We’ve just returned from a five-day visit to the Coromandel Peninsula and Mercury Bay. We had two reasons for going at this time: to go to the one-off Moana Maniapoto Concert in Coromandel Township, and to link up there with our friend and former gardener Sue and her partner Susie for a late summer holiday […]
Turanganui-a-Kiwa… (Gisborne)
October 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Turanganui-a-Kiwa was our spring holiday destination this year. Sunshine every day, so much to do and see.. here are a few highlights.. Watching the Walkway From our motel balcony we enjoyed watching the variety of people on Oneroa, the new coastal walkway, which stretches the length of Waikanae beach: walkers, of course, but also runners, […]
Two Roads Worth Travelling
October 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
From Turanganui-a-kiwa to Te Wairoa: on the inland road… From Gisborne, the inland road leads across plentiful plains, up into rugged hill country , and then descends into Tiniroto, Frasertown and Wairoa. A side road took us to Tiniroto village – pub, school, community garden and a couple of houses clustered above the lake. A hospitable publican […]
Te Wairoa…(Wairoa)
October 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Te Wairoa itself has all the charm to be a thriving town. The shops and cafes stretch along the edge of the river, colourful and cared-for. Houses are plentiful – and unbelievably cheap, around $100,000 for a modest bungalow . But there aren’t enough paying jobs. The Wairoa Freezing Works, once a major thriving employer […]
Kotare Village and Koanga Institute
October 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
We’ve known Kay Baxter and Bob Corker for more than 25 years. They did design plans for our land at Awhitu, and our orchards were planted with Kay’s recommended varieties of heritage deciduous and subtropical plants. We have a huge respect for their work over the years. So we decided to go to an Open […]
Tonga’s history – treasured or trashed?
July 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Within an hour of our arrival in Tonga we had learnt a little about Tongan government failure to protect an area of heritage and environmental sensitivity from housing development. The Tonga Heritage Society is a diverse group of Tongans and others – residents, expatriates, academics, business people -which was established to protect this area at Popua. […]
Whakapirau Bay
April 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
A lovely water’s edge house filled with colourful art works in flax, mosaic and paint, looking across an inlet to Pahi, on the north-eastern Kaipara Harbour…a very restful place to take a break. We read books on the fascinating local history – including Dick Scott’s Seven Lives on Salt River, about early Maori occupation and […]
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