mike's travel blog

Why aren't you here?

Last stop on my OZ tour and probably the last post of this trip as I am not sure I will have phone/internet in Fiji. I am flying out first thing in the morning. I have only seen Manly during the day on a previous trip and was very impressed. This time I stayed 2 nights and still have to say this probably would be my place of choice to live in the Southern Hemisphere. Overall the trip has brought so many new impressions and experiences that it will take some time to digest. I am glad I have 2 weeks of beach vacation at the end to get some time to reflect before going home and facing reality again. Job search will be high on the agenda I guess, even though continuing the travels in the states is tempting as well. Thanks for sharing this trip with me - it was nice to see all the public and private responses during my travels - it certainly made me feel more connected with home and less lonely. Hope to see you all in the next few weeks. I have taken about 3000 pictures and will...

This little guy wanted to cuddle a bit :-) Picture taken at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary just south of Brisbane. Thursday was a major driving day. I made just over 1100 km from Cairns to Rockhampton. Friday I drove to Noosa, about 100km north of Brisbane where I spent the night in the Sheraton. From all the resorts I visited Noosa seems the most exlusive and beautiful. After a solid 2 months in backpackers and hostels it felt nice to sleep in a good bed again. I wish I had more time there. Tonight I will be in Byron Bay and the last 2 nights I booked into a backpacker in Manly before heading over to Fiji.

The Daintree area is largely rainforest. There are some nice walks to enjoy the diversity. One hectar here can have more tree species than all of Europe or North America. I also visited Daintree village for lunch, Hatley's croq farm and Barron Falls. The 2 major stops on the drive back to Sydney will be Brisbane and Byron Bay.

I just returned from a fantastic 4 day 3 night sailing excursion of the Whitsunday islands and the Barrier Reef (Fri thru Mon). The 25 meter Maxi was nice and fast and made for a great ride. The boat spent one night out at the reef and we got a lot of snorkeling and diving in. I had PADI fax my registration so I could do a dive as well. The size of the reef and its diversity is incredible. We unfortunately had to wear stinger suits as the jelly fish are still around. The weather has been great and the waves on the reef were small which allowed great visibility. It just cleared up a week ago after Queensland had a rough wet season this summer. I managed to drive to Mission Beach last night and spend the morning there before driving to Cairns for lunch. I will spent the next 2 days north of here at Port Douglas/Daintree/ Cape Tribulation.

Whitsunday Bay is truly beautiful with a tropical feel to it. The picture doesn't capture the real scenery but you can see the Islands in the background. Weather is excellent, sunny and 30C. And supposed to stay this nice the next week. I am on stand-by (deep last minute discount) for a 4 day sail on a Alan Bond built Super Maxi leaving Friday that also goes beyond the Whitsundays to the Barrier Reef. This will make the end of the trip a bit stressful if I want to get Cairns and Daintree in, but well worth it. Will skip Sydney completely it seems on this trip.

Not much new today - just a long drive up to Mackay, which allows me to make it early to Airlie Beach for my sailing trip of the Whitsundays. Thought I show off my jumping abilities and monkey impersonation in the meantime. Still having a good time down under. Picture taken yesterday at picturesque Lake McKinzie and its super clear water.

Just got back from an awesome 3 day self drive 4x4 camping adventure trip to Fraser Island. Weather was in general good with a few showers inbetween. We had a little storm Saturday night which made it difficult to keep the tents in place - one tent blew away. I did the trip with 13 other fun people in 2 Land Cruisers organized by the backpacker where I stayed. Last day was a highlight spending the day at Lake McKinzie, after we had to drive there through an exit one-way as access was blocked by a tree. There are only few access roads on the island. Driving is done on the beach outside the 2 hour high tide windows - see tire tracks in the picture. Got to Hervey Bay Friday and did the trip Saturday through Monday. Will drive to the Whitsundays next for a 3 day sailing cruise. Expect a couple days to get there.

This place is even more build out than I expected. You think you are already there when you hit the first high rises, but those start several beaches down, even though the area seems to be really one large beach. Surfers Paradise is party central, even the backpacker is fully licensed and offers club crawls. I just spent a few hours at the beach as I will have plenty of beach time in Fiji. Just thought this place was a nice stop over on my way to Hervey Bay and Frasier Island. On my way here I saw a few nice areas with plenty of activities if I have time on my way down. Will spent at least 3 days on Fraser and 4 days in the Whitsundays. Heard they have a great deal on a multi day cruise on a 90ft Maxi.

