(Location: Lake Eppalock, Australia) In October of 2014, we spent the weekend in Lake Eppalock, Victoria at a night sky photography workshop. We’d made a few attempts at photographing the night sky, but always wound up with a less than desirable exposure, or an out of focus sky. We learned more in the first five […]
(Location: Purnulu National Park, Western Australia) For Andy’s birthday in 2014, we spent 3 nights “glamping” in the Bungle Bungle, part of Purnulu National Park on the eastern edge of The Kimberly in Western Australia. If you find yourself wondering where the heck that is, you are not alone. Most of the Australians we know […]
(Location: Uluru, Australia) We packed a hell of a lot into a weekend. We stayed at Sails in the Desert, which is part of Ayer’s Rock Resort, which is basically the entire town of Yulara. With the exception of the totally out of the question Longitude 131, this seemed like the nicest place to stay. […]
(Location: Lake Tekapo, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 9: To Lake Tekapo From Queenstown we headed north, past disturbingly turquoise lake and rivers, to Lake Tekapo. We’d pre-booked a site, and it is a good thing we did because they were completely sold out. Our reason for this destination was that it is known for […]
(Location: Franz Joseph to Queenstown, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 8: Glacier Hike and Queenstown It was raining when we went to sleep, but blue skies and glacier views when we woke up in the morning. It was warm, sunny, and empty when we started the walk to the viewpoint, and clouding up, cooler, and […]
(Location: Weston to Franz Joseph Glacier, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 7: To the Glacier From Westport, we headed down the west coast of the South Island. The coastline here is breathtaking – steep cliffs, boulder-filled bays, and crashing surf. Our first stop was the blowholes and Pancake Rocks near Punakaiki. After a bit of […]
(Location: Wellington to Westport, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 6: From the North to the South Island The ferry from Wellington departed at 8am, and the crossing to Picton (on the South Island) took just over three hours. The sea was generally calm, but the boat had to travel very slow due to the narrow […]
(Location: Tongariro to Wellington, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 5: Easter Monday We continued south from Tongariro, past field after field after field of sheep. There are 7 million sheep in New Zealand. Pretty sure we saw 1/4 of them this day. Despite the hard lesson learned of being “homeless” on the first night in […]
(Location: Auckland to Rotorua, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] Day 3: Heading South from Auckland We said a sad goodbye to the Hilton, with its fluffy towels, hot shower, and comfortable bed, and headed over to pick up the campervan. Those of you who know me know that I need a real incentive for camping and/or […]
(Location: Auckland, New Zealand) [one_half] [/one_half] In April of 2014, Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Anzac Day lined up nicely, meaning one could take three vacation days and get 10 days off in a row. This phenomena comes few and far between, so we took advantage of the time and headed to New Zealand. Because […]