Our first morning in Luang Prabang, we got up at 5 so we could participate in Tak Bat, or Morning Alms. It’s a daily tradition with Buddhist monks from the local monasteries that dates back to the 14th century. The monks leave their monasteries early in the morning and proceed through the streets, walking single file, with the oldest … More Tak Bat: Morning Alms in Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang, Laos has been the sleeper hit of the trip for us! It is so incredibly charming and the people have such an innate generosity of spirit. It’s a peaceful place that was such a nice respite after the pace of Bangkok and Chiang Mai! The city center is a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s … More Lovely Luang Prabang
Queenstown is known as the Adventure Capital of the World. After staying here for a few days, I can see how that honor has been well earned. Want to get your adrenaline pumping? The options are pretty much limitless for the number of ways you can do it! There’s bungy jumping, sky diving, hang gliding, … More Queenstown – Adventure Capital of the World!
After our time in Russell, we started our trek south. Our only deadline was that we needed to be in Nelson, on the south island, on Dec 16th to pick up our nephew who was flying in to visit for 3 weeks, woohoo! Heading south, we stopped in Waitomo to see the Waitomo caves that are … More Glow Worms in Waitomo
Russell was the first stop on our camping adventure. Well, technically there was one night spent in a parking lot after our accident, but I’m not counting that one! After having to wait for all the police reports, etc. we weren’t able to make it as far north as we wanted, so the policemen recommended we … More Russell
While in Auckland, we stayed in an Airbnb in the Ponsonby neighborhood. We did a little research on the different areas to stay in and Ponsonby seemed like a hip little neighborhood that was close enough to walk to downtown Auckland, but far enough away so we weren’t smack dab in the middle of the … More Auckland
It’s the start of a new chapter and we’re off to New Zealand. First stop…Auckland! I’ll admit, it was a bit of a comedy of errors for us to even get into the country. We didn’t have the smoothest start. First, we got to the Brisbane airport to fly out and they wouldn’t let us board … More Next Stop…New Zealand!
Our plan for Queensland was to land in Cairns and take the next 12 days to meander down the coast to Brisbane, stopping off a few places as we go. Cairns to Brisbane is roughly 1,700 kilometers (around 1,000 miles for those of you, like me, who are metrically challenged). Right now we’re on day 9 … More The Plan for Queensland
After getting into Castaways Resort after it was dark the night before, we awoke to this view the next morning. Our room was right by the pool and there was a beautiful beach that looked out onto neighboring Dunk Island. The beach was full of sand bubbler crabs that leave the tiny little balls of … More Mission Beach (starring some of my new favorite people on the planet)
Kuranda is a scenic little town in the mountains, known as the Village in the Rainforest, just northwest of Cairns. A lot of artisans were attracted to the area for its natural beauty with waterfalls, mountains and rainforests and decided to settle there. We read that the town had a vibrant arts and crafts culture … More Kuranda (I think it’s Aboriginal for “maybe we shouldn’t have come here”…)
The Detour Diary 