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Europe and Oceania 2023
  • Christie Mitchell

Europe and Oceania 2023

Second trip “around the world”. Much less time than the last trip, but sheer time doesn’t determine the greatness of an adventure!! Determined to enjoy ever second. Read more
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  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Royal Botanic gardens
    2Lots of pools ocean sideI know hes not levitating ... but still cool to see

    Lazy day

    October 2, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We had a lazy day today - slept in, took care of computer stuff, hung around our hotel … kind of nice to have some down time.

    In the afternoon we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens for a nice walk around the waterfront. Very pretty gardens.

    Off tomorrow for a new city!!

    5.45 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    On our way! Budget airline in Australia but not too bad
    So many beachesBeautiful mall2Our hotel - white tallish one3View from our room

    Travel day

    October 3, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    Today was a travel day. We boarded a plane for Gold Coast, a city midway up the east coast about a 9 hour drive from Sydney.

    I caught Jordan’s cold, so feeling pretty out of it. Didn’t do much today but get here, get settled and investigate a huge indoor/outdoor mall next to our hotel (looking for dinner).

    Gold Coast is a vacation seaside city - this is kind of our break from touring sites for a few days. Just going to enjoy the beach and the hotel pool for a bit.

    4.09 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell

    Just bumming around

    October 4, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 73 °F

    Our day in two pics … ocean is WAY too cold to go into right now (still spring here), and way too rough. Red flag warnings up and down the beach. So the pool and Netflix it was for us. Simple day

    3.10 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    It was TALLWhat the climb actually looked like2Us at the topLots if surfers here - quite the risk as theyres lots of sharks in this areaSunsetPlaying games at pizza

    Touch the sky

    October 5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Well today we did a thing definitely out of my comfort zone. We did the Skypoint climb. It’s the tallest building in all of Australia - and we got to climb to the top of it. Cause Jordan’s and I’d motto lives on … if there is a tower, we must climb it!!

    Luckily it wasn’t too strenuous. After getting outfitted in jumpsuits and harnesses (and taking off ANYTHING that could fall to the ground - to avoid the $100k fine in Australia) we took an elevator to the 77th floor. We then went to the outside of the building and climbed 300 steps to the tippy top. It was exhilarating!!! Found out it was 2 1/2 times taller than the Sydney bridge - which put it into perspective for me.

    We weren’t allowed to take phones, so no pics, but they provided one shot for us which is nice to have as a memory.

    Then we hung out on the beach, and watched lots of surfers. Sunset is lacking a bit as we’re on the east coast but it was still pretty. (need to get up for a sunrise but not dedicated enough)

    3.14 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Most of our walk
    2The killer turkey that chased usMe in aweWe walked out on this pier first2Rocky spit we could see from the pierGold coast in the distanceDecided to walk out on the rocky spitBeautiful ocean2

    Beautiful seaside walk

    October 6, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    To say our time at Gold Coast has been relaxing is an understatement. Haven’t done much these last couple days but soak in the views and just be … today tho we went on a long walk. We found a nature reserve trail and just walked for a few hours. By the time we had finished we had walked about 8 miles - almost 10 for the day. Perfect temps, gorgeous sea views. Couldn’t ask for better.

    I’ve been pretty nervous about Australia’s wildlife, especially it’s spiders and snakes, so was a tad concerned walking thru trails today. Turned out the only thing we had to be scared of was a wild Turkey that kind of chased us. It was really funny, actually.

    We first found this REALLY long pier and walked to the end of it, but from there we could see this little spit covered in rocks with a lighthouse on the end. So we decided to walk out to the end of it as well. The ocean was hitting the rocks and creating a beautiful spray.

    9.42 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Beginnings of the Great Barrier Reef from the plane.
    Weird looking trees in the park2The lagoonThe lagoon

    Travel day

    October 7, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Today was a travel day - we got up at the break of dawn and caught a plane for Cairns (pronounced Cans). Cairns is in the North East coast of Australia and is considered the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef!!!!

    When we arrived we noticed drastic changes. Huge temperature difference and amazingly humid up North. It fees completely different than the other cities we’ve experienced so far. Cairns is a small little quaint town - I expected it to be bigger considering it handles most of the traffic out to the reef.

