This Friday I am departing on the first of two amazing trips over the next couple months, first to Chile, and then at the end of May to New Zealand!
The styles of travel I’ll be taking are a stark contrast of each other, luxury lodges in Chile, and campervan in New Zealand. Both these destinations are at the top of many people’s bucket list and offer a variety of destinations within each country and activities.
Here’s a preview of what’s to come:
From May 6th through 17th I will be traveling with explora, a collection of luxury lodges in Chile focusing on in-depth exploration of the regions visiting.
First, we will spend 4 nights in Patagonia at Hotel Salto Chico, located in the centre of Torres del Paine National Park at the base of Salto Chico waterfall offering dramatic views. From here we will spend a full day in Santiago touring the cities attractions, and then fly to northern Chile where we will spend 4 nights in the Atacama desert at the Hotel de Larache at 8200 ft above sea level. The Atacama desert offers a range of diverse landscapes from salt flats, to high volcanoes.
Explora’s lodges are fully inclusive form your meals and drinks, most activities like guided horseback riding, hiking for all levels of experience, cycling, stargazing, just to name a few.
From May 28th through June 10th you will find me in New Zealand, traveling with two of my best friends by campervan exploring the North Island. This is going to be completely opposite to the style of travel in Chile, learning to drive on the left hand side of the road, and moving about day by day.
Our plan is to arrive Auckland and head out to the Coromandel Peninsula, kayaking or boating around Cathedral Cove, enjoying the atmosphere of Hot Water Beach, and hoping for sightings of penguins, sea lions and dolphins. From here we will drive to the Bay of Plenty, using Mount Maunganui as our base to visit some friends and explore the region. Moving on to Rotorua for geothermal tours and Maori culture, then to the Waitomo Caves for blackwater rafting and glow worm tours, to Taupo for bungy jumping and lake tours, then ending back in Auckland!
On the way home we will spend a day in Hawaii on Waikiki Beach, finally stopping in Vancouver for a luncheon event on the Orion II expedition ship before she heads out on her inaugural voyage later that afternoon.
It’s going to be a whirlwind month of traveling, and I hope by blogging and sharing this with everyone, that it will inspire new travel ideas and showcase these amazing destinations!