New Zealand - coming right up!

 

In three weeks, I will be on my way again to a place that has intrigued me since I was a child.  New Zealand.  Many other countries are on my list, and yet, even though I have been twice, I am super excited to go back.  I know that much has changed since I was there the first time.  In fourteen years (wow, has it really been THAT long?), immigration laws have changed and the demographic is vastly different, and the population has boomed.  Tourism has increased dramatically, making it far less inviting to visit the typical touristy places (so gratefully, I have already seen most of them at least once).  This all has it's benefits - it means that there are more public washrooms in more places, more availability to services, roads are better (when I first went there, most roads on the south island were tar and chip, now many are paved and wider).

It also has it's downside.  Everywhere will be busier, taking photographs will not be quite as pleasant.  There will be more people to remove or try to crop out (unless the intention is to photograph them), landscapes are not as clean and natural as they once were.  It's more difficult to find spaces on tours etc. (although we don't plan to take many).  Parking, restaurants, etc. will be harder to find spaces in.  But...

We will be there for 4 weeks this time.  Yes.  Still can't believe we've been able to make this happen.  I would so love to have our partners going with us, but my partner is otherwise engaged in his business, so we are making this a girls trip.  And that means doing whatever we decide to do when we wake up.  We have our route planned, rental cars, interior flights and scenic rail trips booked, but other than that, we are open to suggestion.  

We (my friend Linda and I) are still super excited.  It will still not be as crazy as it is almost everywhere else.  And we are approaching our time there very differently this time.  WE are very different this time.  

Yes, we want to see the gorgeous scenery, experience wildlife and nature as much as possible, enjoy the cuisine and culture, but we also are really looking forward to taking our time and enjoying the ride.  Being flexible about what we do, and what we see.  Focus on the path less travelled, going to places many people either aren't aware of, or aren't interested in taking the time to go there.  

We will be taking the Scenic Drives as often as we can.  We will be hiking the short trails as much as possible (we're not as young as we were before!).  We are trying not to have a rigid schedule so that we can detour and take the scenic drives.  We're staying in one place a little longer, rather than a single night here and there and driving allllll the time.  

My photography has grown leaps and bounds - certainly since my fist time there.  My gear is better, my approach, artistry, confidence and perspectives have all grown.  I'm more relaxed.  I strongly believe that in order to truly enjoy a vacation like this, you need to be relaxed before you go.  If you go when you're stressed, you'll still have that stress on your mind and cannot be mindful and intentional about the experience, and are less likely to remember it.

I've also been writing a LOT more since then - not here, I haven't been ready to share everything I've written, but I'm getting there.  Life has had it's ups and downs, and I've changed my perspective over the years on that, too.  I'm not here for anyone else, I don't write or photograph or create or think or do for anyone else.  None of us should.  I'm sure I'll share more of my thoughts on this later, but for now, I'll just say that I'm not being selfish, or even self-involved or self-centered, I'm just putting on my own oxygen mask first.  

Looking forward to sharing more, and hopefully bringing along a few of you with me, and maybe even enticing some of you to make the same trip for yourself - or another trip.  

New Zealand, here I come - back

When I visited New Zealand the first time, back in 2010, I started this blog.  The hope was that it could be a way for people back home, friends and family wherever, to come along with me and enjoy the adventure.  Little did I know how many people would participate and follow.  Little did I realize how much fun it would be to take the photos, write the stories and share them.

In past years, before the internet, and before digital photography, I always carried a camera, and wrote a journal of each day's activities in the evening while it was fresh in my mind.  As soon as the pictures were developed, I carefully documented what each one was about, so that my daughter and I could enjoy them again years later.  And it has been wonderful to look at those photos and stories again, bringing back memories that time had faded.  But the reach of that was limited.  We are so blessed to be able to now record so much of our memories so quickly and easily with the use of digital photography and blogging!

Since then, I have also worked hard, and continue to work hard, to step up my game and learn how to better capture the scenes that I visit.  As an apprentice in The Arcanum - a "Magical Academy of Artistic Mastery" - I am learning so much about light, colour, art, and the craft of photography from the master that I'm working with, +Laurie Rubin and learning almost as much from other masters and the other apprentices.  My goal is to become completely comfortable and confident about shooting my next adventure.

And my next adventure will be......ta da da da.... New Zealand!  Back where it all started.  And this is a little story in itself.