    We went to the downtown portion of the city and to our surprise they had a huge man made “lagoon”. It was a HUGE seaside pool that varied from 2 to 5 feet deep right in the middle of town - completely free to the public. It exists because there’s NO swimming at the beach, which is right there - sharks are a big issue, apparently, and NO ONE is allowed to swim at the beach. So we swam for a bit in the lagoon, explored the waterfront and had a great first evening. Kind of forgot to take pics as we walked - so not much to show. Will get more in the next few days.

    5.89 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Our Catamaran
    Floating Pontoon we stopped at for our first dive2I was feeling pretty good - Jordan, in the background, not so much!The gear up areaHard to capture the blueness of the waterOn one of our stops - Jordan feeling better, for just a short bitFeeding a sea turtle2This clam was GIANTThis is a lace coral and is bigger than a person!2This is our guide being clever - harder to do than it looks4My first "swim thru" - thats Jordan in front of me

    The Great Barrier Reef!

    October 8, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 77 °F

    We woke up early to head out about 2 hrs into the ocean to see the reef! As I’ve said, it’s just barely spring here, so the weather is a bit unpredictable - and, it was somewhat windy and stormy today. They told us as we were boarding that the weather was going to make it a “rough trip” and they weren’t exaggerating!

    Luckily, I appear to be completely immune to sea sickness. I’ve never struggled with it at all - But Jordan has it in spades, and it’s getting worse the older she gets. She usually is able to control it with motion sickness medicine, but not today. She wasn’t alone tho. The boat carried over 60 divers, snorkelers and crew and I swear at one point over 3/4 of those people were vomiting all at once. The sound was indescribable. Luckily they had tons of vomit bags, but it was still pretty nasty. Just watching THAT almost made me sick.

    The waves were HUGE that the boat was cutting thru. The “worst” sea conditions I personally have ever seen. But we eventually made it to the reef and we were able to anchor in the reefs protection. We went on two dives and it was pretty special just knowing where we were.

    The reef is made up of 3000 smaller reefs. We visited just 3 of them today. It’s the largest “living” structure on earth - it can even been seen from space! The government restricts access to almost all tourism, only permitting boats out to a handful of them. Which is good. They need to be protected. Even with that, the corals are dying. It is VERY evident.

    It was a long exhausting day - 8:00am to 5:00pm on the water - but good memories were made.

    2.49 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Extreme low tide on the promenade
    Pelicans enjoying low tide - no crocodilesThese trees have very unique trunksOur "CVS", but MUCH biggerHigh tideLots in this water waiting to kill you1Boardwalk and promenadeNight market2Sports courts, nightly

    Cairns, Great Barrier Reef

    October 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    We’ve spent the last two days hanging around in Cairns. It’s a quaint, quiet little city. I’m assuming it gets much busier during the summer months.

    There’s a beautiful waterfront promenade that runs thru the whole length of the city that we walk down every day. During low tide, the water is WAY out - crazy how far out.

    The city has so much for its residents - sports courts, sand volleyball every night, the free lagoon pool, a night market that goes in daily with ALL kinds of food and things for sale. It’s a really special city and been really enjoyable just bumming around in.

    Jordan has come down with an infection in her fingernail so had to go experience the Australian medical system - not too bad, even without insurance. $60 to see the doc and $35 for the prescription. They have stores her called “Chemist warehouses”. I guess they’re our equivalent to a pharmacy, but basically carry anything you’d need for your body in one place. They’re everywhere, and are identical in every city, which is convenient.

    8.57 miles today
    4.26 miles yesterday    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Barron Falls canopy walk
    More wild turkeys4Barron FallsPalm colveRex lookoutOur awesome hotel1Trinity Bay lookoutColony of fruit bats, or "flying foxes"6

    Port Douglas

    October 11, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 77 °F

    We rented a car today and headed north. We first stopped at Barron Falls and took a walk on an elevated walkway thru the rainforest to an overlook. Unfortunately, since there hasn’t been much rain, the falls weren’t flowing very strong. The gorge was still really pretty tho, and it was easy to imagine what it would look like during the wet season. (Plus seeing pics online).

