It’s 5am in the morning and we are racing down the highway ready for another unknown adventure. We got a long drive ahead of us, (2 ½ hours) but an even longer hike (9 hours). The Tongariro Crossing is described as the best one day hike in NZ and one of the spots film crews …
Thirty miles out of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty there is an active volcano on a small island called Whakarri or White Island. Captain Cook named the island in 1769 when he sailed by the island and saw the white steam rising from the island, he never realized he was passing an active volcano. …
We arrived in Rotorua after a long 6 hour drive. Everybody said this town stinks and they were right, literally. Because of the geothermic volcanic activity the whole town smells like rotten eggs (sulfur), but that’s okay because we came for the volcanic activity so you take the good with the bad. Our hotel, the …
We went to the movies last night, NZ style. We walked into the town hall, masquerading as a movie theater and we could tell this was going to be a different experience. One row of people with two plastic chairs each, one for their butts and one for their feet. I guess we should have …
We headed down early for a trip on the Phantom, a 50 foot sailboat so we could experience the Bay of Islands from the sea. It was a beautiful day and Rick and Robin were great hosts. There is something special about cutting through the water with sails flapping in the wind. After sailing around …
One afternoon as we drove into town we realized that there was something going on to take us back to our southern roots the Real Northern Girl Contest. Every redneck loves a southern girl who can shoot, hunt or skin a coon, but in New Zealand everything is upside down so you find your redneck …
Russell is a little sea port was the first settlement of New Zealand by Europeans in the early 1800s. Found on the northern part of the north island in the Bay of Islands, the bay offered a good sea port and the indigenous Maori wanted to trade food and timber for firearms and alcohol. The …
After a 3 hour drive we arrived in Russell ready to meet our new friend and explore the backside of our home exchange. Chris our host, owns an art gallery in Russell and the moment we walked in she made us feel right at home. Within minutes we were roaming the gallery with cappuccino in …
We touched down in Auckland and headed downtown, for our one night in the “big city” before heading north. It always takes me a bit of getting used to driving on the left side of the road. Everything is backwards, I find myself constantly turning on the windshield wipers when I am getting ready to …
Kel Man is the cutest, smartest, most beautiful child in the world, but then again every grandparent thinks that, don’t they? Ash and Mike live in a cute little house but very different than what I had envisioned. Lou and I both agreed the house and neighborhood reminded us of the northwest, Seattle or Vancouver …
Melbourne is beautiful but incredibly expensive city, tonight we picked up a liter of Coke, $6. When we got to the airport for the flight from Sydney to Melbourne they charged us $70 per bag for checking bags. Breakfast this morning was $60 for three people. Ouch! On the good side, an incredibly safe city, …
As we sat in the terminal in Sydney waiting for our last flight and the plane pulled up to the jetway I looked over and noticed a couple of cute coeds who were giggling and waving to someone on the tarmac. I was wondering who in the world they were waving to until I saw …
The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman brought the term “bucket list” back into the lexicon of our society, as two mismatched marauders, one rich and one a blue collar mechanic both diagnosed with terminal cancer become friends and start circling the globe scratching things off their bucket list. Most people keep …
Change and personal truth. I have learned a lot during the six months I have spent in Iquitos over the last two years, lessons around personal truth and change. Everybody has a personal truth. Your personal truth are the things only you and the Father above know about you; things you say and do when nobody is …
As she left I looked down and noticed she had grabbed my camera and left her own. An honest mistake but I panicked, jumping up I started in the direction she had gone. I didn’t even know her name, we had just sat and talked for a few minutes. Frantically I searched each cross street …
As the morning sun peaked through my blinds I wiped the sleep from my eyes and started to plan my day. I realized there was one tourist site I had not seen in all my visits to Iquitos, the Butterfly Farm. Sunday is a slow easy day on the boulevard so this seemed like a …
Butterflies Come In All Colors, Shapes and Sizes Read More »
Today I stopped by to see Rita, Ruth and Maria while they were parking motorcars. The kids are out of school because the teachers are on strike. After a few minutes of idle chatter Rita said that Ruth needed a bra. “Oh No my little Ruth is growing up!” I hate to admit it but …
There are few places in the world that I have been where there were more ingenious crooks, pickpockets and flim flam men then Iquitos. Everyone is working some sort of scam. I have a friend who was on his way home one night when he heard an argument ensue behind him. He turned around just …
As we loaded into a rapido (fast boat) to head up the Amazon, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for my first jungle beauty contest, actually my first beauty contest of any kind. We were headed towards Tamshiyacu, a town of about 6000 people that was established 129 years ago. A river outpost and …
Today I became a business owner in Iquitos, La Comida de Rita. Rita, Camilla and I struck out early today to start our new business venture. They knew what they were doing, I was just tagging along and being the banker. As we ventured into the market in Belen I had forgotten how much I …