Beaches

Tel Aviv

Everyone will tell you that Tel Aviv has a completely different feel to Jerusalem – but it’s hard to know just how different it is until you spend time in both cities. Where Jerusalem has religion and history so in your face, Tel Aviv breathes freedom and the future. They couldn’t be more different. As much as we loved our time in Jerusalem, the vibe we got from our short stay in Tel Aviv was that this was a great place to live and […]

Sleepy Sigatoka

It was always going to be hard to match the beauty and enjoyment of staying on Kuata Island but I couldn’t stay there forever. It was time to explore the mainland. The bus from Nadi to Sigatoka (pronounced Singatoka) was less than $6 and took an hour. I was the only non-Fijian on the full bus. An older bearded gentleman sat next to me. After a while we had a little chat. Turns out he went to Canterbury University and Massey back in the […]

Barefoot Kuata Island

Day 2 in Fiji,  I headed to the Denerau Marina where I was to take my boat to Barefoot Kuata Island. Denerau is actually an island, less than 3 square kms in size, attached to the mainland by a causeway. The golf course on the way in looked gorgeous as did the homes on the other side of the road. Few locals can afford to own them though and this is a distinctly tourist area. The Marina was a relaxed yet busy place with all […]

Around Auckland (North Island 3 of 3)

With ridiculous house prices, urban sprawl and terrible traffic, I sometimes wonder why so many people choose to live in Auckland. Especially when there are so many gorgeous, much cheaper, alternatives. We didn’t spend a lot of time in Auckland itself on this trip but explored some stunning places nearby which helped me see some of the attraction of living in the big smoke. And maybe the good, good people that live here make it hard for some to move away. We certainly caught […]

Waikato Wonders (North Island 2 of 3)

Waitomo Caves = one of THE tourist destinations in the North Island. We decided it must be worth going to. We were right! It was great to do the guided walk through the Ruakuri cave then explore it on tyre tubes with the ‘Black Labyrinth’ option. A lot of fun, especially when we had to jump from a small ledge over a waterfall. Best part was when we turned off our headlamps, all held on to each other and floated down the underground river […]