My first visit to Tauranga’s French Country House was as a bachelor who was about to have a eureka moment, the second was a year later for the marriage proposal and the third was another couple of years after that with a baby on the way. Now that’s clearly the short version of the story, but…
Tag: New Zealand
Cloudy Bay Celebrate The Opening Of ‘The Shed’ In Central Otago: My NZ Herald Article + Top 60 Central Otago & Fiordland Photos
Forgive me. I’m not sure if there’s any other travel writing trip I’ve taken that’s had me apologising to so many people, so let me start by asking your forgiveness from the get-go! Once you read my NZ Herald article and see the photos below it will make sense – this was a very jealous-making little adventure….
For Christchurch: U2’s ‘One’ And Why It Matters About The Word In The Song So Many Get Wrong
There’s a line in U2’s One that people always get wrong: “We’re one but we’re not the same / we get to carry each other…” “Get” being the key word. I remember Bono explaining this some years ago, pointing out that it’s a subtle but significant difference. If “we’ve got to carry each other” rather…
New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island – My Let’s Travel Mag Top 30 Photos From This ‘Last Great Wilderness’
Three times the size of New Zealand’s far more famous Waiheke Island, Great Barrier Island is one of the last great wilderness areas of the country’s upper North Island. At 285-square kilometres (compared to Waiheke’s 92-square kilometres) and with a population of just 1000, Great Barrier is widely thought of as New Zealand as New Zealand used to…
New Zealand’s Slice Of Jurassic Park
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I took up an invitation to return to a guesthouse that sits on the edge of a forest some people say is the healthiest in all of New Zealand. Maungatautari is the name of a mountain in Waikato that most North Islanders would’ve driven past without probably…
Why We Chose The Hotel Grand Windsor For Our Wedding Night & Photos – My Concrete Playground Review
I’ve always been drawn to historic hotels, even if their glory days are behind them. Whether it’s a crumbling palace in India or a slightly faded ski lodge in the States, old hotels have so many stories to tell. But what about a historic building that originally wasn’t a hotel? Not only that, but when it…
Remember The Tired Old Copthorne In Downtown Auckland? It’s Now The Very Funky, Staycation-Worthy M Social
For years I’d walk past the Copthorne Hotel on the waterfront in downtown Auckland and think, “they either need to knock that down or spend millions doing it up”. It was a stunning location and for too long a tired, drab hotel in what seemed an unimaginative piece of 1970s architecture. Then one day I…
E-Biking The Waikato River Trails – My NZ Herald Article + Top 20 Photos
A couple of weeks ago the New Zealand Herald published my article about e-biking the new Waikato River Trails. Click here to link to the article to find out why riding these trails was so much fun and why I think Waikato is one of the most underrated regions in New Zealand. Also read about a…
The Farm At Cape Kidnappers – Top 50 Photos
Two years after staying at one of New Zealand’s premier luxury lodges, Kauri Cliffs, for a Herald travel writing assignment, I was pinching myself to be doing it again, though this time at the sister property Cape Kidnappers. With Kauri Cliffs in the Bay Of Islands, Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay and the third lodge…
Staying At A Castle In Matakana – My Top 40 Photos
I was sold pretty much on the name alone: Matakana Castle. Who wouldn’t want to stay in a castle? And given I had a wedding to attend in Matakana (about an hour north of Auckland), the decision was made to turn this into a long weekend. In an upcoming “Room Check” article for the New…
Popping The Question At Tauranga’s French Country House (& getting there in a new Holden Captiva)
After just over a month of having been upgraded from “boyfriend” to “fiancee” by virtue of a lovely lady named Aimee saying “yes” to a certain question I asked, it’s high time I thanked a few folks. For starters, Kay who runs Tauranga’s gorgeous French Country House. This is a luxury boutique hotel that is…
My Top 40 New Zealand Photos 2015-2016
Here’s a compilation of some of my favourite photos I’ve taken in New Zealand, all of these between 2015-2016. They include images from Dunedin, Rotorua, the Bay Of Islands, Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel, Taupo, Waiheke Island, Waikato, Northland, Wellington, Queenstown, Akaroa, Tekapo, Tauranga and Waitomo. You can follow my travels both domestic and international on…