Our six months in New Zealand were done and we needed to leave the country before we were the next stars of Border Security. After deciding not the cruise back to the US, we booked flights on New Zealand’s premier airline, Air New Zealand. A direct flight to San Francisco in order to pick up […]
While in Auckland many people encouraged us to visit Tiritiri Matangi, a small island nature sanctuary, 20 minutes by ferry from mainland NZ. Most people take a day trip with the local ferry, but Chris and I decided we would spend the night in the Department of Conservation bunkhouse in order to observe my favorite
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Our six month visa for New Zealand allowed for attending up to three months of school without a separate student visa. After discussing our different options for our New Zealand experience, Jack & Aleah decided that attending school would be their next adventure. We researched schools that accept international students and found that most public
While in Dunedin, we spent most of the time chasing wildlife. Dunedin is famous for its birds. It is the home to the only mainland breeding colony of the northern royal albatross in the world and one of the few areas you can spot the enchanting blue penguins and rare yellow-eyed penguins within meters of
Some Birds Fly, Some Birds Don’t Read More »
Our first stop on the South Island was the national park, Abel Tasman. We booked a full day kayak adventure to get out and see the NZ fur seals and amazing rugged scenery up close. We loaded ourselves and our kayaks onto a water taxi that was still on a boat trailer. Then a large
Kayaking Abel Tasman Read More »
New Zealand is home to five species of kiwis. The brown kiwi is the most common and is only found on the north island. The great spotted kiwi is the largest, while the little spotted is the smallest. The tokeoka can grown larger than the brown kiwi. And then there is the rowi. The rowi
I Helped Save a Rowi Kiwi Read More »
We chose to travel to New Zealand via a transpacific cruise. The cruise departed from San Francisco with stops in Los Angeles, Oahu, Maui, Tahiti, and the Bay of Islands, NZ, before disembarkation in Auckland. We were lucky enough to find a group of other traveling families that were also booked on the cruise resulting
24 Days on a Cruise Ship Read More »
While in Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, you feel that you can see him at every corner. This town that Mozart left in favor of greater and more lucrative music cities, embraces him and honors his life and craft. We toured the house where he was born and first learned to play. It was a
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A self-led or guided walking tour is always top on our list for a first day activity. It helps us getting our bearings and points our places that we want to make sure to come back and see more. It is also a handy way to deal with jet-lag, something we haven’t dealt with in
Seeing and Walking Berlin Read More »
Have you ever heard of the Thimble Islands? If so, you are very lucky! I never knew they existed and we had a joyful day touring them with the family The Thimble Islands are a small group of rocky islands off the Connecticut coast in Long Island Sound. Around 23 of them have houses. The
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