Another Hobbit’s Adventures Through Middle Earth (post and photos by mary)

White clay cliffs towering over the River Mangaweka.

The Milky Way looming over the River Mangaweka.

Is it possible that JRR Tolkien had visited New Zealand and became inspired to write the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings?  You saw it with your own eyes how the landscape fit perfectly in the LOTR (that is how it is affectionately called in these parts).  The NZ government’s Department of Tourism has dubbed the country “Middle Earth”.  You can find maps, guide books and tour operators all using some aspect of the filming of these movies.  Apparently many of the more fanatical show up dressed in their favourite LOTR idol; elven cloaks, dwarf tunics, great swords and bows!  I must confess that I am having great regret in putting this awesome long, green hooded cloak back on the rack at a second hand shop I visited on my arrival to South Island.  It was the prefect prop for me to use in my Middle Earth journey.  Dang why didn’t i buy that, only $16.99!

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Cape Le Grande and Cape Arid – a Final Extreme Off Road Adventure (post and photos by mary)

Overlooking Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grande National Park located east of Esperence.

I can’t move on to New Zealand stories until I finish up with the last adventure Matt and I had before heading north to Alice Springs.  This is about a true 4WD adventure into our most remote and rugged area yet. 

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Australia’s South Coast – Sparkling Beaches, Stinging Jelly Fish, Caves and Giant Trees (post and photos by mary)

Perth‘s Skyline – a modern, rich city.

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Which Is It, Winchester Abbey or Cathedral? (post and photos by mary)

  This was the peaceful demonstration outside the Parliment buildings – no signs of the riots during our exploration, but the sounds and signs of unrest were all around us.

My travels in the UK have happily brought me to London, not to visit the Queen. 

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Mountaineering Marathon in Snowdonia, Wales (post and photos by mary)

  Glyder Fawr Mountain is the new 1000 Metre Peak added to the Race Course.

The adventures continue!  The Shropshire hills were a mere warm up for my role in the annual Welsh 1000 Metre Peaks Race. 

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Stonehenge – A Druid’s Summer Solstice Blessing (post and photos by mary)

The 20th of June was the 12th Annual Stonehenge Summer Solstice gathering on the Plains of Salisbury.  When planning my UK adventures from India, I had assigned myself a photographic project to attend and document the Druids’ ceremonies amongst the stone monuments.  Little did I know that I would be joined by some 18,000 other Solstice worshippers. 

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A Hobbit’s Stroll in the Shire – Shropshire England (post and photos by mary)

I had five days all to myself between visiting relatives in Birmingham and heading to the Snowdonia National Park in Wales for the Annual 1000 Metre Mountain Marathon.   No dear readers, I will not be racing in those hills, simply volunteering on the highest mountain with the hikers I met in Nepal.  Like so much of our travels in the East, there was no plan for this gap.

  Church Stretton – a town of many churches.

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Cathedrals, Mystic Mysteries and Roots – Discoveries in England (post and photos by mary)

Majestic Salisbury Cathedral, tallest land mark in England.

The travel adventure continues with my detour to England while Matt is home in Canada sorting out his landlord and house maintenance chores.  These past three weeks have flown by, spending time in Salisbury and Penzance visiting my mother and Matt’s mother. 

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Chickun Gunia – A Traveller’s Nightmare (post by mary)

O Woe!  In the months before Matt and I set off on this incredible journey, we obediently checked into the Travel Doctor’s office in Victoria for our third world medical consultation and numerous injections (Matt practically cried! Mostly due to the size of the bills that accompanied those injections!).  The nurses we met were gentle,  professional, knowledgeable and current in the afflictions that we could encounter on our travels.  We took home maps of the parts of the world we were headed to that graphically listed all the diseases known to scientific man and woman.  But at no time did we ever hear or read of chickun gunia.  A  mosquito borne viral infection well  known to the many local Rajastani people who brought its name to our attention in Jaisalmer.

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Around the Annapurnas, 2011 – Is It the End of An Era? (post and photos by mary)

Matt, dwarfed under the glacial wall of the Annapurna Range.

The dream of trekking in Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit has come true! Matt and I have been plotting and scheming this trek long before we left home last February.

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