Tulips at Botanic Garden
Wellington Delights
Two sunny days in a row. Temperatures climbing to 60 F (about 15 C). Trees budding out. It’s starting to feel like spring down here.Crowds enjoying the vivid tulip display at Botanic Garden In the…
Maori powhenua with faces toward the sea and the mountains
They Go Down to the Sea
And so we went down to the sea – or rather, up and down the forested hills, past the nursery, along the golf course, over suburban streets, up and down the coastal headlands to the…
The three volcanoes: Tongariro, Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe
The Shaky Isles quake as Tongariro erupts
This past Monday at midnight –a timing that recalls Disney’s short nightmare animation of demons emerging from Bald Mountain – the volcano Mt. Tongariro erupted in the middle of the North Island, causing no injuries…
Winter flower on the City to Sea Walkway
Brooklyn-Bound: A Walkway on the Wild Side
Just one of the many notable hikes that criss-cross Wellington and wander about the bottom of New Zealand's north island is the City to Sea Walkway. The Walkway climbs up and down the hillsides that…
Luxuriating: the abundance of Thailand’s southern islands
On the map, Thailand is shaped like the head of an elephant with it's eyes on the water, turned toward India and the Andaman Sea. The elephant’s trunk is the south of Thailand but, here…
Peace that passeth understanding: camping at sacred sites in Cambodia
On the itinerary it seemed pretty exotic: camping amid ancient ruins and then with monks on a sacred mountain in northern Cambodia. The reality turned out to be, well, different, but perhaps a lot more…
Back to nature at the Kingfisher Ecolodge, Xe Pian Laos
We’ve just stayed at the Kingfisher Ecolodge within the Xe Pian protected forest just about 50 miles from Pakse. It’s been a wonderful experience similar to one we enjoyed earlier this year, the Selva Bananito…
The Adventure Trek: a Staple of Chiang Mai
Guided hikes are a major industry here and often incorporate all kinds of extras, from the have-to-do (like an elephant ride; we did) to the touristy silly (like pet the tigers at Tiger Kingdom; we…