Happy New Year’s from the Southern Hemisphere

Usually in my year end postcard I brag about the number of countries we have visited (and there are a lot); and I count up the miles traveled (and there are a lot). The number of hotels we have slept in (again, a lot). This year is going to be different, although we have never felt luckier. We covered two countries in 2020: Australia and New Zealand. We were not on even one train (our preferred mode of travel). There were a lot of hotels, and holiday rentals. We rented one car, and we are still in it; we should have brought the thing. 

Last Christmas we were in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. We were just hearing about this new virus in China. Yes, that is right, in Australia, we heard about the virus before Christmas last year. We did not worry too much, we then traveled to Sydney and stayed in ChinaTown for the Chinese New Year. Right about then, Australia banned travelers from China. We took a diversion to Tasmania and after that the red center of Australia. I tried out camping. The red center is hot, the preferred place to sleep is outside; you can hardly sleep for the bright stars, but watching for falling stars is a great way to fall asleep. We also spent a night in a cave in Coober Pedy. We covered the Great Ocean Road counting koalas and kangaroos. We had one house sit in Melbourne and then off for a quick tourist trip to New Zealand before a quick detour to San Diego and a return to our normal life in Europe. 

Well that did not happen. Our adventure tour in New Zealand had us off the grid for three weeks. While we were rafting, kayaking, tramping and hang gliding, Covid was creeping around the world. When it was time to board our next international flight, we thought better of that, and decided to stay put for a couple more weeks. That was ten months ago. 

Since February we have been in one country: New Zealand. We have had the time of our lives. It has been four distinctly different traveling experiences: the packaged tour, lockdown, campervan, and local traveler. I highly recommend the packaged adventure tour for those people that do not have an unlimited amount of time. The tour provided logistics: kayaks clean and ready to float, bikes at the trail heads, water taxis ready when we were, etc. No way could we do what we did in 22 days ourselves. Getting gear lined up takes a lot of time. Little did we know we would have the time later. The best way to see NZ is the campervan. Especially one with bike racks (and bikes). There is one way you cannot travel New Zealand: by public transport. We had to abandon our light footprint travel mantra of no flights or single cars. There are not that many roads in New Zealand, paved ones anyway. To really see the country, you need to get off the highways. People hitchhike, but you may spend a night out in the cold waiting for a car to come by. Tramping is the favorite pastime of kiwis. Great hikes and short ones. Usually a waterfall is at least a half hour walk off the road. There are lots of one way hikes where you can get a lift back; either one day or multi day treks. If you come to NZ, expect a lot of walking. Bring new shoes – they frown on ones that have been used elsewhere. 

We made some friends, did some exciting activities, and lately had some pet sits with delightful animals. We are so thankful for our good luck. Being in a foreign country during a disaster is scary. Being in one that speaks English was so fortuitous. Being in this one, one of the only countries that has successfully kept covid at bay, is the luckiest moment of our already charmed lives.

Both of us now have New Zealand driver’s licenses (including motorcycles). After driving on the left side of the road for so long, when we see American television, it freaks us out to see them get in the wrong side of the car. We watched an entire election cycle (they do not drag theirs out for years). I have joined several New Zealand Facebook groups for the towns we have stayed in, and travel groups, One for bird watchers, and one for pet sitters. I finally started a blog. We tasted wine. It has been long enough to return to some wineries and try new releases. I developed a workout routine. We have extended our visa twice and are in the process of asking for another 6 months. In case you are wandering: we would stay here if we could. We are in love with this country. 

Just to get in some stats, here are the numbers. I have a spreadsheet of our travels, to make sure we have a place to stay every night. Today is line 899. Almost 900 days of travel under our belts. This year: 42 different abodes. Many returns to the same places. But this does not count the 36 nights of package tours where we moved almost every night and 35 days of camper van (same van, different locale). 7 house sits for a total of 82 days. Two housesits were in Australia, the rest here and those very recently. For a long time there were no housesits to be found because people were not going anywhere. We will be housesitting for most of the next 60 days. If our visas are extended we will tourist again after that – by then it should be beach weather. A few things I cannot count: the number of one-lane bridges we’ve crossed. Must be in the thousands. Number of suspension bridges we’ve hiked across. Several hundred. Rainbows: I have seen more rainbows this year than my whole life accumulated before. The secret to that is…rain. And waterfalls, we are spoiled for pretty waterfalls. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets. San Diego has beautiful sunsets too, and I’ve seen a few. Sunrises also, but the key to enjoying a sunrise is retirement. They get lost in the rush to work. Beautiful coves and beaches – okay, now I am bragging. We have seen glaciers and beaches at the same time; glaciers and rain forest – a weird combination. The physical beauty of Australia and New Zealand is over-the-top and not to be taken for granted. I am having difficulty pairing the year down to 4 or 5 pictures. I will follow up with some links to albums. 

I cannot wait until some of you can venture out of your houses and come meet us. Here’s to 2020 in the rear view.