Tag: travel

  • Goodbye New Zealand – off to Fiji

    We’ve continued to enjoy New Zealand, whilst looking at the weather a couple of times daily, waiting for a passage window to Fiji. We spent a few nights anchored off the Waitangi Bike Park so Calder could get another day of biking in before we leave New Zealand. We played family baseball in a field…

  • Boat Sweet Boat: Back to Terikah

    Back to boat late after helping a friend on SV Linnaea with a haul-out in Whangarei. Home sweet boat – the distinct smell of our boat greeting us, the comfort of the warm wood interior, and a cozy cabin in which to sleep. We all slept great. Next day, busy with work for me and…

  • Wellington, Volcanoes, & Geothermal Wonders

    After a lovely morning drive along the coast, we caught the Interisland Ferry from Picton to Wellington. Staying at the Agnes House Farm, a 1906 restored farm house full of character, we enjoyed the chooks who were hiding their eggs, aloof alpacas, native brush, and so much birdsong – happy to have the morepork (ruru)…

  • Christchurch, Tekapo, a NZ Hunt, and Kaikoura

    Off to Christchurch with our caravan amongst roads filled with orange traffic cones, the sheer number a somewhat contentious topic here between political groups. There is an insane amount of cones, cones every cone length on both sides of the road at times. It’s almost comical. I have to admit that in today’s world, I’m…

  • 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…

  • “I’m going on an adventure!”

    We head out on a 2-month New Zealand road trip, a combination of tent camping, caravan-towing, and Air BnBs. The car packed to the brim, we left only one hour after planned…on our 5-hour drive to Hobbiton in Matamata. Hobbit: “Bilbo, where you off to?” Bilbo Baggins: “I’m already late.” Hobbit: “Late for what?” Bilbo…

  • Boatwork in Exotic Locations

    One oft repeated phrases is “cruising is boat work in exotic locations.”  Cruising also involves play and exploration in exotic locations, but there is a constant background of boat maintenance with intermittent large projects.  I am taking a break from our regularly scheduled program of boat fun to bring you…boat work! We pulled into Opua…