Ohakune, the land of the big carrot, is a popular ski destination during winter but has a somewhat lonely feeling in the off-season. However, even if you’re not that keen on snow sports, Ohakune and the surrounding area has plenty to offer. I...... Read More

A visit to the Chatham Islands has always been on my travel list, but with other overseas destinations cropping up over the years I never quite got there. Now that overseas travel has been restricted, New Zealanders are encouraged to see their own...... Read More

The drive to Paengaroa took all of 10 minutes. It can take me longer to get to Greerton Village or Bethlehem Town Centre. I was actually planning to go to Maketu with our photographer Bruce Barnard, but decided to call in to the antique shop at Paengaroa...... Read More

“I’m off to Russia, going mountain climbing,” said Jo Morgan when I caught up with her last year. I mulled on this afterwards. She seemed to be away for a good chunk of the time Gareth was campaigning for the General Election. Coincidence?...... Read More

I found a peace garden at the Mount.  I noticed a sign over a gateway leading to it one day when walking past St Peter’s Anglican Church in Victoria Street,  so I went exploring. Jenny Carmichael, who was helping with the gardening near...... Read More

One Sunday afternoon after Christmas  I decided to revisit my ten-year-old self  and went for a train ride at Palmerville Station. Located at Memorial Park,  Tauranga’s Miniature Railway has been in operation for 38 years.I arrived...... Read More

Ruve Baker and Alyson Tomalin were getting ready for one of their Wednesday adventures. They’ve often driven down the Tauranga Eastern Link, and were now planning to ride the cycleway running alongside it.“We can see it from the expressway,”...... Read More

Tauranga’s jacarandas are simply stunning, with a canopy of Persian blue flowers on the trees and carpeting the ground beneath.Giving Tauranga a ‘Jacaranda January’, this season they started flowering before Christmas.Tauranga city...... Read More

Rattling across the  Hairini Bridge, a common sight for drivers is the camera-bedecked folk peering over the western side of the bridge at the wooden trestles below. They’re checking out the progress of the young chicks that hatch there each...... Read More

I went to hear a light ‘parlour’ version of Handel’s Messiah performed in a church in Katikati. There was something very unique about this edition, but first I chatted with Marjorie Partington, a member of St Paul’s Presbyterian...... Read More