My friend Linda was one of those original tagalongs - virturally - on my first sojourn over to the other side of the globe.  It has been a lifelong dream of hers to visit NZ, and when I returned, she said - 5 years, give me 5 years and then I'll go.  Would you come along?  Of course I would.  So a couple of months ago, she reminded me that the 5 years was up, and we needed to go to NZ.  Yes, that's right.  Need, not Want.  Kiwi country calls loud and clear for those who listen, and when you answer, it's like a rope connecting you, and it just keeps pulling you in.

So, planning has commenced.  This blog will now be part of our way to track those plans, and then the trip, and hopefully pull some more people in and along.  No tickets yet, but dates are tentatively set, and we are sooooo excited!

Right now it looks like 2 weeks (not nearly enough), and hitting:
Wellington, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Stewart Island, Te Anau, Fjordlands, Queenstown, Twizel, and Middle Earth.

Can't wait to see the sky set ablaze over The Remarkables

Thank goodness for a little extra income from +Rodan + Fields !!!

Historic Savannah

Wake up in Savannah GA with no fog, and only five hours of driving ahead of me.  That means if I get my butt out of bed quickly, I can take in a trolley tour.  A number of trolleys (many of them refurbished from days gone by) tour the city driven by knowledgeable guides, following specific routes and stopping at specific points, and they run at 15 minute intervals.  You can hop on and off, take in the sights, shop in the market, take photos, have lunch, then jump back on the next one and continue the tour.  Fabulous, and reasonably priced.

The tour I take is Old Town Trolley Tours, for two reasons.  The first is that they have a nifty GPS tracker system, just scan the QR code on the tour map you get, and it connects you with a schedule for the next trolley at your location, even gives you updated changes to the route.  This was important today as the City Market got blocked off for traffic for this evening's New Year's Eve festivities, and the tour route changed by a block or two.  The second reason is that they also operate tours in a number of other cities, many of which I would love to visit some day (and almost did on this trip).

The tour guides are very entertaining, and provide great details about this very old city with a rich history.  Rich for sure.  Historical, wow.  And I finally get some decent photos of some of the historical and Victorian homes of the south (note that all of these are SOOTC).

  

  

There are so many other wonderful pieces of the city, and if it wasn't for the cars, it might seem like you were stepping back in time, with the brick roads, cobblestone streets, old cotton warehouses, markets, and parks.

      

   

After a light lunch on a patio (how did I manage to find a patio table?) on the riverfront, Blackened Tuna Bites with a chipotle sauce and avacado mash, I finish the tour and fire up the GPS to take me to Winston-Salem, NC.

The first leg of the journey takes me over a very high, very long suspension bridge - of course I can't grab pictures because I'm driving - that is gorgeous.  Here's a stock photo from waymarking.com to give you an idea of what it was like:



Once on the other side, I find that I am no longer in Georgia, but in South Carolina.  Thank goodness I bought this GPS - it is talking me through the entire trip.  If I'm hungry, I ask it for restaurants, it remembers the ones I choose for faster navigation later, and tells me important things like to slow down in school zones.  It shows me little icons where gas stations are, including what brand (if it knows it).  Love it.

The drive is easy all the way to Davidson, NC, just north of Charlotte.  There is a large lit sign by the highway indicating an accident ahead at exit 30 that is blocking both lanes.  Traffic slows to a crawl a couple of miles later, and after about 20 minutes, a tow truck and ambulance passing on the right, and no change to the crawling pace, my trusty GPS suddenly announces that I-77 has been closed and that it was calculating a new route for me.  Love it.  So I inch across to the right lane and take the next exit (which is before the accident), and little Miss GPS guides me around Davidson to the second exit after the accident and I'm on my way.  I tried giving the GPS a high-five but it just kind of bobbed on it's little stand.

Arrive in Winston-Salem, and it's much bigger than I expected.  There's a very tall building with a rounded shape on top that is brightly lit.  It will be interesting to find out what it is (Wells Fargo Center).  The hotel that I booked is really a conference center, The Hawthorne, and it's quite nice.  After the last couple of nights, my fondest hope is that I get decent wi-fi,  My wish comes true when I see that the WAP unit is attached to the ceiling in the hall - right above my room door.  Wonders never cease.

Tomorrow is a long drive up to Grove City, PA, and tonight is New Year's Eve.  Tomorrow is the beginning of a New Year, one which promises to bring many wonderful opportunities.  I hope that I am able to see them all, and grab all of them and make the most of each one.  I hope that more travel is in the future, and more photography, and more precious time with children and grandchildren, family, friends, love and life.  

