The Bottom of the World December 30, 2025

My flight leaves to return home in 3.5 hours. I am sad to leave down under, but also looking forward to getting home. 3+ weeks being away seemed like a long time, and it was, but it also passed in the blink of an eye! This has been an absolutely incredible trip and I could not have asked for more.

When I travel, I sometimes keep a notes app note about things that I observe that are interesting or different. Here are my miscellaneous observations about Australia and New Zealand!

Sydney CBD is a lot hillier than I expected. I don’t know why I am always so surprised at a hilly downtown, or major city, but I am! The CBD is also very interesting because it has a lot of skyscrapers, as you would imagine, but it also has a lot of outdoor spaces. Like little malls, so to speak, where you can cut through blocks that would normally be taken up by a building and there are often restaurants and bars and outdoor seating in these spaces. Just different than I have seen elsewhere.

There does not appear to be a leash law in Sydney, or Australia, because the number of dogs I saw out – at beaches, walking down the street, etc. – without a leash was astronomical. One place, Cairns, did I see a sign requiring leashing.

I did not see a ton of homeless people in either country, but in Sydney I saw a couple homeless people’s set up. The people weren’t there, but their stuff was and they had what appeared to be a mattress and sheets, etc. What looked like their bedroom on a the street. And I saw it more than once which was very curious to me. Were they actually mattresses? Don’t they worry about leaving and having their stuff stolen?

I heard one of my tour guides in Queensland talking about how the government here is getting rid of fluoride in their water, too. I looked it up and it does appear that at least some areas of the state are removing fluoride from the water. Regardless, it is also a hot button political topic here, as it is in the US.

Overall, the people of Australia are very friendly. They smile and say hello. When I arrived to my hotel in Melbourne, there did not appear to be a ramp and I was going to have to lug all my stuff up like 10 steps. A big, muscly guy saw me and asked if I wanted help. He carried my suitcase up for me. What a guy! I also had some really friendly Aussies help put my carryon in the overhead bins on flights – I can get it down with one hand but I cannot put it up there one-handed!

In New Zealand there were a few oddities. I have driven on the wrong side of cars and the wrong side of the road plenty of times. Ireland, much? I rented a car in Melbourne for a day, as well. But when I got to NZ, I learned that their blinkers are on the right and the wipers are on the left. That was more confusing to me than the whole driving bit. You have no idea how many times I turned my wipers on instead of a blinker!

The other read oddity involved Diet Coke. I am used to some countries not selling it and offering Coke Zero instead (I did survive two weeks in Japan on that swill). But I have never experienced a country that did not sell DC in cans. Only bottles. Everything else was available in a can, but not DC. What the heck? I hate plastic bottle DC – it is the worst. But I drank it because it’s better than Coke Zero. But seriously? What can be the point behind that? It’s not that they don’t sell it. Finally, in Te Puke I found a 6-pack of mini DC cans at the grocery store. So weird.

NZ also has a fair amount of hitchhikers. In addition to the French girl I drove to Mt Cook Village, I saw someone who appeared to be broken down on the side of the road with her thumb out and the car in front of me veered over and picked her up. And when I told the French girl that hitchhiking isn’t safe, she said she asked people and they said it’s common and safe there. Okaaaaaay.

I try to be cognizant of what side of the sidewalk I should walk on in places that drive on the left. For instance, in London, it doesn’t matter. They don’t stick to the left like you would when driving. Same with Ireland, in my experience. In Australia, there were literally signs telling pedestrians to walk on the left and sometimes it was painted on the ground, too. In NZ? Not so much. It seemed like a free for all and annoyed me completely.

Finally, I overheard an employee at Hobbiton tell a young man that he needed to provide his passport as identification/proof of age for alcohol. Apparently, in NZ, if you don’t have a NZ ID card, you have to use your passport. It is illegal to use your American driver’s license, for instance. Interesting!

Funny story – when I spent the morning at Starbucks in Tauranga the other day, a gentleman was there working most of the time I was there. It was cold, rainy, and windy out and people would not latch the door, so it was always blowing open and I was always having to get up and close it. Eventually he goes, that was me before you came! He was getting ready to leave and so I asked him to watch my stuff so I could use the bathroom. He agreed and then asked me if I was Irish. He seemed surprised that I was American, but I told him it was a huge compliment that he thought I was Irish! He was olive-skinned and said his ancestors stowed away on a boat from Ireland – but I think he was also part-Māori because we chatted about the country when I got back. He mentioned that “even his people” as he pointed to his skin color, were not properly conserving the land anymore – it was a bit of a political conversation about how he felt NZ is going down the wrong path.

Given the violence in Australia while I’ve been here (there was also an anti-Semitic attack in Melbourne after Bondi), and hearing about the NZ government and their natural resources, I understand how similar we all are. In America, we tend to think that what’s happening there is so unique and awful (sometimes) and a tragedy. And it may be. But in my experiences visiting 42 countries on 6 continents, other places are having the same issues. While that may be sad to know that hatred or corruption or whatever is part of the human condition, it buoys me that America does not have these singular problems.

Goodbye Australia and NZ, you have been some of my favorites!

Kia Ora! December 29, 2025

Yesterday was a very full day! I started by driving 90 mins to Huka Falls – a cool waterfall that when it is really rushing can fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 11 seconds! It was pretty – but not sure it was worth the long drive.

I then began to move north – stopping at Wai-O-Tapu – an active geothermal area. The tourist part of the area is owned by a local Māori company. It has a number of naturally occurring geothermal springs – lots of sulfur! Some of the eggiest smells I’ve ever smelled! There are three tracks and I did all of them – some showed craters that the steam creates from underneath the earth, some showed lakes, and some showed terraces (rock that may have a small amount of water on it, but mostly looked like a massive rock field.

