And Possibly Dinosaurs
The best parts of being a homebody
Throughout our trip to New Zealand (and, admittedly, quite a bit beforehand), Sean and I joked about how we were going to move to New Zealand.
As soon as we got off the ship in Auckland, we felt at home. It was a city that we could so easily see ourselves living in, that our joke of “moving to New Zealand” stopped being a joke.
Now we just have to figure out how to convince the New Zealand government to let us live there.
The day after we traveled to Dunedin, we arrived in Akaroa, which is about an hour away from Christchurch on the eastern side of the southern island.
Normally cruises go to Christchurch instead of Akaroa, but the 2011 earthquake caused a several-year detour. Beginning next season, cruises will return to Christchurch instead of Akaroa. And I must say, I’m bummed for anyone who misses Akaroa, because this was our favorite port.
Akaroa is home to the largest penguin colony in New Zealand, so you bet we scheduled a tour with Pohatu Penguins.
The first time we actually stepped foot in New Zealand during our honeymoon was on the day after Christmas. We docked in Port Chalmers, which is a small town outside of Dunedin, the second-largest city on the southern island of New Zealand.
We had two main things on the agenda: a half-day bike tour of the Otago Peninsula and a tour of Speight’s Brewery.
It’s time for the second part of my honeymoon recap: Fiordland, New Zealand!
We woke up on Christmas morning to a foggy, rainy view of Milford Sound, which is on New Zealand’s southwest coast. It’s part of Fiordland, which is New Zealand’s largest national park. It’s an absolutely beautiful area with mountains, lakes, and glacier-carved valleys, which are now flooded with ocean water.
For the past 3 weeks, Sean and I have been adventuring around the South Pacific for our honeymoon! We’ve always wanted to move to New Zealand (in a haha-but-no-really kind of way), and we knew our honeymoon would be the perfect opportunity to visit it (yes, we wanted to move there before we even visited, and no, it isn’t weird).
We ended up booking a holiday cruise and got to see a lot of New Zealand, plus Sydney, Australia! Since there were so many amazing places and experiences, I decided to chop it up into smaller blog posts, like I did with the Mediterranean Cruise we went on in 2014.
First up: Sydney, Australia!
When I got my first DSLR camera back in 2010, I was nervous to take it with me when I traveled. I had taken a Basic Media Photography class in college, but I still wasn’t super confident with all of the settings on my camera. So a lot of the time, I was just guessing. Would it even be worth it if I didn’t fully know how to use it?
Not long after I purchased it, I went to Chicago with my school’s Alternative Spring Break program, and we were going to be staying in a shadier part of town. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring it with me, but luckily a college friend convinced me. It was why I got it, after all.
Since getting over that initial fear, I’ve taken my DSLR camera with me everywhere. I’ve gotten a lot of great pictures over the years, but one stands out as my absolute favorite travel photo.
I absolutely love traveling. Whether I go to the next city over or the other side of the world, I really enjoy experiencing something completely out of the norm.
But what happens when you can’t travel? Whether it’s because you can’t swing it financially or because you have too many obligations at home, it can be really difficult to get out and about.
Luckily, there’s this marvelous thing called a staycation that gives you the best of both worlds, so to speak.
So, what are some ways to have a staycation wherever you are? Here are my favorite staycation ideas. Only one thing is required–bring your camera with you everywhere!
Last May, I went on my very first cruise with Sean and his parents.
I was extremely excited, but I was a bit nervous because the three of theme were cruise veterans, while I was a newbie.
I’m hoping to alleviate some of your apprehensions with my list of things I knew before going on my first cruise.
A few weeks back, my mom and I visited my sister, who lives in Denver. It was a short trip, but we made the most of our time in the Mile-High City.
It was my first visit to Denver (with the exception of a quick stop in the airport in 2011), and I wasn’t really sure what there was to do. I relied quite a bit on the expertise of my sister and my mom, who has visited many times. They made some great choices.
Here are the five things you must do in Denver.
Note: These only represent my own experiences in Africa. I am not saying they are true for everyone who travels to Africa, nor should this post be interpreted as such.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to the beautiful continent of Africa twice in my life. I studied abroad in Ghana for six weeks in 2011, and I went on a mission trip to Uganda for two weeks in 2012 (and had an accidental layover in Rwanda for less than 24 hours).
I thought I knew everything about Africa before I went. I was involved with nonprofits that focused on African conflict, I could pick out almost any African country on a map, and I had several friends from Uganda. What else was there to know?
Well, a lot.
Here are the seven things I wish I knew before going to Africa. They’re my Africa Travel Tips, if you will.
Now that I’ve gone through all of the things we did while in port (Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Ephesus, and Split), it’s time to talk about what there is to do while on the Norwegian Jade itself. After all, that’s where we spent most of our time! I’ll divide this one into sections since there’s so much info. You can check out the full plan of the ship on Norwegian Cruise Line’s website here.
The Norwegian Jade definitely didn’t give off a “Mediterranean Cruise” vibe. It, oddly enough, gave off a Hawaiian vibe. The entire ship was decorated in Hawaiian garb, including a map of Hawaii, Hawaiian flowers made of glass, and giant Tiki statues. Clearly the ship was made for Hawaiian cruises, but they brought it halfway around the world for our Eastern Mediterranean cruise. Why? I’m not sure.
There were 14 decks on the ship, four of which we couldn’t get to. Decks 1-3 were behind-the-scenes things (mostly the engine), and deck 14 was The Haven: the really expensive rooms with private decks.
We mostly stuck to decks 5, 6 and 7, where the theater, help desks, and casino were; 9 and 10, where our staterooms were; and 12 and 13, where the food, pool, and sun decks were.
Our fifth and final port brought us back to Croatia.
Our excursion took us not only to the second-largest city in the country, Split, but also to the old medieval town of Trogir.
We hopped on the tour bus and made our way to Trogir. The scenery was breathtaking on the way; we saw beaches, towns, and mountains seemingly on top of one another. The mountain range was dotted with bright yellow flowers and fields of lavender.
When we got into Trogir, we walked through the medieval town and saw a cathedral, shops, and even a Dalmatian folk music group. (No, it wasn’t a group of singing spotted dogs. Split is located in Dalmatia.)
