Between Christmas and New Years 2023 we walked the Abel Tasman track. We’d booked campsites earlier in 2023 when bookings opened on the DOC website and joined the mad rush to secure our places. Initially we’d thought that we’d get beds in the huts on the track but these spaces disappeared in seconds, and as […]
Pīwakawaka Hut
It was February 2021 when I booked Pīwakawaka Hut for Anzac weekend in 2022, its been very popular since becoming available in late 2020. Created by Taranaki Regional Council as an added attraction to the already impressive Pukeiti Gardens, Pīwakawaka Hut is easy to reach accommodation for those wanting an overnight hut experience, and it […]
The summer had to end sometime
It has been a glorious summer of warm weather, lots of sunshine and little wind. It would appear that this has ended today with the advent of heavy rain and high winds, normal service resuming. That all said some rain will be welcome in the garden. Over the last month we’ve been out visiting a […]
A summer holiday – Turangi
We were to spend Christmas 2014 in Whangarei and our plan was to drive north over a few days, staying in Turangi and Hamilton to break up the journey. So first stop Turangi. We left Porirua on a Friday night with the thought that Alayna would sleep for most of the journey. I guess next […]
South Island: Kaiteriteri to Karamea
After packing and tidying up the accommodation in Kaiteriteri we started the journey to Karamea. Trusting the sat nav we made easy progress south before turning more westerly passing through Murchison and the Buller Gorge as we continued towards Westport on the coast. We stopped at a hilltop rest area to try and get some […]
Heading north in the dark
The plan was to take advantage of a crisp and clear morning to catch the sunrise hitting the snow covered peaks of the Tararua ranges. This saw me up nice and early and driving in the dark towards the Wairarapa, -2 degrees when I left home, -4 on the south side of the Rimutakas (with […]
Day 94 : The Inca Trail day 3
The early morning walk up to the Runkuracay pass (3850m) was steep and tiring. I stayed at the back and walked with Kelly for most of it, Kelly wasn’t feeling very good and was struggling a bit so needed encouragement and I was happy to take it slow and steady. Overnight it had snowed to […]
Day 93 : The Inca Trail day 2
It was Danny’s birthday today but we didn’t celebrate much other than wishing him a happy day, the proper party would come later. He did get a few little gifts which was nice. Things got harder today. I believe that is what is called understatement. From our campsite we would today be climbing up to […]