South Island

I did the ferry crossing to the South Island today. WOW I must have shot almost an entire memory card of photos just in the Queen Charolette Sound on the way in. It must be what an Alaskan cruise is like. Once again, I’m at a computer terminal at a campsite. I can’t get my …

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Mungo National Park

My trip to Mungo was something I almost didn’t do. To explain why I need to back up a bit… One of the fundamental decisions you have to make (over and over) when you are on a trip like mine is “what do you see?” Australia is a big country and there’s lots of things …

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New Zealand Help

It appears that I’ll be staying here till next Wednesday, then leaving for New Zealand for two weeks. While I planned on visiting New Zealand, I didn’t plan on visiting this soon. As it turns out, this will probably work out for the best as I won’t need to make a return trip to New …

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Ascending the Summit

I’m am writing this from base camp. Tomorrow I make the final push to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak on the Australian continent. Unlike Everest base camp, you don’t see as many tents and oxygen bottles here. Also, there are no sherpas. To climb Kosy, you have to carry your own gear. …

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Say YES! to Napier!

I’m writing this in Napier, NZ. A very nice town, with I’m guessing a very strict policy on new construction, and a very destructive past. The city center is pretty much all art deco architecture. The reason is, back in the 1930’s, the town got hit by and earthquake, so when they rebuilt, everything had …

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Disaster Strikes

All the effort I went through to back up my photos may have been for naught. I took everything to a FedEx/Kinkos store in Sydney to send it back to the US. So far, the package hasn’t been entered into the FedEx system to track packages, and there hasn’t been a charge to my credit …

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Going Outback

Tomorrow morning I leave for three days in the bush. I’ll be sleeping outside under the stars. This three day trip was cheaper than a two day trip, so I figured “why not?” I get back on Friday and I hope to be in Singapore by Monday. As far as I can tell, flights to …

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Boy, Is My Face Red

Well, I survived the summit, or to be more accurate, the hike on a paved path up a hill. However, I got a good dose of sun while I was out walking. I probably walked about 8 miles (15 km) yesterday. The only reason my sunburn isn’t worse is that I was pretty tanned before …

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Walking the Sydney Harbor Bridge

Easter here is a four day weekend. Easter Monday is a holiday, so today (Tuesday) is really the first day I’ve been in Sydney where most businesses have been open. I’ll be walking over the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge this afternoon (sort of one of the things you just have to do when …

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