Published in A Maverick Traveller·1 day agoMember-onlyWhangārei Heads and the Te Whara TrackA wonderful wild peninsula right on the city’s doorstep — WHANGĀREI, the northernmost city in Aotearoa New Zealand, lies at the heart of three coasts, the Tūtūkākā Coast, the Whangārei Heads, and Bream Bay. Here is a map that I saw at the Whangārei iSite, on Otaika Road. There is an excellent PDF flier about Whangārei and the Whangārei Heads…New Zealand5 min readNew Zealand5 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Jan 9Unseen Auckland (Part 2)My reveal of the Auckland Domain continues, and then I head for the magic of Parnell — This post carries on from Unseen Auckland. NEAR the Auckland Domain’s duck pond, there is a small monument, erected in 1967 to commemorate one hundred years of the efforts of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, which ran part of the Domain from 1867 until partway through the 1880s. The Acclimatisation Society…New Zealand14 min readNew Zealand14 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Jan 6Unseen AucklandSome inner-city attractions you may not know about, even if you have lived there for years. (The first instalment of a two-part post.) — AUCKLAND is the largest city in Aotearoa New Zealand, and also the most heavily criticised. It has grown massively in the age of the automobile, from about 330,000 in the early 1950s to 1.7 million today. Most of this new growth has been fairly characterless. But the older parts of…New Zealand7 min readNew Zealand7 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Dec 29, 2022Member-onlySidetracked in Southland (Part Three)Returning North via the Fairfax Train Station and Otautau — IF you have come south via the Southern Scenic Route and then gone east along the coast, as described in my two previous blog posts here and here, you should return via Otautau: a close-knit regional centre to the north of Riverton/Aparima. Otautau is on the Ohai Line, a branch…Railways6 min readRailways6 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Dec 22, 2022Member-onlySidetracked in Southland (Part Two)Exploring the lesser-known wonders of Western Southland, Aotearoa New Zealand — IN Part One last week, I travelled from Kingston, on Lake Wakatipu, to Clifden in Western Southland. From Clifden, the Lilburn Valley Road extends for 36 km, the last twenty of them gravel, to Lake Hauroko.Adventure Travel10 min readAdventure Travel10 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Dec 16, 2022Member-onlySidetracked in Southland (Part One)Exploring the less-known wonders of Western Southland, Aotearoa New Zealand — SOUTHLAND really is the place to get away from it all these holidays! The Southern Scenic Route, which has a distinctive roadside logo, runs southward from Queenstown to Kingston at the foot of Lake Wakatipu. Kingston is famous for the Kingston Flyer steam train. In the old days, when it…Road Trip8 min readRoad Trip8 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Dec 8, 2022Member-onlyCruising Around the Coromandel, some moreMostly, now, in the southern part of this lovely Aotearoa New Zealand peninsula — This week’s post follows Cruising Around the Coromandel, which focuses on the northern part of the peninsula in its updated version. AS you can see from the following five photos, all taken on the Coromandel in the middle of winter, this part of Aotearoa New Zealand is green all year…Island Life11 min readIsland Life11 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Nov 19, 2022Member-onlyDining out in Hastings, New ZealandMy old hometown is so much more of a café society these days — This post concludes my earlier post, ‘From Te Kurī to Te Mata’. AFTER Napier, I popped into Hastings, the city where I grew up. Somewhat inland, Hastings has long been considered to be a bit more working-class than Napier. It was smashed up in the 1931 earthquake as well, if…Cafe11 min readCafe11 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Nov 11, 2022Member-onlyAuckland’s Great Barrier Island (Part 2)Getting away from it all, only 90 km from the big city — This post follows on from Part 1. Some of the material in each part is now in my book The Neglected North Island: New Zealand’s Other Half. Follow the link to find out more and to get to saleslinks. My blog post follows after the cover image! THOUGH handy to…Island Life8 min readIsland Life8 min read
Published in A Maverick Traveller·Oct 7, 2022Member-onlyBarra and VatersayThe spectacular southern end of the Outer Hebrides — The following blog post is based on a chapter in my new book, The Scottish Isles: Part 2: Skye and the Outer Hebrides. The first volume, The Scottish Isles: Part 1: Shetlands, Orkneys and Hebrides is currently on sale at a reduced price, US $2.99 for the Kindle and US…Island Life5 min readIsland Life5 min read
