My pack sat heavy on my shoulders as I set off along the road, squinting up against the sun to see the path snake up the hillside. It would be a tough hike, that first day at Tiger Leaping Gorge, but not an overly long one. I’d decided to spend two nights in the Gorge, so I …
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Yangshuo: A River Runs Through It
After a week in big cities, I needed some solace. Xingping had been a welcome respite, but the town was still busy during the day and not nearly quiet enough for me. Yangshuo — the town itself — was even crazier. The main tourist drag, West Street, had a carnival atmosphere ill-suited to relaxation. So …
Five Things to Do in Xingping
Not even a 3 hour ride via high speed rail from the urban sprawl of Guangzhou, the Chinese countryside begins to change. Vast coastal plains shrouded in haze and chewed up by the grinding mouth of urbanization give way to scenes lifted from those old Chinese paintings — sheer limestone karsts topped with hanging greenery …
Ten Things to Do in Taupo
There’s a saying which goes, ‘time flies when you’re having fun!’, and is it ever true! The past three months have been a blur, spent working, hiking, making new friends, and experiencing the best that Taupo has to offer. I got extremely lucky with my position as a receptionist at Rainbow Lodge Backpackers and was able …
The Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki
I woke to the sound of surf, and stretched cat-like in my double bed — enjoying the snap, crackle, pop of my spine as my vertebrae realigned themselves. One week of sleeping in my car had taken its toll, and I was enjoying the comfort of my room at the Punakaiki Beach Hostel. The previous day …
Driving the West Coast Highway
The morning was cold, and I crawled out of my cocoon in the backseat of Te Namu to the sound of distant surf and the blasted buzzing of an infernal sandfly. I killed it before I dressed, and immediately felt positive about the day ahead. I would be driving the West Coast Highway to a place …
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 …
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 …