Lynsey's Travel Adventures...version 2!

New Zealand's South Island Part 1 19 November 2025 Fur Seals on our drive from Blenheim to Christchurch. 20 November 2025 We drove to Arthur's Pass National Park. View from a hike on the Bealey Spur Track I noticed this sticker on one of the trail markers. 😁 Tirade Viaduct lookout Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall  Castle Hills Bouldering Basin. I kept my feet on the ground, mostly. Bouldering looks intense and not for me! 21 November 2025 We drove from Christchurch to Twizel. One of the amazing views along the way! 22 November 2025 We headed into Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. That's the name of the tallest mountain, at 3724 meters / 12,217 feet. Aoraki is the indigenous Maori name of the mountain. It's also commonly called Mt. Cook. We took a short walk on the Hooker Valley Track. We would've gone further, but much of it is currently closed for repairs on the...

New Zealand North Island Part 2 15 November 2025 We drove from New Plymouth to Raglan today. We laid on the beach for a few hours. It was quite windy and we left when we noticed some black clouds rolling in! 16 November 2025 We returned to the same beach as yesterday, Ngarunui Beach, so Ness could surf. She spent about 4 hours in and out of the water, and she had fun. I've gone surfing a couple of times while in Indonesia but I didn't feel inclined to surf here. 17 November 2025 We drove back to Auckland, where we needed to return the rental car, as we prepared to leave the North Island.  We stayed at a place outside of Auckland called Alpaca Manor. Yes, there are two resident alpacas! 😁 18 November 2025 We spent the day planning more of our South Island adventure, returned the rental car, and had dinner and a drink at a restaurant on the shore of Waitemata Harbour in Auckland. Overnight bus (7pm - 6:30am) from Auckland to Wellington.  19 N...

New Zealand North Island Part 1 31 October 2025 I met Ness today, when she picked me up in her rental car. I had taken a bus from Whangerei to Waipu (heading back south towards Auckland), since she was heading out of Auckland to the north. Ness is from London and had landed in Auckland a day before my arrival. She is not new to traveling and is actually on a year long sabatical, from her job as a firefighter, to travel around the world. She plans to head to Australia in December to meet up with a friend.  Our first stop was almost immediately outside of town, at Waipu Caves. We did a little splunking and saw glowworms inside the cave. It was also a lovely moment when we walked in behind a group of young gentlemen who broke into an acapela version of Amazing Grace at one point.  Inside Waipu Caves. Those little dots that look like constellations are the glowworms. If you know as much as I did about these fascinating creatures as I did (...nothing) then m...