Third day. Hearty breakfast with lamb sausage. Rain. We hiked the Hooker Valley Track, took the steep steps up the overlook to the Tasman Glacier, and skipped out to Kea Point. There, we first heard – then saw with awe – the glaciers groan and quake on the mountain face in front of us, spewing […]
. . . With two full months of two separate years of photos from New Zealand in the backlog, tonight I made another attack in hacking away at the mass of pictures, willy nilly. This most recent trip was in April, included a companion, and incorporated way more Tim Tams. Dickey and I left on […]
The Tongario Alpine Crossing is the most amazing, changeable hike. For more than 14 miles – with side trips, crests, and sulfuric springs to explore – one passes past bare, volcanic terrain and alpine slopes, steaming, emerald pools and jade-leaved jungle. I think I fell romantically in love with Mount Ngauruhoe, the active stratovolcano that rises […]
With a day’s driving practice under my belt, I left Jono and Auckland for the open roads, views, and hours of the North Island. My first planned stop was into its central, volcanic mass, to Tongariro National Park. Before I could reach it, however, lay 345 km of new, tiny towns and unexpected pit stops to […]
After exploring Auckland and getting enough sleep to stave off jetlag, I picked up my campervan and tentatively hit the road for a day-trip outside the capital. Jono sent me in the direction of the gorgeous beaches of the Waitakere Ranges, where I dove in head first, guns blazing, to life on the other side of […]
