New Zealand’s South Island is incredibly scenic. It’s the kind of setting that lends itself to descriptions like ‘awe-inspiring,’ ‘spectacular,’ ‘resplendent.’ It’s almost too much to take in when you’re actually there, when every turn reveals a different, equally impressive landscape. Now, in hindsight, having placed it in context with the rest of my three-week trip through New…
This is the second part of many in my journey through New Zealand and Australia. We pick up on Day 3 of our time in South Island, and the beautiful scenery continues. After lunch in Queenstown, we drove up to Wanaka (rhymes with Hannukah), where we would stay that night. We opted for a short…
We continue my journey through New Zealand as Jon, Pei, and I flew from Queenstown in South Island back up to Auckland in North Island and were joined by Young, Jessica, Karen, and Sam. It was a drastic change of scenery; despite being surrounded by plenty of nature, Auckland itself is very much a city. Breakfast at…
Hobbiton! On our last day in New Zealand, we made the three hour drive from Auckland down to Hobbiton, the famed set of The Lord of the Rings. We went for the full Hobbiton feast, with tours before and after sunset. The set is actually on a sheep farm. When the location scouts initially inquired,…
We bid our early morning farewells to New Zealand and headed to Australia; specifically, Hamilton Island, a small resort island near the Great Barrier Reef. It’s the kind of place where golf carts are the mode of transportation and housing comes mostly in the form of timeshares and hotels. On our agenda: SCUBA diving in the Great…
After a whole lot of anticipation, we finally made our way to Sydney, Australia. There was quite a bit of hype for the city, considering our friend did fall in love with it, quit his job, and move across the world to live there. And then he met a girl, fell in love with her, and…
We continue the series with more explorations around Sydney, including a quick visit to the coastal shores of Bondi Beach. We start off again in Surry Hills, the neighborhood where we stayed for our three-night visit. Our airbnb was cute, but the windows did not have screens and I got eaten alive by a mosquito and…
We’ve finally made it to the final stop of our whirlwind tour through New Zealand and Australia: Melbourne. Our stay was only two days long, but we all fell for the city in that short time. Melbourne and Sydney have a running rivalry much like LA vs. New York or maybe LA vs. SF. (And…