Some of the springs are famous – Artist’s Palate, which is fed from water from Champagne Pool – which was very cool. It is called the champagne pool because of the bubbles that it has – it looks like bubbly! Then there is the Devil’s Bath – a bright green spring/pool. It looks fake. Like how could something that color naturally exist in nature?!?

Champagne Pool

Devil’s Bath

Then I continued north to Waimangu Volcanic Valley – more geothermal springs, but the youngest ones in the world! It was created in 1886 by a volcanic eruption and also encompasses the Waimangu Geyser. That geyser was active from 1900 to 1904 and would erupt for like 5-6 hours every 36 hours. At that time, it was the most powerful geyser in the world.

The science behind this area is fascinating. The geyser just became extinct in 1908 and other geologic phenomena have been observed but they can’t quite explain it yet. For instance, There are two lakes – Inferno Crater Lake and Frying Pan Lake that appear to act in conjunction on a routine schedule. In 38 day cycles, one lake’s water table will decrease and the other will increase. They are clearly related but they don’t quite know how or why yet.

This site is a 4 km walk (again on three tracks) and was very interesting. Just to see the beauty of the world and how much is going on with our earth was fascinating. How it all works together and what comes up out of the ground is just nuts!

I left Waimangu and went into Rotorua to the Redwood Forest Tree Walk. They have suspended bridges in the redwood forest and you can walk through the forest high up in the trees. It was cool, but probably not worth the hype. I am glad I went to the redwood forest on the GOR in southern Australia – that place was way cooler.

After killing some time at Starbucks – first one in three weeks! – I went to the Mitai Māori Village – this is a cultural performance and dinner and is run by a Māori family. It was amazing. We went out to the forest and watched Māori warriors come in on a canoe and chanting – preparing themselves for battle. It is so hard to believe that the Māori, or their predecessors arrived in NZ (the last large landmass to be occupied by humans, by the way) from islands near Hawaii in CANOES! Seven canoes brought the first indigenous people here. Can you imagine canoeing for however long through the Pacific Ocean? They found NZ because they watched the clouds – if they saw clouds, they knew there would be land. Eventually they saw the long white cloud and knew that there was significant land ahead – that was NZ and why it’s called the land of the long, white cloud.

Then we went into the auditorium and watched male and female Māori perform different rituals/chants/songs. They performed with weapons and explained them, as well as instruments. They were very good! It was so interesting. The performers were almost all under 20 years old and we heard about how only in the last 20 years or so has the government of NZ started prioritizing Māori and their culture. Hearing them talk about learning their language in school and how obstacles were being removed to their culture in the mainstream, and even laws mandating it, reminded me of Ireland and its attempts to preserve Irish.

After the performance we had our dinner – a traditional Hangi, or dinner cooked in an earth oven. It reminded me of my dinner in the Wadi Rum desert with the Bedouins. It was delicious. I had chicken, mussels, salad, cole slaw, bread, and fry bread (which reminded me of Native American fry bread). I couldn’t finish my dinner, so I had to skip dessert, even though there were so many options and it looked great!

After dinner we did a night walk to the forest to see what their village would have looked like 100 years ago. Then we walked back along the stream and saw glow worms! The Māori believe the glow worms are their deceased ancestors. It was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it!

Glow worms!

Today I was supposed to go to Waitomo and the glow worm caves – but it appears I screwed up. Two days ago I was looking for my booking to confirm the time and I couldn’t find it. When I plan trips like this, I type out my itinerary in my notes app – by location and day. When I book an item, I put it under the specific day and I use the black emoji checkmark next to it. That way I know it’s booked. The glow worm caves had the black check mark and I distinctly remember when I was researching this because there were two caves I wanted to see and I was trying to line them up, timewise. But I could find no booking confirmation in my entire email account, so I checked my credit card. Nothing. Of course, given it’s the high season and school vacation here, it was all booked up. So I had to scrap those plans.

Instead, I woke up today – on a very rainy day – and drove to Tauranga for Starbucks. My Airbnb the last two days did not have Wi-Fi, and I used my 1GB of international data both of the last two days, so I was behind in my photos and blog. The Starbucks Wi-Fi has been only barely sufficient, so I have drafted these blog posts, but will have to wait until I get to Auckland to sync my photos from my phone to the cloud so I can put photos in these posts!

I can’t believe this is my second to last day! Three weeks seemed like an eternity when I got here, but has flown by!

North Island

On the 27th, I flew from ChCh to Auckland – from the South Island to the North Island. Man, it’s different. The South Island is very rugged, lots of mountains, lakes, etc. The North Island has a lot of rolling, and very unique, hills, but definitely a different landscape!

After getting my car, I headed out of Auckland going to Hamilton Gardens. The only thing I had booked that day was Hobbiton, which wasn’t until 2pm, and I landed at 8:15am, so I had time! I was originally planning on trying to fit in Hamilton Gardens on my way back to Auckland, which probably wouldn’t have happened. So I was glad when I realized that I had time on my way out.

It was even more beautiful than I thought. The main attraction are the enclosed gardens, of which there are 28. They were almost all magnificent. The gardens are split into five different collections: Paradise Garden, Cultivar Garden, Productive Garden, Landscape Garden, and Fantasy Garden. My favorites were the English Flower Garden, the Indian Char Bagh Garden, the Tudor Garden, and the Italian Renaissance Garden. But they were all just so wonderful.

After Hamilton Gardens, I made my way to Hobbiton. I had been on the fence about this before I bought my ticket because I have never read the books nor seen the movies. If you know me, you know the fantasy genre isn’t my jam. But when in Rome…

It was better than I thought it would be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was on a tour with a bunch of nerds. 🙂 Although I had almost no background, it was still cool to hear stories about making the movies and the set and everything. Apparently, Peter Jackson and his scouting crew flew over NZ looking for a tree – once they found the tree, it had to be the right land also had to have a lake. They found the tree first, as that was the most important.

