Honeymoon - Leaning Toward Argentina or NZ (Early February)

[Bob Salomon]

Iceland has some spectacular scenery. But food is expensive.

[appletree]

We would absolutely love Iceland. But, gonna assume end of Jan/early Feb is pretty winter-like.

[Steven Tribe]

Iceland has some spectacular scenery. But food is expensive.

Almost everything is expensive. Iceland in February is a big risk. You might be snowed in at the hotel or airport.

[Denny]

I would caution that unless your wife is a photographer, trying to mix a large format photo trip with a honeymoon may be a recipe for disaster. I know that for me, if the camera is available, I can easily lose track of who I'm with and what they're doing. Hopefully you'll have one honeymoon and many photo trips...

Just my $.02.

Denny

[appletree]

I would caution that unless your wife is a photographer, trying to mix a large format photo trip with a honeymoon may be a recipe for disaster. I know that for me, if the camera is available, I can easily lose track of who I'm with and what they're doing. Hopefully you'll have one honeymoon and many photo trips...

Just my $.02.

Denny

Agreed, 100%. I am fairly confident that I won't bring the 4x5. Probably just the Leica.
She is so kind and patient. And knows I have her in mind, before the photography.

Doesn't mean I cannot get carried away. Once on our engagement trip I spent a little too much time at Dream Lake, and she was getting tore up by mosquitoes. She was a little ticked and quiet for 30 mins. I apologized and scaled it back a bit.
Then that night she drove me around in the rental for 2 hours while I ran all over with the 4x5 for the first time during the trip. Later she said how neat it was that I have such a passion for it, and it was a joy to watch how excited I got at various shots, explaining things to her, etc. She is a unique gem and spent time reading off and on, while I jumped in and out of the car.

That said, I know I can get caught up in it. But even I don't have much of a desire to on our honeymoon. Best to enjoy this trip. We plan to travel (when we can) for the next few years before having kids anyway.

[Sal Santamaura]

...the safety briefing on Air New Zealand flights looks pretty cool...

A couple of years ago we went to Oz/NZ via (mostly) Air New Zealand. The two 777 segments between LAX and Auckland used that video. They were quite tolerable, something you don't often hear from this retired Boeing engineer. Domestically, I won't take any commercial flights, preferring to drive instead, no matter how far the destination. It's not worth the dehumanizing experience. Air New Zealand's other segments weren't bad either. I rather enjoyed the approach to Queenstown, although my wife was terrified by it. As for the one segment we were forced to complete on Virgin Australia, I was terrified by the slapdash nature of that crew's performance.

...Iceland in February is a big risk. You might be snowed in at the hotel or airport.

A honeymoon snowed in at a hotel. What a catastrophe!

[Vaughn]

If you are not taking 4x5, then 14 to 17 days in NZ does not seem as short. Abel Tasman National Park -- take a day hike along the Abel Tasman Track for a swim. Drive over Authurs Pass -- some stiff hikes up from the town, but worth it. Pancake Rocks on the west coast of the South Island...and there was a nice cafe there...and take the short hike to Trumans Cove. Lake Waikaremoana in the middle of nowhere somewhere on the North Island. Mt Doom, of course -- but probably too many tourists climbing all over it!

In NZ (16x20 prints from 4x5)...

[Mark Darragh]

I've been fortunate to travel extensively in both Patagonia and New Zealand. If you can stand the long flight from the US, I would suggest NZ. Both are amazing places but NZ is more compact and you can see a much greater variety of scenery in short time once your there. Great wine, food and some pretty decent microbreweries if you do your homework.

In Patagonia the distances can be vast and due to the topography it isn't always easy to go from point A to B directly. Depending on the state of the economy in Argentina at the moment it may not be that much cheaper either. Summer in Patagonia is also the windy season and it really can blow down there.


If you do decide on NZ, Vaughn is right, watch out for the Sand Flies.......

[Leszek Vogt]

As much as I like Iceland, you's get roughly 7hrs of daylight there (kinda limiting)....tho there is always a potential to see then 'lights.

I think NZ would be great, but two weeks there (or about) is kind of like going to SW for similar amount of time ? Around that time I'd be thinking some place warm....like Barbados, Martinique, etc.

Les

[DavidFisk]

I've been fortunate to travel extensively in both Patagonia and New Zealand. If you can stand the long flight from the US, I would suggest NZ. Both are amazing places but NZ is more compact and you can see a much greater variety of scenery in short time once your there. Great wine, food and some pretty decent microbreweries if you do your homework.

In Patagonia the distances can be vast and due to the topography it isn't always easy to go from point A to B directly. Depending on the state of the economy in Argentina at the moment it may not be that much cheaper either. Summer in Patagonia is also the windy season and it really can blow down there.


If you do decide on NZ, Vaughn is right, watch out for the Sand Flies.......

Sandflies are never a problem with the simple expedient of DEET. Been there, done that. Eleven times.