Fried Green Tomatoes

After an awesome night's sleep, I awoke to... wait for it.. pick your jaw up from the floor after reading this...  Fog.  No shit.  Couldn't see much out the window, and had really hoped to go for one last walk on the beach.  However, it might be gone by the time I'm dressed and ready to go, so a quick shower and pack up (have to leave today :(  ), yup, the fog has lifted.  It's still very hazy out, although it has been since I've arrived.  After a couple of miles, a few more pretty blue jellyfish, some sand and surf between the toes, and feeling enough warm sun and breeze and water to hopefully last a few months, I head back to the hotel and check out.

First stop is... Starbucks.  Since I "lost" (ahem) my Miami Beach Starbucks mug, hopefully I can get a Daytona Beach one.  But no luck.  They are even sold out of the Florida ones, and never made a Daytona one.  That's ok, I can at least get a good cup of coffee, then it's off to find the Daytona International Speedway.  Ever since taking the course to become a race marshall (the people that wave the flags at races), I've thought it would be cool to see what a "real" world-class racetrack is like.  I was completely unprepared.  The sheer size of the place is something that you can't imagine until you see it.

It takes almost 20 minutes to drive on the ring road that runs around the perimeter.  You can hear the cars whining as drivers practise (I guess), and although it's very difficult to find a place to stop and get a photo, I manage to get a couple that at least (although not very photographically interesting) show sort of how big it is.  Unfortunately, due to a very slow connection here this evening, I will have to upload the pics later.  Although I missed the morning tour by about an hour, I find the gift shop, and need to find a few trinkets for my daughter, husband and grandkids.  Val and Chad are huge race fans, so this will be great.  

Next, off to Savannah, GA.  On the way south, I had skipped this in the hopes of getting to the Beach early enough to have dinner.  This time, I'll stay for a while and hopefully catch a bit of the historic area.  The traffic isn't nearly as crazy coming north along I-95 as it was (and is) southbound.  Nice, makes for a much easier drive.

Hitting Savannah before 4 p.m. means I can chill out a bit, figure out where I'm at, and book my next two nights hotel, which could be just as tricky as Christmas even and Christmas Day/night. Check the weather, which so far is holding at no more snow and ice for a couple of days at least.  Check the driving times and hotel availability, and it looks like tomorrow will be Winston-Salem, NC, about a five hour drive.  New Year's Day is probably a good day to just drive, so my next stop after that will be Grove City, PA so I can do a bit of shopping at the outlet mall on Saturday morning before heading home (a four-hour drive).

Anyway, now it's time for dinner.  My friend Myra has recommended two places that she and her husband love when they come to Savannah, the Olde Pink House, and Pirate House Restaurant.  However, neither have any reservations available.  So I check the hotel lobby for flyers, and find a couple that seem like they have good food, reasonably priced, take walk-ins, and are casual.  Perfect.  My trusty GPS gets me to the riverfront, and I'm already excited to come back tomorrow for a trolley tour.

The restaurant I pick is Savannah River House, which seemed to have a fairly extensive menu and lots of southern food (when in Rome...)  I'm really getting to like this southern food, maybe a bit too much.  The drink of the area is the Chatham Artillery Punch.  Which is pretty much what it sounds like.  And I get to take the glass home - like I needed another brandy snifter?  Appetizer is Fried Green Tomatoes, which I've never had before because frankly, it sounds kinda yucky.   But here they are not super greasy, and are served with a paella onion relish and goat cheese - and I'm hooked.  Entree is Pecan Bourbon Salmon, served on a bed of sweet potato mash over sauteed collard greens.  Sooooo yummy!

After that it's time for a walk.  The streets are full of happy people, and live music drifts from a couple of restaurants and bars.  The streets themselves are cobblestone or brick, and you can see the old buildings that are now the eating establishments and stores are very old.  The streets come down to the riverfront down very steep hills, and there are long steep stairs for those brave enough to walk back up.  Hopefully I'll get some good pictures tomorrow.

The scent of Magnolia

In the true spirit of a journal...

Dec. 26, 2015 - Charleston SC

7 a.m.  - Awake feeling refreshed and ready to explore.  Great bed for a hotel, and that's what matters when you're traveling, not whether the wallpaper is peeling in the bathroom.  The fog has once again taken over (what's with me always managing to find places with poor visibility when I travel?) but it's supposed to clear.  Hope to get out to one of the plantations.

