steamy. This was a longer walk with lots of lowland rainforest, […]
Exotic Fruits
On Sunday, we drove up to Emmagen Creek and followed the path back from a huge strangler fig to the swimming hole. We had read at the Bat House that someone had seen some cassowaries here recently, but still no luck for us. North of the creek is 4-wheel-drive only, and the route continues north […]
Where the Rainforest Meets the Reef
In the morning, our hosts had laid out a gorgeous fruit plate: papaya, grapes, kiwi, apples, oranges, mandarin and the sweetest pineapple ever. A lot of fruit is grown in the region, and our plates benefitted. There was also toast, jam, cereals, and a pot of hot coffee all enjoyed with a lovely view of […]
Epiphyte
Next in our series of weekend wanders was a trip up the coast to Cape Tribulation. After a few days on foot it was nice to have our own wheels again. After a quick stop in Port Douglas for a look around, we head directly to Mossman Gorge. The traditional owners here (and in the […]
Kangaroos, Koalas and Emu, Oh My!
A drive up to the Mt. Lofty summit provided a panoramic view of Adelaide all the way to the sea. We tried unsuccessfully to find two geocaches on the nature trail below the lookout, and then head down to Cleland Wildlife Park. Here, we were able to hand feed kangaroos, wallaby, emu and waterfowl, and we got […]
Pinnacles and Stromatolites
Our drive took us along the coast, past small towns, fishing villages and vast open spaces. We checked into the Cervantes Lodge in the crayfishing town of Cervantes. The town was named for some nearby offshore islands, which in turn had been named for a shipwreck. The streets of the town are all named from […]