The Red Center of the Northern Territory is considered the “heart” of Australia, consisting of Alice Springs, UNESCO world heritage Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and Kings Canyon. We budgeted a week for this area which kept us busy. After flying into Alice Springs Airport and picking up our campervan, we made a beeline to the…Continue reading Australia – Northern Territory (West MacDonnell Range, Kings Canyon, Uluru, The Olgas & Alice Springs)
Tag: Oceania
Australia – Western Australia (Perth, Rottnest Island, Busselton & Margaret River)
Western Australia was the first stop in our two month trip around Australia. We flew into Perth and were picked up by Bree, a travel friend from our TransAfrica trip over a decade ago. Bree offered up her lovely home as our base for the week and took time off to show us around. Highlights…Continue reading Australia – Western Australia (Perth, Rottnest Island, Busselton & Margaret River)
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)