There’s not a ton of touristy stuff to do in Split during the winter, which is all the more reason to slow down and enjoy the place for what it is. We’d been looking forward to our stay at Le Meridien ever since my co-worker Dave recommended it last summer before our trip even began. Once we arrived into Croatia on the early morning ferry from Italy, we headed straight to the hotel and quickly made ourselves at home. Since…
We’ve had a chance to experience the Italian driver on our road trip. Drivers here go way too fast, they text while driving (which you’ll know because they go about half their normal speed when composing a message), they don’t stay in their lanes, they forget to switch off turn signals, they tailgate… I could go on. So after braving the overly narrow roads of the Amalfi Coast (and witnessing a pretty bad accident in our rear view mirror), we…
It turns out flying to Europe from Australia takes a long time. In our case, 2 red-eye flights with a layover in Abu Dhabi, and 24 hours later we were in Rome. The good thing about travelling west, though, is that you become an early riser instantly due to the jetlag. Landing early in the morning, and seeing as we were in the neighborhood, we swung by good old Trevi Fountain on the way to our guesthouse. Normally the attraction is swarmed…
After two awesome weeks exploring New Zealand with Morgan in the campervan, we said our goodbyes to Sister Bear and Amanda and I continued our journey back to Auckland. We had arranged a relocation rental with Jucy, which meant that in exchange for bringing one of their cars from Christchurch to Auckland, our wheels for the journey were free, including a tank of gas and ferry crossing. The one thing we really wanted to do in NZ was the Tongariro…
After an overnight at what turned out to be our favorite holiday park, Flat Hills Cafe and Tourist Park, we headed south to Wellington where we would catch the Interislander ferry the next morning. With a day to explore the city, we were all in agreement that Wellington has some good vibes: great street art all around, funky architecture, yummy local beer, and solid restaurants. On the recommendation of Morgan’s friend, we stopped in at Garage Project‘s Cellar Door for…
Equipped with our Jucy Condo campervan, we left Auckland (after an incredible Women’s March) and had a brief stay in Rotorua to soak in the hot springs and hike in the hills before heading to Hobbiton. Most of the bigger thermal features cost money to see, so we stuck to the ones at our holiday park and those we could see from afar. Here are a few highlights, before diving into the Hobbity stuff. So Hobbiton. Sure, it’s man-made, touristy,…
This is Morgan, Amanda’s sister, guest posting on the blog. My biggest regret going into this trip was missing the Women’s March in Washington. I was supposed to be there, with my friend Gina, but when the opportunity arose to come to New Zealand I couldn’t say no. Luckily, a sister march was happening in Auckland while we were there, so we were able to join in. Due to the date line, Auckland’s march was the very first women’s march…
After 3 weeks of housesitting in our beautiful Melbourne home, we said goodbye to the kitties, extra space, functional kitchen, laundry (you get the idea), and hopped on a quick flight to Tasmania. Before I go any further… Seriously! Come to Tasmania. It is awesome. When we arrived, we picked up a rental car in Launceston and headed west to Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. It took mere minutes once we got up the mountain before spotting some amazing wildlife…
We recently rented a car to drive the Great Ocean Road, one of Australia’s most famous attractions (think epic California coastline, but with koalas and kangaroos). I honestly don’t know a ton about what there’s to see in Australia, but my companion and lovely wife Amanda has pretty much done it all here and did not lead us astray. There’s a ton to do and see along the 150 mile stretch (so much you could spend a week or more),…
I recently wrote up and emailed some instructions to one of Morgan’s (my new sister-in-law) friends on how to build one’s own chuppah. Since they were so lengthy, I thought I’d make the effort worthwhile by spreading it to the interwebs. The photos tell most of the story, but if you’re hung up on a decision, the step-by-step may help you. Buy birch poles. You can use whatever material you like for this, of course, not just birch. But birch is…