The land is a working farm, and the owners agreed to let them film and build the set. They built the hobbit houses, which are very cool. The whole set is darling. After they filmed the LOTR movies, they tore it all down. Years later when he decided to do the Hobbit trilogy, they had to rebuild it all. I guess the farmer told Jackson that 250,000 people had come to stand on the land when it was empty, following LOTR, so they became business partners in the decision to make Hobbiton and leave it up after filming.

There were 39 Hobbit holes for the LOTR and they built 5 more for the Hobbit, which got, like 8 secs of airtime total. Yikes. The Hobbit holes are just facades, obviously, and the interior scenes were filmed in a studio in Wellington. (Some English lady asked if they could tour the studio – as if the sets are there from like 12 years ago – someone doesn’t understand the concept of a movie studio).

Only recently did they decide to create two Hobbit holes that guests could enter. It took many years for them to create the interiors, like 10 years or something. It was Peter Jackson and people from the studio’s art department, as they had to make everything for the interiors. It’s all Hobbit sized, of course. The two Hobbit holes just opened in December 2023 – so that’s cool. My favorite part of the one I went in was the bathroom and the kitchen.

After the tour, we went to the Green Dragon, a bar, and we could have one drink. I had a cider, but it tasted too much like Angry Orchard! I also had to drive and was tired, so I only had half a mug!

Overall, it was a great tour and I am glad I went. Even if I have no point of reference for it!

I made it to my Airbnb that evening – after braving the twisty-turny roads. It is remote, which is fine, but it is also very remote! It took 20 mins to get into a town with dinner – where I had a terrible chicken sandwich. I went to the grocery store before heading home to bed, and bought Tim Tams. I think I will have eaten my weight in Tim Tams before this trip is over!

ChCh

I am a little behind! That’s what a late night, a 4am flight, followed by a lot of driving will do!

On the 26th, I left the Mt Cook area headed for Christchurch (ChCh). I stopped at Lake Tekapo first, which was a beautiful lake. There is also an old stone church on the banks of the lake – the Church of the Good Shepherd. It was a bit underwhelming, but the lake was beautiful!

Lake Tekapo is also supposed to have a massive amount of lupins, and because I was here during prime season, I was looking forward to seeing them ring the lake. There weren’t many, unfortunately. On my way to the lake, there appeared to be a big field of them, but there was nowhere to pull over.

So I headed out of town, keeping my eyes peeled because the internet had also told me of a field north of the lake. Sure enough! I found a place to pull in and park and there were more lupins than I’ve ever seen in my life. It was gorgeous!

I then finished the drive to ChCh and parked outside of my Airbnb – too early to check-in and I wanted to get some lunch. My Airbnb was in prime location – 5 mins to Riverside Market on one side and 5 mins to Harley Park/Botanic Gardens on the other. Off to the market! It was intense. There were A LOT of people there – and many locals, it seemed. It was sort of like a cross between a food court and an entertainment district. I guess they have a farmers market some days, too.

I was walking through looking for something to eat when I saw a pie shop. Not that kind of pie. Meat pies. What NZ is known for. Even though I really don’t like pot pies, which is what they remind me of, I knew I had to try one. I got a steak and cheese and….well….it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The seasoning was good, but the cheese weirded me out. It was kind of gloppy. I ate about 1/3 of it and called it good.

After a bit of wandering, I realized I had time to get new AirPods – so I found an electronics store about a half-mile away and went and got them. I hated buying another pair, but it really was a non-negotiable.

I then went back to Riverside Market and had a chicken sandwich at Empire Chicken. I asked for BBQ on it instead of whatever came on it and boy, did they understand the assignment! I think it was the most BBQ sauce I’ve ever had on a sammy before!

After I ate, I walked to the Botanic Garden. It was beautiful. Hayley Park is divided into two by the Botanic Garden and the whole thing was just lovely. Lots of cool flowers and trees that I have never seen before – the flora and fauna are so cool here – I don’t know why, but I didn’t anticipate them being so different!

After the Botanic Garden, I went to the Airbnb and relaxed until dinner – which was back at Riverside Market, where I got a smash burger – allegedly one of the best burgers in NZ. It was definitely one of the tastiest meals I’ve had here, but that’s also not saying much!

At 8pm, I went to He Puna Taimoana – a hot pools facility on the beach. There are like 5 hot pools – all different temps – and a cold plunge. Also a steam room and a sauna. It was very interesting – you go in and there is a communal changing area with stalls to change and lockers in the middle. You had to pay $3 for a locker. There were also men and women’s showers. On Friday nights, they have a sunset soak, which is what I was doing. Although it’s east facing, so you’re not really watching the sunset, it was very neat to be in a hot tub overlooking the beach/ocean at sunset. There were A LOT of people there – it was adults only – but still a lot of people.

I stayed for about 45 mins in the hottest pool. It was glorious – I could have stayed the full 2 hours, but I had a 6:45am flight and had to drop the car off – so I had a wake up of 4am. Yikes.

Southern Alps December 24, 2025

Merry Christmas from the Southern Alps!

Yesterday, I left Wanaka and headed for my Airbnb in Ben Ohau, just outside of Twizel, near Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. I had one stop to make on the way – Omarama Clay Cliffs. I was considering attempting to do some hiking if I had time because the weather was not going to cooperate with me on Christmas Eve/Day. But, there was a crash on the two-lane highway, so I sat in stopped traffic for 90 mins! The crash was at 10am and they hadn’t cleared it by 2pm. Crazy.

