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Trip of a lifetime
  • ctkeefe

Trip of a lifetime

A 54-day adventure by ctkeefe Read more
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  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Walk about Brisbane

    May 4, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We walked into town and over the bridge to South Bank. Stopped at the museum to see the dinosaur exhibit but we're more impressed with the war one. Had some breakfast but couldn't really find the heart of the neighborhood. Went bank to the river and was impressed by the park on the river which had a full on pool and beach. Crossed back over and took a water taxi to Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm. Cool space, would love to go to a music event there. Walked some more to the 'nightlife' neighborhood and despite being about 4 in the afternoon found a bar in Fortitude Valley and sat outside and had a couple of pops.

    Head back to Nancy's and she took us out for 'dinner'. Well it was take out at an amazing spot. A park overlooking the skyline of Melbourne...fantastic!    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Off to Cairns

    May 5, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Got to Cairns and went to pick up our camper. Poor taxi guy had a accident right in front of the rental place. First day on the job. Got some supplies and by then we decided not to go too far north and stay at one of the beaches closer to town, Palm Cove.

    Great choice. We got there after the office closed and just picked an empty spot. We'd deal with it in the am. Got our drinks and head out to the pier for sunset.

    Back to the camper, made some dinner and went for a swim. Probably not the wisest move as up here they have deadly stingers and you should only swim in netted areas.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Up to Port Douglas, wait Cape Trib

    May 6, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The next day we head up the gorgeous, windy road and stopped in Port Douglas to check it out. PD was nice but a little upmarket for our mood in the camper van. We went for a swim (in the netted area this time) and had breakfast.

    We decided to go up to the Daintree Forest and stay at Cape Tribulation. You cross over the Daintree river on a short ferry and from here on out all electricity is provided by generators or solar so it's quite off the grid.

    We climbed up a windy road to a beautiful look out and had lunch. So cool to have everything right there with you!

    Daintree is a World Heritage site and beautiful country. We found a campsite just seconds walk from the beach. We had a couple afternoon drinks, then went to the campsite cafe and met some locals. Then cooked dinner in the camp kitchen and watched a little Lord of the Rings in anticipation of New Zealand. I think I made it through 20 minutes and fell asleep by 9:30, a regular occurrence these days.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Chill day at swimming spots

    May 7, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    With all this traveling we decided to have a chill day. We had heard from Cotty about this Blue Hole. She didn't know where this secret swimming hole but told us to try find it. The locals we met the night before have us directions so we went there.

    Down a road there is a gate which clearly states that this is a sacred site for the aboriginals. It is the only meant for female aboriginals and that the elders are responsible for taking care of it. The sign didn't prohibit others entering but asked that you respect the sacredness and not enter. Oh my, that's even worse! We proceeded waiting for wrath to strike us down. We got to the spot and it was gorgeous no doubt. The swimming area was off to the right and we needed better shoes to get there so didn't swim.

    We then drove an hour to check out Cow's Bay. Little bit of a disappointment which is ridiculous. We were like 'Oh just another beautiful beach where the rainforest meets the sea.'

    The whole time were were driving in the area we saw signs to watch out for the cassowaries and pictures of emus. Never heard of a cassowary but we found out. From a distance we saw an emu. Upon closer look we saw this black bird with a blue and red head. Later we found out that it was rare to see them so again we got lucky with animals in the wild.

    Next on our stop was another swimming hole, this one public knowledge. Beyond Cape Trib is only dirt road and at some point becomes a 4x4 only trail. Insurance covers nothing for the camper if you drive on dirt roads but we did anyway. It was a little sketchy at times but we made it. A little walk and an absolutely gorgeous swimming hole.

    Had lunch there and then went back to our campsite to finally chill. I could only handle less than an hour and I was up again to take a walk on the beach. I've never seen a tide that changes so much. It was about 400 yards from where it had been at high tide.

