Egypt- the country that has been on the top of my "places to see" list since I started writing a list (since I was in primary school). Over time the list has changed a bit, but Egypt has always held it's top place. To explore Egypt, I did a 15 day budget tour with 23 others. The tour started in Cairo with a trip to the Egyptian Museum which has over 100,000 relics including the treasures found in King Tutankhamun's tomb. We then braved the 38°C heat to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Giza. The Pyramids were great to [View Full Entry]

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Having been a little idle on the travel blog front, I am finally posting a new instalment. Since being to Prague (my last post), I have moved to London and travelled a bit around England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and France. While these countries are beautiful and interesting, I didn't find the inspiration from these places to write a blog about them. But hoorah! I am now inspired and motivated to write a blog about the Kingdom of Morocco or al-Mamlaka al-Maġribiyya (in Arabic). My journey in Morocco is my first country (of many to come) in the African continent. What drew [View Full Entry]

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I arrived into Dublin from New Zealand last Monday after a pretty grueling 34 hour journey resulting in jet lag, swollen legs, and in need of adjusting to a warmer temperature (and the accents!). I spent a few days looking around Dublin but I will post an Ireland blog later that will include my other explorations to come. It must seem odd, but only after a few days in Dublin, Alan and I decided to go on a "city break", as the locals call it, to Prague - the capital city of the Czech Republic. Not that I really needed a [View Full Entry]

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After leaving South America, I spent a week in Tahiti/French Polynesia to relax, unwind, get a tan, and to reflect on my last 11 months of travel. I spent the time on the island of Moorea - a gorgeous tropical island with white sand, turquoise and emerald coloured waters, coconut trees, and sun, with the only downfall being a lot of mosquitoes. Tahiti is known for being ridiculously expensive but I managed to keep expenses down by staying in a basic campground and cooking my own food. I spent most of my time relaxing on the beach or in the hammock, [View Full Entry]

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Easter Island is truly a magical place and I hope my photos have managed to capture just some of that. Having read and seen documentaries on Easter Island on the past - I have always wanted to go. And luckily for me, it's on my way home back to New Zealand, so we spent 6 days there. Easter Island is home to the famous Moai and is considered the world's largest open air museum. There are an estimated 887 Moai statues on Easter Island, but the exact number is unknown because many lie buried in piles of rubble or beneath the [View Full Entry]

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Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza contains many famous internationally recognised vineyards and wine producers. So what do you do in wine country? You take a wine tour. We took an afternoon wine tour to 2 bodegas (wineries) including the Bodega La Rural Winery and Don Arturo winery, and an olive oil facility called Pasrai. The La Rural Winery has a museum which displays machinery, carriages, presses, antique crushers (made from cow hide) and other elements from colonial times that contributed to the Mendoza wine industry. We had a tour of the museum and facilities and then had a taste test. [View Full Entry]

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Pucón The big attraction in Pucón is Volcano Villarrica - an active volcano which has an active lava lake within its crater. It is one of the most active volcanoes in Chile and has had 82 eruptions recorded. The most tragic and damaging was in December 1971 and the last one was registered in 1984. Guided hikes to the crater are offered from the town of Pucón, but can be suspended in periods of increased volcanic activity or bad weather. During our stay it was all clear to go - which was lucky because many people wait for days for the [View Full Entry]

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Torres del Paine We spent our first adventures in Chile in the Torres Del Paine National Park - a park comprising mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers. The park (Torres del Paine - Towers of Paine) is named after three sheer granite towers. We spent 3 days trekking in the park and stayed in the hostels there rather than camp in tents and brave the cold. Unfortunately due to the hostels remoteness, everything was really expensive so we lived off cheese sandwiches and biscuits during our time in the park. Day one we walked up to the base of the three towers. [View Full Entry]

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We flew to El Calafate after Ushuaia - a slight detour from our original plans. We had planned to bus it, but the bus was full and there wouldn't be another one for 4 days, so out came the trusty credit card to pay for flights. El Calafate El Calafate is a touristy town - full of souvenir shops, tourist agencies, and expensive restaurants and cafes. The main attraction for tourists is the proximity to the Perito Moreno Glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is a 30km long, 5km wide, 60m high glacier which is advancing 2 metres a day. The Perito [View Full Entry]

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After Buenos Aires, we went to the beach side town of Mar del Plata. On the taxi ride to the bus station in Buenos Aires we encountered fake money for the first time in South America. Damn taxi driver did the swifty on us by giving fake notes as change. Luckily it wasn't much, and it is now making a nice souvenir in my journal. Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina and is a 5 hour bus ride south of Buenos Aires. We found the town [View Full Entry]

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