For my first 4 days in Bali, Indonesia, I traveled to the Nusas ("Islands") to the south east for a bit of adventure and respite. Bali is often associated with young backpackers who travel there to party hard and work on their tans. This may be true of areas like Kuta beach on the mainland, but on the Nusas the atmosphere is much less crowded and much more relaxed.
While staying on Nusa Lembongan, I had the opportunity to explore the entire island and cycle over to the smaller, even more remote Nusa Ceningan. Both of these tiny islands offered beauty, adventure, culture, and a place to put up your feet. Here are 9 things to do and see if you go!
I’ve visited many cities during my travels, falling in love over and over again with each. Cities like Reykjavik, Berlin, Chiang Mai, Wellington, and Melbourne all captured my heart in different ways. But I did not fall in love with any of these cities like I fell in love with Singapore.
The Singapore Government poured $35 million into one area of the city—Marina Bay. Money well spent, as the product is a masterpiece of architectural wonders, floral landscaping, and waterfront beautification. I could not stop snapping photos during my few hours spent between flights here. Marina Bay easily left me in awe with the city as a whole. Now I know I must go back—especially to see it at night and to stay at its mesmerizing, world class hotel.
Singapore is a city state and Southeast Asian island country next to Malaysia. And it’s small. At only 278 square miles (719 sq km), Singapore is an easy city to see during a long layover between flights. I flew into Singapore Changi airport at about 6AM from Auckland, New Zealand. My next flight was not until 9PM. This was more than enough time to see a bit of Singapore city.
The only problem was I had not done any research before my arrival! Was there public transportation? Could I leave my baggage at the airport? Where in the city should I go first? Find out how I got around and where I ended up in the first part of this post!
I know I said I was going to stop doing these. But this update seemed too important not to share! Yes, surprise! I am heading back to New York! We all knew this day had to come sometime considering this is a year(ish) of deviation tour. Well, it's about time, as it's been over 14 months since I left New York.
Three days ago, I departed from Auckland, New Zealand and began a series of flights taking me to Bali, Indonesia. Today marks my first full day in Bali! Wooo! I've had Bali in my sights since before I left NY last September. Jono and I even considered it for our destination together until we decided on Niue. I am now traveling solo again and loving it! But it's also good to be following a path that will ultimately lead me home.
On a remote island like Niue, getting to know the locals is as easy as stepping outside your guesthouse door. A cultural exchange with a local was bound to happen—we just had no idea when or how. We met the Tongia family from nearby Tonga on our 3rd day in Niue. Palemia, a shuttle driver for Matavai resort, gave us a ride home from dinner.
He then offered Jono a chance at free diving with a local spear-fisherman. As a thanks, we offered to help him and his wife, Louna, with their farm work. We ended up planting potatoes through the middle of the night and enjoying other wonderful cultural exchanges with this delightful little Tongan family who live and work in Niue.
Never heard of Niue (pronounced “new-ay”)? I hadn’t heard of this island country either until about 2 months ago when I booked my trip there. Niue is a tiny little island in the South Pacific—and it’s so special you’re going to be longing to go by the end of this post.
People don’t come to Niue for its beaches and resorts—there’s only one sandy beach and one resort there! Instead, the few visitors to the “Rock of Polynesia” fly there for its exceptional diving and snorkeling, its unbelievable geography and coastal views, and its vibrant culture and friendly people. These and many other unique characteristics have easily made Niue my favorite travel destination yet! I wish I had known to put it on my bucket list sooner.
I am still fairly new to blogging, having just celebrated my 1 year anniversary of traveling around the world. So when Lori of Travlinmad nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award last week, my first reaction was—Cool. But what the hell is it?
Being a researcher, I did an online search for more information and found out the award is meant to recognize the work of women bloggers. Then I tried to find out who originally started the award. This sent me deep into the depths of the blogosphere.
The entire reason I decided to visit Australia was to dive the Great Barrier Reef. I researched tons of day trip and multi-day options for experiencing the GBR. I finally decided on a 3-day liveaboard trip with ProDiveCairns leaving from Cairns in Queensland. The price tag, number of dives, and opportunity to go to the less-damaged outer reef convinced me it was the best option.
Did it turn out to be the best? Well, I cannot compare it to any other trips as it’s the only one I did. But I can say the trip receives my highest recommendation. In this post, I describe my experience and include all of the details you may want to know if you were ever interested in booking a similar trip! If you don’t want to read the whole review, feel free to skip to “My Recommendations” below.
Fakaalofa lahi atu! This means “hello” in Niuean! As I write this, I am celebrating 1 year of travel from Niue Island in the South Pacific. The last time my feet touched US soil was September 1st 2014. What a crazy thought. I am so happy I have taken a whole year to travel around the world. Long-term travel is something I’ve always wanted to do and an experience I think everyone should have.
As usual, I will list what I did this last month. Additionally, I will mix things up by listing my favorite moments from this past year. Then I’ll talk a little bit about my biggest deviation of all—the location from which I am celebrating my 1-year anniversary of deviating the norm!
Once I dropped Roojin off at the airport in Brisbane, my road trip adventure became even less fixed than ever. I had 6 days and 6 nights to spend as I pleased on the 1800km drive to Cairns. And I could end up spending it with just about anyone!
Through advertisements online, I connected with other travelers who were interested in sharing the journey (and the gas expenses) with me. Both on my own for part of the journey and with my travel companions, I discovered many natural wonders along the way. Unbelievable mountains, interesting rainforest vegetation, and unique waterfalls made up the best stops on the road from Brisbane to Cairns.