    Had our afternoon drinks and cooked dinner. Then took a walk along the beach to the local backpacker bar to listen to some live music. Pretty good and nice to get out. Then we walked home along the beach that was now high tide and literally wiped out the beach at times. Not such a good idea especially because now there were estuaries entering the sea and this is serious crocodile country. Again lucky with animals, this time NOT sighting one!

    So much for a chill day.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Ocean Safari

    May 8, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We finally had a game plan for our scuba/snorkeling experiences. We had heard such bad things about tours from Cairns. Port Douglas seemed too foofy and there were no other scuba trips from anywhere up north. But the lady at the campsite recommended the trip out of Cape Trib on Ocean Safari for snorkeling and suggested a company out of Port Douglas for scuba.

    Ocean Safari was a fair sized (25 people) speed boat that you boarded from the beach. The people who run the boat were super enthusiasts not only about everyone having a good time but also about the preservation of the reef and the forest. The nice thing about this trip too is that it only took 25 minutes to get to what is considered the outer reef and this company is the only one to have a permit to anchor at this particular reef. Needless to say the whole thing was amazing.

    After that we head to yet another swimming hole to wash off before lunch and time to head back down south.

    On our way we stopped at the Daintree river and did a boat tour. There are crocodiles all along the banks and we saw our fair share...from the safety of a boat. Thank you very much.

    We made our way to Port Douglas and found a lovely campsite. We decided to dive into the PD vibe and went out to dinner. Found a lovely place, had a great meal and then enjoyed a great band.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Scuba or snorkel, why not both!

    May 9, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today was finally our scuba day. We got picked up at the campsite and head to the marina. We boarded a large but very nice boat. The boat had 40-50 people but with all its levels and decks it felt spacious. Only 10 of the crew were diving, the rest intro dives or snorkeling.

    The dives were pretty amazing. Right off the bat we saw a shark, small but still a shark! We did 2 dives. Instead of a third dive we snorkeled. Freaking amazing. Many people said that you don't need to dive in the Great Barrier Reef and know I know why. You're probably not going to see shark, sting ray, turtle, etc. if you snorkel but the light is so much better and the quantity of fish and the insane range of coral colors is incredible. All in all, an amazing day.

    That night we had dinner at the campsite and had our last cigarette!    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Cairns craziness

    May 10, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Time to head back to Cairns and hand in the camper. We cleaned it inside and out and checked into a hotel in Cairns.

    It was hot. Cairns does not have a beach but it does have a large public pool on the water so we went for a swim.

    After cooling down we had a drink. Cairns is a weird little town. Very transient, it is packed with tour sales offices, bars, restaurant and lots of backpackers. As we sat there we met 2 Canadians from Toronto that didn't know where Vermont is. Sweet girls, young, drunk and free!

    We had a super early flight so went home early. Time for NZ!    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Goodbye Oz, hello NZ and earthquakes?

    May 11, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We flew to Christchurch, picked up our rental car and checked into a hotel. Christchurch had 2 major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 that devastated the city. In fact 82% of the buildings in the CBD have or are scheduled to be demolished. We decided to take a drive around and check the city out. Super depressing. While obviously cleaned up 5 years later, you still see many empty lots and large buildings barricaded or marked for demolition. There is an energy there though, artists have graffitied many walls or placed cool, colorful sculptures in abandoned lots. A makeshift mall has been put together from shipping containers.

    Went back home and walked to an Irish pub for an excellent meat pie. Back in the room we're playing cards and all of a sudden the entire building starts to shake. I look at Tom in disbelief as if I was imagining this. Turns out we experienced a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. It was so weird, the floors and walls were like rubber. Welcome to New Zealand.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Can we pull over again?

    May 12, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After getting supplies we drove up the east coast. Outside of Christchurch we hit the coast it was a holy moly moment or 10.

    We stopped in Kaikoura, a little village on the beach in the backdrop of a majestic mountain. It is known for seeing marine wildlife and true as Bob we saw a bunch of big, fat and lazy sea lion. Apparently it's a great place for whale watching and penguins too.Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Dorothy's version of NZ

    May 12, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After lunch on the beach we continued up north to Picton. It took us forever because we kept on having to stop for pictures. At each turn the views took our breath away.

