Joe Benning Photography

Travel & Photo Blog

  •   Reston, VA

Dunedin, New Zealand

We docked for a day in Dunedin. It is a small town settled by people of Scottish descent, so not surprisingly, the town’s architecture is similar to  that of small towns in Scotland. After doing on the port we proceeded to head out to board an old-fashioned steam train for a ride through the countryside. […]

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Stewart Island / Rakiura

We made our way to Stewart Island, also known as Rakiura by the Maori people who arrived from Polynesia about 800 years before Captain James Cook claimed it for the British Crown. It is the 3rd largest of the New Zealand islands measured by size. But the population is only about 400 people.  So, we […]

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Cruising the Sounds of New Zealand

Back again. We’ve been touring around like mad, and haven’t had a chance to post. On February 21, we entered New Zealand’s territorial waters and spent the day cruising through Milford Sound and some other Fiords (the NZ spelling) which were formed tens of thousands of years ago by retreating glaciers.   These Fiords, similar […]

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So Long, Australia

We have left Australia and we are on our way to New Zealand. On our last evening in Australia we went to a gala event in Sydney’s Town Hall, itself an architectural wonder. Outside we were met by Aborigines in native dress. Inside we were treated to natives playing traditional Aboriginal music, some classical pieces […]

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Hobart, Tasmania

Hiking in the Rain Forest We made it. By that I mean we successfully returned from a 2.5-hour hike through a Tasmanian rain forest in Mount Field National Park. The park is around 22,000 hectares (about 54,000 acres) and is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. When we finished climbing up and down […]

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Western Australia

Vineyards, beautiful beaches, wildlife reserves, stunning landscapes—Australia’s got them all. After spending a lot of time at sea now we are hopping off the ship almost every day to visit sites on land. That includes Perth, Freemantle, Geraldton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance. So we visited and had lunch at several vineyards with excellent cabernets, pinots, […]

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Broome, Australia

Eight days at sea is a long time, so we were glad to finally arrive at the port town of Broome, Australia. Located in the Northwest of Australia on the coast of the Indian Ocean on the traditional lands of the Yawuru people, Broome is a small port town that is famous as a center […]

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