charleston, christchurch & picton // new zealand

The drive north from Franz Josef glacier puts you right back on a section of New Zealand's gorgeous State Highway 6 also referred to as The Great Coast Road (not to be confused with Oz's Great Ocean Road). This winding drive's transition from ice-capped mountains to lush jungles to rugged ocean cliffs deservedly earned it a spot in Lonely Planet's list of the world's best coastal drives.  

Just over two hours into the drive, we came upon the fishing city of Greymouth where over 40% of the west coast's population lives. This is a great spot to load up on fuel and food if continuing north, as options tend to become few and far between. We decided on the delicious Speight's Ale House located in a beautiful, historic brick building just across the street from the Grey River. They serve a great variety of hearty meals that they help you pair with one of their award winning beers. After a thick clam chowder and a Speight's Gold Medal Ale, we were ready to continue north.

The coastal vistas only got more impressive as the road continued. Signs started boasting "Penguin Crossing" but we unfortunately missed these tuxedoed fellas as they are most common from July to November in the early morning or late afternoon. In just 40 minutes from Greymouth, we found ourselves at one of the west coast's iconic hotspots: the Pancake Rocks. We were a little wary at first when we saw dozens of cars and a full-scale gift shop across the road but realized it was all worth it once we started the 20 minute loop through these super unique rock formations. Try to aim your arrival time around high tide and you will hopefully be rewarded with awesome breakers crashing against these stacked flapjacks and (bear with me) impressive blowholes.  

Our trip then took us another 30 km north to the often overlooked town of Charleston. This post-mining community used to hold more than 15,000 inhabitants and more pubs than private residences but has since dropped down to under 300 permanent locals (and no pubs). However, we were there for the quiet but rugged coastline and stunning limestone caves of Paparoa National Park. Our Airbnb at the rustic (and completely off-grid) Pyramid Farm certainly matched the serene and rural setting. The generous and fascinating host, Don (and his dog named Dog), also provided us with the most delicious honey known to man which he harvests right behind the house. For more substantial food, we would recommend the very local spot simply named Jack's that doubles as a camping ground and producer of the best pizza we had in New Zealand. There's no official address but watch closely for their wooden sign on your left about 5 or 10 minutes north of the town...and definitely don't let the drinking locals on the front porch deter you from the towns sole watering hole.

After talking with Don and other locals, we learned that most Kiwis prefer the impressive Nile River cave system of Paparoa over the more advertised (and touristy) Waitomo Caves of the North Island...and we totally understand why. *Also note that Waitomo does not allow any sort of photography, unlike the caves in Paparoa* We teamed up with the sole tour company in the area, Underworld Adventures, for an absolutely unforgettable day. Underworld suited us up with full wetsuits and caving gear before sending us out on an old mining train deep into the jungle. Each person then grabbed their own inner tube before trekking up to the entrance of the cave. The next few hours were spent touring through the colossal caves and forests of untouched stalagmites and stalactites. 

Once we made our way into the deeper chambers of the cave, we finally put those inner tubes we had been carrying to good use with a NZ activity we'd really been looking forward to: BLACKwater rafting! The same underground river that hollowed out these caves still rushes through and we jumped into it, tubes in hand. Now the real kicker was that, once the water started pulling us along, all headlamps were turned out and we were guided by the galaxies of glowworms that hung from the ceiling above us. Now we're talking about millions of faintly glowing stars that combined to create one of the more surreal experiences we've ever had. Who even knows how long we floated down the pitch black river watching the light show above us before the river dumped us back out into the heart of the jungle for us to float our way back to the train. Absolutely amazing!

We were still recounting how awesome the caving trip was the next morning when we hit the road to make the drive across the island to Christchurch. While not the most direct route, we chose to make our way back to Greymouth and head over the Southern Alps via the highly-recommended Arthur's Pass. It certainly did not disappoint. The road cuts through the heart of the snow-capped mountains, along rushing turquoise rivers, and dumping you out into humbling glacial plains. Get your arms (and stomach) ready for plenty of switchbacks along the way but there are great coffee shops on either side of the range to keep you fueled and ensure that you are awake for all of the amazing scenery out the window. 

We were a little surprised when we arrived to Christchurch to find that the country's third most populous city felt...deserted. The 2011 earthquake this city experienced killed 185 people and demolished much of the central town. This tragedy was still very evident as we wandered around Cathedral Square and the surrounding blocks of reconstruction. However, the resilient people of this city have far from given up and there are signs of a hip local community growing from the destruction. Delicious spots for breakfast/brunch like The Villas can still be found near the Canterbury Museum and great drinks and nightlife are alive and well across town at Revival Bar. We even found some incredible Mexican high-end cuisine at Tequila Mockingbird and its budget sister next door, Bueno Cantina. However, our favorite find was the Sunday afternoon concert series "Lazy Sunday" held in the botanical gardens featuring impressive musicians from all across New Zealand. 