New month - new country. Flew into Sydney this morning and drove up pacific highway to Port Macquarie. Nice change in scenery. My initial sadeness of leaving NZ changed quickly when I arrived to a perfect 25 C and blue skies in Sydney. I finished NZ driving from Wellington to New Plymouth / Mt Takanaki on Monday. Incredible scenery from both mountain and the rugged coastline with plenty of caves and holes in the rocks. Also some of the most famous surf beaches are there. I continued the ride Tuesday, stopping many times before getting to Auckland airport in the evening. Port Macquarie got me now half way to Surfers Paradise, the Aussie Cancun. I will either stay there tomorrow or in Brisbane. I also bought a SIM card at the airport - you can reach me here the next 3 weeks at +61-41-556-8307. Unlike NZ I expect full coverage along the coast line.

I spent the last 2 days in Christchurch. Got here Wednesday afternoon which left time to explore Cathedral Square and the CBD. Drove to the Port Hills Thursday morning, took the Gondola up and hiked for 3 hours to Godley Head and back to the car park. Picture was taken half way overlooking Governors Bay. Spent the afternoon in Lyttelton and New Brighton beach. Today I spent the morning in the Botanic Garden and drove to Willowbank Wildlife Park in the afternoon, which features the largest live Kiwi display in NZ. Kiwis are quite strange and fun to watch in their more natural habitat. Will drive to Blenheim tomorrow for some wine tasting in the Marlborough region and plan to take the Picton ferry to Wellington Sunday morning. Have to be back in Auckland Tuesday night to catch an early morning flight to Sydney. Time in NZ is slowly coming to an end - I will surely miss this place.

Made it to Kaikoura yesterday in beautiful weather and joined last minute a whale watch tour in the afternoon. Saw 5 sperm whales, about 100 dusky dolphins, bunch of albatross, seal and cormorans. I took some excellent pictures of the encounters - just not with my phone - enjoy a Kiwi picture instead :-) Glad I made it here yesterday as the weather turned cloudy and cold today. I will head down to Christchurch for a couple days.

Easy day today. Went to Puzzling World and its Maze on the way out of Wanaka and spent the afternoon at Mt Cook (center in picture), the largest mountain in NZ. Easy trail to the vista point. Will spent the night in Geraldine on my way to Kaikoura for some whale and dolphin watching. Had to switch the plan around to get the nice weather in Kaikoura before finishing up the South Island in Christchurch.

Thursday I drove down to Te Anau. From there I took a Milford Sound Cruise on Friday and a Doubtful Sound Cruise on Saturday ( picture taken at Doubtful ). Sunday I drove back to Wanaka to finally get the para gliding in. It was great fun and the guide even let me steer the parachute in a thermal climb. I also stopped to watch the Wanaka Air show which takes place every 2 years and is the biggest one in NZ. It is sad to leave this place. I will have to come back to do one of the big tramping tracks - dusky, Milford or keppler. Next to Abel Tasman this is truly the best place in NZ. I liked Wanaka much over Queenstown, which is still nice - just too big and touristy. I am tempted to come back here for a month after my Queensland and Fiji time. Anybody in for some 5 to 10 day hard core tramps? It'll be one of the most amazing things you will do. It is true bliss down here at the 45th.

Wishing everyone a happy Easter holiday - hope you enjoy some tranquility wherever you are. Picture taken at Lake Matheson.

Wanaka is good fun. Lots to do and beautiful scenery. Paragliding got cancelled due to high winds - same issue I had in Alyeska a few years back. Will try again Sunday or Monday on my way back from the Fiordland. I went to Rob Roy glacier instead which is a nice steep climb. Can you count the number of waterfalls in the background? I stayed for a few hours and didn't want to turn around - too nice with very few people. Also starting to feel in much better shape after all the hikes recently. Yesterday was the drive from Fox to Wanaka - stopping at Lake Matheson for some great water reflections of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook. Tomorrow will be drive to Te Anau which will be the base for the next 3 days for the Fiordland trips to Milford and Doubtful Sounds. I will stop in Queenstown on the way for a quick look. As with all stops on the South Island I am trying to avoid the overly touristy areas.

