What a beautiful Bay of Plenty morning! As I head over the bridge from Mount Maunganui into Tauranga City the water in the harbour is sparkling under a blue sky. Along The Strand, cafés are already filling up with customers sipping their morning coffees in the sunshine. Tauranga is an excellent spot for café-hopping and [...]
It’s half past four in the afternoon by the time I leave Gisborne and the sun is already low and casting a buttery light across the grape vines as I drive inland. Rather than follow the Pacific Coast Highway north through Tolaga Bay (home of New Zealand’s longest wharf), Te Araroa and Hicks Bay, I’m [...]
Guess what? I’ve found the most gorgeous Gisborne café! Whether you’re a bibliophile, a caffeine-fiend or just in need of a lovely spot to catch a bit of that famous east coast sunshine over lunch, this is the place! It’s a bit of a local secret and doesn’t make a big song and dance about [...]
Now, you know I’m never short of great café choices in Napier – come lunchtime, this is one of my favourite New Zealand towns! (Check out my last Hawke’s Bay blog here to see a couple of my recommendations). But, out of sheer dedication to you guys, ensuring I leave no possible gem untested, I head [...]
Today I am living life on the edge with SkyWalk 360°.
You may be thinking, ‘Wow, she’s going to walk around the Sky Tower – anyone can do that!’ Hey, but wait… I’m going to walk around it at 192 metres high above the ground, with only a harness on (no hand rails). SkyWalk 360° is [...]
It’s Friday and I’ve decided to go on a brewery tour. It’s not something I would normally see myself doing but I am really excited to learn about breweries and beer! I head to Lion Brewery in Auckland – brewers of Lion Red and Steinlager and the largest brewery in New Zealand.
Did you see Close Up on TV tonight? It seems that the Hokianga region in Northland may be on its way to becoming world-famous. This probably won’t surprise those who’ve had the pleasure of being seduced by this beguiling harbour in the far north of New Zealand. But it may surprise others who haven’t quite caught [...]
If, like me, you occasionally need a quick caffeine-fix to get you started on your journey (or keep you going) without too much time wasted looking for a car park or searching side streets, then here’s one to make a note of: Soda Café in Kamo, Whangarei. If you’re heading north out of Whangarei – whether you’ve [...]
What a beautiful day! It’s a perfect blue-sky day and the view from the Auckland Harbour Bridge is impossible not to love on a day like this! The impossibly blue water of the Waitemata Harbour sparkling like a treasure box of sapphires and diamonds. The slick white hulls of yachts moored at Devonport. Auckland City [...]
If you’re driving south from Auckland to Rotorua, Taupo or beyond, and you fancy a spin through some beautiful Waikato countryside, there is an alternative to State Highway 1 from Taupiri to Cambridge.