    Picton was lovely. It is where the ferry takes you to the North island but also gateway to a serious of bays, inlets and islands. We had a quick drink but had to be on our way to make sunset at our next spot. Although I do wish I had more time there to walk the Queen Charlotte trail.

    From there we took the scenic route to Havelock. This road winds along the coast with seriously spectacular views. Most corners required me to go 25km/hr (~15m/hr) and we basically missed sunset because we still couldn't help stopping for pictures.

    We finally got to Havelock and our little, very little cottage. We were here for 2 nights and had groceries for dinner and were excited to do some internet research on the coming days. No pots, no kitchen sink, simply a microwave and fridge. No internet. Ok.

    Our little patio was lovely though and overlooked the water so we sat down with our drinks to enjoy dusk. Well that was short lived. The wind picked up to the point that it was a little crazy. So we finished them inside and walked into town the grab a bite to eat.

    We walked through wind and rain and got back to the house to watch some tv and go to bed. The wind was insane. At many points I thought the cottage was going to pick up and be swept away. Later we found out that this was not normal for this time of year and had been quite a major wind storm.

    Welcome to New Zealand #2.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    I'm officially not a sav blanc drinker

    May 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We had booked a wine tour of the Marlborough wine region just south of us. Trish of Marlborough Wine Tours picked us up and we were lucky enough to be to only ones on the tour. Trish was great.

    She asked us (me) what we like to drink and then crafted the tour accordingly. We first stopped at Lawson's which was great because there was a good range of what can grow in the region and each was explained well. I ended up buying 3 bottles there.

    Then it was off to Fromm. Marlborough is known for its Sauvignon Blanc, other whites but not really reds besides Pinot Noir. Fromm is an organic farm that specializes in reds. Yumm! We ended up splurging on 2 reds, one for a gift, another for ourselves.

    Next up was Framingham which had a nice cellar courtyard splashed with cool quotes. Apparently the winemaker leans toward the punk side. There we got yet another 2 bottles, one special for us to keep and savor in a few years.

    Last up was Spy Valley, home of one of 5 US military spy stations that track communications all over the world. Beautiful winery and at this point of the day, the waning sun was gorgeous.

    Head home and went to the Slipp Inn for dinner, a recommendation from Trish and guess who we bumped into? Trish and her husband!

    What a lovely day. My biggest take away. I don't like Sav Blanc but Rieslings do not have to be sickeningly sweet, so much that I bought and since have enjoyed both. Oh and that while Tom's palette may have expanded a bit, he still doesn't like whites.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Celeste, cars and dirt roads...

    May 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Still enjoying the jetlag i caught the sunrise over our beautiful view. The wind storm was nowhere to be seen and it was nice and calm.

    We head out to Pelorus River, one of the great scenes of the Hobbit. We went for a lovely walk through the rainforest.

    On our way back i saw a small sign for a bay. We followed it down a dirt road for a long way and ended up at a new development in this gorgeous bay tucked on this amazing coast. May have broken something under the carriage on the rental car but who cares, it was worth the journey.

    Back home for a quick lunch enjoying the view before we were to be picked up for our wine tour.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Kayaking with seals

    May 14, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Woke up super early to make it to the Abel Tasman National Park, a couple hours away. Head to the gateway town of Montueka and booked a cruise/kayak tour. We only had the one day to see Abel Tasman. Big mistake as we only had time for this. If we had had more time we could have gone further into the park and done some hikes along with more kayaking and cruising. Next time I would overnight camp it too.

    Anywho, we drove a little north through a cute beach town of Kaiteriteri to Marahau. Had lunch on the water and checked into our tour.

