Welcome to 2012 and a whole new year of great travel articles at Perceptive Travel.

 

Editor Tim Leffel has a Chiapas Misadventure in the wild adventure capital of Mexico

 

Jessica Lee travels the countryside of Kenya by bus, learning about the country’s peculiar acronym-laden buffet of Christianity.

 

Regular contributor Joshua Berman goes on a sunrise photo quest  before dawn in Tikai.

This first issue of the year is rounded of with Graham Reid’s world music reviews and William Caverlee’s travel book reviews.

 

And on it’s fifth anniversary, Perceptive Travel has some neat stuff to give away: the :P^cubed adventure travel pants from Clothing Arts.They’re tough as nails and water-resistant too. You can check out editor Tim’s l P^cubed pants review here).

What’s more, Clothing Arts is generously offering to ship these worldwide as well, so if you live outside the U.S., this is your month!

To win, you’ll have to watch your inbox for our newsletter or follow us on Facebook. If you’re not on our monthly e-mail newsletter list, sign up  here.

 

 

 

 

If I could spend a day going all over New Zealand, here is where I’d go and what I’d do providing I had instant transport from one place to another and an unlimited budget.

 

Morning

Wake up at:

» The Rose Room at the zany Giant’s House in Akaroa, or

» The Sea Room at Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, or

»  In an eco suite at Punakaiki Resort near the spectacular Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes on the South Island’s West Coast, or

» The Dolphin Suite at The Hay Paddock in Waiheke Island

 

Spend the morning:

» on the vintage steamship TSS Ernshaw cruising around Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown or

» wandering around Te Papa museum, Wellington or

» walking the glaciers at Franz Joseph on the South Island’s West Coast or

» Going airborne in a hot-air ballooning over Wairarapa

 

Lunch:

» at the Brew Moon Café & Brewery just north of Christchurch or

» at the waterfront café & bar at the Voyager maritime museum in Auckland or

» wine, dine, and play petanque or archery at Wild on Waiheke in Waiheke Island

 

 

Afternoon

 

Spend the afternoon:

» sampling whiskey and learning about prohibition at the Moonshine Museum in Gore or

» putting on a hard hat and going underground at the glowworm caves in Waitomo or

» restocking the wine rack while biking around the vines in Hawkes Bay or

» climbing the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Auckland

 

Mid-afternoon snack:

» high tea at the Langham in Auckland

» coffee at the newly created container city in Christchurch

 

Evening

Sunset at:

» a beach anywhere in New Zealand

 

Dinner:

»  on the terrace at The Bathhouse in Queenstown or

»  with a moving view at the Orbit Revolving Resaurant at Sky tower, Auckland

»  fine dining at Logan Brown in Wellington

 

Wrap it up with:

» star gazing at Mount John Observatory, Tekapo

 

As someone who’s been standing on shaky ground for the past 12 plus months, there’s really only one major event that stands out for me in 2011 – the Christchurch earthquakes.

Having to deal with disaster in your own backyard makes you, naturally, a little myopic and you start to ignore what’s happening in the rest of the world.

And such a lot has been happening – tsunamis in Japan, government overthrow in Egypt, rioting in London, the Royal Wedding.

Using cartography and informative content, Mapsofworld,com has created an interactive map and video to help us Remember 2011.

The video, which provides a fleeting 60 second glimpse of the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’ of 2011, is guaranteed to make you think it sure was one heck of a year.

Watch the video and then check out the interactive map, which not only highlights key dates and events but also provides matching photos and detailed text to really remember the year that was 2011.

And while you’re there, why not vote for what you think was 2011’s main event.

Not surprisingly, so far the top main event was Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. Interestingly, the second main event was the United States losing it’s AAA rating.

 

 

 

In Christchurch, New Zealand it’s the day after Christmas
and all through the house, no one is moving,
not even the house.

It had been a different sight just two days before
when the ground started shaking
and we all ran, yet again, for the door.

The Christmas tree, decorated so beautifully just that morning,
jumped up in the air and fell on it’s side,
It’s decorations scattered far and wide.

Shocked and dismayed, we yelled and we screamed
at Mother Nature ‘to please just leave us be’.
After thousands of shakes over this past year,
surely, especially around Christmas, we deserved a reprieve.

A break in the shakes all that we requested,
instead what we got was simply stronger shakes
causing many more breaks and many more tears
in the homes throughout this broken town.

But despite this latest shake sequence
Santa didn’t let us down
There might not be any chimneys left in this town
but still Santa managed to deliver and on time.

Kids, big and small, awoke to the sight
of Xmas trees glowing with glitter and lights
standing perfectly upright
And with plenty of Santa presents hidden underneath.

Gifts were exchanged with much laughter and tears,
and Mother Nature decided to play nice
by limiting her multiple shakes and tremors
To only magnitude four or three.

And so now it’s the day after Christmas
And all through the house,
No one is stirring
Not even the house.

And everyone in Christchurch no doubt
now has but one wish - for a shake-free New Year!

 

 

 

It’s official – New Zealand is now home to the one of the world’s longest and most spectacular walking trails.

Spanning from Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island, the newly opened Te Araroa (Long Pathway) walking trail is just over 3000 kilometers long and passes through more than 60 towns, six cities, including Wellington (the capital city), and some of New Zealand’s most historic, scenic, and spiritual locations.

Intrepid hikers have calculated that it would take up to three months to complete the journey from top to bottom. But not everyone has the time or the energy to walk the entire trail. Thankfully, the trail is formed from a patchwork of regional pathways that allow shorter treks that will please both leisure and serious walkers.

Many of New Zealand’s already well-known walkways, such as the central North Island’s Tongariro Crossing (featured in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), are part of the Te Araroa trail.

Geoff Chapple, the man who first envisioned the trail over two decades ago and has remained the main driving force behind its creation, has released a walking guidebook to Te Araroa to coincide with the opening of the trail.

(Image of Tongariro Crossing from flickr shardin1n)