Maui: Our Last Stop and Last Post (For Now!)
Maui is our last stop before heading back to Los Angeles for a quick trip to Disneyland before flying home. Since our year of travel kind of started with a trip with good friends...
Driving Miss Karen Blog
Most Hawaiian Hawaii: Big Island Hilo Side
We visited the Hilo (rainy) side of the big island but it really wasn’t rainy at all. In fact, they had not had any rain for over 30 days which is pretty unusual. The...
More Hawaiian Hawaii: Big Island Kona Side
The big island of Hawaii is also called Hawaii (like NY, NY) so it gets a little confusing. The locals call it Hawaii island but most tourists just call it the big island (which...
Back in the States: Oahu Hawaii
Even though Hawaii is a very unique place, it is still a genuine state and it feels like it. Oahu is the most populous and least remote feeling island in Hawaii with some parts...
American Samoa: Back in the U.S.A….sort of
Our next stop is American Samoa, which is a U.S. territory. We are back to using US$, 110 volt plugs, and driving on the right but it is still quite different with many people...
First Steps Home: Fiji and Samoa
We are really missing home as we start the long island hopping portion of our trip home across the Pacific. We flew from NZ to Fiji and spent the night but still haven’t really...
Queenstown and the Home Stretch
Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand. Birth place of bungy jumping and jet boat rides, New Zealand has a well deserved reputation as an adventure destination. Queenstown is also our last long...
New Zealand South Island: Abel Tasman & Wanaka
From Wellington we took the InterIslander Ferry across cook straight to the South island. The less populated South island is even prettier and wilder than the North island. There is everything from tropical looking...
Wellington New Zealand – Last Stop North Island
We stopped at Wellington for a few nights before our ferry crossing to the south island. It is a nice city but a little too big for us. It does have Te Papa Tongarewa,...
Rotorua and Mitai Maori
Rotorua is know for its geothermal features. Kind of a mini Yellowstone. That wasn’t super interesting to us since we’ve been to Yellowstone a couple of times. What they don’t have in Yellowstone is...
Our Favorite New Zealand Place is Not Real
Hobbiton, or technically the Hobbiton Movie Set is our favorite attraction in New Zealand. We are such big fans of the Lord of the Rings books and movies and this is the site of...