I originally came across Bouddi National Park on the Central Coast of New South Wales in my perpetual quest to find awesome outdoor adventures that are accessible without a car. Someday I’ll get comfortable driving in Australia… and some year I’ll be able to afford a car.
The Kalalau Trail is exhilarating, exhausting, terrifying, drop-dead stunning, and positively one of the best hikes you could ever hope to embark on.
I tend to operate on a *throw myself into it and see what happens* basis, often without pausing to consider whether I can actually succeed (after all, whatever happens, I can handle it).
While I’m on a roll with confessions, let me throw one more atcha:
It took me 21 months in Australia before I finally made it out to the Blue Mountains.
Queenstown is indisputably an outdoor adventure paradise. From cycling and epic hikes to scenic flights and about 100 other activities, I’d move there in a heartbeat if it were on the beach.
A lot of things went wrong on my recent trip to New Zealand, but the days I spent at Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park went off with nary a hitch.
There are a couple of must-do hikes in Wanaka, New Zealand. Rob Roy Glacier tends to be the one locals recommend: a glorious half-day hike rife with alpine scenery, waterfalls, glaciers, and swing bridges… and unfortunately, not a viable option for me because the trailhead isn’t within walking distance from town.
Remember that time I took a roadtrip to Wilsons Promontory with 3 young European backpackers, ate nothing but ham and cheese sandwiches for 3 days, and helped them hand wash our rental car at the end because they were convinced we had to before returning it?
Fresh off a year where I got to frolic on countless Aussie beaches, and a week where I was surrounded by the iconic rice fields in Ubud, I wasn’t quite sure which type of beautiful landscape I was seeking next.
The Royal National Park Coastal Walk is one of my favorite hikes of all time. Close to Sydney and accessible by public transport, it’s an easy Sydney weekend getaway for the frugal traveler.
A day that starts off with me losing my phone (yes, again) and ends with me being stranded for several hours waiting for my ride looks from most angles to be a crap sandwich.
