Sheep. As far as the eye can see. This photo of our soft little buddies near Milford Sound, New Zealand reminds me of countless kiwi/sheep jokes I’ve heard while traveling. Yes, there are more sheep than men in New Zealand and yes, the sheep are scared.
Hats off to Jitsu for capturing what looks like the start of the annual New Zealand Sheep Marathon. I’d hate to be trying to drive through that mess.
Too often now when I find myself thinking about New Zealand I’m taken to scenes from major motion pictures. From Keisha Castle-Hughes clinging to a whale as it goes underneath the cold blue water to a tiny Hobbit by the name of Frodo protecting a ring, I’ve been to the land of New Zealand through more movies than I can honestly name. Today, I travel there compliments of Jitsu who left this fine shot of Milford Sound in the Gadling Flickr pool. From the peaks to their reflections in the chilly looking rippling water this shot is simply breath taking!
We’ve checked in a few times on Mr. Tim Leffel and his relatively new online magazine Perceptive Travel and we always come away satisfied. Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Leffel is out with a new edition of the magazine and, once again, we express our satisfaction in it.
This time around, he’d corralled a stable of writers (oh, the metaphor abuse!) to opine on the travel life and to write about their own experiences on the road. This issue features some known names, too, including Jeff Greenwald, whose article Searching for Rare Primates in the Valley of the Langurs is about…well, I suppose the title says it all. Greenwald, you may know, is the author of Shopping for Buddhas and The Size of the World.
Also, there’s a giggle-inducing piece by guidebook writer Edward Readicker-Henderson who heads to New Zealand where is is supposed to write about places that cater to travelers who might spend $50,000 on a trip (yes, you read that correctly) but becomes rather entranced by both the water swirling down the drain (he like to report that it swirls down a different direction, but alas, he can’t remember which direction it swirls here), and expensive bras hanging in the wind.
Anyway, good stuff all.
We’re always on the lookout for new outdoor sports and activities to bring your attention to. Here’s a piece on a new sport called river sledging. River sledging is kind of like boogie boarding, and kind of like white water rafting….and it’s also a bit like sledding. So mix these things together and throw in a bit of New Zealand craziness and you’ve got river sledging.
Looks like several Kiwi companies are offering opportunities to sledge on the rivers of New Zealand, and now doubt it’s coming or has already come to the US. Looks like you have to wear a helmet because you might get pummeled by dangerous boulders, but it also looks damn fun. Leave it to the kiwis to come up with a sport like this…they are the ones, after all, who came up with Zorbing.
All I can say is wow, double wow.
You’d think that climbing Everest is hard enough with all your limbs, but the guy in this story, a Mr. Mark Inglis climbed the mountain with no legs at all. The New Zealand-born double amputee lost both legs years ago in another climbing accident, one where he got frostbite and had to have the limbs removed. But rather than have that be some kind of deterrent, some kind of message that climbing is dangerous, very dangerous and perhaps you might find another vocation, this ballsy dude went ahead and reached the top of the tallest mountain in the world, no legs be damned. Amazing.