As mentioned in our last post, we loved Abel Tasman.  We spent several days on the coast hiking, camping, wine & beer tasting, eating fresh fruit ice cream, etc.  Per the norm, here are some photos to highlight our adventures. Apparently in NZ, when you go to a fancy beer tasting joint and want to […]...read more.

Abel Tasman is a beauty on the coast.  It’s a gorgeous National Park that is incredibly tidal.  Apparently it can be a 5 meter difference of water between high and low tide. We did a kayak/backpacking trip along the majority of the “Great Walk” through Abel Tasman.  We started out our day on a boat […]...read more.

We’re going to skip ahead a bit to Nelson Lakes National Park for The Story of the Long Finned Eel… For over 7 years, Seth has been quoting lines from The Princess Bride to me.  One of those quotes was about the screeching eels in the lake, which he always loved to say anytime we […]...read more.

We’re in the land of the Millers (that’s Casey and Shane Miller).  We only had about a day and a half to explore Wellington, but it is a very nice city that is very, very windy.  We of course got some hikes in around the outskirts of the city.  Would we have any other way?? […]...read more.

We want to live here.  So we bought it.  Just kidding.  But isn’t it swell.  We’re inquiring on the asking price.  Kidding again! We stumbled upon Rathmoy Lodge, a gorgeous lodge on 1,000 hectares of farmland with beautiful views of a river in a small town that I’m sure ends with “kiki” or “tata” or […]...read more.

You may have read my previous post that talked about glow worms and their glowing poop (otherwise known as extraction).  Well, we went to Waitomo Caves, famous for these incredible glow worms.  We did three incredible tours, two of which we got to see the glow worms in the dark, and even though they are […]...read more.

There are places from fiction that I’m hoping might actually exist – a backless wardrobe leading to a forest by a lamppost, or a Fire Swamp with R.O.U.S.es. While I wouldn’t want to build a summer home at that last place, one fictional location that I could probably live quite happily is the Shire, Tolkien’s […]...read more.

We spent some time in Rotorua, and boy does it stink.  Literally.  It smells like sulfur.  But it has some incredible geothermal activity. We then went to a geothermal wonderland called Wai-O-Tapu, and we saw some pretty nifty stuff. We also went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley and did a walk through the park and then […]...read more.

Hey all, It’s Seth again. I’m back to share a few photos from Tongariro Alpine Crossing, widely considered to be the best single day hike in New Zealand.  The hike was 20 kilometers long, passing through an active volcanic area.  We passed an area that erupted 1.5 years ago (that’s still steaming…).  The hike also […]...read more.

Hey all, It seems like time for a guest blog post from the Seth side of SethandJessica.us.  A few days ago, we took a rafting trip down the world’s tallest commercially rafted waterfall, a seven-meter (23′) flume, surrounded by rainforest.  It was quite a ride! Our rafting company, Kaitiaki Rafting, had a photographer documenting the […]...read more.

We’ve run into a theme where many roads in New Zealand are long, winding, and lack concrete and signs. Well, we sure hit the longest of the windy roads when we drove into Te Urewera National Park. The thing is, looking at a map of New Zealand doesn’t give you a real sense of how […]...read more.

We stopped over in Tuaranga for the day to climb Mount Maunganui (try saying that five times fast).  Tauranga is a nice little town on the water.  I had been there about 5 years ago with my backpacking travel companion, Stephanie Pollok, and it was quite rainy and cool as we were there in the […]...read more.

Here are some of our highlights after two weeks in New Zealand....read more.

Torches required. Helmets recommended. Take caution. Mind your head. Goblins may appear out of the darkness. This hike was steep (as we’re finding with most hikes here). We basically climbed straight up. Once we got to the mine, the crazy climb was worth it. The mine was amazing. We hiked half a kilometer with headlamps […]...read more.

We absolutely love the Coromandel Peninsula. We stayed a bit longer than anticipated because it’s so stunning. There are so many incredible things to see and do. Exhibit A: Cathedral Cove. We did a short hike down to this bay to see this extraordinary cove. The beach was packed when we got there, and we […]...read more.

We did about a 20+k hike in the Coromandel Peninsula, and it was incredible.  We’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Photography credit: Seth Smigelski...read more.

This post is dedicated to Stephanie Regan. Oh, Lena Dunham. My 25-year-old dream—everything I wanted to be at that age and more. How I love her charming wit, unapologetic womanly curves, and constant clutziness. (For anyone that watches Girls, I believe Lena Dunham to be the same person as Hannah.)  She is Detroit skinny (as […]...read more.

Today was crazy rainy and windy, which cut some of our hiking short.  Since it’s been raining, Seth and I have taken to singing a childhood classic: “It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring.”  Am I just late to the game on this one, but isn’t this song a bit morbid for children?  […]...read more.

Have you ever hiked with a thousand cicadas? We did today! You never could see them, but you could definitely hear them. If Seth was 5 feet in front of me and said something, all I could hear were the cicadas! It was kind of incredible. We hiked to a beautiful vista point, with lots […]...read more.

We picked up our campervan today. It’s the beautiful van you see below. It has a kitchenette, an area to eat, and a day bench that converts into a bed! It’s lovely—except for the fact that we have to drive it. We were both a little nervous about driving on the wrong (I mean left) […]...read more.

We started our day at 5:30 a.m. so we could walk through the city during sunrise. There’s something about waking up before the sun that makes me feel so accomplished. We put in a 6+ mile city walk/hike to Mount Eden. We made our way through Albert Park and some side streets, and we got […]...read more.

We’re in Auckland! We started off the trip with a mellow evening. Lamb kebobs for dinner with rice, salad, hummus, “chips” (fries), and felafel. We’re staying in a hostel on Fort St. tonight, which seems to be backpacker central, and we’ll be picking up the campervan tomorrow. We walked through Auckland, mainly along Viaduct Harbour. […]...read more.

Kia Ora! We’re packing up our lives and going to New Zealand (and Australia) for two and a half months! Seth taught me how to use WordPress, so I’m going to get real fancy with blogging. I’m going to fancy the pants off of you my blogging will be so good. I’m going to learn […]...read more.