Travel Blogs

Doin' Dunedin

Posted by Aeren | 12th November 2009

The trip from Christchurch to Dunedin is only supposed to take around four and a half hours. But, the GPS can’t calculate stops to see the beauty of South Island. So four and a half is more like six and a half. I have a feeling that drive times may be very elongated in New Zealand. Just North of Dunedin is a good place to stop to see a natural wonder that’s a little different. The first thing you notice as you exit the car this day is the wind; it is blowing quite hard and bending the tall grass near the beach entrance to a 90 degree angle. Walking across a sand dune the tips of the same grass is sharp enough to cut and it does as it scratches at my bare ankles. The objects of this side trip are spherical boulders found along the shore known as the Moeraki Boulders.

Continued | China and beyond 2009

Sailing from Panama to Colombia

Posted by dezmondos | 8th November 2009

I arrived at the Marina and found the captain, Bryan Nellor of the Pearl S Buck - my home for the next 12 or so nights. The Pearl Buck was built in 1982 in Hong Kong and was named after a famous writer. If you get a chance read 'Good Earth' I read it on the boat and its a pretty good read. The boat was 42ft long and was originally built for cruising around the world.

Emil a guy from Sweden was joining us on the trip, he seemed nice enough. He wanted to get into sailing for himself so was really into the knots and learning all about sailing – a lot more enthusiastic then me, I think it may have showed... It was a nightmare of a first days sailing. To break the ice we decided to go through two bottles of rum the night before we set sail. Boy did we pay for it the next day, we were all sick - not knowing if this was down to sea sickness or a very bad hangover... I was hoping it was the hangover as if I had 12 days of feeling like this it was not going to be a pleasant trip.

Continued | Chris' Travels

Navigating Maui's Northwest Coast

Posted by Jennylynn | 4th November 2009

Rumor has it that Maui’s road to Hana is the drive of a lifetime. Having never actually taken part in the twisting and turning of this tedious route, I am not one to accurately report on this supposed assumption. I have heard that it is incredible. Yet I have also heard that the 600 turns in the road leave some with their head hung over a plastic bag or other vomit catching device for the day long duration of the drive. Either way I had intentions of completing the Road to Hana while in Maui, yet something about the closeness of the rugged Northwestern coastline left me wondering why Hana gets all the claim to fame rather than this shorter, more relaxed route (so I assumed). So, with curiosity driving us, Dan and I loaded up the car with picnic lunches and grand intentions of discovering the Northwestern coastline on our third day in Maui.

Continued | Jennifer's Journeys

Colors in Connecticut

Posted by kampongboy | 24th October 2009

I spent one of my most beautiful Saturdays ever upstate in Connecticut, which is about an hour plus drive from Midtown Manhatten. The drive was along a very scenic route along the Hudson River and then on the Merritt Highway, which was flanked by rows of trees in full colors of the fall, green, yellow, orange, red, purple and what have yous.

Arriving at her place, we drove up a 100 meter long driveway to her very quaint and pretty house. The houses in the suburbs are HUGE! Her place was surrounded by so much flora i thought she lived in a nature reserve! it's SOOOO beautiful! After meeting the family and having a nice coffee and bagels, we spent the morning house-hunting for one of my colleagues. It was such great fun as we visited million dollar homes that were so well furnished and mind-blowingly awesome!

Continued | Kampong Boy in the Big Apple

Sunday Market

Posted by Hawkson | 27th October 2009

The French have been embroiled in religious wars since the dark ages and Languedoc Roussillon has seen more than its fair share of blood spilled in the name of god. So, for a country whose roots are so pedantically wedded to religion, it’s surprising to discover that the main Sunday morning attraction is no longer the church, it’s the market.

This market hall in Lagrasse, near Carcassonne, was built in 1324 and has been in use ever since…

Continued | Blissful Adventures

A walk on the wild side

Posted by JuliaInOz | 19th October 2009

“Stop!” I hissed through clenched teeth, my eyes never leaving the black, scaly tail ahead of us. Every muscle in my body was tingling, I didn’t dare breathe. Brilliant plan, moving to a country filled with venomous snakes, just brilliant. “What do we do now?”

The trail was barely wide enough for one person to stand abreast, overgrown with scraggly, chest-high brush. For all I knew, we could have fifteen angry snakes on either side. “Looks like a copperhead, they’re pretty chill,” Marcus whispered from behind me, with less-than-convincing confidence. “Maybe make some noise, let him move off?” We stomped and rattled bushes hesitantly for a moment, then paused to watch and listen again. I could just see the front half of the metre-long dark, scaly body. It slowly turned in our direction.

Continued | Adventures Down Under

Seville

Posted by paulymx | 14th October 2009

Seville, Cordoba and Granada form something of triangle with Cordoba in the north, Seville in the west and Granada in the south. We were heading west towards Portugal so we needed to backtrack a little along the same highways we’d travelled from Cordoba to Seville. Seville was another old Roman city that had risen to prominence under the Muslims. Seville retains its old cosmopolitan atmosphere and feels ‘more Spanish‘ than either Granada or Cordoba. We stayed in a simply but cute hotel cum restaurant in the middle of the old town, one street back from the cathedral. It was all whitewashed walls and blue tiles.

Continued | Paul & Shelly's European Vacation 2009

The Lost Continent: Travels In Small-Town America

Posted by Isadora | 13th October 2009

Bill Bryson was born during 1951 in Des Moines, Iowa. Like most middle-class American families of the time, vacations revolved around the "road trip" across the US. Such trips would usually include historic battle fields and anything that would let you in for free. Having been born only a couple of years later (and in a similarly-sized Iowa town), I could relate to Mr. Bryson's descriptions of the over-heated car, long hours on the highway and not stopping to pee. (After all, wasn't that what coffee cans were really designed for - emptying your bladder on long road trips?!) But, that's not what this book is about...

Continued | The Book Club