Sunday: Christchurch to Sydney It was an early morning as we were out the door at 7am and headed to the airport for a 9:30 flight. The drive in was quiet and uneventful as most of Christchurch was still asleep for an early Sunday morning. As we dropped our rental car off, we made our way inside without delay to begin our check in at Air New Zealand for our trans...
It’s time to wrap our heads around another fun transition to face as we travel on the journey… The Metric System The United States is one of only 3 remaining countries on the planet not yet using the system of measurement (we join the world powerhouses of Liberia and Myanmar in this somewhat sad distinction), so in prepping for days on the road, making...
Friday: Dunedin to Christchurch On Friday morning, after a late morning start (we left at 10am), we took a scenic 6+ hour drive along the Inland Scenic Route from Dunedin to Christchurch. One of our first stops on the drive north was to the Moeraki Boulders. This site contains 60 million year old spherical boulders that only in the last several hundred years...
Tuesday: Queenstown to Dunedin To say that we took the scenic route today is a bit of an understatement. The most direct route from Queenstown to Dunedin will take you east/southeast on SH8 over a distance of just under 170 miles (280kms). Instead, we decided to drive due south on SH6 to Invercargill and finally on SH1 to Bluff (the end of the highway on the South...
Sunday: Franz Josef to Queenstown It was an early start to our day, as we had a lot of ground to cover making our way south along the west coast and into Queenstown. As we left Franz Josef, the skies began to part and we got a better view of the snow-capped peaks surrounding the glaciers. As we continued south along SH6, we passed through the smaller and lesser...
Wednesday: Wellington to Nelson It was time to say goodbye to the North Island and board the Interislander Ferry for the 3.5 hour transit to the South Island. Boarding just a few kilometers north of Wellington CBD, the Ferry was much like a small cruise ship, complete with reclining chairs, cafes, movie theater, and a playground for passengers, vehicles, and...
10 Things I Have Learned in My First 10 Days in Aotearoa (New Zealand) 1. The Maori people are beautiful souls who are raised in a tradition of valuing one’s ancestry, respecting nature, and honoring eachother’s spirit. 2. New Zealanders (or Kiwis, as they call themselves) are some of the most hospitable people we have ever encountered. Nearly every day...
Sunday: Rotorua to Wellington Sunday was road trip day, as we made our way south from Rotorua, past Lake Taupo and into the southern wine country before arriving into Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Our first stop was to Huka Falls, a huge rushing stream of the Waikato River as it makes its way downstream. Huka Falls is located just a few kilometers from...
Friday: Rotorua Rotorua stinks… But that’s a great thing when you are visiting one of the most active geothermal areas on the planet. The smell is sulfur and it is everywhere in this town. As volcanic steam is released through the surface via geysers, steam vents, and boiling mud, it also contains sulfur, among a number of elements and minerals...
Wednesday: Pahia to Waitomo and Glowworms Today was primarily a transit day, with a 7:30am start from Pahia, back aboard the NakedBus to make our way back to Auckland. Phillip, our driver, brought his own iPod and connected it to the coach’s stereo system and he provided us with a great range of music as we wound our way back into the City Center. From here...
Monday: Auckland to Paihia On Monday morning, as the big polar storm was making its way deep into New Zealand, Natalie and I headed to Britomart (Central Transport Centre for buses and trains) in downtown Auckland to pick up our bus to get to the North. A couple minutes before 8am, our jet black NakedBus arrived and Mike, our driver loaded the 7 of us and our...
It really wouldn’t be fair for us to have traveled thousands of miles to say that Auckland is a lot like San Francisco, but there seems to be something of a separated at birth feeling about this place. Tall buildings dominate the downtown area near the waterfront, there is a bustling workforce that floods the area each morning and afternoon as folks arrive for...
(Note: The best way to see all of the pictures from the trip on a regular basis is to check out the Photo page, where full galleries and slideshow are available…) After a new travel record of 6 total minutes from check in counter to completion of security checkpoints, Natalie and I made our way to gate G93 at SFO to meet up with a massive 747-400 that would be...
The International Date Line has a way of seriously messing with your head… Our flight takes off at 9:45pm on Tuesday, August 9th. We arrive at 5:40am, Thursday, August 11th and yet, we’re only flying 13 hours. This post pays a moment of tribute (because that is about all we will be able to experience of it) to Wednesday, August 10th, 2011. I’m sure...