The Omarama Clay Cliffs are made of silt and gravel and formed from glacial erosion – a very long time ago! I knew it was an uphill walk to the cliffs, but I hadn’t realized that the entire thing was uphill on unstable ground and loose rock! I made it most of the way – as I was entering a third section, two guys were coming down, so I asked them if it was all like this. Their response? It’s worse. Oh fantastic. They were right. They said to go into that section for the view, but not to go further. I did that and then prayed not to fall on my way back down! It was very pretty and the walls/cliffs are very unique looking – I just would have liked to be able to appreciate it more by being on stable footing!

After the clay cliffs, I went on to Twizel, where I needed to go to the grocery store to get food for today and tomorrow – given the holiday. I went into what I thought was the main grocery store and intended to get stuff for sandwiches, some treats, water, DC, and something for Christmas dinner. That store had almost no meat product that was not pork. 1000 different kinds of ham lunch meat, but nothing else. Frozen pizzas that were all pork related – not even a simple cheese pizza. Read at made meals that involved pork. It was insane. I got some stuff, but left without any real food. I thought I might have to order extra restaurant food and eat leftovers!

As I was heading out of town to my Airbnb, I saw another grocery store. So when I came back into town later for dinner and to get gas, I went there. That place was much bigger and had a better selection. Thankfully!

My plan for Christmas Eve and Day was hiking around Mt. Cook – the tallest mountain in NZ. This National park has more than 21 peaks and several glaciers and is in the Southern Alps – the mountain range that runs the entire west side of the South Island. Unfortunately, the weather was looking like rain most of both days. Sure enough, I woke up this morning at 6:30 and it was lashing rain outside. I went back to sleep and woke up at 7:30, only to find a bright sunny day. I still believed it would be less ideal at the mountain, but I knew my best chance for decent weather was between 10-2.

I got there at about 9:30 and it was raining, but not too bad. My first hike was the Hooker Valley Track – a trail with three suspension bridges and is supposed to be 10km round trip. Instead, it is closed before the second bridge due to construction or maintenance. I still did it because it looked like a good walk. The way out was mostly windy and rainy, but as a Minnesotan, there is no bad weather only bad clothing. I came prepared! I had my Keens, of course; my fleece-lined joggers; a long-sleeved workout top; a fleece; my North Face windbreaker/rain coat; and a hat and gloves. It was fine. Not ideal, but fine. By the time I turned around, the sun was coming out more and the rain and wind were letting up.

I decided to next do the Kea Point Track – I was originally going to do Hooker Valley and Tasman Lake today and Sealy Tarns (Stairway to Heaven) tomorrow. But with tomorrow being a washout, I decided to do as much as I could today. I am bummed at not being able to do Sealy Tarns today, but it was so wet and windy and there would have been no view. So I spontaneously added Kea Point. This was essentially on the other side of Mueller Lake from the Hooker Valley Track and it had a better view of Mueller Glacier.

On my way back on the Kea Point Track, the wind started picking up again (it had mostly stopped raining by this time). I was going downhill over lots of rocks and loose gravel and a gust of wind came and blew me so hard, I thought it was going to blow me away. No joke. I had to stutter step a few times to keep my balance and hope I didn’t fall on the rocks! Crazy.

After eating my sammy in the car that I brought with me, I drove to Tasman Glacier walk, a short drive away. Once there, I realized that there were several tracks – Blue Lake, Tasman Glacier Lake, and Tasman Glacier Jetty. The first two shared a trail for part of the way and were shorter, so I did that one first. Boy am I glad I did!

It was basically 350 steps straight up – I did not realize that! Blue Lake juts off and I went there first. With all the spectacular blue water in this country, you’d imagine something called Blue Lake would be blue, yeah? No. It’s green. But the sign explains it – it is no longer fed by glacial water, which is what originally made it blue. Now it is fed by rainwater, so it’s green.

Up, up I continued to the Tasman Lake lookout or whatever. It was very striking. The lake was white. It almost looked like it was frozen. Well, this lake is relatively new – it basically formed in the ‘70’s from the melting glacier – and now that the glacier is in contact with the water, it is receding even more rapidly. It has receded 2 km in the last 10 years or so. The color of the lake is due to “glacial flour,” or fine powder of ground up rock created by the glacier’s movement. Crazy! This lake even had icebergs floating in it!

I descended the stairs and set off toward the Tasman Lake Jetty – that walk/hike was mostly flat, just longer than the other two. That’s why I was glad I did all those stairs first! This track leads you to the water’s edge, where tourists can take boat rides on the lake. It was just a closer look at the lake.

As I set off to go back to my car, the wind and rain began again in earnest. I had to rezip my North Face jacket over my fleece, which was tied around my waist. I think between there and my car, I dropped the case for my AirPods. I realized this as I was getting back to my car and only felt my charger in my pocket. I had so many things in pockets, that I had originally kept these things in my fleece pocket, safely underneath my North Face jacket. But because the wind and rain had subsided so much (until the end), I was actually warm. So I tied my fleece around my waist and the charger and AirPod case kept hitting my legs. So I moved them. Big mistake. Huge.

As I returned to my car and unlocked it, and as I started feeling around for my case, a girl approached me and asked if I was leaving. I said yes. She asked for a ride to Mt. Cook Village. Of course, I was distracted by my missing AirPod case, and wary of the request, but I said yes. It was starting to rain fairly good by then and it was like a 5 mile walk. When she realized I had lost my case, she was going to move on. I told her, no, I will drive you. She goes, are you going back to look for it? I said no, it’s fine, I will drive you. She was French and traveling on her own. I was happy to drive her, particularly given the weather. And it was Christmas Eve, after all! Merry Christmas!