    After the falls we headed up the coast an hour or so to Port Douglas. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive right along the ocean - one of my favorite things. We stopped at numerous beaches and viewpoints.

    It’s kind of sad here in that they have all these wonderful beaches and they can’t swim at any of them for fear of either salt water crocodiles, bull sharks and/or the deadly box jelly fish. But … they can enjoy the beauty of them.

    Once we made it to Port Douglas we checked into our hotel we spent a couple hours in our pool relaxing. The weather has gotten much warmer now that we’re at the far north of Australia.

    The big surprise while eating dinner (outside) was seeing all the birds (mostly lorikeets) flocking by the hundreds. So pretty. Then we saw the BIGGEST bats we’d ever seen ! can’t express how big these were - they were bigger than seagulls. They say their wingspan is around 3.5 feet. There was a big colony of them - maybe a hundred hanging around in the trees taking off every so often. It was quite the sight.

    3.75 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Shuttle bus to go into the Park
    I found these trees facinating2MASSIVE nests - not sure what for???Cool suspension bridge over the gorge2Our swimming holeSugar cane fields everywhereCars just drive thru rivers hereThese roots!! AmazingBeautiful setting for a weddingSo happy!The cliff oceanside trailUrgh. The stairs. Why are there always so many stairs?!?Cool benches along the path made of stonesThe cliff we just walked on

    Mossman Gorge

    October 12, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Port Douglas is a coastal city right at the foothills of the Daintree Rainforest. It’s a beautiful area. Today we took a drive out to Mossman Gorge - only 25 min or so from Port Douglas.

    You drive to the Mossman cultural center and then board shuttle buses that take you into the national park. It minimizes the traffic, which is nice. Once there, they have boardwalks and trails all through the gorge. We ended up doing a 2.5km loop trail through the rainforest along the river. It was really peaceful and beautiful.

    Once we got back to the end of the loop there was a swimming hole - it’s too cold in this river for crocodiles, sharks or jellyfish - so we were completely safe to swim. We did have to watch for flash floods but that was about the only risk. It was a beautiful crisp clear river and we really enjoyed cooling off.

    Then we headed back to town and did a second hike - the Flagstaff hill track. It was a nice path that ran along a cliff side overlooking the ocean. Lots of ups and downs and stairs, but the view and gorgeous ocean breeze made it worth it! Overall a beautiful day. I think Port Douglas may be one of my favorite areas in Australia.

    6.0 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    On the platform ferry heading across the river
    River crossingMt Alexander lookout1Trees here are fascinatingDaintree Ice CreamJackfruit treeHUGE vanilla beansNever seen pineapple growingBanana orchardThese fan ferns were HUGE2Look closely and youll see thousands of roots coming up - looked alien likeVines wrapped all around the treesPeople stay so far away from the surf2Jellyfish sting warnings with a vinegar bottle attachedKulki lookoutWe're on the east coast, so sunsets are lacking

    Daintree Rainforest

    October 13, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We got up early this morning and drove north about 2 hours to the Daintree Rainforest National Park. In order to access it, you have to take a small ferry that pulls you across a crocodile infested river (by cables). Exciting.

    Once on the other side we were able to drive to all sorts of ocean lookouts and boardwalks walking through mangroves and forests. It was really beautiful. We did three of the boardwalks and each was very different than the others.

    We also stopped at the Daintree ice cream shop. It was very unique - set out in the country on a fruit orchard. They grow their own fruit and make all their ice cream with that fruit by hand. The flavors were so interesting. We got a multiple scoop flight to share - coconut, mango, wattle seed, jackfruit and chocolate coconut sorbet.

    I still am shocked every time I see a beach. They are SO beautiful and inviting - but … the crocs and jellyfish own them. To see people walking on the beach, soooo far up from the surf is so strange.

