Travel Bytes

The Abel Tasman Track

February 15, 2023: The Abel Tasman Track delivers beautiful views and isolated beaches in an easy day hike. This kind of walk is why outdoor enthusiasts love New Zealand!

February 11, 2023: Our little blue bach in Punakaiki felt far from civilization. We had only the waves, weka, and bloodthirsty sand flies for company as we admired the blue horizon of the Tasman Sea.

The World’s Fastest Indian

January 27, 2023: We found The World’s Fastest Indian not in a museum. Rather, the legendary motorcycle was in the most unlikely of places… at E. Hayes and Sons Hardware in Invercargill, far and away on the southern tip of New Zealand.

New Zealand Road Trip The Catlins Nugget Point LIghthouse

The Catlins NZ

January 26, 2023: Our New Zealand Road Trip took us from Dunedin through the Catlins along the wild southeast coast. This remote area rewards the trek: it hosts petrified forests, Niagara Falls, and stunning coastal views.

Burns Night in Dunedin

January 25, 2023: Dunedin: We joined the party and celebrated Burns Night in Dunedin, New Zealand! Complete with kilts, bagpipes, whisky and of course haggis, it was quite the Scottish soiree.

The Moeraki Boulders

January 20, 2023: South from Oamaru enroute to Dunedin lie the bizarre Moeraki boulders, lying on the beach like petrified dinosaur eggs.

New Zealand Road Trip Oamaru Little Blue Penguins

The Oamaru Little Blues

January 20, 2023: The road trip stop at Oamaru gave our first close encounters with New Zealand’s unique wildlife: the world’s smallest penguins, the little blues.

Fools and Dreamers

January 20, 2023: Akaroa. When Hugh Wilson and Maurice White founded Hinewai Nature Park 35 years ago, they were called fools and dreamers. Today, they are local heroes, and Hinewai a treasure.

Best Christchurch Run New Zealand Hagley Park

Best Run in Christchurch

January 18, 2023: I found the best run in Christchurch to shake off the January blues and stretch my legs after our ridiculously long flight to New Zealand.

Pont du Gard

August 20, 2023: Enroute to Collioure, Jean and I revisited the magnificent Pont du Gard, standing tall two millennia after the Romans built it to support their growing empire.