With me normally posting photos from overseas adventures, I thought it was time to showcase the place I’ve called home for 23 of my 32 years. Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city with a greater metropolitan population of 1.5 million, though the way some Kiwis talk you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a fumbling…
Tag: New Zealand
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…
Bruce Springsteen Concert Review: Auckland, March 2014 – The Extraordinary Live Appeal Of The E Street Band
UPDATE MARCH 10: I don’t know if this is some kind of record, but a week after Bruce Springsteen played to 80,000 fans across two nights in Auckland, he has no less than seven albums in the New Zealand top 40. What’s more, he has three in the top 10 and five in the top…
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)…
The Beauty Of New Zealand’s Waiheke Island – 15 Must-See Photos
What kind of person describes their own photos as must-see? Apologies for the blatant attempt to hook you in. Yesterday (Monday) was the first day back at work for many, so I thought I’d ease the pain by posting some photos of one of New Zealand’s most popular holiday destinations. I took these photos on…
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,…
My Dream Bruce Springsteen Concert Setlist
Bruce Springsteen, 2007. In August Bruce Springsteen wasn’t only in the news for announcing his largest ever Australasian tour (for February and March 2014), but because Bruce himself sent out his first ever tweet. Obviously one of those stories made more headlines than the other, but nevertheless, when @springsteen said on August 20th: “Bruce here… looking…
Why Bruce Springsteen’s Never Released A Real “Greatest Hits” Album
Bruce Springsteen in the mid-70s. Bruce Springsteen is coming back to New Zealand for the first time in just over a decade so I thought I’d use this opportunity to sort out my hero’s track-list for a compilation which has oddly never been released. Throughout a 40 year recording career which has given him critical…
That Time Tim Finn Rapped In A West Indian Accent
Mark Greatbatch, 1992. With the schedule for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to be held in New Zealand and Australia announced yesterday (and you can click here if you’d like to read it), I thought it was time to bust out two not entirely beloved cricket anthems from the 90s. The first is the theme…
New Zealand’s Kauri Coast – Luxury Amidst Some Of The World’s Largest & Oldest Trees
Kauri from Trounson Forest, near Waipoua Forest. With seven years as a kid in Malaysia, the slightly odd pairing of a simultaneous love of jungle and skyscrapers almost seems in my DNA. Normally people love one and hate the other – I love both. That doesn’t mean I like stubby dumps like the 12-17 storey…
The Tangiwai Movie – Why They Got It Wrong
On Sunday night I sat down with a couple of friends for a Kiwi film we’d all decided was a must-watch, Tangiwai – A Love Story. Within minutes we were squirming in our seats, at the half-way point I felt mildly ill and as the end credits rolled I’d declared it the worst film of…
Countdown To The 2011 Cricket World Cup – New Zealand’s All Time ODI Team
Martin Crowe in his prime at the 1992 Cricket World Cup. With the 10th Cricket World Cup just a week away, I thought I’d put up my list of the all-time greatest New Zealand ODI team. This is always much more fun when the Black Caps are doing well, but if you cast your mind…