    Driving in Australia IS stressful, being on the other side of the road AND the other side of the car. But … strangely no one speeds. Literally. It’s odd to see no one speeding past anyone on the freeways. They have cameras everywhere and ticket that way so … people follow the laws. AND in regards to the people, and sharing the road, Australians are extremely chill. I’ve driven in a few cities now and literally no one honks at you, rides your bumper, speeds past in disgust. People are very relaxed, understanding and patient. It’s a nice change from driving in the US. And I move fairly slowly checking and double checking every turn (since it’s so foreign for me). People certainly would have cause to honk at me at times - but … they don’t. ❤️

    4.6 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    2

    Taylor Swift night??

    October 14, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We left Port Douglas this morning and headed back to Cairns. (We’ll be flying out from here in the morning.) We spent the day getting prepared for our next leg of the trip - doing all the laundry, and doing some shopping! We’re heading into much colder climate so needed some cold weather clothes to get us through.

    And when you’re traveling with a huge Taylor Swift fan (Jordan - who try as she might in multiple countries couldn’t get any tickets to her concert. 😢) you MUST see the Taylor Swift concert movie. We found it was out here in Cairns and snagged a few tickets. It ended up being a fantastic night, rocking out with the youngsters in the theater. I will say … Taylor puts on a pretty impressive show! It’s far from being at an actual concert, but better than nothing.

    5.05 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Sunrise at Sydney airport
    Coolest McDonalds ever - kitchen upstairs2Food delivery system at McDs1New Zealand mountains from the airOur canpervanGrocery store in Christchurch - much different than the USTucked in for the night. 😂

    On to New Zealand!!!

    October 16, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    We flew on this morning to New Zealand! New Zealand is two large islands - the North and South. We’re spending the next 9 days traveling thru the South Island. It’s known for being the most scenic and nature filled.

    We’ve rented a camper van, which is basically a minivan that’s been altered. It has a double bed built into it and a small kitchen in the back. We’ve got a set route we’re taking thru the island and are staying in campgrounds over the next 9 nights.

    This may be completely crazy in that it is still spring here in New Zealand, so … cold - it’s actively snowing in some places we are scheduled to go thru. We’ve bought some cold weather gear but … possibly not enough. I guess we’ll see as we go. It’ll definitely be an adventure, one way or another.

    So today we got the van, went grocery shopping to set ourselves up for the week and set up the van to live comfortably in. Tomorrow morning we drive to our first destination.

    Also .. side note. We saw the most fascinating McDonald’s ever in the Sydney airport. It was two stories, and the kitchen was on the top (in all glass) and the serving area was on the bottom floor. The food was delivered via a conveyor system. Very cool.

    5.3 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    The lake when we arrived - still a bit under cloud cover
    One of the bunnies in our campsiteOur view from our campsite2Clouds clearing even moreThe hot springs above the lakeAll the red lights keep your eyes prepared for viewing the night skyStsr gazing at the hot springs

    Lake Tekapo

    October 17, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    I haven’t been able to post anything as I’ve been pretty isolated the last few days - no wifi. So I have some catch up to do.

    We got up and drove from Christchurch southwest to Lake Tekapo. The weather was pretty rough - raining and lots of cloud cover. Kind of bummed as I knew the mountains we were heading into were spectacular. Luckily the weather cleared just when we got there so got to really enjoy all the views. The water in the mountain lakes is SO blue, and there are bunnies everywhere.

    Driving in New Zealand is very different. There are no stop signs, or really any stop lights. They exist with only round a-bouts and yield or “give way” signs. It works great as you never get stopped anywhere.

    New Zealand is absolutely beautiful - the colors, especially the pastureland is an unbelievable green. Pictures can’t capture its beauty. As jordan said, if I were to paint using that color, people would think it is completely fake.

    Once we got set up at Lake Tekapo we headed over to the hot springs to soak for awhile. Later in the night, we went back for star gazing as this area is a “star reserve” - meaning there is little to no light pollution there so viewing the stars is amazing. It was an hour of education and the use of high power telescopes and then an hour floating in the hot springs on air mattresses looking at the night sky. It was fantastic. About 40° outside, and water was 104°. Amazing experience. Sadly we couldn’t take any pics - we choose to leave our phones in the lockers and just enjoyed ourselves and took in the moment. I did find some pics online of the experience tho.