Turning a dream into reality is not easy… Anyone that tells you otherwise is choosing to ignore many of the details between the start of the venture and when it all finally comes together, or is just plain lying to make you feel better about the process. Yes, there might be a moment of brilliant clarity when all of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place or...
Q: How does one pack for 100 days of travel? A: The same way as one packs for 3 or 7 or 10 or 14 days of travel. Apologies in advance if you were expecting a long post full of pictures and reviews on every single item that we packed for the big trip. You won’t find this here. Instead, we simply offer some suggestions and a downloadable resource that helped...
On August 1st, after 6 years with my current company, I said goodbye. I have been very fortunate to work with some really great people and as many of my colleagues have done, I sent a message to those that I have worked with over the years to reflect on the time and the experience. Here is the text of that message: It’s not often that someone gets the chance to say...
Did you know that if you inform your local police department that you are going to be on vacation they will increase patrols in your area to check in on your house while you are away? Any time we leave our home for more than a week or two, we inform the police department in our city. They have a form online that we can complete that asks you for your address, when...
Many people have asked: How does one go about planning a 100 day trip? My only response is lots and lots of research. We started by determining the dates of travel. We knew we had a window of time that we could take this trip (leaving after a family wedding but being home for Thanksgiving). The original travel dates planned would have come to a total of 98 days so we...
As we get closer to departure, I’ve had some time to reflect on some of the things I am looking forward to as we travel to New Zealand, Australia, and beyond. Would love to get your suggestions and input too! Left Handed Driving I’m sure that most Kiwis and Australians right now are probably sounding alarms for the previous admission, but I must admit...
As long as I can remember, listening to music was, and continues to be, such an important part of everyday life… Growing up, my parents would start each morning blasting Ronny Milsap (“I’m having daydreams, about night things, in the middle of the afternoon…”) on the record player at 33rpm. I remember at my Aunt’s and Uncle’s...
This song has inspired me twice now. Once when I left my job of five years to go back to school full time to get my MBA and now as we embark on our next journey. I’m hoping that you can listen to the words and let it inspire you. I’m not recommending that anyone walk into work today and quit your job. However, I do recommend that you start to ask if...
“Mythbusters” posts will address some common misconceptions about career breaks and global travel. This post is to answer one of the questions we have received most often when telling our family and friends that we leaving our jobs to travel: How can you afford this? No, we are not independently wealthy. No, a wealthy long-lost relative did not die and...
“I can’t wait to board the plane… I can’t wait to board the plane…” It’s turning into a mantra that I continue to recite to myself as I once again fold the lined 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper in half, in half again, and one final fold to get the result to a manageable size. As I tuck it away, this sheet joins its brothers and sisters as just one of a stack...
We are embarking on a 100-day adventure to include two continents, six countries, & over 40 cities. This map will be updated over time to reflect where we actually end up. The purple pins indicate “planned stops.” We will change the color once we actually arrive. You can always visit the Map in the main menu to view the most current version and see...
6 weeks from now, we are going to begin the next great adventure in our lives. We’ve both been fortunate to see many great places through the experience of travel. But, this one is going to be different… For starters, this trip is 100 days long. I know, I know, people spend years traveling, and we have those aspirations too, but this is a good first step...
A little less than three years ago, we unknowingly began a 12 month journey that changed our lives forever. In September 2008, my father went into the hospital with kidney stone problems and never returned home. I was daddy’s little girl. He was retired my entire life and he was always there. The passing of my father rocked me to the core. I didn’t know...
Carefully balancing rest, relaxation, and adventure, our trip to Tahiti, French Polynesia, and the Hawaiian Islands was fantastic and though we wish it could have lasted much, much longer, the trip has come to an end and we have tons of great memories, photos, and of course, the travel log. Check out any link below for more information on the latest trip! Photos and...
After a wake-up and cleanup of the beach house, we took a quick ride to Makakilo to see Sophie’s place and then off to the airport to catch our flight home. Hawaiian Airlines did another great job of good food, excellent service, and a pleasant trip home. We arrived into Oakland around 10pm and finally got back into our own bed! Another fantastic trip — Can’t wait...
