Unfortunately for us, the time had to come when we said goodbye to New Zealand. Our family has fallen in love with this small but incredibly beautiful country. We were immediately transfixed by this place, from the moment we stepped off of the airplane at the Queenstown airport. For three and a half weeks we toured New Zealand, bottom to …
The second half of our New Zealand adventure took us through the North Island. Although the North Island lacks the stunning scenery that we were wowed by on the South Island, there are still heaps of fun activities for families. The North Island has it all…beaches, volcanoes, fabulous cities, famous movie sets, more adrenaline generating activities, and even caves filled …
What is the cutest little spot in New Zealand? The answer is Hobbiton, the movie set for The Shire in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. What is Hobbiton? Hobbiton was constructed in 1999 for the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was used for just several weeks of filming and not intended …
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing has been labeled as the world’s greatest single day hike. Hearing this gave us high expectations for the day. Honestly, New Zealand has left us feeling a little disappointed with its hikes. The trails have been too manicured, too pristine, almost too safe, if that makes any sense. Don’t get me wrong, the scenery has been …
Our travels in New Zealand started in Queenstown on the South Island. April in New Zealand is autumn…chilly nights, changing leaves, cooler temperatures. As the weather got colder, we slowly moved north, trying to stay ahead of the cooler temperatures. Over the course of two weeks we gradually moved north into slightly warmer temperatures, traveling from Queenstown up to Wanaka …
This post was written by Tyler and Kara. We are a family of four who have been traveling around the world for ten months. We have slept in caves, in tents out in the African bush, in teahouses on the Everest base camp trek, and even under the stars in the Indian desert. While in New Zealand we had the …
For more amazing New Zealand views, do not miss the Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki/Mt Cook. Located in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Mt Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak. It is best seen by helicopter or airplane flight but since we had recently blown the budget in Queenstown our feet were stuck on the ground, at least for …
Time to go hiking again! This time we are in Wanaka, New Zealand, a gorgeous area with lakes framed by beautiful mountains. It is autumn, a terrific time to be in New Zealand. The trees are changing color, temperatures are cool but not too cold, and it is low season for tourists. Climbing up a mountainside for unbeatable views makes …
This post could have been called a lot of things. Blowing the Budget BIG TIME. Having the Time of Our Lives. Getting Our Adrenaline Fix. Best Three Days Ever. #Neverwanttogohome. We had an absolutely amazing, action packed three days here. And there is still so much to do when we come back, and come back we will definitely do. Forget …
Prior to this trip, we would never have gone bungy jumping. That’s just for crazy people, right?! But as we passed bungy jump locations around the world, the idea grew on us. Once in Queenstown, the birthplace of bungy jumping, the idea didn’t sound so crazy anymore. How could we circle this globe, trying to experience as much of the …
The Milford Sound, one of New Zealand’s most popular sights, is located just a few hours away from Queenstown on the South Island. Before arriving in Queenstown, we heard that you cannot visit New Zealand without visiting Milford Sound. It would be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. After seeing tons of photos on line and …
I had once heard that New Zealand is such a beautiful place that you can’t believe it, even when you see it with your own eyes. We have only been here several days now and I agree with that statement. New Zealand just may be the most beautiful country we have ever visited. We arrived in Auckland from Fiji, spent …
Ahhh…Fiji. Paradise. Fiji was everything we expected and more. Crystal clear aquamarine water, white sandy beaches, amazing sunsets, beautiful islands. We joke around that Fiji is our vacation from our vacation…a very long vacation, I know. Here we got some much needed R & R from our fast paced travels around the world. I can’t complain about the challenges and …
Ahhh….Fiji. This has to be one of the most beautiful places we have been to yet. No wonder it is such a popular location for filming movies. Movies such as “The Blue Lagoon” and “Cast Away” were filmed here. During our short stay in Fiji we took a tour out to Modriki Island (also called Monuriki Island), the filming site …
Stinky tofu, pig’s blood soup, and chicken feet, oh my!! We ate some weird things while in Taiwan and believe it or not, we even ate out of a toilet. Our two weeks in Taiwan was a culinary adventure and tons of fun. We wandered through night markets, ate at delicious Japanese restaurants, and feasted on Dim Sum. Here is …
Add Taroko National Park to the list of beautiful places in Taiwan. This national park, located on the eastern coast of Taiwan very close to the city of Hualien, is a huge draw for visitors to Taiwan. It was a huge draw for us as well, as our family can’t resist hiking trails, rock scrambles, and beautiful vistas, things Taroko …
We have been traveling around the world for nine months now. In some countries we have seen monkeys. They are friendly and come up to people because they are used to being fed by humans. It was in Africa where we saw monkeys for the first time. In Africa, we saw signs saying, “Don’t feed the monkeys!” Why? If the …
Before our trip around the world I knew very little about Taiwan. It wasn’t even on our radar as a destination for our journey around the globe. While browsing through hotels on Trip Advisor, tourism advertisements and facts about Taiwan kept popping up. After the tenth advertisement, Taiwan captured my attention and I took my first look at the Taiwan …
Hiking Teapot Mountain was a fantastic experience. This hike would end up being our favorite in Taiwan as it had all of our favorite elements: stunning scenery, rock scrambles, steep ascents that required basic rock climbing skills, and an almost deserted trail. We saw hardly anyone else on this hike leaving us to wonder where everyone was. Why don’t more …
Our introduction to Taiwan was its largest city, Taipei. We spent five awesome days here. There is so much to do, with night markets to explore, Taipei 101 to climb, so many wonderful restaurants to choose from, and tons of day trips to take. This was yet another city that we all really liked. National Palace Museum Our visit to …
