Back over my birthday weekend, when I was drifting aimlessly through Central Otago with nothing concrete planned, I ended up at Kinloch Lodge, out on the edges of Lake Wakatipu, an hour and a half from Queenstown, down a gravel road near Paradise. I spent a few days here, hiking, enjoying the spa, chatting with…
Tag: solo female travel
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…
south to dunedin, road trip part three
Missed the beginning of my road trip south? I started in Paihia at the beginning of May. Read in order one, two, three, and four for all the dirty details. 27 – 30 May Aussie Chris picked me up from lunch with Tay and after saying goodbye to her, we found our way into Christchurch…
what no one told me about travelling in my thirties, part two
I got so many responses to my question, “what did no one ever tell you abut travelling in your thirties?“, that I had to break it into two posts. Or three. They’re still coming. Guess what? If you’re in your thirties, and travelling solo, and have never settled down, don’t have kids, don’t have a…
what i’ve learned while traveling solo
Over the last few years, I’ve really perfected my selfie. I’ve traveled solo to four countries and met up with friends for a portion of trips in five other countries. I’ve eaten at more restaurants than I care to admit, alone. Gone for a night out, alone. Hiked, alone. Joined groups of people for a…
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…
on 31: a birthday alone
Confession time. I spent my birthday weekend alone. And it was glorious. Most of the time. After telling the guy I was seeing to get out of my house, I took advantage of my four and a half days off to go through to Queenstown, Kinloch, and Wanaka. I had originally planned to go to…
an early bird tour: gallipoli: the scale of our war
I promised a part three of my posts on Te Papa, and here you go. When Bryn heard that I had had a rather “full” tour of the Gallipoli exhibit, he asked me if I wanted to come back to do the early bird tour. The idea behind this is that, because the exhibit is…
five downsides to solo travel*
Travel is hard. It can be frustrating. It can be arduous. It can be lonely. But you know what the hardest part of solo travel is? The fact that you’re stuck taking selfies the entire time. Or you learn a hell of a lot about your self-timer on your iPhone. You also get really damn…
travel tips: walking around cities
I like to walk around cities; it must be innate, because so does my mother (I rather think the rest of my family can leave or take it). In some cities, like New York or London, it’s not feasible. In small cities, though – Oslo, Reykjavik, Glasgow, Wellington, Portland or Seattle – it’s definitely doable,…