When you think about wine in New Zealand, mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir come to mind. New Zealander’s do make other lovely wines, however I have to admit I love their SB’s and Pinots, and had fun exploring 3 of the wine regions on the South Island, including Canterbury/Waipara, Marlborough, and Central Otago. Heading north out of Christchurch on my way to Blenheim, a town in the heart of the Marlborough region, I first...

Scenically speaking, New Zealand has one of the most stunning series of landscapes I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to know where to start and there’s a lot to share! But I want to begin with the city where I started out, one that is struggling to recover, even 4 years after several devastating earthquakes shook it to its core. Then I’ll give you a brief overview of the counter-clockwise loop I took around the South Island over...

Australia is awesome! I know that word is overused and trite, but this is a case where it fits. After two months in Australia, I’ve barely scratched the surface, but here are 10 reasons you should consider going down under to Oz… Faces & Places  1) The people – Amanda & Maurice, Lenore & Lindsey, Soraya, Clare, and Derek, took me into their homes and their lives, and shared their country with me. Australia is full...

Northern Tasmania has much to offer the outdoor enthusiast, be it bushwalking or beach walking, and the wine scene isn’t anything to sneeze at either, with the famous Tamar wine region nearby. I was fortunate to spend a couple of weeks in Port Sorell, with some day trips to nearby areas, including the renowned   Cradle Mountain.  After passing through the town of Scheffield, famous for it’s multitude of murals, which were...

Tasmania is where? Isn’t that a country somewhere near Australia? An island maybe… That’s what a lot of people from other parts of the world seem to think (ok, I admit, while still in the States, I thought it was a country of its own, and maybe Tasmanians would prefer it that way). It’s actually a part of Australia, and a very beautiful part, where many mainland Aussie’s come to get away from the heat, go...