    They loaded us up on a water taxi with our kayaks and dropped us off with our guide on a beach further north. There we were to wait for a couple who walked to this point from the south and another that had started their kayak from the north. Tom and I walk inland up to a hill with gorgeous views while we waited.

    The kayak was lovely. We went out to Adele island where there were a ton of Native New Zealand female sea lions. Unlike the males were saw in Kaikoura these looked more like seals, much smaller and much cuter than the men!

    Then we wondered our way back to where we had started, taking in the views.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Sunset in our luxury apartment

    May 14, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    From kayaking we rushed back to our next place in Nelson. This Airbnb had a balcony overlooking the water and we wanted to catch sunset. We just did. And boy we were not disappointed. The apartment was gorgeous, large balcony, spacious open planning living/dining area and bedroom, all with large windows overlooking the water. Finally cooked the dinner we had planned for 2 nights ago and then cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie.Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    No rest for the weary, almost literally

    May 15, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Up early the next morning with a fairly long drive down to the West Coast. We had heard our luck with beautiful sunny weather was about to come to an end down there. We crossed over and almost as soon as we hit the coast the clouds came in.

    The ocean was certainly wild. The way we saw it, I can't imagine it is ever swimmable but apparent the west coast can get tropical flows of water at times.

    We checked out Pancake Rocks after our usual picnic lunch. Fascinating formations of rocks that look like crepes stacked up together. We were advised to go at high tide to see the blow holes. Unfortunately that was at six and we still had a couple hours to drive. Fortunately though because of the weather the sea was wilder than usual and we caught a few.

    On to Greymouth for supplies and our next place where we would be for 2 nights.

    This place was 12km off the main road. Our hosts were so sweet and hugging us within a few minutes. They have a cottage behind their house. You walk in between 2 greenhouses to a little clearing with chairs, tables and a fire pit. To the right is the 'mancave', a little hut with a wood stove and chairs to hangout. The fire had been going for a while and it was cozy. Behind the fire pit is an outdoor bathtub.

    To the left was the cabin. Tiny little thing but so cute and well organized. A bed with electric blankets and lots of regular ones. A heater on the wall and an extra portable one. A kitchen table. And a small kitchen arranged in a way that worked well, with everything you could possibly need. The fridge was stocked with milk and bacon, butter, fresh bread, eggs and homemade cookies left on the counter.

    Cooked dinner and hit the sack. It was raining when we went to bed but boy did it get worse. In the middle of the night I woke up to what I thought was a gun shot right next to my head, thunder. It continued on and off throughout the night. Quite honestly the craziest thunder and lightening storm I can remember.

    Welcome to New Zealand #3    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Sometimes you just need to relax

    May 16, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    The crazy night made way for a similar morning so we slept in for the first time in literally months. We had lost electricity so what was the point. I still think we got up around 10.

    The storm was strange in how it came and went in spits and starts. We had no electricity or internet so we read. We enjoyed the fresh bread. Later in the day the storm seemed to let up so I went into town to get hiking pants. Tom voted for the bed and more reading.

    That night we cooked another great meal with the fresh eggs they had left for us. The rain pittered and pattered a bit but we still decided to venture an outdoor bath and a little fire in the fire pit. The bath was more successful (think hot tub on a cool night).    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Clear skies for the glacier

    May 17, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    The sun came out finally the next day. Annie even said we may see some snow on the peaks. It was 4C there and you know it was colder up top. When we had arrived the rental agent had said there was no snow and we would probably not see any.

    We were not disappointed. All along the west coast is a range of mountains that jump up dramatically from the ocean. We drove down to our next town 2 hours away admiring the snow covered peaks.

    We drove right to Franz Josef Glacier and was lucky enough for clear skies. We had our picnic lunch and then did the 45 minute walk to the glacier. On our way, who do we meet but the couple that we had kayaked with in Abel Tasman. Small world!

    They stop you quite far from the start of the glacier for safety reasons. We then jumped a fence (like everyone else) and climbed up to chill and get a better view. We broke out our mini wines and took in the view with a great Marlborough Pinot!

