About Briar
Briar Jensen is a Sydney-based freelance travel writer. Her blog covers travel tips, reviews, insights and inspiration, travel accessories and gadgets.
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Love this sculpture called Waitukei, by Lyonel Grant in the Government Gardens @rotoruanz depicting the melding of Maori and European cultures. The male and female figures took over two years to craft from bronze. @purenewzealand @escapesnaps #rotoruanzMud volcanoes, sulphur pools, boiling water, bubbling mud and spitting lakes @hellsgatenz in @rotoruanz has it all. It’s not surprising it is named #hellsgate and it’s important to stay on the path. However, you can experience the ‘health-giving’ mud and healing waters at their Mud Spa. #rotoruanz #geothermal #astw_inc @escapesnapsWhen you fly to White Island, New Zealand with @volcanicairnz for an extra $100 you can include a stop on Mt Tarawera too. This mountain was split open in the 1886 eruption, leaving gaping wounds in the harsh, dry mountain top. Barren and beautiful, it is pretty windy up there! @rotoruanz #rotoruanz #mttaraweraWhite Island, off shore from New Zealand’s North Island, is an active volcano (apparently there were 183 earthquakes recorded in a 24 hour period last week) that you can visit by air or sea. Today I flew out to #whiteislandnz from #rotoruanz with @volcanicairnz in a helicopter. We landed on the island and spent about an hour wandering around the stark sulphur encrusted landscape and steaming crater lake. What an incredible trip, and remarkable topography. #activevolcano @rotoruanz @purenewzealand @escapesnaps #astw_incZip lining guides have a knack of pushing your boundaries. Here I am before the gorgeous girls at @rotoruacanopytours had me plunging backwards off this platform to zip backwards through the forest! (I look way calmer than I felt.) What I love about this tour is the conservation aspect. Between zipping through the trees they teach you about the forest and the native birds, along with their pest eradication program. An exhilarating and educational few hours. @escapesnaps @rotoruanz @purenewzealandWhat is this? Looks a bit like a flying saucer from a Sci-fi movie. But it is one of many art installations st @treewalknz in #rotoruanz Nightlights light up the redwoods for a magical experience in the forest after dark. If you don’t like heights, it’s a good time to visit, as you can’t see how high the suspended walkways are above the ground! @rotoruanz @escapesnaps #treewalknz- My Tweets
Tag Archives: packing
Product Review: Lightweight seat pad for hiking (no more wet bum)
It’s no fun hiking with a wet butt, and while my bum might look big from behind, the padding is in all the wrong places when it comes to perching on a rocky ledge, which is why I’m in love … Continue reading
Airpocket for plane seat pocket
Ever left something behind in an airline seat pocket? Thankfully, I’ve only ever forgotten a newly-purchased magazine and a packet of tissues (except when I was travelling as an unaccompanied 8 year-old and left my new long-legged rag doll behind, … Continue reading
Posted in Travel, Travel Accessories & Gadgets
Tagged Airpocket, flight accessories, luggage, packing, packing aids, travel accessories
5 Comments
Cruise packing tips – five items that make life on-board more comfortable
I recently travelled aboard Princess Cruises’ Sea Princess on a six-night round-trip from Sydney to Tasmania. (You can read my story on the cruise at Escape.) This was my first ‘big ship’ cruise, though at 2000 passengers, it’s smallish, as … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cruising, Packing Tips, Travel
Tagged clothing, cruising, fashion, packing, packing tips, travel accessories, Travel gadgets
8 Comments
