To all of my travelling friends, You know who you are. And I am so LUCKY to have you. We met in a bar. In a hostel. On the train. In a plane. In the airport. On a boat. On The Boat. Through a friend of a friend of a friend. On the trail. We…
Category: travel essay
travel essay: riding the rails in the taieri gorge
I stepped onto the train platform, the cool shadows of the Dunedin Railway Station behind me, its ornate interior all Art Deco meets old world architecture. In front of me, the Taieri Gorge Railway sat waiting silently to take me on an exploratory journey. Climbing aboard, I found my seat in the carriage next to…
hiking ben lomond
Two days ago, I hiked my first ever mountain. Sure, I’ve hiked some mountains, some hills. But this was a 1400m high mountain. A legit mountain. I was stoked. I started around 10:30 am, from Queenstown, and took the Tiki Trail up with a girl from the hostel. I think she might have originally been…
travel essay: hiking the bealey spur track
It was the perfect day for a hike. We awoke in the crisp autumn air, a slight icy condensation on the car windows, to a hazily clear sky and snow peaked mountains all around us. Taylor and I both knew we wanted to hike; what we didn’t know was which track. We had camped the…
travel essay: hiking mount taranaki
I crawl out of bed in the grey dawn light and make my way to the kitchen. I’m about to attempt hiking Mount Taranaki, near New Plymouth, New Zealand, with my friend Dan. We are both hikers, but Taranaki is a strenuous hike and the weather doesn’t look great. Dan is already up, his leaving…
travel essay: flying over the remarkables
While in Queenstown over the Queen’s birthday weekend, I took the opportunity to explore the Remarkables mountain range by helicopter. I had contacted several tour companies asking about media rates and had been in contact with The Helicopter Line, based out at the Queenstown airport in Frankton. They said they had a 2:30 flight available,…
travel essay: hokianga
The road climbs steadily, trees obscuring the views on either side. Suddenly, the hill crests and the valley drops before me. The Waima Forest surrounds me, all greens and browns against a pale grey sky. It has been raining off and on since I left Paihia, and I’m anxiously awaiting the west coast to see…
travel essay: a love affair with the northland
When I first arrived in New Zealand, my plan was to spend time in Wellington. I wanted to get a job and make some money, then explore the North Island, and finally head South. I wanted to spend the majority of my time in this country on the South Island. I’ve been there. I knew…
travel essay: milford sound
To my right, the sun tries hard to peek through the heavy clouds. Crimsons, salmon, magenta, and gold fight for space with the grey early morning. To my left, a dense fog sits over Lake Te Anau, obscuring the mountains across the way. We speed along the lake, the roads curving seductively through the alpine…
travel essay: rainbow falls
From above, we watch the falls tumble down into the pool below. Our vantage point offers us the view of a rainbow curving through the thundering mist, thus giving this attractive falls its name. We hike silently down to the waters edge, past tall, thin boulders that remind me of faces, their tiny noses against…