





We came from New Zealand. I’d always wanted to. I’d sort-of headed off round the world forty-something years ago, but only got half way. Wyn was planning her first trip 12 years ago when I met her. I was allowed … Continue reading
After all our adventures up the coast to the Bay of Islands, it was time to head back south. The journey up the coast was in lots of small steps where we could often see where we’d come from. Joining … Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago we got some time out from working at the motels for a walk around the other side of the Manukau Harbour – that’s the other side from Onehunga. We took the car over to Mangere … Continue reading
As well as being the city of sea and beaches, Auckland is also the city of volcanoes. There’s about 50 of them – dormant. They don’t work any more as volcanoes. But they do work well as viewpoints. They rise … Continue reading
So let’s jump forward a bit – a big bit. We’re currently working at motels in Onehunga in Auckland. Which is a lot different to anywhere that’s not in Auckland. There’s traffic, a lot of traffic. It sort of goes … Continue reading
From Pukehina we headed to Tauranga for the National Jazz Festival over Easter. There were a couple of days of bands in the main street – with a fair bit of blues sneaking in. The highlight was a Jazz Village … Continue reading
And that was about it. We’d spent five wonderful weeks touring the northern beaches of Auckland City. And never left the city. We’d taken advantage of the wonderful chain of Auckland Regional Parks on the eastern side. And explored a … Continue reading
Having passed up on one day when the weather didn’t seem as bad as was predicted, we headed off the next day in search of the sun and the South Head of Kaipara Harbour. Back in the winter of 2009 … Continue reading
We finally moved on from Wharahine and headed down the Kaipara Harbour to Helensville, at the south end. On the way we made a stop at Kaukapakapa where Dad used to own the store back in the 1940s. Parts of … Continue reading
From Tawharanui we retraced our steps back West to Warkworth. The weather wasn’t much good but we resisted the temptation to stay put. We headed north to Wellsford and then turned west again, on SH16 briefly, then north towards Port … Continue reading
We kept thinking that the weather mightn’t hold. And were wanting to make the most of it while it lasted. July had been exceptional, and August was starting the same way. The biggest walk is to the eastern extremity, Tokatu … Continue reading
From Snells Beach we didn’t move far. Tawharanui Regional Park is not far away – to the north east. We’d previously visited in the car, but wanted a longer stay. It is a lovely place; some say the jewel in … Continue reading
From Scandrett Regional Park we headed over to the other side of the peninsula, down a long ridge to Scott Point. This was actually a small part of the Mahurangi Regional Park, the western portion of which we’d visited a … Continue reading
From Mahurangi we decided to head out from Warkworth to Scandrett Regional Park. At the Warkworth dump point I met a man who told me about the good opportunities to park up at Snells Beach so we decided we’d check … Continue reading
From Puhoi and the Sunday Farmers Market we continued north a few more kilometers on SH1 before turning off to the east to Mahurangi Regional Park. This is beside the sea, I guess the Hauraki Gulf although by that stage … Continue reading