In 2015 Antony and I were hosts on the site www.helpx.net where we had the pleasure of hosting a few overseas travellers. They cleaned all our windows and helped with weeding the garden when we couldn’t keep on top of it and in return we gave them a nice place to stay and food to eat. Wwoofing is very common in New Zealand but is mostly for those wanting to help on farms. Helpx and the similar site www.workaway.info are not as well known but […]
New Zealand
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 […]
Rather Nice (North Island 1 of 3)
Dunedin born and bred, I am a ‘mainlander’ through and through. In my teenage years I developed a staunch, rather naive belief in the superiority of the South Island and Otago in particular. Imagine my delight to then discover in my 30s that the North Island too has much to rave about! These wonderful islands both make Aotearoa the amazing place it is and I have grown to realise there is no need for competition. Antony and I planned to see some of the […]
My big backyard – New Zealand’s South Island
What an incredible country I call home! It was an absolute delight to spend seven weeks on holiday in our own country, exploring new places, catching up with family and friends, seeing cricket games and doing some touristy stuff before our big overseas adventure began. I had hoped to have a blog up and running so I could begin to write of our adventures as we traveled… instead more than 6 months later a mere summary of some highlights will have to suffice! For […]