The Big Blog
January's art
The last few weeks have been frightfully hot. So far this month our local weather station has only recorded 3 days with the maximum below 30 degrees and with six days above 40 degrees. It's hot alright, and very dry. At this time of the year a lot of gum trees...
23 January 2019
Social Media
It has been really interesting sharing images on Facebook and asking people to comment on them. These images are ones I have posted and asked people to describe what they think in one or two words, and I have then added those words to the images so you can...
1 December 2018
A reverence for trees - Tane Mahuta
Seemingly appearing like Lilliput’s children at the foot of the majestic giant, visitors come from all over the world to worship this tree.The world of Tane Mahuta must have been quite something. There was a time when there would have been hundreds of thousands...
10 September 2018
Trees - A matter of perspective
It is easy to walk or drive past a tree without giving it a second glance. How often do you actually take a second look or even spend a minute or two just taking it in? In my case I do it quite often, both as a tree appreciator and as a photographer. Trees...
20 June 2018
NZ - We made it to Southland
The south has a lot of charm with swathes of coast and lovely long bays, wildlife a plenty and a long long history of settlement, whaling, fishing and farming.
11 February 2018
Visit New Zealand - It's free!
Tourism here seems to be mostly about the natural world, the scenery. Mountains, rivers, lakes, caves and glaciers. And it’s also about what you can do with all those topographic and geographic features, climb up them, jump off them, dive into them, walk across...
6 February 2018
NZ - Riding the Glacier Highway
It was then a scenic and fun run down to Haast, through Bruce Bay and Knights Point. As there were still a couple of hours light left after dinner we decided to take a ride down the coast to Jackson Bay. It was a fast (flat and straight) run but the scenery...
5 February 2018
NZ - On to the wild west
From here it is a short hop up the coast to the most fabulous campsite ever at “Gentle Annie”. Wekas potter about the campground, seemingly at ease with all the happy campers, and happy and content they are. Everyone has a happy sigh on their face, you can’t...
3 February 2018
NZ - Wal Footrot rides Royal Enfield
From what I’ve seen New Zealand appears divided between tourism , dairying, government and forestry. The juxtaposition of tourism and dairying is very evident in the small rural towns where the locals go about their business in gumboots and four wheel motorbikes,...
1 February 2018
Sauvingnon Plonk
When in Rome, or Marlborough, as the case may be, one should drink the local wine. So it was that we found ourselves in the Marlborough region of New Zealand’s South Island. Fortuitously our lovely hosts lent us a very cool Triumph Herald and our very cool...
30 January 2018