Category Archives: Pictures
Yosemite
Before leaving the East Coast, we decided to make a short trip to the Yosemite National Park to have a glimpse of Nature’s beauty in the United States. Fortunately, the snow which fell there during our rainy week in San Francisco had already disappeared when we pitched up our tent under the towering pine trees. And we were rewarded with three beautiful days of clear skies and crisp air — what else could we wish for when hiking?
South Island: leftovers
The last two weeks on New Zealand’s South Island consisted in a lot of driving and stopping on the way at famous sights. From the alpine scenery in Mount Cook National Park, we crossed the Alps to reach the West Coast with its famous Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers that are partly embedded in rainforest; only to arrive, a few hundred kilometers further north, at the marvelous beaches of Abel Tasman National Park. At the end of this road trip, I felt very tired for we changed our campsite every night and did not have time to relax properly. In this sense, I was relieved when we finally boarded the ferry to cross the Cook Strait and reach the North Island. But it also meant leaving this marvelous, diversified part of the world behind us…
Queenstown & The Routeburn
Only a few hours drive away from Te Anau, we knocked at another door: Leanne and Richard, the parents of my friend Ben, had once hosted me after Ben and I had flown away from the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake; and, coming back to Queenstown, it was a pleasure to see them again. They warmly welcomed us at their new house, and, being true born and bred Kiwis, enlightened us with a lot of opinions about life in New Zealand, a country so far away from the rest of the world, at once isolated and protected by its distance.
Unpublished II
Rummaging in our travel photos, we decided that it was time for yet another Unpublished episode. Again, just random pictures that are worth publishing but did not fit into our posts… A short travel through time and space, back to Asia — it already seems so far away — and beyond!
The Catlins
Brizzie
Our last stop in Australia, awkwardly further away from New Zealand than Melbourne, was another visit at relatives’: my aunt and her family moved to Brisbane a few years ago, and I already had the opportunity to come by during my last round-the-world trip.
I was definitely luckier this time. Brisbane was not flooded.
My new favourite animal
Phillip Island
Let us be honest: India, though a marvellous and eye-opening destination, has more than a fair share of hassles in pack for travelers. I have talked with people disgusted after leaving the country, seen travelers pack up for home almost as soon as they had arrived, and read so many warnings that I could tell stories about that fact without even mentioning my own experience. The short conclusion is: most people love and hate India. At the same time.
And even though I tend to think I loved it more than I hated it, Phillip Island (Victoria), where Aunt Coeri and Uncle Rod took us for some holidays, still was a huge shock for me. An agreeable shock, mind. As opposed to the mountains of garbage and plastic we had previously encountered, Phillip Island boasts a pristine or, if altered by man, well-conserved environment. The contrast with our months spent in India was tremendous; and this contrast, I think, made our enjoyment of the Australian flora and fauna all the better.
Melbourne
Wawrinka versus Nadal.
This might be your current association with Melbourne; the whole sportive world looks towards the capital of Victoria tonight. Ourselves, however, enjoyed and discovered this vibrant city about a month ago, when tennis was still far away and Christmas just around the corner.