9:30 - finished breakfast, still so foggy that the "riverview" restaurant on the 15th floor shows only pure white outside.  Plantation tours run all day, so will take some time now to clean lenses, backup SD cards to the laptop, and recharge batteries.

10:30 - fog starting to lift, so I make a reservation for one of the plantation tours.  20 minutes later the swamp on the other side of the road is visible from the hotel room window, and I can see several ibis grazing in the marsh grass.  Another 10 minutes later and the sun is shining, the fog should clear completely soon!  I get down to the lobby to meet the driver, and step outside into - omg I should have worn shorts and a tshirt!  It's very humid so good thing it's only about 75 F.  But wow does it ever feel great to be in the warm sunshine.

12:00 - At the Visitor Center, downtown Charleston, getting on a shuttle to the Magnolia Garden Plantation.  My pass includes a tour of the house and a train ride through the Audubon Swamp, where hopefully we will see a couple of alligators and other wildlife.  It's about a half hour's drive, and the driver promises I will get lots of pictures.  On the way, I see the odd small tree loaded with large red or dark pink blooms, but the driver does not know what they are.  The other shuttle passengers think it might be camellia, which I've never seen before to my knowledge.  Gorgeous.

12:30 - Arrive at the Magnolia Plantation, 500 acres of the original 2000, where the Drayton family (who still owns it, the only original owner left in the area) to explore.  I start in the garden as my ticket for the train tour is for the 1:30 train, and the house is at 2:30.  Yes, they are camellia and there are several varieties here at the plantation garden.  And other flowers blooming too, azaleas and magnolias (I think, they smell wonderful!), pansies, snapdragons, sweet william, those are just the ones I recognized.  If I let myself daydream for a few minutes, I could easily be a southern belle walking through the garden with my beau, with a parasol on my shoulder to keep the warm southern sun off my delicate face.  Bahahaha!  Ya right.  Ok, back to reality.  Camera comes out, and catches this little beauty, among others.

There are probably an hour's worth of pathways through the garden, plus a conservatory, but have to get back to catch the "train".

1:30 - The "train" is a tractor pulling a couple of trolley cars typical of tourist attractions.  Find a seat and we pull away.  The driver is chatty and informative, and it isn't long before we start seeing some critters, including large turtles (too far away to get a good shot), ibis, great blue heron, ducks (cinnamon teals), and alligators.  Lots of them.  By the end of the train ride, the driver admits he has never seen so many alligators in one tour.  A couple of dozen at least, all sizes, all sunning themselves on little platforms provided, or swimming about lazily.

   

This one was pretty chill.  A couple of turtles joined him on the platform, although smaller turtles are sometimes gator gourmet.  All in all, a lovely ride, although we didn't stop very often, nor long enough when we did, to get many decent pictures.  

2:30 - House tour.  Interesting, but this isn't a true plantation home as I was expecting.  The current home was the third on the property, and the first one was 13000 sq ft.  Now that's a mansion!  The second was only 11000 sf.  The current one was probably less than half of that.  Very historic, and beautiful, but the wraparound porch probably makes it look twice what it really is.  Still, you could have a party on that porch...

4:00 - back at the hotel, trying to find a decent restaurant that has "southern" or at least local food and that I can still get a reservation for at the last minute.  Stars Rooftop and Grill Room looks awesome, and has availability.  And it's only a 5 minute drive.... score!!!  Reservations at 6:45 so better go clean up...

7:00 - 9:00 - Dinner.  Unbelievable.  Must go back, Stars is amazing, fantastic food, impeccable service, perfect atmosphere (for me), great wine...  As usual, I try to eat local and drink the house specialty.  So, started with a cocktail called an Aviation (how fitting) and it was ah-mazing.  Gin, lemon, maraschino cherry liqueur.  However, this place also added a bit of lavender cordial.  It was actually really good.  Appetizer:  Baked Oysters, with sauteed spinach, Asiago cheese, fresh garlic and brandy.  Phenomenal.  For the main course I chose another appetizer and a sharing plate which was actually exactly the right amount.  The appetizer was "Bacon Tater Tots", so, fluffed potatoes and bacon bits coated and deep fried (like croquettes) and served with a bacon aioli.  The sharing plate I selected was more like a small entree, so perfect.  Rare grilled bluefin tuna, crusted with pecans, served with a spicy mustard, a honey-almond sauce and a mixture of vegetables like heirloom carrots, purple cabbage and mild radishes in a wonderful creamy sauce - they called it Vegetable Slaw but it was the best Slaw I've ever had.  Then dessert, which was Smoked Chocolate 'Smore Pie.  Words do not do it justice.

