Passions Play: the fall and rise of Napier
We stood on the edge of the bulky rock bluff looming over the town of Napier and abutting the extensive arc of shoreline within Hawke’s Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Below us, tractors snatched pine…
We stood on the edge of the bulky rock bluff looming over the town of Napier and abutting the extensive arc of shoreline within Hawke’s Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Below us, tractors snatched pine…
We drove 300 miles from Wellington to visit the northeast coastal region of New Zealand, where we expected to see many of the natural wonders of that area. What we found was richer by far,…
And so we went down to the sea – or rather, up and down the forested hills, past the nursery, along the golf course, over suburban streets, up and down the coastal headlands to the…
We’ve been noticing a distinctive feature of the Wellington streetscape, the many poster stands at major street corners in town. These are metal cylindrical drums about 7 feet tall and two or three feet wide,…
What better to do on a chilly, showery day than go to the Te Papa museum and experience how Thai couples get married. We had been to Thailand just nine months ago, where we missed…
This past Monday at midnight –a timing that recalls Disney’s short nightmare animation of demons emerging from Bald Mountain – the volcano Mt. Tongariro erupted in the middle of the North Island, causing no injuries…
Just one of the many notable hikes that criss-cross Wellington and wander about the bottom of New Zealand's north island is the City to Sea Walkway. The Walkway climbs up and down the hillsides that…
So what’s it like to go to the movies in New Zealand? We are fortunate right now that a major local event, the New Zealand International Film Festival, is bringing dozens of notable films from…
Sunday afternoon was one of those sparkling mild winter days here where the temperature, wind and sun conspire for good, not for discomfort. Mid 50s, zephyrs and a cloudless sky seduced, it seems, every one…
Many of you will have forgotten all the startup issues to be settled when you move from one home to another. We’ve rented at least a hundred places for vacations over the years, even for…