    We head back to our Airbnb and after a little confusion found our cottage. Really nice, on a farm right next to a paddock with miniature horses and a view of the mountains. Unfortunately at this point the clouds had moved in and we couldn't see much.

    After setting in we went into town for a drink, home for dinner and another successful day in NZ.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Through the mountains we go

    May 18, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We were supposed to check out Fox Glacier and Lake Mathieson today but it was raining and they were both fogged in so we head southeast to Queenstown.

    We head through the Haast Pass over the mountain range. The weather cleared up a bit and we were able to see some beautiful snow covered peaks, waterfalls and classic rainforest vegetation. At one point we stopped for a short walk through the forest to a large waterfall.

    On the other side of the pass it opened up to a beautiful lake, actually 2 lakes so we stopped for our ceremonial glass of wine and took in the view.

    We got into Queenstown just before dark and checked into our hotel. We got 6 nights in Queenstown by trading in miles. I could see that the location was really good, right in town but the reviews had been very mixed with a lot of people complaining about cleanliness. So needless to say we were a little nervous.

    To our surprise the place was great. Nothing special but clean, full kitchen, couch and TV, washing machine and dryer, decent bathroom, daily cleaning and a comfortable bed.

    We head out to dinner and found a pub on the wharf literally 2 minutes walk from our place and had an excellent meal for NZ$20 each.

    We then tried to find World Bar, I had read had good music but to no avail and ended up at a dive pool bar. Played some pool with 2 friendly locals and called it a night.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Umm. Queenstown and golf. Yes please!

    May 19, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Woke up in the morning to a beautiful day. We had reserved today to check out the town. We walked around for a bit. It's a small CBD bustling with tour companies, outdoor gear shops and restaurants. It's situated right on Lake Wakatipu surrounded by towering mountains, luckily for us recently snow capped.

    We hadn't had breakfast so we opted for an early lunch at the reknowned 'Fergburger', known as the best eat in town. The burgers were pretty darn good but I'm not sure they beat an original Shake Shack.

    The weather was so lovely and it was forecast to get colder so we decided to go play golf. Best decision ever. The course was spectacular. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

    That night we chilled at home and Tom cooked us tacos. He thought they were so good that he had 8 and not 10 because I was already appalled at the 8! They were pretty good though.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    What you do when it's overcast

    May 20, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Woke up today and it was overcast and rainy. As I noted before on a dirt road near Nelson a rock had hit something under the car and it made a noise when hitting about 100km/hr. Well at some point in the Haast pass Tom had hit a pot hole and now the noise was worse at 60km/hr and the steering wheel did funny things at about 10km/hr. So long story short we took it in and exchanged it for a new car before we did anymore damage.

    Then we head to the cute village of Arrowtown for lunch. Had pies and a Guinness in Irish pub and walked around the shops.

    After we got home we went to a place right next to us, the Craft beer house. Tom had a flight of 6 IPAs (including some double one).

    Went home and took a roast chicken out the oven and had a great meal.    Read more

  • ctkeefeTrip of a lifetimectkeefe

    Up we go, 3600ft straight up

    May 21, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Today our plan was to do a fairly aggressive hike up to some peak. We found what sounded like the perfect hike and drove to Mt Alfred, just outside of Glenorchy. Unfortunately the directions didn't result in a clear entrance to a path so we drove around for over an hour before finally getting better directions from a cop. Unfortunately now our starting time wasn't giving us a lot of room for error being that it could get super sketchy and cold after sundown.

    Anywho we started our hike. From the get go it was up, literally straight up. And it never stopped, approximately 3500ft up in just over 2 miles. We started at about 1000ft and rose to 4510ft. By the end we were taking 100-200 steps and resting.

    A couple hundred feet from the top we hit the tree line and then it was almost like rock climbing except at this point my legs were not very enthusiastic with this idea of reaching the summit. Begrudgingly they made it.    Read more

    Trip end
    May 21, 2016
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