PS. Let’s hope for a Christmas miracle – that I can get a new AirPods case in Christchurch on Friday or on the North Island over the weekend – because I cannot fathom a 15.5 hour flight without my AirPods! But a lot of stores are closed on Friday for Boxing Day, there is no Apple Store in NZ, and I have bookings that limit my availability Saturday-Monday!

Stunningly Beautiful December 22, 2025

Breathtaking. Magnificent. Aw-inspiring. That is how I would describe New Zealand!

I arrived in NZ two days ago, on the 20th. My flight was delayed (because of course it was – I nearly missed the flight due to a perfect storm of reasons, only for the flight to be delayed). Once I picked up my rental car and checked in to my Airbnb, I wanted to get down to the Queenstown Garden and have a Fergberger before going up the Skyline gondola.

It was cooler in Queenstown, for which I was grateful, but it was actually chilly that afternoon and started to rain after I got my Fergberger (which was good – not the BEST burger I’ve ever had, but it was good!) I had wanted to walk through the gardens, but it was raining and colder than I had expected, so I went back to my Airbnb and to get warmer clothes for my trek up the mountain. (I had also intended to hike part of the mountain – Ben Lomond – but the mountain was mostly covered in a cloud, so that seemed counterproductive.

The views from where the gondola drops you off were spectacular. It had stopped raining (even though it rained during the gondola ride) and the sun was coming out. The view of the lake and the city was amazing. Gorgeous.

I then went back to my Airbnb and went to bed very early – I had been operating on about 2 hours of sleep and a stressful travel day. Plus I knew I had a long day ahead of me the next day.

Which was my drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound for a cruise on the sound. The boat left at 1:30 and they recommended you give yourself 5 hours from Queenstown, due to the stops. Many people stay in Te Anau for Milford Sound tours, so the drive is broken up, but I didn’t want to do that.

I understood why they recommended 5 hours, when GPS said just shy of 4. The drive was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken (and this is on the heels of my GOR adventure!). It was just stunning.

Lake Te Anau

Eglinton Valley

Mirror Lakes

Cascade River

Falls River

And all that was on the way TO Milford Sound (with a few stops saved for the return trip to make sure I got there in time!)

The Milford Sound is NZ’s most famous fjord in its Fiordland – often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It combines mountains (Mitre Peak), glaciers, waterfalls (Stirling and Bowen), rainforest, and wildlife (we saw seals!). It’s funny, reading a subreddit on this topic and reading everyone say it was one of the most amazing trips they ever took and how the trip to the sound was more incredible than they thought – same girl, same!

There were so many waterfalls! And the cliffs – so enormous! The scale is hard to describe. I got on the boat and immediately went up to the upper deck where I could sit outside. Unfortunately, that was a wet place to sit, I quickly learned. Of course, I left my rain/windbreaker and hat in the car because it was just so lovely out. I knew it would be colder/windier on the boat, but I hadn’t anticipated just how much colder – or that I would get hit with splash every 3 seconds. I moved to the other side of the boat and a guy who had seen what happened goes, you were in the splash zone! Facts.

The sound was majestic – the colors amazing on the bright, sunny day – the waterfalls were flowing. People say it’s better on a rainy day, so I wouldn’t have been disappointed if it had been raining, but I was also glad for the beautiful weather.

Seals!

Waterfalls so tall they evaporate before hitting the water!

Stirling Falls -500 feet tall

Bowen Falls – 530 feet tall

After the cruise – which went all the way out to the ocean, where we turned around – I drove back and made a couple of stops I didn’t have time for earlier.

Monkey Creek

I ate dinner in Te Anau and got gas on my way back. Food has not been a great highlight of this trip. To be fair, AUS and NZ aren’t known for their food scenes (I mean, maybe they are if you eat Asian food, but…), but still – I went to what was supposed to be the best pizzeria in Te Anau and ordered a Margherita pizza – it wasn’t great.

Today, I set off for Wanaka – my first one night stay of the trip. The trip there was, again, breathtaking. Massive mountains and deep teal lakes. I could have pulled over and sat there for hours!

I drove through Wanaka to the Blue Pools track to go hiking/tramping to the Blue Pools. It wasn’t a long walk – but the day was threatening rain in the afternoon and I had things I wanted to do before it came, so I didn’t hike as far as I normally would have. The Blue Pools, though? I have seen water on this trip colors I never imagined!

I then drove back to Wanaka to visit the Wanaka Lavender Farm. I love lavender and it is summer, so it was in bloom. I decided to check it out. It was a very cute place. It had animals and a tea room and a shop. The garden was very pretty – lots of plants/flowers I had never seen before.

After visiting the lavender farm, I made my way into town to see the Wanaka Tree – it was supposed to start raining any minute, so I hustled. This tree is just growing in Lake Wanaka – it’s kind of a weird tourist attraction, but it was very cool. I had wanted to visit at sunset, but due to the rain (and the overcast day), I just wanted to see it!

Wanaka Tree

I was hungry by then – it was almost 5pm and I had only eaten three small pieces of chocolate all day long. So I found some restaurants on the main drag. I was going to go to one, but I checked out some others first and found one that had Magners! So I went there and ordered at the bar – only to learn that they were out of Magners. I wanted to leave and go back to the other place – and maybe I should have – but I felt bad. So I ordered the smash burger. It was not great. Again, food disappoints me here!

Next up is one of the stops I have been most anticipating – Mt. Cook. I will be staying in a very remote house near Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. I have several hikes lined up for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Only for the forecast to now be rain both of those days (also? Colder here in summer than it is supposed to be in STL! Crazy!). I will play it by ear – I am considering doing one of the four hikes tomorrow, on a good weather day, but haven’t decided – partly because there is a chance the rain will be snow – which I would MUCH prefer. I also need to get groceries for the holiday – seeing as though it will just be me, my Airbnb, and the mountain!

