Welcome to Oceania
Oceania is just a fancy name for all of those scattered island nations stranded in the Pacific Ocean without a continent to call home, most notably Australia and New Zealand.
Hiking the Routeburn Track
Our final few days in New Zealand were spent hiking another of the Great Walks: the Routeburn Track. This was a shorter overall hike than the Milford, but the main day of hiking was a “PROPER HIKE”… one of our favorite days of hiking ever. Again, partly because we had brilliant weather. This area gets much less rain than the Milford Track, and the forests are very different, especially on the eastern side of the Harris Saddle. Due to less…
Hiking the Milford Track
Touted as ‘the finest walk in the world‘ by poet Blanche Baughan in the London Spectator in 1908, the Milford Track is also the most famous of New Zealand’s Great Walks. The Maori frequently traveled this route during journeys to Milford Sound to collect pounamu (greenstone, or nephrite jade). In 1888 a track was cut up the Arthur Valley to Sutherland Falls (New Zealand’s highest waterfall). While obviously not as wide as Niagara Falls, it is over 10 times taller at…
Doubtful Sound (actually a fiord)
Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord (despite its name) in Fiordland National Park, in the far south-west of New Zealand. Though it is 3-1/2 times larger than Milford Sound, Milford is more famous as it is more accessible. It is also much more crowded with boats. According to Wiki, Doubtful Sound takes second place after Milford Sound as New Zealand’s most famous tourism destination. After a bus ride to Te Anau (such a pretty little town!),…
Queenstown Area – An Adult Adventureland
Given our choice of Whistler for our next home, it’s no wonder we like the southwest area of the South Island so much: mountains, valleys, forests, lakes, rivers, and the Tasman Sea. From the outdoor enthusiast meccas of Wanaka to Queenstown to Te Anau; the spectacular scenery of mountains plunging into the sea in the Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and countless rivers and lakes; the famous Great Walks hiking trails: Milford Track, Routeburn Track and dozens more; ski resorts, biking…
Albatross and Dolphins and Whales – Oh My!
Kaikoura is a popular tourist destination, mainly for whale watching (the sperm whale watching is perhaps the best and most developed in the world) and swimming with or near dolphins – wild dolphins, not those kept in a lagoon. Mark even learned to speak ‘dolphin’ (video). Kaikoura is one of the few places in the world where sperm whales can be seen year-round and close to shore. Once young male sperms whales are old enough to sustain themselves, they are…
Kayaking the Abel Tasman
Our next stop was a 3-day kayak trip along the coast of Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman National Park, located at the northwest end of the South Island, is named after Abel Tasman, a Dutchman who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with Māori. They anchored at Wharewharangi Bay just north of what is now Abel Tasman National Park. The initial meeting between European…
Hiking & Sailing in the Marlborough Sounds
On to the South Island of New Zealand, where we will spend the next month. We flew from Kerikeri airport where we went through NO SECURITY whatsoever, including our stopover in Auckland! What a throwback. As a matter of fact, we have found New Zealand a delightful mix of throwbacks and enlightened attitudes: old-style motels, campervans, no security, prevalent hitchhiking…..and progressive measures benefitting the Maori people, legalized gay marriage, and environmental consciousness. We had the good fortune to spend a…
NZ Bay of Islands and Northlands
We left the Coromandel Peninsula to drive north to the Bay of Islands and the Northlands… an area we hadn’t yet visited on our previous trip to New Zealand. This area is rich in history. Māori tribes arrived here from other South Pacific islands about 750 years ago. Māori settled and multiplied throughout the bay and on several of its many islands. Many of the Māori settlements later played important roles in the development of New Zealand, such as Okiato (New…
NZ North Island Adventures
Often on our travels, either when we’re just starting out somewhere, trying something unique or new, or when things are not going quite as planned, Shauna will say… ‘We’re on a’venture!” … an adaptation from the prequel to the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins: I’m already late. Hobbit: Late for what? Bilbo Baggins: I’m going on an adventure! She’s also been known to overschedule us at times, given that her mottos are ‘No wasted days’ and ‘We can…