Cleared for Departure

Category: Oceania

  • Doubtful Sound, Part 2

    A.k.a. Doubtful Silence We awoke to the anchor of the ship being hoisted.  Hard to sleep through that.  It drones on for minutes and rattles your soul. After herding us through breakfast, we were herded to the outside of the ship to experience the sounds of the fiord.  The crew shut the ship down completely…

  • Doubtful Sound, Part 1

    The landscape surrounding us really cannot be described.  We are deep in Fiordland National Park, located in the Fiordland District, floating on The Doubtful Sound.  Around us is a rain forrest so thick and mountains so steep, a majority of the land has never felt a human footprint, ever.  Waterfalls hundreds of feet high emptied…

  • I Taste Cherry and Pink Marshmallow

    I Taste Cherry and Pink Marshmallow

    We decided to tackle Queenstown Hill after breakfast.  Two hours and 1300 feet later, I was cursing the New Zealand penchant for snarky understatement.  Where I come from hills barely raise your heart rate.  This was a two and a half hour slog straight up.  Even more maddening were the Kiwis who passed us barely…

  • Jump, Shop, Eat

    Jump, Shop, Eat

    Welcome to Queenstown, the “adrenaline capital of the world.”  The city where bungee jumping became a thing.  

  • Welcome to Aotearoa

    We departed JFK early in the morning.  Sadly, the check engine light (pilot’s words) came on, so we sat.  At one point they even “rebooted the plane.”  Clearly Delta must use Window to power the whole thing.  Mildly concerning.  While most of us ignore that yellow check engine light, I suspect we wouldn’t if driving…

  • This Is Only a Test

    This Is Only a Test

    Hello and welcome!  Thank you all for joining me and RBD on our second trip to New Zealand. We depart on Saturday, December 16th and arrive two days later.

  • Christchurch

    Today we toured Christchurch, learning about the earthquake and Māori culture.

  • Alpine Express Pics

    It occurred to me I was so busy showing destruction, I neglected to post some pics from our New Year’s Day train trip across the country.

  • What a Difference a Tunnel Makes

    Today, New Years Day, we boarded a train and took a long ride across the country on the Tranzalpine Express.

  • Soaked in Hooker Valley

    Today we hiked in the Hooker Valley, along the Hooker River, to Hooker Lake, and saw the terminal edge of Hooker Glacier. It rained the entire time.