A couple nights in Christchurch felt about right before dropping off our car and catching a bus up to Picton, the port for jumping a ferry to the North Island. As we had come to expect, the drive itself was beautiful as we rode by rugged beach towns and seal colonies before jutting inland through the wineries responsible for NZ's infamous Sauvignon Blanc. The little town of Picton blended a bit of both sceneries with most of it's activity condensed into one main street facing the mountain-ringed shore. There isn't a strong restaurant scene in this humble town so we were content making our own dinner and watching the sun set around the quiet bay for our last night on the South Island. 

This was the last of our adventures on the South Island of New Zealand -- there's SO much more to explore (which just means we have to go back, right?!) Who is coming with us next time? Also, have any of ya'll been caving or seen any crazy glow worms? 

travel affordability // part 1

When Julie and I first started telling people that we were going to quit our jobs and travel for five months, a very common question that arose was: "how the heck can you afford something that…absurd." We don’t make piles of money and we haven’t fallen into any sudden windfalls. Don't get me wrong, we were both blessed with stable, full-time jobs. However, our salaries were lower than most of our friends and we lived in the country’s most expensive city - it took time to save. We were able to take this trip because exploring the world can be affordable when it’s a priority and planned for.

Long-term travel becomes surprisingly do-able when you don’t have the burden of rent or utility payments (except for those darn student loans) but we understand that it’s not easy for most to find a clean break in your career to up and leave.  Therefore, we will try to outline some tips for planning shorter-term travel without breaking the bank. There’s a ton of info here so we will be dividing this topic into multiple installments. Here we go:

Set your goal: This is where you inspire yourself by picking the next corner of the globe you want to visit and how much vacation time you are willing to allocate to it. This is a starting point to estimating what sort of costs to expect for your trip of choice. I would highly recommend putting together a spreadsheet itemizing things like lodging, food, transport, visas, and activities. Definitely don’t overlook that last one. This goal-setting stage is a great time to decide what sort of unique experiences you want to be able to have while abroad (we will be doing a whole post later on how we choose where we want to go and what we hope to experience there). After all, why travel all the way to Venice and not take a gondola ride just because you forgot to budget for it.  I would recommend using the Lonely Planet website to start gathering cost information for the specific country you are thinking (e.g. this is the page for Thailand) or a more specific breakdown on BudgetYourTrip.com but don’t be deterred by the bottom line just yet…the next few steps should hopefully make the total amount a little more attainable.

Don’t pay for your flights: This is often the largest cost to a trip so why not have someone else foot the bill? Even for the extensive amount of flying that Julie and I are doing on this trip, we are only paying for a fraction of these costs thanks to the power of credit card points/airline miles (to this point in our trip - currently in Cambodia - we have flown over 22,000 miles to 7 countries and 14 cities for just a couple hundred bucks). There are piles of credit card companies willing to give you the near equivalent of a round-trip ticket just for signing-up and using their card.  Commonly referred to as “travel hacking” (even the stodgy fellas at Forbes are now using this term), you are given the ability to use these sign-on incentives and other loyalty perks to drastically reduce the overall cost of your trip.

We personally chose the Barclay Arrival+ as our primary card for the amazing 50,000 miles sign-on promotion (equivalent of $500 towards any flights—no specific airline loyalty), 10% bonus back when redeeming miles, 2 miles per dollar spent, and ease of use worldwide with their chip and pin system. We have also been using the CapitalOne Venture Card that we got for an equally as appealing deal but is missing the 10% kickback when redeeming miles. Both of these cards give you the ability to find a cheap flight (we will have a whole post on how to do this later!) and have all OR a portion of the cost reimbursed right back to you. We then supplement these with a US Airways card - again, with a great starting bonus, especially when signing up inflight - in the case that they have any real steals on their routes. Regardless of the card, make sure you get a great bonus to start off with AND pick one that won’t charge you any international transaction fees. Deals and promotions are always changing and revolving so I would recommend keeping an eye on blogs that aggregate this information. Here are a few good ones:

-       http://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards

-       http://www.flyertalk.com/

-       http://boardingarea.com/

Keep in mind that most cards require a set amount of spending within the first few months to earn these rewards. This is why it’s important to start planning and racking up points well before you need to book your flights. We had been storing up points on our cards for the past year to really boost the amount we would be reimbursed back. The earlier you start planning, the cheaper it can become. However, here are some creative ways to meet that required spending or just boost points:

-       Charge everything to your card. This sounds simple but I mean everything – utilities, mortgage, cable bills, student loans, etc. Many of these companies may already offer payment by card but, if they don’t, check out the website Charge Smart that can help facilitate these payments for you. As long as the transaction fee is less that the percentage of points you're earning, you still come out on top.

