Tag: hiking

  • Australia Part 5: Tropical North Queensland

    Stepping off the plane at Cairns, it was immediately obvious that our short 2-hour flight had taken us from the desert to the lush tropical rainforest. The air felt moist, the birdsong was immediate, the greenery popped, and the air smelled earthy and wild. Welcome to Tropical North Queensland! Due to our flight delays, it…

  • Australia Part 4: Wicked Outback Adventure

    Landing in Alice Springs (Central Australia), the next portion of our trip would be camping in rooftop tents in the Red Centre atop a 4×4 Wicked Desert Sands truck. We had expected dry deserts and loose red dust, but found ourselves in a situation the area has not seen since 1988 – post heavy rains…

  • Australia Part 3: Melbourne to Adelaide JUCY Roadtrip

    We are quite excited to be sharing the camping portion of this Australian adventure with the Whitacre family, our Alaskan neighbors, as we drive two “Jucy” campervans from Melbourne to Adelaide, including the Great Ocean Road. There is nothing subtle about two brilliant green Jucy vans, each packed with four of us juggling and shuffling…

  • Australia Part 2: Tasmania

    After our time in Sydney, we hopped a Quantas flight to Hobart, Tasmania. Our time in Tasmania was quite the mix, as we loved the scenery, pace, wildlife, and people – but were in and out of various hospitals when Chris’ mom developed complications from COVID. I will start with the highlights, and finish with…

  • Back in the USA: Alaska & Idaho

    70 hours from the “front door” of Terikah in Savusavu, Fiji to the front door of our home in Petersburg, Alaska. Looking down at the Pacific Ocean, it’s hard to believe that same stretch of water took us 8 months sailing from the Mexico coast to New Zealand. Petersburg, from the heartwarming welcome of friends…

  • Physical Education Class: Making up for Time on the Water

    Heading north to the Dunedin area, we parked for the night at a beachside Freedom Camp near the end of the Otago Peninsula, where we spotted a male sea lion resting in the sand during our evening walk. One of the highlights of our trip was a nighttime little blue penguin tour—there’s nothing cuter than…

  • The Healing Power of Nature: Milford Sound and the Catlins

    Back to our caravan in Queenstown after our drive from Dunedin, we tucked into 12 Mile Delta Campground outside of Queenstown (featured as Ithilien in LOTR). I took time with my cup of coffee and had an excellent meditative morning. It can be an interesting gift to talk with one’s mortality, reflecting on the best…

  • Schist Happens

    But first, the adventures before…Three nights at Glendhu Bay Holiday Park on the shores of Lake Wanaka allowed us to explore this area to the max.  Was the extremely bumpy washboard road and river fords to the 10km Rob Roy Glacier Track worth it? An emphatic YES! And we were treated to a road-grader smoothing…

  • Rivers of Ice Flowing into Subtropical Forests

    We were relieved that we could fill up on fresh drinking water at the Arthur’s Pass Visitor Center and buy gasoline at the local store, as we were depleted in both. A curious Kea (an alpine parrot) bounced around outside the café in front of signs that read, “Please do not feed the Keas,” as…

  • Our First Weeks in Aotearoa

    The morning after our November 12, 2024 arrival, we were greeted with a Welcome Bag of goodies including honey, cards, coupons for free drinks and bread, and rum?!  Customs could not have been friendlier, funnier, or easier; as one agent on board disclosed his fishing hot spots and tips with Calder.  Biosecurity agents reviewed the…