Getting a Head Start on Spring

Next in line for de-icing at Minneapolis/St. Paul MSP. Summer, fall, and the first few weeks of winter in Minnesota are wonderful. Also wonderful are the percussive sounds of a glycol/water mixture being sprayed at our plane in the depths of winter as we start a journey towards the tropics or a Southern Hemisphere summer.…… Continue reading Getting a Head Start on Spring

Geodetic Marker

On our Waiheke Island hike: a geodetic marker, with Auckland visible in the distance. We’re spending our last two nights in New Zealand on this island, a 35-minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland.

Snapshots: Whanganui National Park

Today, a jet boat brought us back to a world with Internet and roads. Three days earlier I maneuvered our rental car along a narrow, winding road, avoiding recent rockfalls. At Pipiriki, New Zealand, a jet boat came to take us up the Whanganui River, through a vertiginous gorge, to the Bridge to Nowhere Lodge. Thursday…… Continue reading Snapshots: Whanganui National Park

Returning to the Connected World

Today, a jet boat brought us back to a world with Internet and roads. 3 days earlier I maneuvered our rental car along a narrow, winding road, avoiding recent rockfalls. At Pipiriki, New Zealand, a jet boat came to take us up the Whanganui River to the Bridge to Nowhere Lodge.

Snapshots: Egmont National Park

New Zealand’s North Island has three national parks: Egmont, Whanganui, and Tongariro. On this trip we selected Egmont and Whanganui, two of New Zealand’s less-visited parks. We’ve spent two days hiking Egmont’s lovely trails, with two more days to go. Saturday January 6 9:50a Wellington Central Railway Station, Platform 9 (Bus) 12:10p Palmerston North City…… Continue reading Snapshots: Egmont National Park