Jeff & Cheryl's Oceania Adventure
In and around Oceania
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We are headed to New Zealand, Australia, and French Polynesia departing Feb 5th from Sacramento California for about 2 months.
Wrapping up all the preparation to leave, finishing work, house and animal sitting, Bills, and the details of our incredible itinerary. We will rarely be staying in one place more than 1 night.
We'll be renting a camper van in NZ, a SCUBA live aboard in AU, and finally lots of island hopping in FP.
This will be the longest and most diverse vacation we have ever had - the trip of a lifetime!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Cognaut
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1
Trip Preparation
Stressful preparation trying to wrap up the trip details and square things away for our lengthy absense. But the good thing is - only one more day of... Continue reading » -
2
Last Day of Prep before Leaving!
We're about 1/2 done with packing, and wrapping up all the loose ends before leaving tomorrow.
This is going to be awesome, the best trip we... Continue reading »
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3
Arrival in Auckland
Arrival in Auckland, New Zealand!
Flight was delayed an hour leaving from LA, but still got to Auckland only 30min late. But was early in the... Continue reading »
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4
Tutukaka Coastline
A beautiful drive to Tutukaka north of Auckland. The terrain here is a strange mix of Hawaii, Mendicino, and England in the Northern hemisphere. Th... Continue reading »
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5
Tutukaka Diving
Got up early and headed to the dock to take a boat out to the Poor Knights islands for some SCUBA diving. It was a brutal 1hr trip out to the islan... Continue reading »
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6
Drive South to Wiatomo Caves
Another beautiful drive, always taking us longer than expected. It was supposed to be about a 4.5hr drive, but took us more like 5.5 with some s... Continue reading » -
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Tubing in Waitomo Caves and on to Rotorua
Black Water Rafting. In the morning we explored the Wiatomo Caves floating in inner tubes, dressed in wet suits and helmets with lights. This was a... Continue reading »
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8
Wonderous Volcanic Mountains
Zorbing, Drive to Tongoriro. Rotorua itself was a disappointing tourist trap – Cheryl went Zorbing in a plastic sphere, with a bucket of water tossed... Continue reading » -
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Drive to Wellington
Another long drive from Tongariro to Wellington. Getting ready to take the ferry across to the south island tomorrow morning.
Did laund... Continue reading »
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10
Ferry to South Island, and Drive to Abel Tasman
We got up early to gas and drop the rental car and take the ferry across to the south island. It was a long ferry trip (over 3hrs) and I think the lar... Continue reading » -
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Ocean Kayaking in Abel Tasman
The next morning we rented some sea kayaks, and paddled several miles across the bay out to some wild islands, stopping on the ocean side of Adele... Continue reading »
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12
Cape Foul Wind Waves and Brews
Drove to Westport from Abel Tasman, out to Cape Foul Wind. This was an unexpectedly enjoyable stop, using up one of our flex days, originally inten... Continue reading »
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13
Punakaiki Paradise
We drove down the coast (only 45mins) to Punakaiki – WOW. The scenery here just keeps blowing me away. We checked into our hotel, and headed out fo... Continue reading »
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14
Drive to Christchurch
A long drive from Punakaiki to Christchurch cutting through the northern end of the NZ alps, through the Lewis Pass from East Coast to West Coast a... Continue reading »
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15
Drive frm Christchurch to Moeraki Boulders
Cheryl’s Birthday! We picked up the camper van, but got a hassle doing so, they said that our reservation had been canceled. Then tried to palm off... Continue reading »
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16
Drive to the Petrified Forest on the Beach
Drive from Moerake to Curio Bay. Got an Awesome camp site on a bluff with 360 degree views overlooking the ocean, cliff, beaches, and a petrified fore... Continue reading » -
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Drive to Milford Sound
Drive to Milford Sound. We stopped and checked out the unusual Petrified forest on the beach/rocks at Curio bay. Unfortunately it was raining, but... Continue reading »
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18
Wonderous Cruise Through Milford Sound
Milford Sound Cruise – We took a magnificent cruise through Milford Sound (actually named wrong – it is a Fiord, not a Sound (a Sound is Fresh Wate... Continue reading »
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19
Drive from Milford to Glenorchy
Headed for Queenstown from Milford. More fantastic driving and constant stopping to ogle the ever changing view around each twisty stretch of road... Continue reading »
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20
Drive to Wanaka
Driving out of Glenorchy to Wanaka. But first our initial time cleaning out the waste water and toilet which we have not used much, and turned out to... Continue reading » -
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Journey to Fox Glacier
Drive to Fox Glacier. Had the camper tilted a little too much with feet up in the air and got heart burn in the night. Made some delicious bacon an... Continue reading »
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22
Glacier Heli-hike Canceled Due to Weather
Fox Glacier Heli-hike day. The Rain stopped in the morning, and the clouds broke momentarily exposing some of the crags above, only to sock in even... Continue reading »
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23
Drive through Arthur's Pass
On through Arthur’s pass, and back to Christchurch, unfortunately here like most of the country over the last few days was shrouded in clouds and c... Continue reading »
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24
Robbed in Christchurch the night before departure
Robbed in Christchurch. Dropping off the camper and heading to Australia. Someone broke into our Camper and stole my precious digital video camera,... Continue reading »
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25
Exploring Cairns
Had a day in Cairns looking for a video shop to replace the stolen video camera and digital still camera. Realizing only PAL format (Not NTSC) supp... Continue reading »
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26
Heading out on the SCUBA Live aboard
SCUBA live aboard, Great Barrier Reef. Writing all this up after the fact, will try to remember it as it happened. WOW, what a great trip. Appeared... Continue reading »
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27
SCUBA Extravaganza!
