Back by popular demand, here is the infamous video from our 2012 New Zealand adventure in the North Island part 1 from our 2012 vacation. Highlights include the Coromandel Peninsula, Raglan's black sand beaches, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, some guy so drunk you can't understand what he is saying, and the love of my life, Will, and our best mate Simon at their finest.
Back on the National Geographic Explorer, the staff organized an iceberg pareidolia contest. Rules were simple:, take a photo of an iceberg you think looks like something, then submit it to the staff with a creative title of your choosing. The contest allowed for two categories, one permitting photo manipulation with words or simple drawings, the second must be a stand alone shot. I entered the first category, Will entered the second….
Meet PAN-1772, a well traveled whale that has been sighted off the coast of three continents since 2007 - Colombia, Panama, and now by us in Antarctica. We know this thanks to a very cool citizen science website: happywhale.com. As it turns out, a whale’s tail or fluke acts as a unique identifier just like our finger prints. Get a good photo of the fluke…
The ship finally stopped moving both vertically and horizontally, and all human life was starting to emerge from their cabin bathroom floors. We were briefed on our inaugural landing at Barrientos, which is populated by two species of penguins. The excitement aboard was palpable.
As Michael informed us, we were’t about to get off easy. They were predicting impressive six meter swells (which he explained none to reassuringly is actually about medium range for the Drake). It was going to be a rough crossing.
When Will first pitched the idea of mountain biking Old Ghost Road during our trip to New Zealand, I said absolutely not, though I totally understood why he wanted to do it. Old Ghost Road is New Zealand’s longest stretch of single-track mountain biking, and one of the highest rated mountain bike trails in the world. This is our experience with Old Ghost Road
When Will first pitched the idea of mountain biking Old Ghost Road during our trip to New Zealand, I said absolutely not, though I totally understood why he wanted to do it. Old Ghost Road is New Zealand’s longest stretch of single-track mountain biking, and one of the highest rated mountain bike trails in the world.
....We started climbing to the edge of the jungle up steep, rugged farm land – a far cry from the fertile prairie soils I grew up on. Here there is a constant struggle between preserving the jungle and expanding farm lands. Even with the current boundaries the gorillas will occasionally leave the jungle to feed on crops – posing a threat to both the farmer’s income and the gorilla’s lives. Clear cutting more of the jungle and encroaching on the gorilla’s territory only furthers the problem, though the farmers will occasionally ignore the laws and take the land expansion upon themselves. There is a real problem trying to balance the land to meet the needs of both species....
