It’s Sunday January 11th, just after 10:00 am and the wind is gusting 40+ knots (80 kph). The AirBnB we’re in, is at the top of the hill and the back is exposed directly to the SW winds that have been blowing hard for the past few
We said goodbye to Palmerston North on January 3rd and headed to Wellington, about 2 hours south. First stop was to visit with friends we used to sail with. It’s been awhile since we got together and re-uniting was welcome. We’re looking forward to seeing them again when
We’ve spent a bit of time travelling out from Palmerston North as we wind down the year. Sunday, we went with our friends over to the Wairapa to visit a couple of wineries, have a nice lunch and enjoy the scenery. I’s about a 2 hour drive, made
Merry Christmas from Palmerston North! The weather today is sunny and 22. Lovely day, not too hot, perfect for a traditional Christmas lamb BBQ. When we first came to NZ in 1996, we spent our first Christmas tenting in Penny Spencer’s back yard in Palmerston North. They have a
There are a couple of routes south from Lake Taupo, but the most scenic is on State Highway 1 across the Desert Rd. This is an alpine desert and when the weather is clear the views are stunning. This is one of our all time favourite drives. Leaving Lake Taupo,
We said goodbye to Waiheke Island on Friday morning. It really is beautiful and if you’re ever in NZ it’s worth a day trip to see the sights, or if you have the time, a longer stay to explore the beaches. Be warned, the car ferry isn’t
We took the car ferry over to Waiheke Island on Sunday to spend some time with one of our adopted whanau. Whanau is a Maori concept that encompasses not only the nuclear family but also extends to close friends and we are part of our friends Pip and John‘s
Landed in Auckland on Dec 2 more or less on time and got to experience a new process to actually enter the country. Passport control was first, easy, and all electronic. We breezed through. Next is the choice of line about anything declare or not. We chose nothing to declare,
We spent our last full day in Australia with a goal to see some of the iconic sights of Sydney like the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and of course Manley Beach. We walked down to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manley. The ferry was packed with mostly
We took the train from East Gosford to Sydney, a nice 1 1/2 hour ride that brought us to the heart of Sydney. A short walk and we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went off to get some lunch and do a bit of exploring. After
Started the day with a walk to the Japanese Gardens near we’re staying in East Gosford. Very peaceful spot with lots of ducks and koi in the ponds looking for handouts. There is a cafe onsite, a perfect spot for brunch. Sitting outside, looking over the gardens, and enjoying
With only a couple of days left in Gosford, we wanted to find somewhere locally to got for a walk. We started at Brisbane Water National Park for a 2 km bush walk. The trail had a number of lookouts over a couple of waterfalls and views of the forest.