The Great Ocean Road December 18, 2025

I came to Melbourne for one main reason – the Great Ocean Road. And it did not disappoint!

First, I arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday, checked into my lovely Airbnb, and went out to check out the city. It has a much different feel to Sydney and from my limited experience here, I like it better. Even though the downtown (or CBD) appears to be bigger than Sydney, it has a smaller feel. At least in the areas I went to, there are tons of little shops, bars, and restaurants. Some of the lanes reminded me of Japan. While Sydney was what I would consider a typical big city downtown – lots of office buildings, people rushing, etc. (There are lots of skyscrapers here, too, but it just feels different.)

I went to Flinders Street Station – the oldest train station (but not the current bldg) in Australia. I liked it, but I had thought there would be a cool interior. There was no interior unless you were traveling – nothing else to see.

Then I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral – a gorgeous Anglican Church. It was very nice. Built in 1891 – but the church had been there since 1835, when the first Christian service in Melbourne was conducted.

I finished by visiting Hosier Lane – a street dedicated to street art. It is always changing because people have the freedom to come paint whatever they want and paint over stuff. Banksy has painted here. It was cool to see – I like street art when it’s actually art and not just shit spray painted everywhere.

Yesterday was my GOR adventure! I took an Uber to a western suburb where I picked up the car I had rented and was on my way. I drove inland to Port Campbell, not the western end of the GOR, but close enough. Then I turned around and began my drive. I left Melbourne at 6:30am and arrived at Port Campbell at 9:00am.

The first stop was Loch Ard Gorge – the site of a shipwreck in 1878. The ship was the Loch Ard. Only two people survived. It was a gorgeous site – marred only by annoying, aggressive flies. Little did I know those flies would be present at every stop along the road that was near the ocean. I Googled the flies and it tells me that flies are “a common, often intense issue.” No shit.

Then it was on to the Twelve Apostles – one of the sites I was most looking forward to seeing and probably the most famous site on the drive. These are rock outcroppings off the coast and are absolutely stunning. There were never 12 and some have collapsed into the water due to erosion. But it was such a beautiful place.

The next stop was a slight detour off the GOR – the Redwoods Otways in the Great Otway National Park. There is a forest of California Sequoias and it was awesome. I have not seen the Redwood Forest in California, so this was my first experience of them. I was mesmerized. I would have liked to walk in them more than I did, but one stretch I came to required walking up a steep embankment and I knew I would have to come back down it and did not want to fall! There was a little stream in the forest and a bunch of palms. It was great! Glad I took the detour.

I got back on the GOR and drove out to Cape Otway Lighthouse – which was closed for repair, so entrance was half-priced. Had I known that you couldn’t get within 30 feet of the lighthouse and not really see the shore, I would have passed. I didn’t need to see inside the lighthouse, but to have it roped off like it was annoyed me!

As I drove out of the Cape Otway area, I saw a bunch of people stopped on the side of the road photographing something. Koalas! When I got out of my car I was hit with the smell of the eucalyptus trees. It was stronger than I thought it would be and it smelled good! I spotted the little koala sitting up in a branch. He looked like a little guy just hanging out. It was awesome!

My last stop of the morning was Mait’s Rest – a cool, temperate rainforest – different from the tropical Daintree Rainforest up north. There was a short walk through the rainforest and it was nice and cool inside there. And just gorgeous – so many enormous trees and palms. It was very relaxing.

I finally made it to Apollo Bay around 1:30 or so and had some fish and chips for lunch. This was better than the fish and chips from PJ O’Briens in Cairns, but so far no one beats the fish and chips from the fishmonger in Manly.

After getting gas, my next stop was the Kennett River Koala Walk – a walk along Grey River Road where you are not supposed to be able to throw a stone without hitting a koala. That may be an exaggeration, but only slightly. There are also lots of birds at the start of the walk – I saw sign warning of swooping magpies! As I crossed the road to start the walk, I saw an Australian King Parrot just hanging out on a post. That was cool.

The Grey River Road is a dirt path and entirely uphill. They say to arrive early in the morning or late afternoon. I was there at 3:30 – check. It was myself and a family of 5 (I think from Italy), that were walking. Some of the family got far ahead of the rest of us and we walked for about 30 mins in the heat and bright sun and….nothing. No stinking koalas. It isn’t easy walking uphill on a dirt road, with your neck craned upward, trying to block the bright sun, and wave off those dirty flies every two seconds!

The family members that were ahead of me turned around and I confirmed with them that they saw nothing. They asked me to take their pic, which I was happy to do – right after I finished taking photos of a Laughing Kookaburra I spotted in a tree above me!

We all walked back down, again with some of the family members arriving before myself and two other family members. As I was nearing where I had seen the parrot, the dad was waving me over. They were looking up and had their phones out. I gave him a look like, really? He nodded, so I approached and he pointed out the koala to me! I go, all the way back at the beginning? And he goes, I know! But there was a much larger koala than the one from Cape Otway, just laid back on a branch. He seemed to be reclined with his legs up and just chilling. I saw him move his arm and tried to take a video but he didn’t move again! So glad I saw at least ONE koala at the Koala walk!

Next stop was Erskine Falls in Lorne. I had missed a waterfall near the redwoods because I couldn’t figure out how to find it – it was on the map but no directions. Helpful. This waterfall did not disappoint. You have to go down about 8000 steps to the lower viewing platform, but it was worth it. The area reminded me of Gooseberry Falls, if you had to go down all those stairs! You could cross the river on the rocks and then walk up closer to the waterfall. I did not do that.

I made a brief stop at Split Point Lighthouse – not to be confused with Split Rock Lighthouse of course! It was pretty vista and I am glad I stopped.

