Several miles out of Franz Josef township on my journey north to Abel Tasman National Park, I stopped for a lunch of delicious whitebait in a town called Greymouth which, incidentally, looks every bit as insipid as its name suggests. I drove away more slowly than usual due to the onset of a partial food-coma…
Month: December 2016
NZ: Wanaka and Franz Josef
I reached Wanaka, a town an hour or two north of Queenstown, in the evening after stopping at the Cardrona Hotel for a scrumptious dinner. Said hotel is a characterful old building near the ski stations between Queenstown and Wanaka that is always packed (I’m told) of a winter’s evening. From day one I had…
NZ: Greenstone Track and Routeburn Track
The Routeburn Track is another of New Zealand’s “Great Walks”. It is a roughly 40km loop that was used by both Maori and early European settlers as a trading route and means of crossing to the West coast. The Greenstone Track was used by the Maori to carry quantities of jade to the West coast…
NZ: Akaroa, Lake Tekapo and Queenstown
My plan was to visit the south island of New Zealand in a camper van to allow maximum flexibility in planning. To this end, I had booked a “self-contained” motor-home (i.e. with shower, toilet and cooking facilities) for 25 days and would be collecting it on arrival in Christchurch. I will admit to being slightly…
NZ: Rotorua and Mount Maunganui
Leaving Lake Taupo behind me to the south, I set a course for Rotorua. Scarcely was I post the Taupo town limits when a signpost informed me of the grandly titled “Craters of the Moon”. “Well, as far as detours are concerned, it’s just one small step of for man”, I thought and then laughed…
NZ: Waitomo, Napier and Taupo
Setting out from Auckland with a sense of adventure and a dismally underpowered Toyota Yaris, I headed for the first location on my printed itinerary: Waitomo. Waitomo is renowned for its network of limestone caves and underground rivers. Thinking this sounded like a good holiday spot, a host of glow worms decided to visit. They…
“Auckland” or “The Belchers’ beneficence”
As you may have inferred, this tale takes place in New Zealand, a land whose first European visitor was not Captain James Cook, as many of my compatriots smugly claim, but a Dutchman called Abel Tasman, whence the name New Zealand, which is based on the Zeeland region of the Netherlands. Forgive me: I have…
Oaxaca – Try to pronounce it if you dare!
My bus journey to Oaxaca, although tedious, was mercifully comfortable. The only detail worth sharing was my buying a sandwich from an old lady purveying homemade eats in a lay-by at the midpoint of the journey. She offered me a ketchup bottle and I gave it a healthy squeeze onto my food. Turns out it…
seen2screen 