Tag Archives: new zealand

There was one thing on the New Zealand Tourist Checklist that was just screaming out at me above all else. I wasn’t too bothered by sky-diving, bungee jumping, water skiing or walking a glacier (next time, maybe) but visiting the … Continue reading →

Hamilton is the city where my mum and step-dad live and, other that Auckland with sis&co, was my base. It’s not a bad base, being fairly central on the North Island, but it does have a reputation as a bit … Continue reading →

After the fantastic Waimangu Valley we stopped off in Rotorua for an hour on the way back to Hamilton. Wikipedia sez: “Rotorua is nicknamed Sulphur City, because of the aforementioned thermal activity. The sulphur gives off an odour unique to … Continue reading →

I’m getting behind so again I’ll keep it brief. After the mountains on what I guess was New Years Day in normalworld we went into the Waimangu Valley, notable because it was formed by a volcanic explosion in 1886 so … Continue reading →

Another tick on the New Zealand tourist checklist. Mudpools! Just north of Taupo on the way to the Waimangu Valley. 11 gloopy photos are here.

It’s a terrible cliche but I can’t help myself. Whenever I’m in certain parts of rural New Zealand the music of Howard Shore sings through my brain. At first I figured this was because the Lord of the Rings was … Continue reading →

Sunday saw us bundle into the “truck” and head off to Lake Taupo in one of the many volcanic regions of New Zealand. As I discovered at the Auckland Museum, NZ is pretty much made of volcanoes what it with … Continue reading →

For some reason I’ve not got the drive to write about the camping holiday over Xmas. Not sure why. It was great and fun and stuff. Perhaps it’s all a little too large to write about and I fear I’ll … Continue reading →

Okay, heatstroke fully recovered from so I’d better rattle through Thursday’s adventures since we’re off to the beach-side camping site for Xmas tomorrow. I’ll try and keep this brief. Using Dubber’s blog as a rough guide plus some other tips … Continue reading →

Well, last night I slept through for about 10 hours and then crashed again at lunch for another two or three. Lucy says this is a delayed form of jet lag but I think it had something to do with … Continue reading →

Spotted on a New Zealand island. Confused? You won’t be.

I really must get caught up. I want to write about today but I can’t because I haven’t written about yesterday yet, so this is about yesterday. I’m taking tomorrow “off” to do some work (a vacation from the vacation, … Continue reading →

Sunday saw me breaking free of the family ties and having a stroll around Auckland city centre for the afternoon. It’s a nice city with the usual chain stores mixed in with some more interesting shops and buildings. I’m quite … Continue reading →

This weekend sister Lucy and bro-in-law Jeff celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to Waiheke Island for some kayaking and other things that can’t really be done with two toddlers in tow so we, being mum, step-dad Rupert … Continue reading →

A combination of sea air, good food and delayed jetlag meant I slept for rather a long time yesterday so I’m already behind with the blogging. So in an attempt to catch up here’s photos of Bridal Veil Falls as … Continue reading →

Knowing I’d be doing more than I’d have time to write up I was tempted by Dubber’s postcard strategy of posting a photo with a short letter under it, but that doesn’t seem to be working either. Or maybe the … Continue reading →

On Monday I undertake my longest flight since I was a toddler (we did a fair bit of jetting about when I were a young’un) so it seemed sensible to finally have a look at that itinerary and see exactly … Continue reading →