-       Pay your taxes by credit card.  Forget about planning for a huge tax return - otherwise known as an interest-free loan to the government. Make sure you owe (a responsible amount of) taxes at the end of the year and then pay with one of your cards (here's the process on how to do this). Our tax bill this year will be paying for our flights from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai in a couple weeks.

-       Fight poverty.  It’s really hard to beat earning credit card miles and helping alleviate poverty at the same time. Over at Kiva.org you can meet your minimum spending requirement on those credit cards by providing small loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries and help empower them and their families. It will take some time to get your money back but they have a 99% repayment rate on the funds provided. As someone who previously worked in this industry, I cannot impress enough how powerful of a tool microfinance loans like these can change the lives of individuals and their communities. Or for those looking to donate towards this cause (can also be done by credit card), I would highly recommend Hope International who, in my opinion, truly understands the needs of the people it helps.

-       Don’t spend anything. There are a ton of nuances to the game of travel hacking to really make the most of these credit card rewards…but the rules are constantly changing. Just recently, credit card providers cracked down on manufactured spending (sending regular payments to friends by credit card through Amazon, buying gift cards and having them deposited back into your bank, etc…all very legal but frowned upon by credit card companies) which were huge contributors to our mileage accumulation. However, there appears to be one stronghold left for earning miles without actually spending any money using the Target REDcard. I have not yet tried this one (so proceed with caution) but here is a great rundown of how it is supposed to work. 

HOWEVER, we would strongly discourage carrying over any balances on your credit cards. Ever. It’s very hard to justify the rates that most cards charge especially if you have to maintain payments on that debt while traveling. It’s best just to pay those suckers off each month and reap the benefits they offer. And please be responsible with the number of cards you open at once. It’s best to space out your applications to avoid too many credit pulls at once and then keep a close eye on your credit score through a website like the free (and awesome) CreditKarma.com.

This is just the beginning, friends. We don’t claim to be experts but we have a whole lot of information to share that made our travel possible. Next up in the series, how to choose your bed wisely and making the most of your travel budget. 

wanaka & franz josef glacier // new zealand

When we started mapping out our road trip north to Christchurch from the southern tip of New Zealand, it became clear that we had to make a decision early: east or west. Heading up the eastern shoreline brings you past the university city of Dunedin and eventually on to the Elephant Rocks and Moeraki Boulders. In our opinion, the main selling point of this route is that you can ONLY access the Mt Cook National Park from this side of the mountains despite what it may look like on a map. However, the wild western allure of glaciers, caves, and mountain passes had us heading up the left side of the Southern Alps despite it being far less direct.

Heading northwest from Te Anau, we passed through the now familiar Queenstown area (to watch them Pats win the superbowl!) before continuing an hour beyond to the beautiful Lake Wanaka and it's bustling little town. Our luck with rain continued as downpours kept us from a clear view of the lake but we were able to keep ourselves entertained with a showing of the final Hobbit movie at the awesomely unique Cinema Paradiso. This theater/restaurant combo serves up some tasty grub for you to enjoy while lounging on La-Z-Boy recliners and couches...at least until intermission (yeah, they still do that) when they serve hot chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Paradiso sounds about right! If you are still hungry for some reason, just walk across the street to the delicious woodfire pizza truck that seems to be permanently parked there serving up some tasty thin crust.  

Our Airbnb was located in Lake Hawea just 10 minutes up the road from Wanaka on an equally beautiful lake and far more quaint town. This served as a great launching point (after some delicious sustenance from the friendly Sailz Cafe)  for the wildly climbing roads that hug these two lakes and head northwest over the Southern Alps to the sea. As the case with most of the southern island, there is certainly no shortage of photo ops all along this road but Haast Pass is regarded as one of the country's most stunning roads...and that's saying something! By local recommendation, we decided to break up the drive with a little hike just north of Makarora in Aspiring National Park on the Blue Pools Track. A 20 minute walk brings you across a swing bridge high above the Makarora River to crystal-clear, glacier-fed pools where you can watch fish swim by through the azure blue water; not to mention some of the best skipping rocks known to mankind.

After a climate-confusing 5-hour drive through fields, mountains, beaches, and jungles, we made our way into the small backpackers town of Franz Joseph and it's like-named glacier.

The weather around these icy peaks can be quite temperamental as we learned from only a handful of clear skied hours in the 3 days we spent there. There is no shortage of tour options by foot, 4x4, snowmobile, or helicopter but an hour hike on your own gets you nearly to the glacier's face. Just make sure to take heed of any warnings at the trailhead as the path takes you through a glacial valley that can flood out quickly with the right amount of rain. For those willing to splurge a bit (we opted out), you can top off your Franz Josef experience at the Glacier Hot Pools in heated glacial water and warm up from the area's surprisingly chilly weather. 

We're really starting to dig these glaciers - first from Iceland and now Franz Josef. Have any of y'all seen any sweet ice caps we should add to the list?