Archive | May, 2011
Andrew’s Guide to a Kid’s Best Travel Day

Andrew’s Guide to a Kid’s Best Travel Day

(Andrew) Here are some good hints I have learned over the last year: Either wake up or just stand up. On early mornings you have to get out of bed or you miss the flight. Plain and simple; you sleep, no travel. Put on some nice, baggy, comfortable clothes (cotton t-shirts and sweatpants work best.) […]

Read more
Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire

(Dana) The volcanic region running straight through the center of the North Island of New Zealand is part of the great Pacific Ring of Fire — where massive tectonic plates meet and shift, causing natural wonders and disasters like this year’s horrific Japanese earthquake.  Although these geological forces can wreak havoc and devastation, the great […]

Read more
Footy

Footy

(Dana) Other lands, other cultures, other sports. Our newest athletic experience… footy, or rugby. Yes, rugby is played in some schools across the US, but it holds a completely different level of exultation in New Zealand. New Zealand hosts the World Cup this fall. Kiwi professional teams play in a SuperLeague against teams from Australia […]

Read more
Living La Vida Hamster

Living La Vida Hamster

(Andrew) Zorbing: the activity of rolling down a hill while strapped inside an extremely large plastic ball. That is the definition of zorbing from the PC dictionary. We zorbed today. What the dictionary doesn’t describe is that it is REALLY FUN! What the dictionary also doesn’t describe is that you can also zorb not strapped […]

Read more
Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity

(Alex) Okay — so my brothers call me an adrenaline junky, and I admit it, I love the feeling of adrenaline rushing through my veins. After gorge swinging in Zimbabwe, I really wanted to do something that would outdo myself. My first idea was bungee jumping, but Mom and Dad quickly talked me out of […]

Read more
Back In Time

Back In Time

(Dana) During our adventure-filled time in New Zealand, I have been reflecting on our time in Papua New Guinea, which was like traveling back in time. The entire Highlands of the country – home to a million people – was only discovered by the Australians in the 1930s…less than 80 years ago! The vast majority […]

Read more
Dude, Turn Off Your Butt

Dude, Turn Off Your Butt

(Andrew) Our first major activity in New Zealand was going on the Spellbound Cave tour which includes seeing the spectacular luminous glowworms. The cave that we went to was the place that BBC Planet Earth filmed the segment on glowworms. This place was the best place to go. We drove to the pickup place from […]

Read more
The Wigmen

The Wigmen

(Alex) The Huli wigmen are the fiercest, most warlike tribe in all of Papua New Guinea. Ironically, the main goal of the Huli wigmen is to look and act like the beautiful endemic Bird of Paradise. The men do their best to “be” the beautiful birds. First, the men cover themselves in a shiny oil […]

Read more
PNG Poetry

PNG Poetry

These two poems were written and read to us by our fantastic guide on two successive mornings in the Mount Hagen area of PNG. By MW = Michael Moge Agilca Kundumb Keping Wandau (Or Michael of the Moge tribe, Agilca clan, Kundumb sub-clan, Wandau Keping family) Day (1) in Kange Country White clouds of fog […]

Read more
Cannibal Sleepover

Cannibal Sleepover

(Andrew) I was not looking forward to this village stay even though Papua New Guinean people are very friendly. We left our lodge on the Karawari River and boarded a very long motorized dug out canoe. We passed many small villages and I hoped that none were ours because I was looking for the 5-star […]

Read more