Photo Essay: The Tongariro Alpine Crossing

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Photo Essay: The Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Our hike across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing reached all of our expectations and more. Knowing that the weather there is very fickle, we were prepared for anything. We hoped for the best but expected the worst, especially after hearing one of our Couchsurfer hosts talk about his very foggy hike there. But it seemed that after a rainy day in Abel Tasman, the gods were on our side and we were graced with the most perfect day we could have ever asked for. Blue skies, with some gusty winds, but nothing compared to Patagonia. We were happy as could be. 

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Kiwi Road Trip Part II: Kaikoura, Motueka, Nelson & Picton

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Kiwi Road Trip Part II: Kaikoura, Motueka, Nelson & Picton

We split our remaining time on the South Island between Kaikoura, Motueka, Nelson & Picton; a packed schedule considering we visited them all in just 8 days. But the long week included the most memorable wildlife encounter of our entire trip until then and still to this day: swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura. I remember finding out about the opportunity during one of the many weekends we spent researching our trip instead of enjoying the nice Los Angeles weather. “That's it, we're going to New Zealand”, I told Tyler as I jumped out of my seat and showed him my finding. Of course, there was more to the decision than that but I have to admit that my desire to visit NZ grew tenfold that day.

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Start of our Kiwi Road Trip: Mount Cook, Queenstown, and Milford Sound

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Start of our Kiwi Road Trip: Mount Cook, Queenstown, and Milford Sound

New Zealand was somewhere both of us were extremely excited to visit. Anaïs had never been and, while I spent a semester in college studying at Otago University in Dunedin, I didn't explore the north island at all. We were excited to return to a few places I had been and to venture on to places new to us both. Given how expensive travel can be there, we planned to spend only about a month traveling across the country and we needed to make our time count.

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Photo Essay: Easter Island

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Photo Essay: Easter Island

Ask my family and friends which place I was most looking forward to visit and they'll give you the same answer: Easter Island. I've been fascinated with the place for a while now so when Tyler found a way for us to make it there using miles, I was over the moon. It's been four months now and I still cannot believe we made it there. We spent 5 days exploring all three corners of this triangular shaped island. From visiting countless moai (statues) platforms, both restored and unrestored, both at sunrise and sunset, hiking up and around craters and enjoying lazy afternoons at the beach, we never ran out of things to do.

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