Can’t believe it is already the last day on Oahu, but the final day on Oahu was just as wonderful as the others. This morning, we headed into the car, and starting heading north. For the first time, we left the “cityscape” of Oahu and moved into the farming and agricultural area of Central and Northern Oahu, as the island transitions from skyscrapers and dense...
Now, at first glance, the thought of spending a morning at the Swap Meet seems a little strange, but until you have been to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, you may have to adjust your mindset. As we woke up to a leisurely morning, we had breakfast and made our way our out to Aloha Stadium. It was a a breezy, overcast day, which made for slightly cooler temperatures and...
This morning, we were up, showered, and ready to roll by 9:00am to head into Pearl Harbor to experience the World War II Valor of the Pacific National Park, the USS Arizona Memorial, and the Battleship Missouri. These stops had a tremendous amount of history, emotion, and contemplation as we enjoyed the museums on the site, recognizing that this location was the...
After an incredibly simple and fast disembarkation in Honolulu, we were picked up at the Honolulu Cruise Port by Sophie, Edie, and one of Sophie’s friends, Bernie, who was gracious enough to offer his vehicle and served as our guide for the day. We took a quick drive through Waikiki to show Darin the sight, but quickly made our way towards the coast to our first...
We arrived in Nawiliwili a little before 8am and decided to sleep in a bit before our 9:30am meeting time for our Kauai Photo Tour. We met up with our driver and made our way north and east to Kapa’a town, where the Photo shop was based out of and where we would meet our driver and guide for the day. The staff at the shop are incredibly friendly and they are...
This morning, we woke up to the rolling of the sea swells as we anchored out in the harbor of Lahaina, Maui. Today is a tender port and we will be renting a car to see the island of Maui for the very first time. Though we made good time into the port, the tender process was slowed significantly as the differential between the ship and the tenders varied by up to 8...
After 5 days at sea, we arrived into the port of Hilo, Hawaii on the Big Island on time at 7am, completed Immigration and made our way down to the gangway for a 7:30am exit from the ship. We were picked up by the local Enterprise Rental Car shop (all the Rental Car companies had mini buses and vans for the incoming ships… Yes, we were joined in port today by the...
The final day at sea entry is a set of odds and ends of bits and pieces of observations, ideas, and notes that didn’t really fall into any particular area, so it ends up in a single posting here… 1) Small Ship Simplification — The smaller ship concept has won us over, and though everything is a bit smaller than we are used to, overall any compromises are minimal and...
Today’s At Sea entry is actually a mixture of two elements of the ship, the first focuses on the physical movement of the ship, and there certainly has been a good share of it, and the other music, entertainment, and activities on-board. As we left the gentle waters of Tahiti and the other Polynesian islands, we began our 5 days at sea heading due north in the...
Back for the next installment of the Day at Sea entries… Today’s entry is on the Staterooms and Passenger Decks… For this trip, we elected to take our very first Guarantee stateroom (meaning that Princess can place us in any location as long as the category of stateroom is equal or greater than the one we paid for). In this case, we purchased an Oceanview category...
Today’s Day at Sea entry on the Royal Princess is about its Public Areas… Given the smaller size of the ship, we were wondering what kind of compromises needed to be made to the public areas as the ship was shrunk down for the smaller ship cruise experience. Outside public areas: There is only one pool on-board and it is located mid-ship Deck 9. In addition, there...
The sea day entries, as they have been on the last few of our trips, will not be specific to the activities we did on these days, as generally we take sea days very mellow. Instead, these entries will be focused on a different aspect of the Royal Princess, the ship we are on for this cruise — its amenities, staff, and public rooms. Today’s entry — Food and Dining on...
This morning was actually a slow start morning, as our tour didn’t depart from the tender dock until 9am. Given that we arrived into Bora Bora’s tiny tender point of Vaitape at 7am, some people were actually coming back from shore when we boarded our tender at 8:30am. When we arrived to the Vaitape pier, we exited the tender, walked 6 feet to the left, and saw on...
After docking in the main port town of Uturoa, on the island of Raiatea, we quickly disembarked the ship and made our way to a small dock just about 50 yards away from the ship to meet up with today’s shore excursion “L’Excursion Bleu” and Bruno Fabre, our guide for the day. Bruno has been in the business for 15 years and comes with a lot of positive recommendations...
