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The drive from Sydney to Brisbane is 900 km of highway filled with so much to do, just about anything is possible. After picking up Roojin in Sydney, we headed straight up the A1 Pacific Highway.
As with most of Australia, however, you have to get off the highway to see something of interest. Most of the time. Aside from a giant banana, we veered off-route to see someof Australia’s best beaches, hike over sand dunes to get to a shipwreck, and even spot dolphins traveling up the coast.
The first stop on my road trip from Melbourne to Cairns was Sydney. I had half a day to spare and was able to enjoy a few of the city's highlights without a dollar spent. Roojin, a Canadian girl I had met at a couchsurf meetup in Berlin, was my tour guide for the day. We decided to hit some of the quintessential parts of Sydney within walking distance of the Harbour.
As we stared in awe at the Opera House architecture, strolled through the royal gardens, and took in the exhibition at the gallery, we realized the day we were having would make a perfect date! So here it is, the perfect plan for a date while visiting Sydney on a budget.
Warning! This post will definitely contain images and video of dead, cooked animal and the eating of said dead animal. So if that bothers you, exit now. I suppose I needed to state this warning at the start of some of my other posts, like the time I ate raw pigs blood in Thailand or the other time I tried Minke Whale in Iceland. I like to eat adventurously while I travel because I like to learn about a culture through its food.
Eating kangaroo in Australia happens to be as normal as eating venison is where I'm from in upstate New York. Kangaroos overpopulate Australian lands causing hundreds of car accidents a year just like white-tailed deer in the USA. I never ate venison back home, but this trip isn't about doing what I normally do. It's about deviating the norm.
When my friend Cyndi asked me if I’d rather see the Great Ocean Road or see the Little Penguins, the decision was an easy one to make. After only getting to see one penguin in New Zealand, I was ready to see more. And on Phillip Island, I was guaranteed to see many.
If that weren’t enough, Phillip Island is also home to the Koala Conservation Centre where I met even more of Australia’s wildlife. After penguins, I saw koalas, wallabies, and tons of exotic birds some of which laughed us right out of the park!
During my stay in Melbourne, I had one full day to see and experience the city. Considering it’s the “cultural capital” of Australia, there are many aspects of Melbourne life worth checking out. It’s famous for its dining experiences, sporting events, and proximity to the Great Ocean Road.
I ended up focusing on its art. And if the art is anything like my experience in Berlin, art always has something to say. Through Melbourne’s artistic highlights, including the street art, architecture, and music, I discovered both the controversial and the beautiful.
I spent the last month in Australia and now I’m in New Zealand again. Say what?! That’s right. I had a great time in Australia. I did a ton of adventuring, visited friends, and saw so much wildlife and marine life. I can’t wait to share it all through many posts in the coming months.
Ultimately, my Aussie adventure was destined to be a jam-packed one, but a short one. I set out with an agenda: deviate to illuminate. As intended, some revelations helped me realize the most important things to me so I could return to New Zealand to pursue them.
Ever wonder what the rest of the world thinks about Americans and the USA?
After traveling for nearly 11 months (7 of which were spent in New Zealand), I’ve compiled some of the most common assumptions or stereotypes people tend to have about “the States” and its people.
Eradicating stereotypes through travel is a two way street. Typically, we think of traveling the world as a chance to inform ourselves about other cultures and people. What I’ve found is I have equally become a teacher, informing others about from where I come.
One cold, wintery day on The Queen’s Birthday weekend, Jono and I drove 5 hours up North to the Coromandel Peninsula.
There, we met his sister and her family where they were staying in Whitianga. Whitianga is situated near two iconic Coromandel must-dos: Hot water beach and Cathedral Cove.
I had already visited hot water beach on a previous occasion but Cathedral Cove was not accessible at the time. Now I was finally able to visit this gorgeous beach and natural archway. Perhaps you’ll recognize it from a famous movie, music video, or both!
I like to try to blend into a place as much as possible. Short of mimicking the Kiwi accent, I think I did a pretty good job at blending into the Hawke’s Bay life while seeing as much of it as a “tourist” as possible.
During my four months living in Napier, I saw and did heaps. I’ve picked out the best of the best to give you an idea of what local living is like in the Hawke’s Bay.
While traveling the North Island, I kept passing through Taupo instead of actually spending any time there. One time I finally did stop. Jono and I were on our way back from a weekend trip near Hamilton. Huka Falls and the “Craters of the Moon” had been on my mind since I passed through Taupo on several occasions prior.
