Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 4 – Blue Duck Lodge

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Dan Steele and the four other members of the Stray bus that did the safari.

Woke up early this morning on the off chance there would be a dawn skydive in the works, but the sound of rain and outside quickly told me that wasn’t going to happen.  Got some work done and headed out to get on the bus.  A handful of the tribe were a bit late getting [...]

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Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 3 – Hell’s Gate

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Danger - Don't stray from the path when walking the park at Hell's Gate.

We woke up this morning to the sounds of ABBA blaring out of the kitchen.  Apparently this is the standard wake up music for the groups that stay at the Maori.  Either Uncle Boy is really really into ABBA, or he’s having fun with his new extended family.

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Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 2 – Maori Culture

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Performaing the Haka at Uncle Boy's in New Zealand

Up and out by 8am this morning headed to Wiatomo for some caving.  There’s multiple options for activities today so the way it works on the bus is Mambo will tell us a bit about each option before passing back a clipboard where we sign up for what we want.  The activities are all at [...]

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Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 1 – Endless Summer

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Surfer Girls on Raglan Beach

Day one started about like you’d expect – an early rise, an eagerness to get started, and a curiosity about the people I’d be traveling with over the next week or so before hopping off in Wellington.  My itinerary is such that I’ll be spending extra time in Wellington and Queenstown, which means I’ll be [...]

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Stray Off the Beaten Track – A Flashpacker Tours New Zealand

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The Stray bus in the New Zealand wilderness.

I’m about to stray from the standard articles that you might be used to on this blog.  Eight hours from now I will be starting day one of a 27-day trip around both islands of New Zealand with a company called “Stray”.  I will be blogging regularly about the experience and the activities we will [...]

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Uluru – Overrated Rock or Australia Highlight?

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Uluru at Sunset

After the Great Barrier Reef, I think it’s safe to assume that Uluru, aka Ayer’s Rock, is the second most well known “attraction” in Australia.  Located in the Red Center of Australia, this massive monolith is a very spiritual place for the native aboriginals.  But is Uluru all it’s cracked up to be for travelers?

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Photo Essay: Western Australia Road Trip

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The group from the road trip through Western Australia jumps for joy on Shell Beach.

A week after I arrived in Australia, I managed to find a group doing the exact road trip I was seeking.  We left Perth and drove up to Exmouth in 7 days stopping along the way at The Pinnacles, Shell Beach, Monkey Mia and a dozen look outs and national park stops.  We spent 3 days [...]

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Spotlight: Mountain Biking in Adelaide

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A red kangaroo chilling out at Cleland Wildlife Park

I arrived in Adelaide, the capitol of South Australia, about a week ago and, like Perth, found the city to be a bit on the slow side.  In Asia, slow was okay because everything was so different than what I was used to.  Here, in Australia, the slow side tends to be a bit boring.  [...]

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10 Surreal Flashpacker Experiences (PART 2)

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The Ombashira festival in Japan was a very surreal experience.

A couple weeks ago I shared five surreal experiences as part of my 2nd year “travelversary”.  I had intended to share ten but realized it would have been far too long a post so split it into two.  Immediately after that, I went on a road trip through Western Australia and was unable to get [...]

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10 Surreal Flashpacking Experiences (in two parts)

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Lasers fire into the crowd at Pasha in Ibiza, Spain.

May 4th marks the 2nd anniversary of my having left home to go on this big flashpacking adventure.  A few of the things I’ve seen and done were things I’d planned from the start.  Most of the highlights, however, have been unplanned or unexpected. I am a firm believer that travelers should create a loose [...]

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Photo Essay – Can Cau and Bac Ha markets, North Vietnam

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The Can Cau and Bac Ha markets in the Sapa region of Northern Vietnam.

The Can Cau and Bac Ha markets are weekend markets on the Vietnamese side of the border between China and Vietnam.  They are frequented by a variety of hill tribes including the very colorful Flower Hmong tribe.  Most people traveling to this region use the town of Sapa, Vietnam, as a home base, which is about eight [...]

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Photo Essay – Cultural Songkran (Part 2 of 2)

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An elder monk leads prayer at the start of Songkran in Chiang Mai.

Last week’s photo essay focused on the water works that Songkran is famous for.  This week’s essay is on some of the cultural activities that are also part of Songkran, but perhaps a bit less famous.

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