Warning! This post will definitely contain images and video of dead, cooked animal and the eating of said dead animal. So if that bothers you, exit now. I suppose I needed to state this warning at the start of some of my other posts, like the time I ate raw pigs blood in Thailand or the other time I tried Minke Whale in Iceland. I like to eat adventurously while I travel because I like to learn about a culture through its food.
Eating kangaroo in Australia happens to be as normal as eating venison is where I'm from in upstate New York. Kangaroos overpopulate Australian lands causing hundreds of car accidents a year just like white-tailed deer in the USA. I never ate venison back home, but this trip isn't about doing what I normally do. It's about deviating the norm.
I spent the last month in Australia and now I’m in New Zealand again. Say what?! That’s right. I had a great time in Australia. I did a ton of adventuring, visited friends, and saw so much wildlife and marine life. I can’t wait to share it all through many posts in the coming months.
Ultimately, my Aussie adventure was destined to be a jam-packed one, but a short one. I set out with an agenda: deviate to illuminate. As intended, some revelations helped me realize the most important things to me so I could return to New Zealand to pursue them.
The Ninety Mile Beach is one of the most unusual highways I’ve ever driven. At low tide it becomes a legitimate highway. It’s an alternative to state highway 1 and often a scenic route for tour buses.
But the 90 mile beach can be as dangerous as it is beautiful.
The tide can catch tourists off their guard resulting in their vehicles stuck in the sand and an unexpected overnight stay in the dunes behind the beach. Luckily, my kiwi friend, Jono, and I had deliberately worked an overnight stay into our Ninety Mile Beach plans. With plenty of fish to catch from the beach and another food source under our feet in the sand, we had all we needed to survive several days on one of New Zealand’s most beautiful and remote beaches.
I’m all about finding my own fun while traveling—and at low cost. Part of deviating is looking for ways to explore a new place without paying for a tour guide to show you around. Sometimes self-guided tours take you to unique places that turn out to be just as good as the tours or better!
This was the case the day Jono and I arrived in Paihia in Northland New Zealand. We had a whole day free to fill with whatever we chose. So we went snorkeling in the Bay of Islands on our own for just $20 each. Here’s how.
I have been traveling for as long as it takes to carry a baby to term. Which begs the question—have I birthed any major plans for future travel destinations?
The answer is yes. But I am not quite ready to reveal them. All I will say is there are plans in the mix. In the meantime, I am trying to remind myself to stay in the moment and fully appreciate everything I have come to learn and love about New Zealand after over half a year here.
Finally, I get to tell you about my favorite place on the South Island: The heart of the Mackenzie Basin from Lake Pukaki to Lake Tekapo. By this point in my travels around New Zealand, I had circled the entirety of the South Island. The weather had cleared up and we were on our way to a location I had been anticipating for days.
Soon, we would be swimming in milky blue glacial waters and viewing constellations through telescopes which would lead to one of the deepest reflections I would have during my many months of travel.
Milford Sound is possibly the most famous natural tourist attraction in all of New Zealand. It’s located in gorgeous Fjordland National Park on the South Island where cruises and flights go up and down the sound all day every day. Even though it's so popular, I decided it must be famous for good reason. And wow, was I glad I went!
As someone who is deviating the norm, I am always looking for places to go that are a bit unique or "off the beaten path." But visiting a tourist attraction doesn’t mean there will be no opportunities for doing things a bit different. Deviation can happen anywhere, anytime, especially in the midst of typical circumstances!
As it turned out, I was the only one on the cruise to opt into letting a waterfall rain down on me from above. This experience and other opportunities for deviation made my Milford Sound experience special despite it's popularity.
While I visited many Lord of the Rings film locations during my multiple road trips all over the North Island, people kept telling me “the South Island is the real Middle Earth.” With its untouched, mountainous geography and less than ¼ of the New Zealand population living there, the South Island is the perfect setting for filming an epic like the Lord of the Rings. It’s no wonder I couldn’t help myself while road tripping around the region. Everywhere I looked I could envision orc battles, hobbits having second breakfast, and elves and men riding their horses across vast landscapes.
I sought out many of the South Island film locations with my equally nerdtastic travel companion, Carolina. Some were easier to find than others and some were less accessible than others. But in the end, we visited most of the locations completely independent from any paid tours—and we had great adventures of our own finding them!
I can feel my blood pumping with excitement when I read about other people’s travel adventures, see photos of faraway lands, and watch videos of life abroad being lived to the fullest. I continue to feel this even as a long-term traveler myself. Whenever I get the chance, I make sure to catch up on fellow traveler’s posts online.
I follow many blogs, instagrams, facebook pages, and twitter accounts of travelers who continue to send adrenaline down to my toes and provide information that helps me decide where I will go next in my travels.
Planning ahead has worked very little on my trip. Going with the flow, allowing each moment to take me in new directions has always proved to lead to the best experiences. So when Carolina told me she was going to have to fly into Christchurch instead of Queenstown, I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “See you there!”
This change in plans took me and Birgit on another route deviation. We were at the perfect junction to turn inland from the West Coast and cross the center of the South Island back over to Christchurch. We ended up traveling along New Zealand’s Great Alpine Highway. This area of the Canterbury region was so spectacular and filled with adventures, it was worth retracing the route with Carolina a week later. From pie-eating and caving to camping and hiking, these are the highlights from my Great Alpine Highway drive.