    2.35 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Lake Tekapo as we left
    Beautiful mountains around every turn1Pics dont do the turquoise water justice4We camped right here - this was our view from our vanNext to this warning. 😫4Our camp set upAnother view from our campsiteWe walked to this restaurant for dinner - was a great view1Sun began setting on our 30 min walk back22

    Mt Cook

    October 18, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    We drove north a bit to Mt Cook - the highest peak in all of New Zealand. (12,218 ft.). In comparison, Mt Rainier is 14,410 and Mt Hood is 11,249. Mt Cook is sizable and was most impressive as it was a giant amongst giants. Not just a peak like hood or rainier, but a massive mountain range.

    The two hour drive was fantastic - we stopped at lookout after lookout. It just became more and more beautiful as we got closer.

    Our campground was the most primitive site yet, but we slept at the base of mt cook which made it all the worthwhile. It was beautiful.

    7.85 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Taking off!!
    The first mountains we saw2The views from the air!!2Landing on the snow fieldJordan in aweView from inside was obstructed but still beautifulNo photo shop here - this is mountain run off below usLake PukakiThe ocean (west coast) in the backgroundGetting out of the copter

    We did “a thing” 😀

    October 18, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F

    We spontaneously decided to “do a thing” today - to take an hour long helicopter ride around Mt Cook!! It was maybe one of the most fantastic things I’ve ever done. We actually landed on a snow field at 8000 ft and were able to get out on the edge of the mountain. Between the two of us we probably took a 1000 photos and videos. It was very hard to pick 20 of the best.Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Clay cliffs
    Kept seeing thr magnificent mountains in the mirrorsPics dont do the deep green pastures justiceOur campsiteQueenstownView from inside the campervanSun setting at campsite in Queenstown

    On to Queenstown

    October 19, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We had another beautiful drive today (about 3 1/2 hours) - headed south to Queenstown. Pastureland, mountains, beautiful lakes - New Zealand is a VERY beautiful country.

    There are SOOO many sheep here. We were told Merino sheep are one of the few animals that can easily survive the extremes high and low temps here, so they have A LOT of them. (And this is where we get Merino wool socks from). Being Spring here there are so many lambs on the pastures - so cute.

    We saw the Clay cliffs on the way - reminded me some of Utah. Pretty rock formations.

    Queenstown is quite pretty as well. One of the bigger cities here, situated in the middle of a mountain range, built around a massive lake.

    3.69 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Big bus to get us up to the top
    The bungee platform suspended in the distanceThe ride in the box to get to the bungeeJordan's all ready to go!!Looking so calm - NOT!!Beautiful form!22The full bungee videoNow on to the swing!!Bridge out to the suspended platformDoing okay, for nowThe panic is setting in (for me at least)And we're off4The full nevis swing video

    New Zealand adventures

    October 20, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    New Zealand is known worldwide for its adrenaline pumping, action adventures. It’s also the home of Bungee jumping - AJ Hackett was the man who first came up with our modern bungee jump (inspired by the indigenous people of Vanuatu) in the
    1980’s and has built quite a company here. You can bungee jump, catapult launch and do the Nevis swing here in Queenstown.

    Jordan, being an adrenaline junkie has always wanted to do the swing, and talked me into joining her months ago when I was planning this trip. I am NOT an adrenaline junkie so this was a hard one. I agreed to it when I learned, statistically I had more risk of death DRIVING to the location, then I did actually doing the activity. So today was the day!

    We boarded a huge, powerful bus in the city first thing this morning and were driven up into the mountains about 40 minutes. We climbed some VERY steep winding hills, but made it. Jordan had decided to add on a bungee jump to her package so once there, she went first. It is the 14th highest in the world at 135 meters. Amazing to watch.

    After she did her jump we headed over to the Nevis Swing - the biggest swing in the world!! It is 160 meters high - you drop 70 meters in a free fall and then swing out 300 meters. We did it together which made it fantastic. I was PETRIFIED getting onto the swing but it was actually one of the most awesome experiences of my life. Really fun.

    We left Queenstown and then took an hour drive North to Lake Wanaka to spend the night. We went up and over a massive mountain to get here - a series of switchbacks that were very intense.

    Again … this country is absolutely amazing.

