New Zealand

The "Oh My Gosh" Test

September 21st, 2009 |

I’m often asked how I decide on locations for new trips. I will be writing many blogs on this topic.

Firstly, it must be a location offering multi-activity options. For example, Ireland is unlikely to be on our schedule as it’s limited to hikes and horse-rides plus the weather is notoriously unpredictable.

Then a close second is the “OH MY GOSH” (OMG) litmus test. Does the scenery knock your socks off – ie, would you hang a picture of it on your wall? Or, is the cultural experience so profound that you’ll remember the experience ten years down the track?

Here’s an OMG scenery moment from each of our trips:

Iceland: Watching hundreds of puffins up close on the edge of a cliff – they look like clowns with feathers!
Costa Rica: Seeing smoke from indigenous people’s fires coming up through the jungle as we raft the Pacure River.
Peru: The first site of Machu Pichu as we hike through the Sun Gate.
Swiss Alps: Hiking beneath the Matterhorn on a clear sunny day.
New Zealand: Southern Alps perfect reflection in Lake Matheson at 6am.
Australia: Holding a koala – no feeling quite like it in the world!
Alaska Summer: Canoeing past icebergs at Spencer Glacier.
Desert Mountain: Soaking under the stars in the hot pools just outside Santa Fe.
Sedona Sojourn: Sitting in the saddle of Cathedral Rock.
Hawaii: Sea kayaking and having dolphins pop up next to you.
Morocco: My first site of the Sahara – I would never have imagined a big pile of orange sand could be so beautiful.
Best of the West: Hiking and horse riding in Bryce Canyon – drop dead fabulous!
Utah Canyonlands: Sitting under Delicate Arch at sunrise.
Arizona Spectacular: Swimming in the turquoise water at Havasu Falls in the midst of the desert.
Tetons-Yellowstone: A mama grizzly and cubs roadside in Jellystone.
Canadian Rockies: Lake O’Hara – enuf said!