Stopping to visit both was definitely worth it. The bubbling Earth of the geothermal field and the gushing power of the falls were awesome to behold. The best part? Laughing at the expense of frightened tourists riding in speedboats down the river!
That’s right, for the 10 month anniversary of my travels around the world, today marks the first day I will set foot in Australia. I am writing this post in advance of my landing and have scheduled it to appear while I am probably still in-flight over the Tasman Sea!
But this post is less about Australia, and much more about my final days in New Zealand. After over 7 months there, I still have several stories to share. This story is about leaving and why it was so difficult to go.
This post is about one thing: The best sunset I have ever seen in my entire life.
I’ve seen a lot of sunsets in my lifetime but none was ever so #earthporn worthy as the one I saw with Jono back in March when camped on the 90 Mile Beach in New Zealand.
Instead of talking about it, I’ve decided to simply post the photos and allow the sunset to speak for itself. My camera brings out colors as opposed to dulling them like most lenses. Otherwise, there was absolutely no enhancing or filtering done to them. Enjoy!
Like most Westernized countries, New Zealand has many domesticated horses. On any given drive across the country you’re bound to see them fenced in on grassy hillsides, being ridden by tourists across a country road, or jumped by locals for prizes at field day events.
Wild horses, on the other hand, are a rare sight to see. I was lucky enough to track some down and witness their majestic beauty as they freely trotted through the Te Aupouri Forest and galloped across the dunes behind the 90 Mile Beach.
The Ninety Mile Beach is one of the most unusual highways I’ve ever driven. At low tide it becomes a legitimate highway. It’s an alternative to state highway 1 and often a scenic route for tour buses.
But the 90 mile beach can be as dangerous as it is beautiful.
The tide can catch tourists off their guard resulting in their vehicles stuck in the sand and an unexpected overnight stay in the dunes behind the beach. Luckily, my kiwi friend, Jono, and I had deliberately worked an overnight stay into our Ninety Mile Beach plans. With plenty of fish to catch from the beach and another food source under our feet in the sand, we had all we needed to survive several days on one of New Zealand’s most beautiful and remote beaches.
I finally went sandboarding!
Sandboarding has been on my bucket list for a long time. I was stoked when I found out I’d have the chance to finally tick it off my list in New Zealand!
Surprisingly, it took me nearly 3 months of traveling New Zealand to make it to the best sandboarding location—the Te Paki Recreation Reserve.
The Northern point of New Zealand’s North Island has great significance among the native Maori people. The land there is predominantly Maori owned and untouched with plenty of native vegetation growing wild.
Once we passed through the last town of Kaitaia and began the 100km drive up the Aupouri Peninsula, I could already see and feel its sacredness.
I dove a ship wreck!—and became an advanced open water diver.
While visiting the Bay of Islands, Jono and I booked a two-dive day trip in which I would experience diving down deep to explore an underwater ship wreck. It would be my first ever! I had been itching to dive again since I received my open water diver certification in Koh Toa, Thailand. Paihia Dive offered a package in which I would learn to dive to 100 feet.
The ship wreck was eerie, beautiful, and hilarious. This plus an awesome underwater kelp forest dive and surprise visit to the famous Hole in the Rock made my Bay of Islands diving trip an unforgettable experience.
I’m all about finding my own fun while traveling—and at low cost. Part of deviating is looking for ways to explore a new place without paying for a tour guide to show you around. Sometimes self-guided tours take you to unique places that turn out to be just as good as the tours or better!
This was the case the day Jono and I arrived in Paihia in Northland New Zealand. We had a whole day free to fill with whatever we chose. So we went snorkeling in the Bay of Islands on our own for just $20 each. Here’s how.
In celebration of the month of June, this post is about my experience attending Auckland Pride this year. New Zealand’s most populated city hosts their LGBT Pride parade, or as they call it “Hero Parade,” in February rather than in June (Pride month in the USA).
The parade and LGBT people were not always so accepted in New Zealand, however, and LGBT needs continue to be ignored by the NZ government.
I have been traveling for as long as it takes to carry a baby to term. Which begs the question—have I birthed any major plans for future travel destinations?
The answer is yes. But I am not quite ready to reveal them. All I will say is there are plans in the mix. In the meantime, I am trying to remind myself to stay in the moment and fully appreciate everything I have come to learn and love about New Zealand after over half a year here.
