I wake to a heavy dew on a morning just warm enough to avoid a light frost from forming. I walk outside to look at Heidi and David’s alpacas and goats that live in Heidi and paddocks. While curious, the alpacas only come so close to me. But the goats are fairly well climbing the fence…
We have arranged to see my aunty in Te Aroha for coffee and to stay with Couch Surfing hosts in Waingaro so head back west across the Waikato. It feels good to be back in the Waikato basin with its rolling hills, green pastures and dairy cattle. This is the area we have liked best…
Sunrise out the window is amazing. It’s perfectly coloured and reflects off the ocean. I stay in bed longer than usual just to watch this marvelous sight. Not that we lie in terribly late. We are on time to join Rachel (our Couch Surfing host) for breakfast and some more conversation. In fact, by the…
We leave town headed for Tauranga. Rotorua comes and goes. We had thought about stopping but it looks like the sort of town that has worked out how to take our money quite quickly for relatively little reward. That’s the thing about New Zealand, it’s an expensive country to travel. That said, if you stay away from…
Our stay with Andrew amd Suzie has been so relaxing. The past two nights have felt like we were staying with relatives, not strangers who opened their home and lives to us. We’ve played with their big boofy dog, petted their cats, shared meals, swapped storied and watched some tele. I’m almost sad our stay…
The artsy town of New Plymouth is the only large town on the west coast of the Taranaki region. It’s little more than a village but the distinction between city, town and village is broad here in New Zealand with its tiny national population. Len Lye Gallery Len Lys was a post modern artist from New…
We’ve enjoyed the past few days staying with my cousin in Morrinsville. But the time has come to see more of what the North Island has to offer. We have a Couch Surfing host lined up in Oaonui so that will be our next destination. The landscape of our drive is everything the New Zealand…
Leo from Couch Surfing has kindly invited us to stay with him for a couple of nights while we’re in The Netherlands. He lives in Leeuwarden so that’s how we come to spend a day exploring the capital of Friesland. We arrive after our day in Westerbork and feel instantly welcome. And it’s also a…
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