From the Helipad Bar, downtown KL. One month ago today I touched down again in the city I grew up in. My family was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from June 1983 to December 1990 before returning to Auckland, New Zealand when I was nine years old. Even after a quarter of a century, it’s amazing…
Tag: Hotels
Return To Nazri’s Place – Top 50 Photos From Malaysia’s Tioman Island, 2015
Nazri’s Place, Air Batang, Tioman Island. This time exactly two weeks ago I was in the middle of a sweat-drenched 10-kilometre walk on an island Time Magazine once described as one of the 10 most beautiful in the world. Sure, that title was bestowed back in the 70s and Malaysia’s Tioman Island has dined out…
My Herald On Sunday Kauri Cliffs Feature – One Of The Premier Golf Resorts In The World
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs. The Herald On Sunday published my two-page spread on Kauri Cliffs today and if you click here you can link to the Herald’s Travel section to read it. Kauri Cliffs is a 5-star, luxury resort in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands with a golf course so stunning it has been ranked…
Historic 5-Star Boutique Northland Lodge For Sale – The Beautiful Waipoua Lodge
Hokianga Harbour, just north of the Waipoua Forest. Late last month I returned to a place that feels as much like visiting old friends as it does like staying in a 5-star, boutique lodge. The Waipoua Lodge sits on the edge of arguably New Zealand’s finest subtropical tract of bush, the Waipoua Forest. A part…
Kauri Cliffs Top 50 Photos – Why It’s About So Much More Than Golf
In an upcoming two-page spread in the Herald On Sunday I’m writing about why Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay, Northland, New Zealand is about so much more than golf. Rated by Golf Digest as the 39th best course in the world, Kauri Cliffs is also one of the most exclusive retreats in the country. Somehow…
Why Fiji’s Mango Bay Resort Was Just What I Wanted
A beachfront bure at Mango Bay Resort. Going to Fiji on a Monday and coming back on a Friday seemed like one of those half-baked, I-haven’t-had-enough-sleep ideas I was surely going to talk myself out of. And yet it progressively seemed less and less silly. There were soon-to-expire air-points to get me there, the cheap…
The 80s “Executive Opulence” Of The Cove In Taupo
My bedroom at The Cove with the door opened to the spa pool. Taupo’s always been a place I’ve thought of fondly, mainly for historic reasons: first time table-top dancing, first time playing pool on a round pool table, first time waking up in a room choked with second-hand smoke, and the first time landing…
Waikato – Wai Not? Maungatautari & Hamilton Zoo 2014
An inquisitive chap / meerkat, Hamilton Zoo. This time a week ago I was relaxing in the living room of my B&B in Cambridge, New Zealand after a big day’s driving and walking. Cambridge is an affluent, extremely photogenic little town in New Zealand’s Waikato region. While it was primarily a visit to the hilly forest…
Cutters Cove At New Zealand’s Mini Gold Coast – Mount Maunganui, Autumn 2014
The beach at Mount Maunganui in front of Cutters Cove. A couple of weeks ago I had a wedding to attend at New Zealand’s mini-version of Australia’s Gold Coast – Mount Maunganui – and as is traditionally the case with me, I thought, “Let’s stay somewhere awesome!” The Mount (as it’s known by Kiwis) is…
The Finest Golf Course In The Coromandel – The Dunes Golf Resort, Matarangi – 16 Photos Included
Photo courtesy of thedunesmatarangi.com I’ve never been much of a golfer – an alleged seven shots in a row in the water April 2009 still haunts me – but this potentially career-limiting affliction doesn’t stop me from enjoying the occasional golf resort. Especially when it’s a place like The Dunes in Matarangi (Coromandel, New Zealand)…
Herald On Sunday Travel Article To The Waipoua Lodge, Waipoua Forest, Northland – 15 Favourite Photos
Tane Mahuta, NZ’s largest kauri tree. If you can get beyond my almost unforgivable use of the cliche “tastefully appointed” in describing what was indeed a very tastefully appointed suite, here is the link to my latest Herald On Sunday travel article. The Waipoua Lodge sits on the edge of the greatest Kauri forest in New Zealand,…
The World’s Largest Sand Island – Herald On Sunday Article To Queensland’s Fraser Island – 25 Favourite Photos
Here is the link to my latest Herald On Sunday travel article, published today and all about the largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island in Queensland. Fraser Island is three times the size of Singapore and is dotted with freshwater lakes, covered in rainforest and home to Australia’s purest-bred dingo population. There’s also…