A little more leisurely on Sat, since we were already out on the reef, did 4 dives, and lots of time to relax, and have fun with the crew and other... Continue reading »
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28
Dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat....
An early morning to fit in 3 dives before noon on the last day. More fantastic reef locations. The big boat was great to dive from. One of the reas... Continue reading »
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29
Drive to rain forest and Cape Tribulation
Slept in and awoke with a bit of a hang over, fortunately were so tired the night before, didn’t hang out all night with the boat crew. The tremend... Continue reading »
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30
Beautiful Sydney Cityscape
We packed up and headed for the airport after doing some shopping and finally uploading most of a weeks worth of blog material at a cafe. Hopefully ou... Continue reading » -
31
Exploring Sydney
Took a walk from the hotel around the circular quay (end of the small Sydney harbor) to the wondrous opera house. This really blew me away. I alway... Continue reading »
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32
More Sydney Exploration
More exploring Sydney. The more I see, the more I like this place. We took a tour of the opera house in the morning, great to hear and see more of... Continue reading »
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33
Arrival - Tahiti French Polynesia
***Uploading a bunch of older entries from Bora Bora today (Mar 19th), this one from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. It is very very slow and exp... Continue reading »
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34
Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Arrival
My Birthday today! 44 years young. We headed out to the Marquises. It was nice to see some of Tahiti’s reef from the air. Clear waters of all sorts... Continue reading »
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35
Exploring Nuku Hiva Wild Lands
Got up for the inflexible 7AM breakfast of fruit (taken from the myriad fruit trees growing wild everywhere around the island), and bread. More bla... Continue reading »
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36
On to next island in Marquesas - Hiva Oa
Off to Hiva Oa late today. Wish we had more time here, some amazing things like the worlds 3rd largest waterfall we never got to see – b... Continue reading »
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37
Exploring Hiva Oa
We were able to sleep in – the hostess here was not as regimented as on Nuku Hiva where we had to be there for breakfast at 7AM each morning. We to... Continue reading »
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38
Boat trip to nearby island
Went on boat trip out to one of the nearby islands – Tahuata. Visited a small village, and then went to a secluded beach and had lunch cooked on a cam... Continue reading » -
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Exploring Hiva Oa with 4WD
Rented a 4WD and toured Hiva Oa, driving 3hrs one way along rugged roads along cliff edges, then back again. Came to a glorious village on the far... Continue reading »
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40
On to Bora Bora
Headed back to Tahiti, and then on to Bora Bora. A long series of flights – Nuku Hiva, Papeete, Raitia, and finally Bora Bora, coming in just at sunse... Continue reading » -
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Paradise Found
In the mourning saw the unbelievable overdevelopment around us. The cool huts we were in were crammed into a slot of land about as wide as our stam... Continue reading »
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42
Kick back and relax in Bora Bora
Woke up early to high winds and heavy rain. It blocked the view of the motus, and created white caps on the otherwise lake-like placid lagoon. We h... Continue reading »
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43
Time slipping by in Bora Bora
Another grocery shopping day, did some internet, Blog, email, bills, and started to wrap up our remaining travel arrangements. Came back and enjoyed m... Continue reading » -
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Day trip to Maupiti
Headed out for a day trip to Maupiti, know as the least developed of the Society Islands. This was a marvelous trip! It takes 2hrs by boat (The Mau... Continue reading »
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45
Exploring Bora Bora
Enjoyed another batch of bacon and eggs on the porch in the morning. We made reservations at the Pearl Resort for lunch today & wondering if we... Continue reading »
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46
Enjoying Pearl Beach Resort
Slept in till 8AM, then got up and swam and snorkeled in the clear ocean – swam with another eagle ray. Then sat out on the porch and thoroughly en... Continue reading »
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47
Hiking in the Heat
Tried to head out for an early hike, but spent 45min trying to clean out my newly infected ear. Too much swimming! Got a late start at 9:30A, and w... Continue reading »
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48
Headed for Huahini
Headed for Huahini. Was very difficult to leave the black pearl condo behind. A very scenic 20 min flight from Bora Bora to Huahini, passing over R... Continue reading »
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49
Shark feeding in Huahini
**Just back home yesterday and starting to get the rest of our daily blog entries uploaded. The last couple weeks we did much remote travelin... Continue reading »
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50
On to the Tuamotus
On to the Toumotus – Rangiroa. These islands, or what were once islands, are now just circular atolls. No mountains, just Robinson Crusoe palm stud... Continue reading »
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51
Bike ride exploring Rangiroa
Had a nice sleep in the large king bed, and though the AC didn’t cool the whole place, the bedroom was nice overnight. Plan to Shoot the Pass today... Continue reading »
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52
Off to the Sauvage
Off to the remote Kia Ora Sauvage on the isolated other side of the lagoon! I think Sauvage means wild and savage in French. There are only 5 huts... Continue reading »
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53
Simple island life
The couple from Arizona departed with the technician after he fixed the generator, and we were past our water shortage conditions. It was just us a... Continue reading »
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54
Off to Tikehau
Sadly leaving the peace of the Sauvage, and continuing to Tikehau. We had a room at the renowned Pearl Beach hotel on it’s own motu also. But found... Continue reading »
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55
Relaxing on the porch
Spent the day lounging around in the majestic over water hut, ordering room service, beers, and snorkeling. Watched and fed the fish through the gl... Continue reading »
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56
On to our final island Moorea
Cheryl came up with the idea to hook some bread onto a thread from the sewing kit to test my theory about them seeing the bread just before it hit... Continue reading »
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57
Exploring Moorea
Our last full day of the trip. We rented a car and drove back up to Le Belvedere lookout again, a stupendous viewpoint, and no loud music this time... Continue reading »
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