I only have one this time.. for A&A
With only a few exceptions, J and I camped our way through New Zealand. Most of the caravan parks we stayed in had kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilities, but the campsite that stands out in our minds is Lake Pukaki (South Island) where there were no facilities except a "long-drop" toilet. There, we slept with our tent door facing the serene lake and the majestic Mt. Cook in the distance. It was amazing!
1. Lake Pukaki and the snow-capped Mt. Cook
2. Our bush camp on the shores of Lake Pukaki
3. Prime real estate
4. Dining with an unbeatable view
5. The night sky featuring the Southern Cross - can you spot it?
6. A view from our tent in the early morning
7. Sunrise over the mountain ranges of the Southern Alps
Zorb - n. A "sport" in which one to three human beings roll down a hill inside a gigantic plastic ball.
J and I have reunited and started our two week stay in Taiwan. One thing I learned on my trip over from New Zealand is that the travel time between Auckland and Taipei is approximately equal to the travel time between Boston and Taipei! So tiring!
For the next few days I will be trying my best to upload a backlog of posts related to our adventures in New Zealand. So, stay tuned!
Current Location: Feng Yuan, Taiwan
This is what peer pressure makes you do.
As J mentioned earlier, he left New Zealand a couple of days ago while I'm still here. Singapore would've been fun to see, but I didn't want to miss seeing the Milford Sound. As you will see in the pictures below, it was an incredible sight!
Next stop, Queenstown, where I have a date with 15,000 ft.
Quick update from J! I'm currently making my way to Singapore to visit a college buddy while M is enjoying her last couple of days in New Zealand. New Zealand was incredible with breath-taking views seemingly around every corner. One of my favorite things to do during the trip was to just look out of the bus window and get lost amongst the rolling hills, mountains, lakes, and quaint villages passing by. I hope I'll have the chance to come back again!
(Sorry, still no SD card reader. We'll post lots of photos soon, we promise!)
It took J and I 8.5 hours to hike the Tongariro Cossing - one of the most amazing day hikes in the world! The first half of the hike was EXTREMELY hard, but the views were so worth it!
Here are two photos that I took from the peak of the Tongariro Crossing.
1. Blue Lake
2. The Emerald Lakes
Things done/seen so far:
1. ZORBING - once together and once by ourself
2. Hot boiling mud pools
3. Lady Knox Geyser
4. Downtown Taupo/Taupo Lake
5. Hot Water Beach
6. Lots of cows and sheep
7. James caused a stampede of cows
Sorry, no photos because the computer I'm using cannot read HC SD cards. =( I hope to have something up in 2 days when we get into Wellington.
We will miss the ever-changing colors of the Pacific Ocean and hope that the Great Barrier Reef will still be here when we return.
We will be hiking through New Zealand (Auckland to Queenstown) for the next two weeks so it is most likely that there will be few, if any, new posts until the first week of April. However, I will try my best to update you on our adventure as much as possible!
Picture: The bit of ocean seen from our apartment at 11:58 AM GMT +10 which really does look different depending on the time of day!
Current Location: Cairns, Australia