“Forget about Roy’s Peak. It’s great but totally overcrowded. Try hiking Isthmus Peak instead,” the receptionist advised us as we made hiking plans over coffee and muesli. The lounge of Wanaka Bakpaka was full of bleary-eyed backpackers doing the same — Wanaka is a popular place for hikers. Marketa and I had met up for a …
The Land of the Rohirrim
I remember when I first read Lord of the Rings. I was in 7th grade, and even though I’d heard about the books before then, for some reason I didn’t get to Middle Earth until I was in Middle School. Dry prose and dense narrative did nothing to dissuade me — within pages I was …
The Backroads of Canterbury
It felt like it had been an age. Melissa and I had been in Samoa only 15 days, but the separation I felt from New Zealand seemed like it stemmed from an absence of months. Perhaps the displacement was because we were in Christchurch, a far cry from the rural pace of Te Anau. Whatever the cause, once we’d …
Highlights of the Catlins
Morning walks are one of those things: I like to take them, but I won’t get up for one. The good thing about sleeping in the trunk of a car is that sleeping in isn’t a luxurious prospect, it’s a chore. So it was that at the crack of dawn I found myself out of bed and …
Driving the Southern Scenic Route
I woke to the car shaking from the wind, to the clatter of rain on the roof. It had been a blustery night, parked by the seashore at Moray Terrace, but I’d caught a few hours of sleep and had made the snug confines of Te Namu as comfortable as possible. The day would start …
Fear and Loathing on the Pamir Highway
It was an awful night. Trapped at the border station on the Tajik side of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, my lack of acclimatization and over-exertions from the previous day had led to an intense bout of altitude sickness. I spent the night staggering from my bunk in the barracks to the pit toilet outside, alternating between …
He’s Got a Dead Cat…
I see it just before it charges, a gaunt, grey beast crouching by the roadside with ears pressed back and shoulders hunched in anticipation. I swerve to the far side of the lane and accelerate, snarling at the dog as it leaps to give chase. Melissa tenses on the seat behind me as we pass …
Swimming with Eagles in Savai’i
My body floats on the surface, buoyant and still. Flippers stir the sea behind me, and I glide over the haphazard world below. It’s my first time snorkeling in Samoa. The coral here still shows the after-effects from the cyclone which roared through 2 weeks prior. Closer to shore, everything is dead or dying, the …
Savai’i Road Trip
I open the throttle and the engine roars — all 110cc of it. Melissa and I perch on the seat of the little Suzuki scooter — bags strapped to our backs and chests, respectively — as it works its way up to cruising speed. The sky is a flawless blue overhead, and brilliantly hued plants …
Driving to the Catlins
Driving past the holiday park leaves me feeling fuzzy — numbed to my actions and what they symbolize. I’m driving to the Catlins and leaving Te Anau. My home for the past 4.5 months, Te Anau is a tiny, buzzing little place popular simply because it’s the closest town to the iconic Milford Sound. Jobs are plentiful …