In-Between
Travel on side roads
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Dizzy and Delighted in Kaikoura
Kaikoura is one of those places that I didn't imagine could exist before I arrived. What I mean by that specifically: I had never before imagined a place where snowy mountains met the sea in such a combination of wild coast and snow-capped crowns. Nor could I have possibly imagined swimming in that ocean the morning after a frosty night…
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The North of the South: Picton to Golden Bay
Crossing the Cook Strait between the North Island and the South Island felt like embarking on a completely new adventure. Perhaps it was the high expectations. Afterall, nearly every person I've spoken to, kiwi and traveler alike, told me the South Island was the best island, that it would blow my mind, that it was far more beautiful. All of…
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: September & October
The adventure continues! In September and October, I explored the middle of the North Island, and then took the plunge and went to the South Island!
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Photos from the Kaimai Range
I visited the Kaimai Range several times while I was staying in Whiritoa, so they were disjointed visits. Hour long drives out and back through small towns and straight roads (shocking, but the Waikato region nearby actually has straight roads!). However, since I visited about three times in the span of three weeks, there is no backbone to the whole…
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Waitomo, NZ: Finding Little Lights in the Dark
Last Monday, I drove away from Whiritoa, and I felt set adrift. Uncertain. Lost, even. Suddenly I'm wondering why I have chosen to be half a world away from all the people who know and love me. Experiencing the glow worm region of New Zealand reminded me that I am an explorer. It doesn't make it easier being away from…
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Circling the Coromandel Peninsula in Winter
The Coromandel Peninsula is deceptively small on a map of New Zealand's North Island. It juts from the land mass on the east side, across from Auckland. On summer Fridays, the roads are jam-packed with cars streaming out of Auckland and headed to the Coromandel's beaches. With only a few roads running through the peninsula (one of them closed due…
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A Hidden Paradise in Whiritoa, New Zealand
On Google Maps, Whiritoa looks like a beach town at the very bottom of the Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast. As I drove in through 16 kilometers of windy S-curves and 180-degree switchbacks, and then entered the town, I realized that I had been wrong. This was no town. Rather, it was a collection of a few hundred houses…
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The Lone Mussel: My Moana Moment
I'm wandering along the beach in Whiritoa. There's no particular hurry and I feel the sand shift beneath my feet. The soft sound of the waves, sussurating in a steady rhythm, creeping up the sand and retreating with gentle movement...and leaving something behind... Disney-princess style.
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Ducking Ropes and Slippery Slopes in Piha
I've heard it said that the west coast of New Zealand on the North and South Islands alike is the "wild west." The waves are bigger, the coasts are rockier, the people are fewer. Piha, about a 45 minute drive from Auckland through the Waitakere Ranges, proved much of this to be true. The black sand beach's most prominent feature…
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The Jurassic World of New Zealand’s North
I stomp along a muddy track. Bright green moss clings to trees, ferns stretch feathery boughs wide. The air is heavy, humid. The absence of other hikers makes me feel like an explorer. Thankfully, New Zealand has no large predators, so when the canopy above erupts in chaos, I know it's only a fleeing bird rather than a pterodactyl swooping…
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: July & August
Today, July 29, marks the start of my second month in New Zealand, so I'm posting the first few weeks of my 1 year of New Zealand selfies. When you're traveling alone, sometimes the ubiquitous selfie is all you have. More photos will be uploaded to this page every few weeks.
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Over the Edge: Reflections on Selfies, Hand Prints, and Solo Travel
About a year ago, an article popped up on my Instagram feed about the discovery of a new cave with early history cave paintings, one of which was a handprint. This is not unusual. Handprints are a common form of cave painting. What stuck with me was that the consulted archeologist, when asked about the single handprint, shrugged and said…
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Getting My Feet Wet in Whangarei
Whangārei is located about two hours north of Auckland in the Northland region of the North Island. This (as I consider it) is the true start of my backpacking experience. Auckland was simply "traveling." However, in Whangārei, I feel like a real person, rather than Traveler Maddie. I finally am beginning to feel like New Zealand Maddie.
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The Seaweed Queen of Great Barrier Island
I’ve got a hot cup of tea resting on the arm of the couch beside me. Dirt traces crescents beneath my fingernails, like shadows lurking beneath a stone. Seaweed flakes dot my blue shirt, and the hem of the t-shirt that peaks out beneath it.
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Yellowstone NP: The Current State of Bear Affairs
While visiting Yellowstone National Park at the end of May, my parents and I spent at least half of our time watching the wildlife. While many of these animals mostly reside in Yellowstone these days, at one point the entire stretch of the Rocky Mountains sported all these animals. Some still do, such as elk, deer, and big horn sheep,…
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Where the Buffalo Roam–Some Thoughts on Yellowstone NP
National Parks remind me that once the whole west was as starkly beautiful and untouched by exploitation. But no longer. Yellowstone reminds me how, then and now, control is everything. Not harmony. Control. In 1872, the land of Yellowstone NP didn't have to be protected from Native American tribes who had called it home for centuries. It only needed to…
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Yellowstone NP: Cruising the Crater of a Super Volcano
Much of Yellowstone National Park is a super volcano worthy of end of the world sci-fi movies, but my favorite part was the previously-not-known-to-me Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the wildlife watching. The snow is two feet deep in places and nonexistent in others. Rivers bulge at the seams, and some valleys flood entirely, calm waters mirroring the trees…
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The Wonder of the Aurora at Yellow Dog Lodge
Fifteen minutes after midnight, I am napping in an armchair and Mom and Mason are sprawled on the coach. Then Gordon pokes his head in and says the magic words: "I see the aurora." We leap from our seats (literally) and pull on layer after layer of clothes. It's about 10 degrees outside, so I'm tugging on my gloves and…
