On The Road...

As a child we took countless road trips as a family but now that I've grown up the experience is completely different.  It has proved to be an new chance to bond with my parents on the road and an opportunity that I'm grateful to have.  New Zealand is an amazing country to see from the road, as every turn is more amazing than the next.  For hours on end we saw nothing but cows, sheep and ever changing landscapes.  Our rental car had no radio reception or dock for our iPods so we cruised around listening to Neil Young, the one CD we had on hand and it's become our trip anthem.  These pics are a few from our 7hr drive from Franz Joseph to Queenstown with stops along the way.  Of course, no road trip is complete without a few jump shots thrown in for good measure...

Fox Glacier...

The sun was shining so the next morning we drove 20km out of town towards Fox Glacier.  Enjoying blue skies, so we did a walk around Lake Matheson and caught a glimpse of the snow covered Mt Tasman and Mt Cook.  The scenery again was stunning and we decided to do another hike but this time up to Fox Glacier.  The trek was like something out of Lord of The Rings, I half expected Golum to jump out at us.  In the end the view was well worth our effort, even though my mom fell into the stream when trying to cross it!   Later that night, as the temperature dropped, we got layered into our warm clothes, grabbed the flashlights and headed in the pitch black woods.  We were in search of glow warms and found them in the dark forest which proved too scary to spend longer than a few minutes.  Another exhausting but fun day, tomorrow back on the road...

Franz Joseph Glacier

We hit the road early and headed to Franz Joseph Glacier.  It was a long day and we saw more sheep than I thought possible.  The little town of Franz Joseph is really cute and since the weather was good we decided to seize the rest of the afternoon and take a quick hike to see the glacier.  It was well worth it and the first sight of the glacier as we rounded the corner was impressive.  Our hiked worked up an appetite so we headed into town for dinner and a few drinks...next up - Fox Glacier.

Christchurch to Arthurs Pass

I've always wanted to go to New Zealand so when we boarded our flight to Christchurch I was excited for the adventure ahead.  For the next two weeks we will be exploring the South and North Island road trip style. We landed in Christchurch, picked up our rental car and hit the road. Our first destination was Arthur's Pass, a two hour drive through scenic mountain ranges until we reached the booming metropolis of Arthur's Pass - population 50.  Okay so that might be a slight exaggeration but not much. The air was crisp and the local Kea birds were flying around everywhere so we grabbed some quick dinner, had a walk around 'town' and then sat by the fire while we researched the next leg of our journey...

Meet The Parents...

It finally happened, the 'meet the parents' moment we've been preparing ourselves for ever since J and I met 5 years ago and I'm happy to report that all went smoothly.  Not that we thought anything would go wrong but it's always a strange situation.  We all met up at the Manly Wharf before heading over to the Skiff Club for drinks, food, lots of conversation and laughs.  It was great to see everyone together and getting along famously, we even watched the 'Amazing Race' episode that was filmed in Manly and the Skiff Club.  

Later that week we met up with J's parents for BBQ's at their house and a few nights out in Manly.  We also managed to squeeze in some walks to North Head, up to Dee Why Beach, had fish and chips, took advantage of the sun and took a quick swim in the ocean, visited our favourite Indian restaurant in Sydney, explored Luna Park and just sat and relaxed over many happy hour drinks.  Their week in Sydney has flown by but luckily the weather remained mostly sunny and it has been great to show them my new home.  Next up, all 6 of us head to New Zealand for a National Lampoon style road trip...

Belated Birthday Shout Out...

We've been on the road traveling through New Zealand for the past week so the posts have been few and far between.  I'm a week late but just had to post this photo of my little sister and send her a belated birthday shout out - hope you had a great day, we miss you! x

Down Under Part 2 (Hunter Valley)

No trip to Sydney is complete without a visit to Hunter Valley...we had a blast...x

Down Under Part 1 (Blue Mountains)

After months of planning and a long layover in Los Angeles, my parents and their friends Christine & Michael finally arrived in Sydney.  We greeted them at the airport and hit the ground running, since then we've left no stone unturned. They've settled into their apartment in Manly, hiked the scenic walks, explored the Corso, tasted the local brew and one of our first visits was to the famed Blue Mountains.  Lucky for us the temperature was cool and the sun came out just in time as we viewed the Three Sisters and hiked the local trails, ending the day with a cold beer in Katoomba.  More Sydney photos to follow...x