Category Archives: Uncategorized

January 26, 2023 Cathedral Cove is perhaps Coromandel’s most famous and most beautiful beach. Although it is only a short distance from Hahei as the seagull flies, it is inaccessible by car, requiring a 45 minute hike along a path that is paved and well maintained but has lots of ups and downs. Fortunately, thereContinue reading “Coromandel, New Zealand”

January 25, 2023 The Coromandel Peninsula is about a two hour drive from Auckland. It is about fifty miles long and 25 miles wide at its broadest point. Along its shores are some of New Zealand’s most beautiful beaches. It gets its English name from HMS Coromandel, a British Royal Navy ship that stopped atContinue reading “Coromandel, New Zealand”

January 21, 2023 We decided to check out Mangere’s Saturday morning market. Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world with close to 400,000 of its residents coming from islands such as Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. Many live in the suburb of Mangere and the market had a decidedly Polynesian feel. There were aContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

January 19, 2023 If it is a nice day, an added bonus of going to and from Waiheke is the trip on the ferry.

January 18, 2023 On another glorious day, we started out by looking around the shops at Oneroa. But with the dogs eagerly waiting in the car, we quickly headed off for a walk along the dramatic coast line. And then it was back to Palm Beach for what we guess you could only call theContinue reading “Waiheke Island, New Zealand”

January 17, 2023 If beautiful beaches, food and wine are your thing, then Waiheke is definitely the place for you. We hopped the ferry from downtown Auckland and in less than an hour we were disembarking at Matiatia Bay to be greeted by our host Judi and Mal’s cousin Annette, who had been visiting theContinue reading “Waiheke Island, New Zealand”

January 16, 2023 In the eighties we lived in Aro Valley, an inner city suburb of Wellington with a decidedly old feel. We decided to walk up from the city and check out our old home and neighborhood. The thing about Wellington, it is hard to avoid walking up hills. Our home on Maarama CrescentContinue reading “Wellington, New Zealand”

January 15, 2023 Wellington is not well known for its great weather. We lived there for eighteen months back in the eighties and neither of us could remember a day to match the three recent days we spent there, which were all spectacular. Perched on a sheltered harbor at the bottom of the North Island,Continue reading “Wellington, New Zealand”

January 13, 2023 Today our good friend, John, joined us as we climbed Mangere (pronounced Man-ger-y) Mountain. Mangere is one of Auckland’s largest volcanic peaks, including not just one but two cones. Standing at 106 meters (348 feet) above sea level, it dominates the surrounding neighborhood of the same name. It gets its name fromContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

January 8, 2023 When we were last in Auckland, we started climbing its volcanic peaks, of which there are quite a few. So far, we have summited Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill), Maungawhau (Mt. Eden), Maungakiekie (Mt. Wellington), Maungauika (North Head), Ohinerau (Mt. Hobson), and Te Kopuke (Mt. St. John). Today, we climbed Owairaka / TeContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”