Christina’s Journey Journal

Tag: adventure

  • Back in Auckland to say goodbye – March 30, 2026 (Monday)

    Back in Auckland to say goodbye – March 30, 2026 (Monday)

    I flew from Christchurch to Auckland last evening and checked into the Hilton Auckland that overlooks the harbor and the city.

    A room with a view!

    When I woke up and looked out my window, that view was replaced with a gigantic cruise ship! Seriously, I was staring into someone’s cabin, and had they been in it, they would have been staring back at me in my room. 😂

    There’s the ship. My hotel window was to the left.

    Today is the day I leave to go home. Auckland -> San Francisco -> St. Louis. My son will be in NZ until Friday, continuing his adventure.

    I found this place for breakfast and there’s also one in the international terminal. Why is this important? They have the best gluten free bagels!

    I will do another post with more info on our lodgings/food/clothes.

    For now, farewell to what has become one of my favorite places! When I think about this vacation, we took every form of “transportation”—plane (big and small), bus, van, car, trolley/tram, boat, raft, bike, zipline, rappel, climb, hike…crazy!

    Was it my favorite trip because of my travel companion? Absolutely!

    Was it because of the adventures? Duh!

    Was it because of the surreal nature? YES!

    The hiking? Yep and my knees thank the trails.

    The food (and especially the ice cream)? Of course!

    The accommodations? The best!

    The Māori culture and history? Hello!!!

    Rarely do you visit a spot that has it ALL. New Zealand delivered on every level…and then some.

    Kia Ora, New Zealand!🇳🇿 Until we meet again.

    Note: Including this one, I have published 16 total posts about our New Zealand adventures. I hope you find them informative and fun. If you’re planning a trip to NZ and have questions, please feel free to reach out to me. My son and I planned our full itinerary and while aggressive from a timing standpoint point, we saw and did exactly what we wanted to!

  • Our morning in the Golden Circle🇮🇸

    Our morning in the Golden Circle🇮🇸

    First day of Icelandic Summer🌼

    First stop: The Lava Tunnel, also known as The Raufarhólshellir Lava Tube. Wow wow wow wow wow! Like I mentioned in a prior post, this lava tube sits on private property and they only give guided tours. Many years ago there was an incident where 3 girls got trapped. They were hiking to the end of the tunnel when their cell phone batteries wore out. You see, light is critical because once you get deep within the cave, it’s pitch black. Any extended amount of time in pitch blackness can cause Cave Blindness! These girls forgot an extra light source and had to be rescued. During the tour, the guide turned off all the lights and it was indeed dark! Other senses were heightened and we could hear the drip drip drip of the melting ice.

    Lava tube tour – we will end up 100 feet under ground
    We wore our helmets with lights. Crampons and hiking poles were options but since it’s no longer “winter” the ice is melting.
    The ice is slowly melting for the summer months.
    It’s never the same cave!
    About 5200 years ago, this cave was formed as a lava tube during the Leitahraun eruption 🌋
    These are natural skylights (holes in the cave) and typically are how the tubes are found—someone or an animal falls in!
    So many different types of rocks and minerals—lava, iron, sulphur and even a living thing which is white bacteria. It’s called Cave Bacteria and it isn’t found elsewhere. They believe that the Cave Bacteria may be found on Mars so scientists have been studying it.

    The tunnel is 4,500 feet long (900 meters) and up to 30 meters wide. We did the walking tour but you can also do the more strenuous tour where you go beyond where we stopped, and climb your way to the end.

    There are no echoes in lava tunnels because it’s a porous rock that absorbs the sound. Our guide told us that people have weddings here. In addition, there was a movie premiere for Descent—a horror flick that took place in a cave. 🫣

  • 1/3/2023 (Good afternoon!) – Just do it! 🇦🇶

    Well, I just did it! “It” is SUP, which is an acronym for “stand up paddle-boarding” and I was very lucky to be a part of a group of 6 others who went SUPing in the Southern Ocean. We saw a humpback whale, lots of penguins swimming, navigated around icebergs from a safe distance, and were so close to the water! I will never forget this one. Started from my knees and eventually worked my way up to standing.

    Working on my courage to stand up! SUP in the Southern Ocean (aka Antarctic Ocean)
    The ocean was like glass! And when my legs stopped shaking, it was one of the coolest experiences.

    FYI – had trouble with this post and it posted like 4 times. I have deleted the others and may have accidentally deleted comments – apologies!!

    Wow! Just wow. Unbelievable experience. Thanks to our guide, Sarah, for the lessons and the incredible spot to SUP!