The rain persisted and it bought along some strong winds to party with, which ruined the planned peninsula cliff-top ceremony. Plan B was enacted. Kate was staying at the Hotel Bondi and the new plan was to have the ceremony on a balcony overlooking the beach, so at least there would be a feel of […]
Over to Sydney
Recently we travelled over to Australia for a bit of a holiday. The trip was long planned with some last minute changes when we found out that good friend Roger was getting married in Sydney. Not having visited Sydney before we had plenty to explore and we arrived with a lot of luggage and no […]
A summer holiday: Jerusalem
The last stop on our weeks holiday was at Jerusalem on the Whanganui River. We stayed for only one night and had a relaxing time playing cards, lazing outside and watching some of the local wildlife. In the evening we joined Sue and Margaret Mary for a short drive to a pine forest where we […]
A summer holiday: The Tongariro Alpine Crossing
An early start to a successful day. By 6am we were just about ready to start walking, preceding this had been quite a bit of driving to leave a car at the end of the crossing so Keryn and I would have transport once we were done. Travis and Sophie were only going halfway (having […]
A summer holiday: The Bridge to Nowhere
Driving west from Ohakune we made our way to the tiny town of Pipiriki to find the Bridge to Nowhere tour office. The Bridge to Nowhere is a Whanganui River attraction, a large concrete bridge built to connect a road with a remote farming community. With the collapse of wool markets and other economic hardships […]
A summer holiday: Tama Lakes
The next leg of our summer holiday took us back south, destination Ohakune. We took the scenic route through Te Kuiti rather than joining the increased traffic on SH1 and made good time, arriving at the Venture Lodge in the afternoon. Travis and Sophie were already there having retreated from the heavy rain they had […]
A summer holiday: Hamilton
With a week off we had a few little adventures planned and started with the drive up to Hamilton. We stayed a couple of nights with Dean, Bridget and Adam and managed to get in some shopping, playtime and a visit to the Hamilton Gardens. We also got to catch up with Grant, Sally-Anne, Jorja, […]
Catching up on the past: Pisa & Lucca
So as mentioned, after staying in Vernazza we took the train to Pisa to see a crooked tower and also we took the opportunity to take a day out in the beautiful city of Lucca.We were so close to Florence but didn’t have the time to do that city justice, next time. So, here are […]
Catching up on the past: Cinque Terre
Easter 2008 saw us take a brief holiday to the Cinque Terre region of Italy. We did a lot of walking on the trails between the towns of Monterosso al Mare and Riomaggiore and had a great time. We based ourselves in Vernazza and quickly got into a habit of heading down to a little […]
East Coast Holiday: The Kaituna River
Leaving Whakatane we had one last leg to the holiday, driving to Hamilton. Camping now done with we decided to eat out and had the unfortunate experience of eating at a place called Cafe Surfside. My pancakes were ok (if rather too much for me to finish) but Keryn’s french toast was terrible, a case […]
East Coast Holiday: White Island
We figured seeing as we were going to be in the area we should try to go out to Whakaari/White Island, which is very much a weather dependant activity. Luckily for us the weather held out and the trip we were booked on sailed as intended. We took the journey with White Island Tours and […]
East Coast Holiday: Driving to Whakatane
Seeking the sunrise has been a theme a few times on this East Coast holiday and today we got up extra early for another sunrise mission. The location for the sun vigil was East Cape lighthouse and we had a 50km drive and then a walk up a path of 700 odd steps before we’d […]