An early start for all as today is one of our three tender days and ensuring that we start our independent tours on time is always a key requirement to see everything we hope for on our trips. As we awoke, the ship was still en-route to Moorea, as we had departed from Papeete at 4am this morning. Given that Moorea is only 18 nautical miles away, it only took about 2...
The day began early as we had hoped to visit the Marche Municipal (The City Market), a massive, two story building that covered nearly two city blocks that made any farmers market at home look like a roadside stand. Hundreds of vendors, some with little more than folding tables, to entire “shops”, built entirely into the building come together in a massive connected...
We’re back and we’re excited to be crossing one the major travel destinations off our bucket list with this 17 day trip to Tahiti and Hawaii. As with many of the destinations on our list, Tahiti is a long way away from home, so today is a heavy travel day as we make our way from Oakland, California to Papeete, Tahiti via Honolulu, Hawaii. Up at 5:30am, we...
It took some time, but we have put together the first draft of “The Map”, a growing, but comprehensive visual representation of everywhere on the globe we have been as a married couple. In addition, it also includes trips that are “confirmed in the not too distant future”, along with a ever-present “bucket list”. The bucket list is...
There is no mistaking it… We are ready for a vacation. N and I took stock of the places that we are interested in traveling and have identified a “Top 5” list of spots that we have on the bucket list. The best part is that as soon as one is crossed off the list, another takes its place! We’ll get into the exact nature of that list and...
Beautiful Teal and Spotted Fish in the Coral – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa It’s been a fantastic 18 days, but all good things must come to an end… We’ve had a blast in the southern UK, Dublin, Ireland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, Canada… Enjoy the travel log and all of the pictures… British Isles, Greenland, and...
Inches Above The Coral Reef – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa The photo to the right is an honest assessment of my mental state during the first few travel days each of the last several times I have traveled to Europe. The 8-9 hour time shift destroys the body’s internal clock and leaves both of us absolutely wrecked. To combat the effects of...
So Many Different Varieties, Shapes, and Sizes – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa As the packing and final trip planning is underway, we recently picked up a new camera and I can’t wait to break it in on this itinerary… The Canon T2i is the newest Prosumer DSLR on the market and has made some significant gains from our extremely...
All The Colors of the Rainbow – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa This trip has been a long time in the making… We first found a sweet spot with the Transatlantic cruise 3 years ago with our trip from Barcelona to Miami, which gave us our first exposure to Morocco and Africa… This time around, we elected to take the Northern route with the...
It’s taken a long time, but the photo albums for each of the travel logs is now online and available to view and have been incorporated into each of the Travel Logs… To view, click on the following links: Travel Logs: 7 Trips & Counting! Photo Albums: 8 Albums & More to Come! To See Any Photo Below, Just Click on a Pic! The Botanic Garden –...
Black, Gray, and Iridescent Blue Spots – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa For as much technology that surrounds me at work, with my degree, and the constant Geek Squad pastimes I have including websites, tech support, etc. I find myself constantly being asked about what kind of cell phone I have and use… Well, believe it or not, my primary...
Blues and Golds – Noumea, New Caledonia View at Picasa It’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog… Sometimes its comforting to read the postings about Makena, while other days, the pictures and words just bring back a lot of the emotion that came with her far too short a time on this earth… Though she is never far from our...
Makena Christine Moss, our precious daughter, was delivered into heaven on September 22, 2009 at 7:46am after 30 Weeks and 5 Days of pregnancy. We are so thankful for the love and support of our family and friends during this difficult time. It is my personal hope that this website and blog will continue to grow as we hope that someday soon, there will be other...
Walking In The Valley of the Ancients – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa The last and final of our childbirth classes was this last weekend, where we had two sessions (one morning and one afternoon) covering Breastfeeding and Baby Basics. We were fortunate to have the same instructor as last class, so upon arrival knew that we would be...
Flower In The Forest – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa As Natalie transitions into the 3rd Trimester, it is time for the Glucose Tolerance Test (or the test for Gestational Diabetes). This test is completed in a couple of phases, the first being a 1 hour blood draw after consuming the orange liquid shown in the picture above… ...
Tiny Flowers In The Forest – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa So, I am not exactly sure how I came upon it (New York Times article?), but a concept known as Once a Month Cooking or OAMC was something that caught my attention… The idea of spending a day creating and freezing fully prepped meals that just got popped into the oven or a...
