Category: Travel
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An Eye on Nelson
There is a beautiful little corner in the north of the south island of New Zealand, one of so many gorgeous regions of this wonderful country which I visited with a small group of New Zealand wine writers for a couple of days to keep an eye on Nelson. Nelson is one of the smallest wine…
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Takapuna Sculpture Onshore
During our few months in New Zealand we have discovered a national fondness for sculptures and sculpture parks. Perhaps because it is easier to share your choice of art if it’s on show in your garden or park. And New Zealand is a country that embraces the outdoors! So the other day I took the…
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A Day in Wellington
“I love this city, the hills, the harbour the wind that blasts through it. I love the life and pulse and activity, and the warm decrepitude…there’s always an edge here that one must walk which is sharp and precarious, requiring vigilance.” So wrote Patricia Grace, award-winning New Zealand Maori author, about her home town of Wellington…
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Auckland Botanic Gardens
How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence. ~Benjamin Disraeli Mr Disraeli sounds a tad gloomy but when you work a 5-day week the weekends do become rather special and looked forward to. Huakaiwaka, the Garden’s Visitor Centre So on an overcast, rainy Saturday a couple of weeks ago we drove the…
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Rocking It in Raglan
Kiaora Bro! Hello! A Maori greeting emblazoned on the wall which matches the welcome from the friendly staff at this great little cafe in Raglan. We were staying with good friends who live near the little coastal town of Raglan, which has a laidback atmosphere because of several good surfing beaches nearby. After an invigorating, blustery walk along the beach we’d…
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A walk in the Seyssel vineyards
This weekend the seventh Balade Gourmande dans les Vignes de Savoie, a walk in the Seyssel vineyards. Seyssel is Savoie’s only single-village appellation, located on that mighty wine river, the Rhône, 32km south of Geneva on the western edges of the French Alps. A walk amongst the vines is always a treat, especially in the summer when the…
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A tale of two beaches, part two – Piha
Winter has arrived in Auckland with a week of rain and fog although now there a couple of sunny but cold days. However when we we arrived here six weeks ago we were spoilt with mild weather so it is a pleasure to be reminded of our earlier visit to our second beach in New Zealand – Piha.…
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A tale of two beaches, part one – Cheltenham
One weekend in June, a warm winter weekend, we visited two beaches in Auckland, the first Cheltenham Beach on Devonport. Saturday morning we took the push-me-pull-you ferry across the harbour to Devonport, north east of Auckland CBD. We were able to use our At Hop travel cards (similar to London’s Oyster card) as, of course, the ferries…
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A Sunday walk in Auckland
We’ll be living in Auckland for nine months where Wink is acting editor of Wine-Searcher.com covering the editor’s maternity leave. On our third day here the weather was still mild, indeed sunny with none of the threatened showers. As we were keen to learn more about our new home city we decided to go for a Sunday…