    5.13 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Lake Wanaka
    The Wanaka TreeSpring has sprung here6Queenstown from above - see the airport runway in the middle???2Fantail falls2Thunder creek fallsFound the west coast oceanPlaying chess in the evening

    Waterfalls and the ocean

    October 21, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    We drove from Wanaka to Fox Glacier today. As usual, it was another absolutely beautiful drive. We stopped at numerous waterfalls and did a couple small hikes. The water is so clear and turquoise blue. We eventually made it to the west coast of Australia - basically on the other side of the mountains from a few days ago.

    The campgrounds we stay at have lots of fun things - ping pong, fuzz ball , air hockey, and today a giant chess board. Been fun playing around.

    3.19 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    View we woke up to at campsite
    First walk of the dayLake Matheson1They use chicken wire all over trails - helps a lot with slippingBeautiful tree ferns - hugeFranz Joseph Glacier4Callery Gorge Walk3Hotikaka1Surfers had just finishedFinally caught a sunset - no excuse to not. Finally On the west coast

    Drive up the West Coast

    October 22, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We drove up the west coast today. We definitely agreed that we enjoyed the east and central regions of New Zealand best. Glad to see this side, but not near as spectacular and more cloud covered because of the weather coming in from the ocean.

    It was still a pretty drive, and we went from Fox Glacier to Hokitika, stopping at a couple hikes along the way.

    We finished the evening with our one and only sunset. We figured we were finally on the west coast so couldn’t not go sit and watch one. It was nice.

    8.24 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Otira Viaduct lookout - "deaths corner"
    Kea - native birdCastle Hill - the people on the boulders show their sizeWe're actually quite highOur campervan set up for the night - the tent boot makes it much roomier

    Coast to coast

    October 23, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We took off in the morning from Hokitika, which is right on the northern west coast and drove all the way across the country to the far east coast to Christchurch. It took just about 3 1/2 hours! This is a very narrow country.

    The terrain is much different on this side of the mountains, and the weather not near as nice. As soon as we got into the mountains, everything cleared up and we had beautiful blue sky again.

    There’s a section of highway called “deaths corner” - a viaduct that runs right thru the steepest part of the mountains. It was definitely a bit treacherous driving.

    Then we came upon the “castle hill” - a large number of massive boulders on a hillside. We stopped and did some hiking and climbing for a bit. The boulders were HUGE and it was a nice break in the drive.

    By afternoon we had made it back to Christchurch, where we started this adventure just 8 days ago. It was a beautiful route thru the southern island - google had great advice, again! I can’t believe my time here is almost over.

    5.68 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    You can see the air strip on each end of the water - made for an interesting landing
    Brighton pier in Wellington

    Wellington

    October 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    We turned in the camper van and flew to Wellington, NZ - it’s the southernmost city on the north island. It had better air fares for our return to the states and jordan has a friend there, so wanted to drop in and say hi.

    Wellington airport is insane. It’s runway is literally crammed between two bodies of water with zero space at each end. It made for a pretty rough landing as it’s very stormy and windy here most days.

    3.83 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Here I go, ready or notWatching the sunrise over new zealand

    Starting my LONG journey home

    October 24, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 57 °F

    I started my journey back to the states this morning - up bright and early at 3:00am. My trip has multiple layovers so going to be an experience.

    I left Jordan at the hotel. She’s going to stay in Wellington a few more days and visit with her friend, and then make her journey home on the 27th. She’s been away almost two years now (between our trip in 2022 and her own adventures in 2023) so can’t wait to have her home again.

    First leg - Wellington, NZ to Sydney, AUS. 3 hrs 45 min in the air.    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    1A380 - its a massive plane
    2Happy camper - no sharing of armrests this trip

    Sydney, once again

    October 24, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    I landed in Sydney and had a 3 hour layover. Feels like we just keep ending back here.

    Luckily traveling in style in a massive jet - an A380. The biggest jet on the planet. It can set 525 people, on two full levels. It’s crazy big, and Qantas is awesome. LOTS of legroom, lots of space, good food and … no one sitting next to me. Can’t ask for better!

    Second leg - the longest leg of the trip. Sydney to Los Angeles. 13-14 hours in the air!    Read more

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