Celebrating Tet (Vietnamese New Year) in Vietnam is exhausting, so this year, we decided on a quick getaway to the Philippines. Cebu Pacific offers daily flights and after narrowing down our short list to include Cebu and Bohol Islands, we created an itinerary in Vietnamese (for our family of 9), packed our bags and were…Continue reading Philippines – Cebu & Bohol
Korea – Jeju Island
We had zero intention of leaving Vietnam after only a few weeks in country but when Becky’s aunt told us about a decent deal to Korea, our interest was piqued. Vietravel was offering a 6 day/5 night special to Jeju Island for 9.59 Million Dong (USD $422). The price included a special direct charter flight…Continue reading Korea – Jeju Island
New Zealand – Northland & Auckland
We saved the Northland and Auckland regions of the north island for the end of our New Zealand adventure since our flight back home was out of Auckland Airport. Highlights of Northland include: Karekare falls, Piha beach’s “Lion Rock”, Waipoua Kauri Forest (the towering Kauri trees are a sight to behold), Koutu boulders (everyone flocks…Continue reading New Zealand – Northland & Auckland
New Zealand – Waikato (Coromandel, Hamilton, Waitomo, Waikato, Lake Taupo)
This portion of our north island travels brought us to the Waikato region. First up was Lake Taupo, the caldera of the Taupo volcano and New Zealand’s largest lake. Despite the inclement weather, we signed up for a cruise across the lake to visit the Māori carvings, which was a lot of fun with Sail…Continue reading New Zealand – Waikato (Coromandel, Hamilton, Waitomo, Waikato, Lake Taupo)
New Zealand – Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty (Napier, Opotiki, Rotorua)
New Zealand has numerous microclimates within its regions. We quickly learned that the weather between the eastern and western sections is remarkably different, with the western side suffering from stronger winds, more rain, and a prevailing wind. The east coast boasts milder weather, more sunshine and lower rainfall. We found these generalizations to be on…Continue reading New Zealand – Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty (Napier, Opotiki, Rotorua)