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 …
epic
Cruise in Doubtful Sound
The prow of the boat cut through the waters of Lake Manapouri like a knife through as much butter. Gusts of frigid, pre-dawn air buffeted us as we fought for balance on the viewing deck, and the sun broke over the hills in the East. It was a fine day, and my coworker Marketa and …
Nature Cruise in Milford Sound
Fiordland, a vast tract of mountainous terrain that occupies the south-west corner of South Island, New Zealand, is one of the most astounding pieces of land anywhere on God’s earth, and one’s first impulse, standing on a cliff top surveying it all, is simply to burst into spontaneous applause.” – Douglas Adams “Who here is …
JUCY Cruise in Milford Sound
Kipling is rumored to have named Milford Sound the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. He also — verifiably — said that New Zealanders are great tellers of tales. Perhaps the former is merely an example of the latter… But as much as that particular claim to fame is debatable, the splendor of Milford Sound is not. And …
Flying Fox Zipline in Jodhpur
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” – Leonardo da Vinci I’ve been on ziplines before. Once between the slopes of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains in British Columbia, the other time in the Herb Hillz …
The Fort over the Blue City of Jodhpur
A palace that might have been built by Titans and colored by the morning sun.” – Rudyard Kipling I came by night through the teeming bazaar, so I didn’t see the azure city until the following morning. The fort I glimpsed only from a distance — as the train I rode chugged into town under …
Top 10 Memories: Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend
I treat the camera like a person – I gaze into it. Photos are a flat thing, and you need to put life into them.” – Cara Delevingne Sometimes travel is dangerous. I know it as well as anyone. From being jumped on a cobblestone street in France to battling altitude sickness while crossing a pass …
Hiking the Seven Lakes Basin
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” ― John Muir When it comes to loop hikes in the Olympic National Park, the High Divide Loop around Seven Lakes Basin is one of the best. Clocking in at 18.2 miles, it …
Courting Death in Canyonlands
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do so.” – Bertrand Russell The day began like many other Saturdays: slowly. Brandon and I roused ourselves from a well-deserved rest and grabbed a quick breakfast in Moab before piling into our trusty Aveo and driving the short distance from the city into Canyonlands National Park. …
Where Angels Land
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey I love that quote. It strikes the same chord in me which resonates when I find myself well off the beaten path — outmatched and way over my head. …