As we have now done several times on our trip, we put together some last minute plans and found ourselves in a situation that exceeded expectations. We flew to Italy to visit with friends who live in Monte di Procida, a small town about 40 minutes outside of Naples. We had planned to stay for the weekend, but lingered there for over a week, gratefully accepting as much hospitality as our hosts could possibly offer*.
After our adventures in New Zealand, Dustin and I set off for a quick three weeks in Japan. Upon arrival in Narita airport, while making our way to customs, we bumped into Sebastien! who joined us for two whirlwind weeks. We started off with several days in Tokyo, went on to Kyoto, overnighted in Kinosaki, then finished with a night in Osaka. From there, Sebastien sadly headed home (no more morning pastry sampling as part of our routine!), and Dustin and I headed to Ikuno for a few nights. Since folks have been asking, below are some photo highlights. For artistic and quality photography, check out Sebastien’s album on Google +.
Kiyomizu dera in Kyoto
This is what you do when your glacier hike gets canceled the first time:
Crossing the Robert's Point Swing Bridge in Franz Josef from Katie Osterdahl on Vimeo.
Thanks to decent wifi and vimeo, some videos of the Abel Tasman track:
HikingTrack from Katie Osterdahl on Vimeo.
As we made our way south for our first great walk (Tongariro Northern Circuit) Katie and I went to Matamata to visit the Hobbiton Movie Set, which is at the Alexander family farm. As you’ll see in the photos, the set consists of 44 hobbit holes of various sizes to enable the filmmakers to capture the magic and bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s story to life.
The effort put forth by Peter Jackson and his team demonstrates how far filmmakers will go to ensure that no detail is overlooked; nothing was too small to be worthwhile in creating a realistic and believable Hobbiton.
We set off this morning with high hopes. Or rather I had very optimistic expectations, despite the drizzling rain; Dustin was slightly more realistic. The clouds looked much higher than they did yesterday, and I was nearly certain that our hike of the Franz Josef Glacier would go off without a hitch. It looked like there was plenty of visibility for the helicopters to safely take off and land on the glacier, depositing us in an exotic world of ice to explore for several hours.
Recent Comments