Day 1: Melbourne to Grampians National park After goodbye’s with our Melbourne friends Yamuna, Ankit, and Ari we load into the van to begin our great 6000km Australian road trip. We have one big suitcase, one small suitcase, one large backpack, and two small backpacks for our journey. We loaded up on food yesterday at the grocery store and Yamuna grilled us some Tandoori chicken to take with us so we are good to go. Next stop: Grampians National Park! Gas in Melbourne is $1.19/liter. Coming from New Zealand we find this amazing. We fill up the van for less than $60 and we are off. Not long after getting on the highway, though, we pull over. There are signs for a fruit stand: 10 mangoes for $10! It’s busy and we wait in line but ... read more

For the first part of this trip see "3 Days on Kauai." After an incredible start to our vacation on Kauai we hop on the plane early Sunday morning to head to Hilo, the largest city on the Big Island of Hawaii. After changing planes in Honolulu we are off towards one of the only land masses in the world that is constantly getting bigger. Ponder that for a while if you don't already know. It's a cloudy day but as we're flying above the clouds I see a huge mountain peak sticking up above the clouds. It's red and barren and has numerous patches of snow. This is Mount Kea. At 13,796 feet in elevation, it is the tallest mountain in Hawaii and one of the tallest in the US not in Alaska, Colorado, or ... read more

For the prequel to this trip please see NZ South Island Road Trip Part 1: Picton to Queenstown. Queenstown is the self-proclaimed adventure capital of the world. It's a thrill seekers paradise. Bungy jumping was commercialized here. There are hundreds of other adventure options as well, from swinging on a rope through a canyon to riding a jetboat a million miles an hour on the lake. The population of the town is only about 8,000 people, and all 8,000 apparently work in the tourism or service industry because there is not much other industry in town. At any given time the town has far more tourists than residents. This leads to an abundance of hotels and restaurants to choose from though. We are staying at the Copthorne Millennium Hotel and Apartments. We have booked a two ... read more

See "Great American Road Trip Part 2: The Redwoods to Boise" for the prequel to this story I wake up Friday morning with a throbbing hangover. I used to never get hangovers, but at this age no matter how much water I chug before bed I still get hangovers. And this isn't exactly the best day to have a hangover. I have almost 400 miles to go to reach my final destination for the day: Grant Teton National Park. But first I am taking a slight detour to a unique geological site in bumfuck, Idaho. Craters of the Moon National Monument is about 170 miles from Boise down Highway 20. I turn off I-84 in Mountain Home and I'm one of the loneliest roads in America. It's me and a few bikers and we are going ... read more

December 20, 2013. The summer solstice is just a day away. This is weird for me since I'm used to that date being June 21, not December 21st. I'm not complaining though. I spent June 21 in the US so this is my second summer in a row. Last night it was light till about 9:35 in Wellington. We are pretty far south. I'm going to miss the longest day of the year here though. I'll be spending it in Melbourne. I've been to Melbourne before. Maybe one day I'll write about my first time there. It was an odd experience, but I've decided to give it another shot. I'll be meeting my friend Steve from Las Vegas there. He is coming to the southern hemisphere for three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. He'll be ... read more