My last stop on the GOR was Point Addis – the lookout was amazing. Rocky cliffs, ocean waves, and nearly sunset. A beautiful place to end my GOR adventure! It was about 6:35pm.

I drove the rental car back and caught an Uber into the city. I got home at 8:30. 14.5 hours after I started my day! They say you shouldn’t do the GOR in one day. I disagree. My new friend Rob, a local, was surprised that I was doing it one day. I had to remind him that we Americans are used to driving. I could drive 4 hours and still be in Missouri! Never mind driving from one end of MN to the other! It was definitely a long, tiring day, but I don’t think it was unreasonable and I don’t think I really missed anything.

Just having a lazy morning this morning and about to get ready and go see a few other things here in Melbourne CBD – St Patricks, Parliament, Queen Victoria Market, along with some arcades – which seems to be a fancy word for shopping mall. We will see!

Excited for the Kiwi leg of this journey tomorrow!

… and the Rainforest December 17, 2025

The reason I came to Queensland in general, and Cairns in particular, was the Great Barrier Reef. Once I had that planned, I realized there was a rainforest in northern Australia. Not gonna lie, I did not know Australia had a rainforest. And not just ANY rainforest, but the oldest continuously living tropical rainforest in the world. It is also the only place where a tropical rainforest meets a coral reef system!

So, I booked a day trip! First stop was Port Douglas – the other main jumping off point for both the GBR and the Daintree Rainforest. We just a had a brief stop here to admire a beautiful view.

Then it was on to Mossman Gorge – where the Mossman River runs through the National park and there are a bunch of granite boulders. The Mossman River is a fresh water river that runs from deep in the rainforest out to the bay.

After a walk here, including on the world’s bounciest suspension bridge, some people swam in the river. I almost didn’t even bring my suit, but I brought it. Then when it was time, I did not put it on. I just didn’t want the hassle. Good choice, in the end. They had like 10 mins – i am glad I did not get into the suit, get wet, and then have to change out for 10 mins!

We then went to the Daintree Cafe for lunch – which is only accessible to tours. I selected the kangaroo! It was a kangaroo steak served with a seeded mustard. It was actually very good! Many people said it tasted like venison, but as most of you know, I am a very picky eater. I don’t think I have ever had venison because the idea of eating a deer growing up grossed me out. Plus, I had to see deer carcasses hung in the barn at Novak’s and that was disgusting. So I can’t tell you if it tasted like deer – it was just good.

The fruit on the plate was amazing. I don’t even remember all of them, even though we had a presentation on them! Watermelon, mango, pineapple, dragonfruit, passion fruit, lychee, star fruit, jack fruit, and some weird Brazilian grape thing. It was delicious. Also? Those are not potato fried – they are taro fries!

After lunch we took a boat ride down the Daintree river, looking for crocodiles! We were told that they were very active at this time of year, but they were also harder to see and because we were there during high tide, we may not see any. He said, even though we may not see them, if we swam across the river there was like a 90% chance they would eat us!

At one point some of us thought we spotted one just above the surface of the water. I realized it was wood, right before the captain said it was a “log-odile.” Ha!

The top two is a big guy and the bottom one is just a little guy – probably 9 months old! We saw a third that was up on higher ground and was very hidden, but somehow our captain spotted him. Like it’s his job or something!

After the cruise, we drove to Cape Tribulation – a headland where the rainforest literally meets the reef (or the water, anyway). It was beautiful. Just a gorgeous beach that it was too bad you couldn’t swim there – crocs and jellyfish!

We also walked around the area a little to see if we spotted any wildlife. We did!

A peppermint stick insect. It was very cute – and would not be the last one I saw.

Our last stop in the rainforest was for a rainforest walk – unfortunately, the guide stopped first “so we can see the bats.” Hard effing pass. I am low-key terrified of bats – so much so that two of my friends have a group chat almost exclusively for tormenting me with bat photos and videos. I stayed in the coach. Imagine my dismay, then, when the guide got back in without the other people and moved the coach. I asked what he was doing and he had no idea I was on board. He was kind of a dick and we didn’t get off on the right foot. He said we were going to the rainforest walk there and it wasn’t clear to me if he meant something more than the bats and he was rude. Whatever. I had to get out.

I resolutely refused to look up at the bats, despite hearing their god-awful screeching! The rainforest walk was nice – until it started pouring down rain. But also? Fitting. Before it rained, we walked to Myall Beach – another no swim beach, but where a 14 year old was bitten by a crocodile in October. It was near this beach where I saw the stick insects again!

Our last-last stop was for ice cream. The stand is run by a 91-year-old woman who gets up at like 4-5am to make the ice cream and runs the place herself! I had the Daintree honey ice cream, made from honey from a farm down the road. It was good!

A very fun experience! But I will be glad to be done with the tropics!

The Reef… December 15, 2025

I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef today. No words.

But first, I arrived in Cairns yesterday and had a relaxing lazy day. I had a few hours to kill before I could check-in to my Airbnb and once I was able to check-in, I immediately put my suit on and went to the pool! It was hot as balls out – real feel of 99 degrees (you do the Celsius conversion). It was so lovely just sitting in the heat, listening to an audible book. But eventually I had to get in the pool and seek shade, because I did not want to burn – at all, but certainly not the day before I was going to spend an entire day on the ocean!

Today was the big day – probably the thing I was most looking forward to on this trip. I reserved a trip with a small tour operator, which turned out to be amazing. There were only 13 of us snorkeling. We first went to Michaelmas Cay, which is a nesting bird sanctuary. And man, was it LOUD! There are lots of terns that nest here. It is one of the most important seabird nesting sites on the reef – I only wish I had been able to photograph it with my real camera!

