Going downunder

Despite going on multiple smaller trips throughout the year - mostly due to runs - I still try to at least once a year to go on a longer trip that isn't (only) about running. These past years it has been South Korea, Japan and India and I was hoping to do a similar trip this year. And indeed I found a new destination - albeit not completely free from running, which probably shouldn't surprise anyone at this point.

I would have loved to do another big wildlife tour, but my two short trips this year to Spain has to satiate my hunger for that for now.

 

22nd - 27th of August

On the Saturday I fly to Sydney via Singapore where on arrival late Sunday afternoon I'll check into the domestic airport hotel. The following morning (well, midday, I am on vacation after all) I take flight to Launceston on Tasmania where I'll stay before flying back on the Thursday. While there I plan on driving around and checking out the environment, and taking the opportunity to visit a friend I met back in Peru who now runs a truffle farm with her husband. 

 
27th of August - 1st of September

Coming back to Sydney I'll check into a hotel centrally located, not far from the Opera House. This is fortunate because that means it won't be far to get back to the hotel after the marathon. The marathon is on the Sunday (the 30th) and I plan on just doing a bit of basic sightseeing in the city until then - and hopefully meet up with a few friends along the way. The marathon starts at St. Leonard's Park with an almost straight line down to the bridge and across it with the opera house on our left. From there we will cross through Pyrmont, return and run back under the bridge, past Circular Quay and along Pitt Street, past St. Mary's Cathedral and through Hyde Park and all the way south to Kingsford before returning the same way we came, circle around Centennial Park before heading all the way to the Royal Botanical Garden where we'll do a bit of back and forth before finishing in front of the opera house. That evening and following day will be full of relaxing and doing very little.

 
1st - 5th of September

As I have visited Australia on previous occasions in 2009 and 2012 I don't need spending much more time here, instead I will then fly out to Wellington, New Zealand. I will be spending a couple of days here dedicated to sightseeing. Priority will be a Weta workshop tour but other than that I am open for what may show up. Being the capital of New Zealand there will be a bit of interesting stuff but time will tell - apparently the cable car going from the quay to Kelburn suburb is quite popular and should give quite the view of the city at the top. From here I will fly to Auckland where I have a single night before joining a tour in the evening. Before that, though, I've planned to do a whale/dolphin safari in the morning.

 
6th - 15th of September

I'm joining a 10-day tour taking me from Auckland all the way down to Christchurch hitting a line of  spots along the way. Starting off by going along the Coromandel Peninsula, reaching Matamata which includes a tour of Hobbiton and following that Rotorua. Here we'll have a day to explore Maori culture, do rafting, kayaking or ziplining through the forests. From here on we will continue to Murupara, Taupo and one night in Wellington before crossing to the south island. Reaching the south island we'll pass through Kaikoura before reaching our destination in Christchurch. 

 
15th - 19th of September

I'll have 5 days by myself in Christchurch before any other plans so there will be time to explore. From what I understand 5 days is more than plenty for the city so I might end up looking into options of exploring outside the city and seeing if there are any day tours out available. 

 
20th of September -  1st of October

After the break and in the early morning of the 20th I'll join a second tour, this time a 12-day tour, starting in Christchurch and ending in Queenstown. We'll cross over to the west coast through Reefton and follow it down along Westport, Kumara and Fox Glacier. The coastline is stunning and we will have plenty of beautiful views of mountainous shore, rainforests and gorges. From here we will go a bit inland through Wanaka and Te Anau where we will do a quick detour to Milford Sound before crossing down south to The Catlins where we will cross to Stewart Island where we will stay a couple of days. With almost the entire island being a national park there will be plenty of opportunities exploring the environment including forests, rugged landscape and plenty of bird spotting. From here we return to Queenstown and end the tour.

 
1st -  6th of October

After arriving in Queenstown I have a few days on my own to explore. I have the impression that the town is fairly small so it is probably a bit limited how much there is to do, but I hope that 3 nights there won't be overdoing it. In any case I will probably need to decompress from the last tour so a bit of relaxation and not having much to do will probably be good. From here I'll fly out to Sydney where I have a single night before flying back home.

 

Talking about wanting to do one long trip a year this will definitely be it. The longest I have been gone previously is less than 5 weeks, and at that point I usually feel ready to get back home, so I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm going to deal with this significantly longer trip. The schedule does feel pretty packed when doing the tours so I doubt I'll even have time to worry about such things. I guess I'll find out!

 

In any case I am very excited for this one. When traveling to the other side of the world you might as well go all in! 

Returns to Spain

With the trips in recent years tend to prioritize runs of various kinds I have had to down prioritize wildlife tours which I try to find opportunities to do something about. A colleague who is an avid photographer mentioned a professional photographer who guides tours mostly around Europe which sounded fairly small and manageable among my running trips so I jumped onto the site and took a look.

 

Immediately there were a few trips that piqued my interest and considering they were all including 2 professionals they were quite affordable, too. And I had just splurged on a new camera body for wildlife photography so I had to find a justification for the expense, so it came easy to me to book two trips to Spain.

 

20th - 24th of May

We'll be flying out to Madrid where we'll be picked up and go to Villacañas where we will be staying during the trip. The following three days will have a similar schedule; leave in the morning for a large private property and get settled into a bird hide before sunrise, leave midday for lunch and return in the afternoon until sundown. There are plenty of hides places on the property so with some rotation there will be plenty - and new - opportunities throughout the days. On the last day we have another photo session in the morning before leaving for the airport in the morning and return home.

 

10th - 14th of December

Once again we'll be flying out to Madrid and checking in at a hotel near by. The following three days will consist of us leaving before sunrise to a nearby property (a different one than the previous trip) and occupying the hides from sunrise to sunset. During that time the hope is to get an opportunity to photograph the Iberian lynx. Yes, that one again - I do tend to be a cat person when it comes to wildlife. The last day we may or may not be able to do a morning session in the hides before returning to Madrid and flying back home.

 

Being Spain it's easy to get back and forth (and therefore not a long flight) and not a huge expense for what I get from it. And while wildlife is never guaranteed, even if what we are hoping for doesn't show up I expect there will still be plenty to look at during the wait. In any case I think this will be two enjoyable small tours to do.