Six Hearts One Journey
The Unfettered Quest…
Team
Deena
Six Hearts One Journey is a travel blog created by Deena, a wife and mother of four adult children, sharing her family’s adventures. After a 15-month Round the World Journey starting in 2014, they continue to travel and dive into their personal passions. Ryan is running his College Admissions Consulting business, Summa Factor, while Deena enjoys working with her amazing clients at Global Getaways.
Ryan
Mikayla
Ryan Thomas
Kathryn
Danny
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Day 178: Tongariro Photoblog
Tongariro National Park is a fabulous destination and definitely one to put on your list! There are several short walks, even trails that lead to waterfalls. And then there’s the more famous “Tongariro Alpine Crossing” which goes from one end of the park to the other, and can take between five to eight hours to complete. The trails offer stunning vistas and you’ll even recognize areas from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, as many scenes were filmed here. We were not able to do the complete crossing, so I’ll reserve my comments… Read More
Day 176: Wai-o-tapu Geothermal Wonderland
Wai-o-tapu Geothermal Wonderland is quite likely one of New Zealand’s most colorful, most diverse geothermal experiences. This must-see destination is located close to both Rotorua and Taupo and offers three different walks of varying lengths that highlight the geysers, hot springs, and volcanic activity New Zealand is famous for. The walks are relatively easy, though they could prove to be challenging to those who have problems with mobility. At Wai-o-tapu, you will find intensely colored springs, bubbling mud pits, and steam rising throughout. The greens, reds, oranges, and yellows are almost unbelievable and… Read More
Day 175: The Coromandel Area, New Zealand
The Coromandel area in New Zealand is lovely. We could have spent a week there and still not run out of things to explore! Below are a few of our favorite not to miss areas. First off, the windy, twisty long way up to the Coromandel (route 25 on the west side of the Peninsula). The views are just stunning, if not a bit scary. You don’t have to use this route to arrive into the Coromandel area, as there is a much easier, more direct route, but the views are worth… Read More
Day 173: Hobbiton New Zealand
J.R.R. Tolkien. Author of some of our favorite books, now turned movies. A favorite of all of ours, how could we not visit New Zealand, where the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were filmed? The scenery in the movies made the books come to life and we were captivated with the thought of visiting some of the same locations in which these movies were made. Truth be told, we had never really considered New Zealand as a destination before viewing the movies. And then there was Hobbiton! Should we or shouldn’t… Read More
Day 170: Campervan Living in NZ
So, after much research and talking to friends and new contacts, we decided to go the Campervan route in New Zealand. With two adults, four kids, and so much to see and do in New Zealand, we thought it would be crazy to keep moving from hotel to hotel, unpacking, packing, and inevitably leaving something behind at each destination! So…here’s a little bit of our experience. Enjoy. With campervans, you can either pay to stay at a campsite (which often provides showers and restrooms, as well as electrical plug ins and dump… Read More
Tahiti: Sofitel Moorea
We stayed at the Sofitel Moorea for five nights in an overwater bungalow, number 2012 while the kids stayed in a beautiful lagoon view bungalow, number 323. This is the same resort we stayed at on our honeymoon while on Moorea and we were curious to see how it had changed. It was lovely then and it is lovely now. As always, photos first and then our review. The Sofitel Moorea is located just a mile from the Moorea Ferry port as well as the airport, and a taxi costs between $15-20 USD,… Read More
New Zealand Through Danny’s Eyes
Hot water beach On the second day of our journey in NZ we went to…Hot Water Beach!!! As we walked to the beach from our camper van, we saw a very big black eel in a lake about 30 meters from the beach! None of us got pictures I think because we hurried to the beach. When we got there, there were jacuzzis already dug up for us! The water under the sand was warm and hot. The first jacuzzi we got in was a little too cold so me moved on… Read More
Day 159: The Day Our Passports Disappeared!
We knew we’d get robbed at some point. Thank you, Playacar, Mexico. We can now check that off our list (though we realize it may happen again!). We also knew we’d lose important things that would remain gone. Two days after finally finding an available iphone 6 in CA, it also went missing while hiking in gorgeous Idyllwild! That’s another story, another blog post. But the one thing we dreaded most, apart from anyone’s safety being in danger, was losing our treasured passports! We’ve been fairly obsessed about keeping track of where… Read More
Chefs in Training – La Farfalla, Escondido, CA
We arrived into Los Angeles late Tuesday night, on Nov. 4th. We made our way to the rental car agency, picked up our van, and headed south to San Diego. What should have taken about two hours took us about three, and we arrived at our friend, Terry’s home at 1:30 am. Instead of sleeping, she had insisted on staying awake to greet us. We have not seen Terry for over ten years, so it was wonderful having the time to catch up. Terry is an amazing chef as well as gardener. Below is… Read More
Deena Gainor
Six Hearts One Journey 