Entries from ''

Fur seals, insects, and serious Lens Envy

The drive from Charleston to our lodge just outside of Abel Tasman National Park on the sixth day of our trek would take approximately 3 hours if one were to drive straight through, but it’s worth spending an extra couple of hours to explore Cape Foulwind.  This negatively named area of the West Coast was…

read more →

The West Coast in two days (not enough time, but plenty of glaciers)

Day 4 – Dec 22 – Te Anau to Fox Glacier Like the Great Ocean Road in Australia, Highway 6 on New Zealand’s South Island is jam-packed with stunning places to stop, both marked and unmarked.  It seems that every turn in the road leads to a rushing river cutting through marvelously steep mountain passes…

read more →

Milford Sound

We got up early to drive into Milford Sound, see the sights and go on a kayaking tour that included a 1-hour hike on the last couple miles of the Milford Track.  The tour, through Rosco’s Kayaks, was worth every penny.  Kayaking the sound is so much nicer than seeing it from a tourist cruise…

read more →

Clay cliffs and heaps of sheeps

We hit the road early Thursday with three goals in mind: Get to Queenstown for lunch Arrive in Te Anau, the launching point for trips to Milford Sound, by early afternoon Take as many pictures of sheep and lupins as a 16GB memory card can hold.  Possibly fill an 8GB memory card as well. Our…

read more →

The race begins

It wasn’t supposed to be a rally race around the island — it just worked out that way. Bookended by a Dec. 24-25 reservation at Abel Tasman Park and a family wedding after that, we had just four days to explore the south bit of New Zealand’s South Island. We touched down in Christchurch just…

read more →

O Batmania!

“There’s something magical about Sydney. This is fun, but it’s not magical.” That, my friends, is how Him described funky, artsy Melbourne, but I’m not sure I agree. Sydney, that shining darling of New South Wales, boasts a glorious harbor, the iconic Opera House and some famous beaches, but Melbourne has spunk — and a…

read more →

Great Ocean Road (Part II of II)

Aside from the tour of MollyDooker winery, our second day on the Great Ocean Road ranks as my favorite experience so far thanks to some (very) close encounters with wildlife. More on that later, but first, some history: Back within Port Campbell National Park, we hiked down to Loch Ard Gorge, named for the ship…

read more →

Purple carrots and placenta cream

Him says the list below consists of boring minutiae — and he’s probably correct (perhaps similar to your Facebook friends reporting on what they ate for breakfast) — but I’m going to share it anyway to justify the wad of receipts I’ve been carrying these past few weeks. Ever since we nearly succumbed to restaurant…

read more →

The Great Ocean Road (Part I of II)

If planning a drive on Australia’s Great Ocean Road, give yourself plenty of time to see it properly — preferably a week. We had just over two days to traverse this famed coastal road linking Portland to Geelong, and that wasn’t nearly enough. Construction on the Great Ocean Road (henceforth the G.O.R. in this report)…

read more →

Oh the temptation!

Our first “The Godmother Says” question comes from Ancient Mariner of Lake Worth, Fla.: Dear Godmother, My wife and I are about to alter our lifestyle in much the same way you and Him have. We wonder how you avoid the temptation to strangle each other, now that you are together 24/7? –Ancient Mariner   Ancient…

read more →
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest