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Te Araroa: The Storm That Ends All
Te Araroa: The Storm That Ends All 22.03.2020 Day 146 (16km) Thank goodness it was a short day, because the wind was howling as we walked a pebbly beach towards coastal farmland. One of my gaiters came loose, allowing the tiny rocks to fling themselves into my shoe. With the temperamental weather, I wasn’t keen to stop and remove them. After our final climb of the TA, which was only a couple hundred meters up to a viewpoint, we descended into Riverton’s residential neighborhoods. Alex had booked us an AirBnb, which was so lovely that within a few minutes we decided to reserve it for another day. The weather was…
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Te Araroa: My Knee
5.11.2019 Day 16 (18km) Not gonna lie I was in heaps of pain today. My knee was absolutely killing me and unfortunately, the painkillers weren’t even touching it. We said an early goodbye to Rose and Hubert before heading into the forests of ferns and vines. Although the inclines and declines were nothing compared to what we had been through in the days prior, at one point I was seconds away from crying. Thankfully, the steps disappeared…by steps I mean roots and stones, and the slopes mellowed to gradual climbs. Sam and I walked together most of the day, chatting about life, our hopes for the trail, and travel. Near…
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My Favorite Beach in Oz
If ever there was a time when I felt like I was in Oz, it was driving through the south of WA (Western Australia). Bright yellow flowers blanketed the hills, leading us towards the Emerald City…or in our case Esperance. With time running faster by the day, we skipped the vineyards south of Perth and cut east. Esperance was a quiet town with pretty sea views and a prim shore park with all the markings of a progressive city. We spent the day at the park overlooking the bay, under the picnic table shelters. People flowed in and out, visiting a collection of resident food trucks. Looci worked on some…
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Holiday Daydreams
After a night of cockroach infested toilets, we rose early and made a beeline for the quiet beach town of Coral Bay. The bay looked like a turquoise color swatch from Bunnings (the Lowes of Australia); only the hues blended seamlessly with the changing depth. It was visually intoxicating. The water was calm, creating an ideal environment for snorkeling and swimming, though a soft breeze threatened to break the tranquility. We took our time making French toast, unfortunately we were out of the fresh loaf we had used in Broome. The tide had inched its way in, and Looci went to lay on the beach while I set out my…
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Broome
Broome was entirely different from what I expected. I had imagined a sandy coastal town full of hippies and palm trees. There were definitely hippies, and plenty of sand, but unless you were at the beach surrounded by turquoise water, it felt like any other red Outback town in the center of the country. There are a few special things that set Broome apart from other Northern Territory (NT) seaside towns. One was the stairway to heaven which only happened for a short period of time every month when the moon hit the water at the exact angle to create the illusion of a stairwell of light. Unfortunately, we were…
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Beaches, Bathing, and Baby Koalas
After clambering over rocks and wading through waves we had finally come to the Bowen nudist beach, and it was shit. Where there should have been fluffy sand there were corals and broken shells. The slopping shore was a jumble of boulders and driftwood. Let’s be honest, there was no way I was laying naked on any surface in that area. So, did we go back the way we had come? Of course not! We went into the hill and up the boulders. At first it wasn’t terribly difficult, though my yoga mat was a bit cumbersome. Then we came to a wall of stone, Looci removed her flip flops…
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The Whitsundays
I’ve been to countless beautiful places; aside from Patagonia, this one is right up there as one of the most beautiful. The color was pure, crystal turquoise, that make your eyes thirst for one more look. Each day the tides would rise and play with the white sands, swirling them into unique patterns. Then they would depart, leaving behind a masterpiece of color. Whitehaven beach was rated the second most beautiful in the world, and despite the multitude of tour groups and helicopters overhead, it managed to retain an aura of untouched purity. The sand itself was possibly the most expensive in the world; the US having paid billions of…
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Green Point
I had never heard of Green Point, granted there are plenty of places in Aus I’ve never heard of, but it sounded like an amazing opportunity. Jenny and Mark had recently purchased a lovely retirement home right on a salt water lake fed by the ocean, and they were heading up for the weekend to work on it. They were kind enough to invite me to come and experience another part of Aus. We left well after the sun had been forgotten and the drive was harrowing to say the least. For some reason all the truck drivers decided the middle of the night was the perfect time to drive…
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Those Hot Spring Days
How was it only spring and already unbearably hot? Hannah, my friend from the free walking tour, and I were meeting to do the Bondi to Coogee walk and check out the Sculptures by the Sea. After a lot of trouble reloading my public transit card because my bank put a hold on my account ̶ even though there was a travel notice ̶ we were finally able to start our walk. Unlike the Spit to Manley walk that takes you through forested areas, this one was strictly a beach cliff walk. The only thing that made the sun remotely bearable was the breeze, even so I was dripping sweat…
Insights and Stories Through the Eyes of a Wanderer
