Grounded Traveler

Traveling to Asia – Indie Travel Challenge

I’m keeping up (almost) with the BootsNAll Indie Travel Challenge. This week’s prompt is about travel in Asia.

If you’ve traveled in Asia, what’s your favorite destination? Share a story of one of your best experiences in Asia, or tell us about a place you love.

Christmas in Queenstown

I flew into New Zealand on December 23 by way of a day in Hong Kong. This meant another quick flight (who is afraid of flying now.. um, me still) to Queenstown, which would be our Christmas stop as well as the jumping off to Milford Sound. I was totally looking forward to a Christmas in the summer.

Queenstown from Above

Flying into Queenstown, New Zealand on Christmas Eve,w e decided to do something with our afternoon. We choose the gondola ride up for the view of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding area. The skyline Gondola goes to the top of Bob’s Peak. (It really is called this. Isn’t that cool?) The views of the area are fantastic and you can watch the storms come in. Play in the gift shop and watch others defy death for an afternoon.

Winter Is For Hibernation – Indie Travel Challenge

Here is the Week 4 Prompt in BootsnAll Indie Travel Challenge.
When the weather gets cold, do you prefer to head to sunnier locales or do you love the outdoor adventures or off-season prices of winter? Warm or cold, what’s your dream winter travel destination, and do you have any travel plans for the coming months?

Creepy Santa And His Deformed Reindeer, Auckland

In general the Christmas decorations were not overwhelming in New Zealand. Very understated in most places, except for this guy. He stayed up past New Years and we called him Creepy Santa for navigational purposes. I am always on the lookout for oddities and unusual things when I travel. This certainly qualifies.