Drove down from Greymouth early this morning and went on a day hike on Fox Glacier. Unlike the Alaskan glaciers they don't seem too worried about accidents and took the group into cravesses or had us hike on some ridges. Lot's of fun and great pictures. Tomorrow I will drive to Wanaka for some hang gliding and more hiking.

Thursday I drove up to Golden Bay staying the night north of Collingwood in an Eco friendly backpacker. Found the most amazing beach all the way on top called Wharariki Beach - all sand dunes and every rock in the water has a hole making for beautiful pictures. Only very few people here. Friday I went to the north end of Abel Tasman to take a 19k hike to Seperation Point for some close seal encounters - can't wait to share the pictures. Most roads up here end up being dirt roads. Saturday I stopped at the Te Waikoropupu springs - the clearest fresh water springs in the world. Spending the remainder of the day back on the beach mentioned above. Friday and Saturday night I stayed in Takaka. Today I drove to Greymouth as stopping point to the Glaciers. Tomorrow will be a full day at Fox glacier before heading south to Wanaka, Queenstown and Milford Sound. Time is getting a bit tight again and I will probably have to speed things up again. So much to see - 6 weeks turns out ...

Turns out a couple of my emails did not make it to the blog. Saturday I drove from Coromandel via the Waitomo Caves, where they have glow worms unique to this part of the world, to Rotura. Rotura has several Maori Tribes and shows. I went to Te Puia on Sunday where they also have mud pools and 2 geysers (picture taken just before a major eruption). Afterwards I drove to Taupo via the Huka Falls and stayed the night in Turangi. Monday I drove through the Tongariro National Park and stopped at Mt. Ruapehu (Mordor in Lord of the Rings). Since it was cloudy and limited visibility I drove on to Wellington. Catching up with today I took a 14k hike from Tonga to Torrent Bay via Bark Bay - all in Abel Tasman National Park. This was probably the most amazing hike I have taken outside of Alaska. A water taxi dropped me off and picked me up at the end of the day. Tomorrow I will drive to Collingwood at Golden Bay for some relaxation. Nelson is completely booked tomorrow and is becoming ...

I spent the night in Wellington and took the Interislander to Picton this morning to start the 3 week trip of the South Island. I am in Nelson now which will serve as base the next few days. Planning some kayaking and hiking Abel Tasman National Park. Maybe I'll get some wine tasting in as this is part of the Marlborough wine region. Picture shows Wellington from the ferry. I didn't spend much time in Wellington but will try to take a day exploring on my way back.

Hot water pools at Hot Water Beach on the Coromandal peninsula. Also visited Cathedral cove and Cooks Beach. I fear I con only repeat myself on how beautiful this place is. Starting to run into mostly German tourists though - seems easier to approach people in German first. I missed to mention the 2 adventure sports tried so far - sand boarding and boomnetting - both were good fun. Sand boarding is surfing down a high sand dune at pretty good speed. Will speed things up the next few days to make it to the south island by the 12th.

Today the weather is great. I am taking a tour of Cape Reinga - the most northern point of New Zealand. The way back will be a bus ride in the sand of ninety mile beach.

Monday was a travel day. A beautiful drive up highway 1 to Pahia. Unfortunately it is very rainy here. I am currently on a day trip through the bay. We had to stop before the hole in the rock due to a gale carrying 50kts winds. Picture is taken from one of the islands. It is impossible to capture the beauty of this place though.

Beautiful nature walks on Weiheke Island a mere 30 minute ferry ride from Auckland. Absolute solitude. What a bliss after hectic Chicago. We won section in yesterday's race by over a minute and did probably very high in fleet. Looking forward to the BMW regatta starting tomorrow.

Made it to Auckland. Only 5 hours flight from Tahiti. My hotel ended up being just 10 minutes from the Americas Cup harbor. Picture of NZ41. Weather is great.

The Moorea stay has come to an end. Tahiti is a true paradise. Only 8 hours from L.A. and I found more amazing than Hawaii. Now on to Auckland to sail on a J/124.

Pit Row - Le Mans 2006 "OK, I guess this entry has nothing to do with my current travels, but I had to post a test entry. More to come in the next weeks."