Tag: backpacking

Albania, Here We Come!

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Matt, June 2017
Slam, bang! It’s one trip to the next, and another classic Take a Hike Photography summer adventure is underway. I’ve been touring ancient sites in Greece and Rome for the last two weeks with 25 high school students. Alison just finished school two days ago, when she jumped on a plane and landed in Rome yesterday. I spent today hoofing it through the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica, while Alison made her way to the hotel from the airport to drop off her bags and get sorted.

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

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Summer is upon us, and we are all set for another season full of fun adventures. As I write this, Matt is driving a group of high school students to an organic farm in the mountains of West Virginia for a service trip, and I am finishing tidying up our house for our summer renters who will be here in just a few hours. I still have one more week until school is out, so I am staying with one of our dear college friends for the next week. And then we are free!

So, where are we headed this year? (more…)

Rakiura Track, Day 3: North Arm Hut to Oban

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Screen Shot 2018-05-22 at 10.49.16 PMWe are among the last to leave the hut this morning. We bid farewell to the six ladies we met on Day One and the family of nine we hung out with yesterday as they take off from the hut. Before leaving for good, we grab the camera and visit the bay again to see if anything exciting has arrived over night. We spot two kingfishers (mating!) and the heron again, but all are too far for photos, so our visit is fairly short. We head back up to the hut to grab our things and hit the trail. (more…)

Rakiura Track, Day 1: Oban to Port William Hut

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We wake up in Invercargill at 5:30 am to finish packing and eat a quick breakfast. Our ferry out of Bluff isn’t until 9:30, but we are hoping we can squeeze in a little time to photograph the tui birds that are hanging out at the B&B’s feeders. We are headed to Stewart Island, New Zealand’s “third island,” where we hear that there are far more birds than people. Sounds like our kind of place! (more…)

Ringing in the New Year, New Zealand Style!

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After finishing the Kepler Track, we have a day and a half to drive from Te Anau down to Bluff, the southern most town on the South Island where will catch a ferry to Stewart Island, the location of our last Great Walk, the Rakiura Track. Our end destination today is the tiny town of Tuatepere which we picked as a midpoint between Te Anau and Invercargill (just north of Bluff). (more…)

Kepler Track, Day 2: Moturau Hut to Iris Burn Campsite

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Kepler Track, Day 2

I wake up to a swollen eye and wonder if one of New Zealand’s pesky sand flies chomped on me during the night. Hopefully, it will go away before too long, but I feel a little dread as I have had such bad reactions to bug bites lately. Ughh…

We have a lazy 9 am departure and begin our day back at the beach of Shallow Bay. The skies look a little dark and moody as we set off, and we wonder if we have some rain in store ahead. From the beach, we follow the lakeshore for a bit before ducking back  into the mossy beech forest carpeted in lush green ferns for the 16.2-kilometer relatively flat tramp to the Iris Burn campsite. (more…)

Kepler Track, Day 1: Te Anau to Moturau Hut

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According to Lonely Planet, the Kepler Track was originally developed as an alternative  hike to help ease the demand for reservations on the South Island’s highly popular Milford and Routeburn Tracks. The label alternative may lead you to believe that this hike is somehow inferior to its more famous siblings, but don’t let that fool you. The Kepler Track is a beauty of a tramp in its own right. (more…)