Destination: New Zealand
There are [2738] stories and [45197] photos from New Zealand
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Latest stories from New Zealand
Thu, 27 Oct 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [175]
Windswept, remote, desolate. Those are just three words that describe the Chatham Islands. Called "Rekohu" meaning "misty skies" by the Moriori, the Chatham Islands are the first inhabited place on Earth to see a new day. My friend Pete Fowler, who passed ... Read more >
Sat, 10 Dec 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [145]
What an ominous name for a place. It sounds like somewhere Superman wouldn't want to be near. Cape Kidnappers, known as Te Kauwae-a-Maui (the fish hook of Maui), is named due to the local Maori attempting to kidnap a member of Captain Cook's crew in ... Read more >
Tue, 11 Oct 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [141]
When I came to New Zealand back in 2008, I saw in a Department of Conservation (DOC) brochure that there were nine Great Walks, and I made a goal of doing at least five. Now there are 10 Great Walks, and I've done three so far: Milford, Kepler, and Rakiura.... Read more >
Wed, 9 Nov 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [134]
Four of the NZ Great Walks I've completed, so I've set out to complete my goal of walking at least five (eventually, I want to walk all of them). Meaning "sea of rippling waters" in Maori, Lake Waikaremoana is a spectacular lake. Stocked up on stuff ... Read more >
Mon, 26 Sep 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [144]
The Lady of the Lake? You may wonder who she is. Is she a gorgeous lady who hangs out at the lake? Is she a mythical creature akin to Loch Ness or some sort of mysterious legend? Those would all be great guesses, but the TSS Earnslaw is known has the ... Read more >
Wed, 18 Jan 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [137]
Mount Aspiring! As the "Matterhorn of the South," the name alone draws me. I'm always aspiring to do things and to accomplish huge goals. I've never regarded myself as a technical climber, but I've climbed a number of "walk-up" mountains including Mt.... Read more >
Wed, 12 Oct 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [131]
The Routeburn Track is one of the shorter Great Walks but it still feels that days are long. With a broken boot, I walked for more than seven hours yesterday. At 32 kilometres in length, some people rush it and walk the track in only two days but what's ... Read more >
Sun, 30 Oct 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [129]
The Roaring Forties pounded their windy fury this morning as I woke up, and I sure wouldn't want to be flying Juliett (my drone) today. A lot I had planned today yet all sorts of things would throw a spanner in my plans, and I know to absolutely never ... Read more >
Wed, 2 Nov 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [102]
A long time ago I learned, when travelling to remote locales like the Chatham Islands or the Falkland Islands, to not plan too much on the other end. This was especially true on Christmas Island when flights were delayed and cancelled left, right, and ... Read more >
Sat, 29 Oct 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [100]
"Misty Skies" is what Rekohu means in Moriori, and it was misty and foul this morning. The wind dictates the shapes of trees here, as I've noticed a few oddly shaped trees.
I know I mentioned the trees in my most recent story, but I can't stop ... Read more >
Fri, 11 Nov 2022 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [66]
Tramping in New Zealand is always hit and miss with weather and other things, such as huts being full. Some walks I've completed with dry feet whereas others my feet have been inundated, either due to heavy rain, deep mud, or crossing of streams. Yesterday ... Read more >
Thu, 9 Feb 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [229]
The thought of a new year, new adventures, new travels, new rides, was soul lifting but as we float (literally) on into the second month of 2023 I realise that someone forgot to tell the weatherman/person that it is now summer. Now of course I'm speaking ... Read more >
Tue, 9 May 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [179]
For my birthday we went to Rarotonga. It happened because Jetstar sent me an email saying I had a credit that had to be used within a couple of months! I panicked a bit and thought of a place and booked our tickets. I have always wanted to go there as ... Read more >
Tue, 13 Sep 2022 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [148]
Two years ago my eldest sister turned 70 and my two sisters and I planned and booked a trip to be together to celebrate this event in July 2020. Of course it never happened, life in relation to travel came to a full stop so the event was missed. This ... Read more >
Thu, 12 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [66]
13 Oct and back at the port of Civitavecchia where the Italians were replaced by a mix Europeans. Still destined to be a noisey ship just because of the numbers but a slightly lower decibels. We had booked a tour this day to go to the Vatican, we were ... Read more >
Sat, 7 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [65]
We have been given a cruise card, same size as a credit card, which will do everything for us in relation to this ship. It gets us in and out of our cabin, puts any purchases onboard onto our account, records us when going on and off the ship so they ... Read more >
Tue, 10 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [63]
The day at sea was enlightening, since the ship was sailing from Rome to the Greek Islands and back a lot of the voyagers onboard were Italians. Wonderful people individually but as a group wow, talk about LOUD! The Kiwis and Ozzies were having ... Read more >
Tue, 3 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [61]
We have just returned from this trip 3 - 30 October 2023. This is written posthumously from my diary and will be in several parts :
A year ago when perusing Facebook we saw an advert for a Mediterranean cruise with MSC for NZ$5,500 pp inclusive ... Read more >
Sat, 14 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [56]
14 Oct - we arrived in the morning but didn't rush to get off the ship. In NZ I had plotted a walk around some of the attractions like the Maritime Museum and the Aquarium but when we got to them they were far too expensive so we ditched the plan and ... Read more >
Thu, 19 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [54]
18 & 19 Oct A day at sea took us to the Canary Islands the first up being Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Arriving in the morning we disembarked and decided to walk in an opposite direction to the masses. We wandered about and ended up having coffee and ... Read more >
Tue, 17 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [50]
17 Oct - The Divina docked at Casablanca which is a large modern city now. This is the only country where we had to take our passports with us when exiting the ship. We had pre-booked to do a day long tour to Marrakech as that would give us a taste of ... Read more >
Wed, 25 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [46]
We have become familiar with this ship and it has helped us to be totally relaxed and we have really enjoyed our cruise! But wait! There's more! Our trip isn't over, today we catch a train to Milan where we have 2 nights AND a day trip on Lake Como! ... Read more >
Sun, 22 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [30]
Today was one of the most looked forward to days on our trip. Here in Malaga we were to meet up with Gus who we first met in 2010 in Venezuela when we couchsurfed with his family. We have been in close touch with Gus throughout his life as he has gone ... Read more >
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [30]
First stop in France for this journey. We docked at 8am and shortly afterward we were out planning to walk into town. I had info for the city which we docked in front of that it was close and easily accessed, MSC gave us vouchers to use to catch a bus ... Read more >
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 | By nomad_kiwis | Views [27]
The next day was spent exploring Milan. We bought tickets allowing travel wherever whenever we wanted while we were there and pretty much looked at what important or interesting things there were and just headed for them on public transport. We saw the ... Read more >