Christmas road trip 2015 - Day 1

What a boring title.  Too tired to think of anything else, but it's a good tired.  Guess I should start from the birth of the idea for this trip.

In the past few years, I've learned that it's really a good thing to take a trip in the winter, somewhere warm preferably.  The one year that I didn't do it, was just not a good scene.  I was completely dragged out until the spring weather allowed more outside time.  Of course, that's somewhat weather dependent.  If it's snowy out, there are lots of opportunities, but rainy soggy winters can be a complete drain on someone with SAD.  So, nuff said, every year the Peter Pan Getaway Boots come out.  So far, I've been to New Zealand, Mexico, Miami Beach, Bahrain, and London, UK.  Not bad, although two of those were only long weekends (Miami Beach and London).

This year, I couldn't decide where to go.  I have 10 days or so, including Christmas eve, which gets me back with a day to spare to do laundry.  Thought about Costa Rica, Peru, Galapagos, Panama, Caribbean cruise, Belize, everything sounded somewhat, well, not quite right.  I was ready for an adventure, one that enabled me to see many things, stop if I wanted or go far, with nothing really planned (a real adventure).  Started looking at National Geographic Adventure Tours, and started noticing the number of cool places closer to home, and within driving distance.  Aha!  Road Trip!!!  Booked the first couple of nights to make sure I had a room for the busy holiday nights, and after that, well, wherever the sun shines is where I'll go, with tons of ideas and possibilities.

So here I am, after less than 10 hours of driving time, in a modest but comfortable and clean hotel room at the Country Inn in Harrisonburg VA, on my way to somewhere south, with my camera equipment, camping gear (in case I get to the Everglades, which will definitely be one for the books!), a couple of credit cards, and the baby lion is tucked neatly away in the kitty cat hotel (Catnap Cottages) back home.  Love it.

Yes, I already had Christmas dinner with mom and dad, Val and Chad and the kids, and my sisters and brother-in-law.  So I don't really feel like I'm missing the holiday.

So, to capture the essence of the day, it started like the first day of vacation usually does.  I wake up feeling like I have tons of time to get everything cleaned up at home, get everything packed up, and be on my way in time to get to my first destination in time for dinner.  Ha!  Also as usual, I grossly underestimate the time required to pack to my level of satisfaction.  I started three days ago to get ready, you'd think I'd have it down!  But no, even with all of the planning (what planning?) and my experience with travel, I almost forgot my passport, had to take the cat to boarding and then come back and finish packing, and didn't leave home till about 11:30 a.m. (instead of 9:30).

But once I got going, it didn't take long to relax into the drive, the weather was stunning - sunny and warm enough to have the sunroof open even before I hit the border - and I was focused only on getting to Harrisonburg, where I had a room already booked.  With the new Garmin GPS on my dash guiding my way after crossing the border, it feels like I haven't a care in the world.  Even maintaining a constant awareness of what's going on around me, it's a relaxing drive, almost easy, even coming through the mountains of Pennsylvania, normally treacherous with snow this time of year, completely dry this year.

Highlights to remember:
1.  A billboard reading "Not all rehabs are the same" (there's a competitive market for rehab centers?  What does that say about the state of the States?  Social commentary expected...)
2.  The full moon - first one at Christmas for a couple of decades, last one for another 19 years - rising through clear skies over the Allegheny mountains on one side of the car while the sun set graciously through turquoise and pink skies on the other side.  Driving most of the rest of the way with the moon providing almost as much light as streetlights would have - thankfully, since the GPS took me through some pretty quiet countryside.
3.  Some beautiful, well-kept little towns, and some very industrial, sad little mining towns.
4.  A new appreciation for those willing and able to work in order to provide numbskulls like me who want to travel on this holiday, with food, accommodation, service, gas, and a friendly smile.  It's not just the essential services, but those that we take for granted to always be available.  It seems that society has lost it's ability to "do without".

Looking forward to a leisurely drive through Shenandoah Valley tomorrow, and down through to Charleston, SC, where I have a room booked on the river.  Hopefully, I'll have a chance to take some good pictures.  Or at least, some pictures.