Another Day Hike!!! This one was incredible. Took us exactly 6 hours. We had a perfectly clear day. In our tramping book, they describe this walk as possibly better than the Tongariro Crossing (debatable), but we are just glad we could do both. The view from the top of Avalanche Peak (1833m) was spectacular and I don't think our pictures or video camera will do it justice. We had views of the surrounding peaks, valleys and hanging glaciers. This was our first night in our "Spaceship" as well. It is like our old Transport Van. We have our transportation, shelter (bedding) [View Full Entry]

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Best spur of the moment and free activity we did! Stopped at the side of the road and found a cave we could climb through for 600m just before Arthur's Pass! We had one flashlight and changed into our water clothes and just went for it. It was pitch black! Could not see a thing without the flashlight. The water went up to our waists at times and there were a few little water falls (little and it was a very small amount of water, no big current or anything don't worry). But it was fun because it was unplanned and [View Full Entry]

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First stop in the South Island was in Picton. Stayed at a beautiful Lodge. Keith was most excited about the TV in the room. Drove to Marahau where we stayed. Had a wonderful fish and chips dinner right on the ocean (great view). From there we went to a campground where the only accomodation that was available was a Teepee (literally). Next day we took a water taxi to Bark Bay. It was great, they took us around each Bay before Bark's and gave us some background information on each. I loved the boat operator's accent (Keith enjoyed trying to mimick [View Full Entry]

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Off to Tongariro the same day our car got broken into. We didn't want anything to slow us down. We stopped in at Tauranga for a new car from Avis. We received excellent customer service from Avis there. They helped us get on our way fast. We stayed at National Backpackers that night in National Park, a town outside of Tongariro National Park (we were confused by that). I really liked the rooms there and would recommend that for sure. The next day we started the Tongariro Northern Circuit. In our book it says to do it in 4 days, but [View Full Entry]

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We haven't wrote for awhile so be prepared to read a lot. When Keith and I arrived in Auckland we hopped on a shuttle bus downtown. From here it was fairly easy to find a place to stay. We wanted to stay at the luxery Basebackpackers, but there was nothing available, so we settled for Queen's Street Backpackers, which was fine. The next day, we decided to hop on a ferry to Rangitoto Island, where we did 1 out of 53 hikes in our "Tramping in New Zealand", Lonely Planet Guide. It took about 4-5 hours (10km). We thought this would [View Full Entry]

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Hey Everyone, Just read your comments! Mom and Dad, I am alive (haha) and getting accustomed to this whole idea of travelling. The best part of course is talking to as many people as you can about their trips and of course talking to true Fijian's to get an idea of how their quality of life is here. We will try to write about that later. So far we have run into a bunch of people from England. So many that Keith and I may come back with an English acent (not really). I apologize for the spelling in advance, but [View Full Entry]

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Hey Everyone, So we arrived in Fiji Jan. 30th at 5:00am. Great flight with Air Pacific, would definitely recommend a flight with them. When we got into the airport, we were escorted up the stairs with a women who was going to help us book some resorts on the island. The original plan was to go to Nacula Island for 3 nights. The ferry is very expensive here, to get to the tip of the islands is $100 FJ one way per person. Crazy! But we are now realizing that everything is expensive here, no matter what you do. The only [View Full Entry]

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Ahhhhhhh, how frustrating! So, everything was going smoothly, we had a lot of time to check in, go through customs and drop off our luggage. An hour before it is scheduled to leave, it get's cancelled (freezing rain apparently, however we saw other flights leaving). Everything about our experience with Air Canada has been frustrating. Being sent to one line, to wait an hour to get to a phone, to only wait another 20 minutes to get an agent on the phone, then having to get an actual ticket printed out, etc, etc. The one saving grace about this whole experience [View Full Entry]

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First Entry! Hey Everyone, just testing everything out before we leave for the South Pacific. Keith and I are all packed and I guess both are having a hard time sleeping. I am hoping we will be able to add a lot of pictures and keep you all well updated on our travels. Plans are to be back on March 13 (but you never really know)! First stop! Fiji (5 days) and don't expect to hear from us for a good 2 days, since the flight is so long! Signing off, Julie (Keith will get his chance to type I am [View Full Entry]

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