Fun in the Fiordlands The last adventure, “check!” I ventured to the southwestern-most part of the South Island to the fiordlands. This is one of the largest national parks in the world, approximately the same size as Wales. Another scale reference is that it’s the size of both Yellowstone National Park and Yosemite National Park, […]
Wine Country (again) After a refreshing morning kayak on Lake Moeraki, I settled in for a 2-hour scenic car drive along the West Coast to Lake Wanaka. It was such a beautiful day and my mom’s birthday, so I thought it’d be most appropriate to head further south to Central Otago, which is internationally-renown for […]
Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge Following my “cool” adventures at Franz Josef Glacier, I found myself in a remote area of South West New Zealand, in a real-life, Kiwi-version of Fawlty Towers complete with a Basil, Sybil and Polly. I mean this in the most endearing way. (If you have not seen Fawlty Towers, then you […]
Franz Josef Glacier & The Maori Legend Ngāi Tahu (the local Māori tribe) tell the story of Hinehukatere who lost her true love in an avalanche while climbing in the mountains of Westland: Hinehukatere was extremely strong and fearless and loved climbing in the mountains. She persuaded her lover Wawe to climb with her. Wawe […]
Hello ‘errrybody! I know this post is delayed, you see, what happened yesterday was that I came to my room after dinner (8:30) and sat in my chair to start reading. I thought to myself, “It’ll feel nice to just close my eyes for just a minute.” Well, next time I opened my eyes, it was […]
Abel Tasman National Park This is the part of the trip that I didn’t really plan for. I expected to use this time at Abel Tasman National Park as a ‘recharge’ place and relax. Well, I did anything but that! Rain, Rain, Stay Away. I really do need to thank my lucky stars. Day before arriving, […]
Plan B I opted against biking the rest of the Queen Charlotte Track due to rainy conditions, and felt that I’d already gotten in a great day of biking with marvelous views. When I drove into Picton on Saturday night, I saw all the wineries and they definitely caught my attention since the Marlborough Region is […]
Let’s get started! Today was my first day of two on the Queen Charlotte Track (“QCT”) in the northeastern region of the South Island, in the Marlborough Sound. I am essentially starting here and ending this 2-week trip in the “Fjordlands” with an overnight kayak trip. The QCT is one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks” and […]
The Hearing Hub at Macquarie University Cochlear Corporation is Headquartered on the campus of Macquarie University, among a few other hearing-centric facilities making up “The Hearing Hub.” The intent is for all these groups to collaborate together in R&D efforts to improve the hearing outcomes for individuals. This is from the website: “In the Australian Hearing […]
Phase I. Facts & History of the Opera House There are several ‘phases’ of my visit to the iconic Sydney Opera House. My first few days in Sydney were rainy and overcast, which I learned had been the norm all season, an unseasonably wet summer. I was a little bit disappointed, for I wanted to see […]