Snorkeling took a little to get used to – particularly because I hopped in and almost immediately noped my ass back to the boat. With my gimpy arm, I needed a life jacket! The lack of ROM really impacted my ability to swim – even while wearing flippers!!

The life jacket was a great help, but of course I kept getting water in my snorkel. Story of my day. No matter what I did, eventually I would get the Darth Vader inhalation noise, which let me know – water was coming! I drank so much salty sea water today, I can’t even tell you. Also? Because I was PARANOID about not kicking the reef when I needed to spit the water out and dump out my snorkel. Which made it harder to be able to do that. I was so afraid I was going to kick the reef.

I was never really comfortable at Michaelmas Cay – I snorkeled around and went to the beach. I sat in the water but close to the beach and watched the birds for a while. The current was strong even though there weren’t a ton of waves. I am constantly reminded of the power of water. It is awe-inspiring.

After Michaelmas Cay, we had lunch on the boat and I met my new friends, Annie and Claude from Montreal. We talked about what we saw and I mentioned my arm. Claude had had rotator cuff surgery in May and when he heard mine was October 7, his eyes bugged out. Annie said, if you need a hand, no pun intended, let me know! Ha!

After lunch we went to Hastings Reef, which was deeper and more diverse. I was kind of dreading going out, just because of all the salt water in the mouth. But I went and it was stunning. So many more fishies and types of coral. Annie and Claude saw a turtle, but I just saw fish. I really loved the giant clams, though. Those things are unreal. One of our guides dove down and waved her hand in front of one and it moved! It was so cool! I saw the coolest teal and purple fish – it looked like a painting. And some fun yellow stripy and not stripy ones. Plus some electric blue guys.

I took a break at Hastings Reef and I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back or not. Annie swam up and took a brief break and I told her I wasn’t sure if I was going back out. She goes, “go back out. You had a break. It isn’t everyday you’re at the Great Barrier Reef!” With advice like that, what’s a girl to do? I got back in! And honestly, throughout the day I had to basically pinch myself and be like, I am snorkeling the freaking Great Barrier Reef! How cool is that!?!

After we finished at Hastings, we had a snack on board and then made our way back to Cairns. I had a lovely chat with Annie – although she is Canadian, she is originally from Mexico. We talked about our travels and my love of Ireland. When I said I was Irish, she goes, “that’s why you’re so nice!” She was a sweetheart.

Today was a day I will remember for a long time!

(I would have posted some pics, but they aren’t syncing over to my iPad for some reason – will add if they eventually show up!)

Bridges, Botany, and Bondi December 13, 2025

I started the day with one of the activities I had been most looking forward to: climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge! Now, when I booked it in May, I booked the Summit experience – which involves ladders. When I found out about my rotator cuff surgery, I had to change it to a Summit Insiders experience – no ladders. So not as cool, but I still made it to the summit.

It was definitely an interesting experience. I had to have multiple medical checks because they knew about my surgery and I was honest on the medical form you fill out a week in advance. After explaining everything in email, they said I would have more to explain on the day. And I did. But got the all clear. Then I had to take a breathalyzer. Seriously. They make everyone. And the test was weird – I put my mouth near it and counted to eight – out loud. No blowing. Very strange. (I passed.)

Then we got suited up – we all wear jumpsuits with things attached to us – and we had to get down into our skivvies. I was not expecting that! Then we get harnessed up and all the goodies and took off. We climbed the stairs in the inner structure of the bridge – there were 1002 stairs combined, but many more other steps – as sometimes you walk up inclines, etc. The only hiccup came where there was one “ladder.” As we were getting suited up we saw the Summit group practicing their ladders inside – they weren’t ladders and didn’t really require overhead reaching. I was pissed. I was like, I could do that, they’re only steep steps with handrails. Welp, reader, it was harder than it looked! I needed to walk up the step staircase while holding the sides and my right arm wouldn’t reach up – but also my right arm needed to be able to reach far down to get my tether through some of the track. A lady behind me helped with my tether when it got caught and the guide, who talked to us through headphones, goes, “Torrie, this is the only ladder, I promise!”

There were some freaky parts – like walking down catwalk steps (so holes in the steps) and seeing nothing but water below you. A long way below you! Or, in the alternative, a bunch of cars speeding underneath you! It was very cool, though. The views were incredible – I only wish I could have taken my own photos – but of course we couldn’t have loose items with us.

After the climb, I ate at Macca’s for the first time on this trip! I feel like the Aussie’s abbreviate everything – Macca’s, brolly, and I saw a Christmas market stand selling “choccy strawbs.” Honestly. I liked seeing the different menu items, but still just got a cheeseburger and small fries!

I then continued to the Royal Botanical Garden – and I am glad I waited for a sunny day. It was beautiful. They really have some gnarly trees in this country! There weren’t as many flowers as I expected – particularly with it being summer. But I found some wildflowers and roses. My feet (and toes!) were killing me, so I wasn’t there as long as I probably otherwise would have been, knowing I had a 6 km walk ahead of me.

I had wanted to do the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach Coastal Walk. I hadn’t anticipated having multiple blisters on my toes and two toenails that feel like fire every step I take. But I did it! And was rewarded with finishing it by having like 7 Uber drivers refuse to pick me up!

Bondi Beach is something. It is massive! And the water is gorgeous. Along the whole way, it was beautiful. But Bondi was impressive. TONS of surfers in the water. Of course. The walk was lovely, if you forget the pain with every step. I watched some surfers at a smaller beach. I could’ve watched them for hours. It was so interesting.

Once I got an Uber to actually pick me up, I knew I wasn’t going out for dinner. I couldn’t walk anymore. I just couldn’t. And I knew I had an early day today, so I ordered pizza. Then packed and am ready for the next leg and my next adventures. Very excited for these next few days!