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A Moment of Quiet in the Forest – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa For anyone that knows me, I am a math/technology person… Hand me a computer, a complex set of equations, even nasty tax forms, and I can pounce on it with the grace and power of a lion going after its nightly meal… Hand me a screwdriver and all bets are off. ...
Wattle – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa In the last week, we have been in 5 different states… So, I think that is a fair excuse as to why I have not posted for a while… Natalie has spent the last week in Hawaii with her mom, visiting her sister and I spent a weekend in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana with my cousins, Greg and...
Walking The Treetops – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa On Saturday, Natalie and I spent the day with 40 other expectant parents at “Prepared Childbirth”, an education class for first time parents to introduce the clinical aspects of childbirth (labor, stages of labor, how the birth actually happens, and yes, we watched all of...
One of the Steel Suspension Bridges – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa A short post to let everyone know that there is paint on the walls in the new nursery! Many thanks to Dad Moss for the exceptional work (he should charge more given the quality of the finished product) No official pictures for sometime to come, as the Nursery will be a...
The Tingle Tree Forest – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa Tuesday night, after work, we headed up to John Muir Hospital for a tour of the Birthing Center and the Labor & Delivery wards. We arrived a few minutes early to a small group (only 6 of us) and we were led on our tour by Gene, a docent who had been giving this introduction for...
120 Feet Up As We Gently Sway In The Wind – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa Another weekend of prep work at the house… Trying to organize 5 years worth of stuff, cleaning it up, and clearing an entire room and closet has been a fun challenge, and we have crossed the first major hurdle. The guest room is now officially the nursery! ...
Walking From Platform to Platform in the Tingle Trees – Valley of the Giants, Australia View at Picasa Last night was one of those times where you just want to never forget where you were or what you were doing… (I think I could write Hallmark cards in my spare time, huh?) Although both Natalie and I have felt the “flutter” type of...
Natalie, Cavemaster – Karamea, New Zealand View at Picasa It’s been a couple of weeks since the last posting, and yes, I could have done better about keeping this website updated, but I have a good excuse. We were fortunate to be able to spend 12 days in Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon and seeing some truly amazing country. We were...
Champagne Pool – Waiotapu, New Zealand View at Picasa In little more than 4 months, a transition will take place from one doctor to the next as Natalie’s obstetrician will exit stage right as we welcome a new medical expert to help us care for the medical needs of our newborn. The selection of a pediatrician has been a process thus far and we are...
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A Call To Begin the Feast at Te Po – Rotorua, New Zealand View at Picasa Somehow the “Be Prepared” mentality is starting to take over and as part of our Birth preparation classes through our hospital, yesterday Natalie and I spent the morning learning Infant and Child CPR. Along with the core basics of infant and child life saving, our...
Amazing Peformers at Te Po – Rotorua, New Zealand View at Picasa Well, it’s been a little while since the last posting… We’re finding that there is a lot to do between now and when Peanut joins the family and we’re making good progress, but wanted to take a quick timeout to celebrate the HALFWAY MARK! Natalie has done a...
Te Po Cultural Show – Rotorua, New Zealand View at Picasa Although I wish I could say that I had some epiphany about the environment or had some mind altering dream that changed the very foundation of who I was and who I am going to be, the fact is that I am cheap. When gas prices rose to a mind blowing $4.00 plus a gallon here in California last year...
A Face Only A Maori Could Love – Rotorua, New Zealand View at Picasa As we continue to get TAF v3.0 back up to speed, we have completed adding all of the recipes back into the site and these are now available from the Cook menu in the navbar. We now have more than 110 recipes in the database and it seems to only be growing, so stop by and check it...
Our Tribe's Chief, Adam, Making Nice with a Maori Warrior – Rotorua, New Zealand View at Picasa So, it’s time to start making room for our new addition, so this weekend Natalie and I channeled our best wannabe TLC vision of the show Clean Sweep and we went through the closets in the Master Bedroom and the Guest Bedroom (soon to be the Nursery)...
It has been a while since the website has been updated, so we hope you enjoy the new format. It is a work in progress so please pardon the dust, but we wanted to launch it with the blog and photo gallery from our most recent adventure… the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. We hope that you will check back often as the new site permits us to more easily update you...