Month: February 2008

Monday, Feb. 25, 21:20 (our itinerary) The past 24 hours or so has been incredibly varied, and it’s been planned as by far the most expensive 24 hours of our trip. Last night we went to the Mitai Maori cultural show and hangi, an extremely good and varied series...

Sunday, Feb. 24, 17:20 (our itinerary) The storm intensified overnight, and waking up in Mt. Maunganui was not a particularly pleasant experience. There were still lots of joggers on the boardwalk in front of us, though – the locals seemed to be little bothered by a tropical storm. Although...

Saturday, Feb. 23, 17:17 (our itinerary) Mt. Maunganui is hugely popular with Kiwis, but doesn’t show up very often on the itineraries of international travellers. When we arrived, we didn’t have high hopes, but we’re having a great time here. A strong tropical depression has given us screaming winds...

Friday, Feb. 22, 21:10 (our itinerary) Here we sit in our cozy little motorhome in Mt. Maunganui, on the edge of one of New Zealand’s best surfing beaches (that’s our rig on the right). It’s very windy and we’re just listening to the surf and wind now, but for...

Cathy and I got married at Cathedral Cove, one of the most spectacular remote beaches in New Zealand (it’s also known by its Mauri name, Te Whanganui-A-Hei). While we were sorry that we couldn’t have had some of our family and friends with us, it was a perfect day...

The city was very quiet on our first day because it was Sunday. Yesterday was very different, but we weren’t downtown much anyway. At 9:00 we met the shuttle bus for Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World. This was one of Cathy’s must-sees, and I’m now glad it...

I’ve already completely lost track of time. It can’t possibly be only 44 hours since we walked out of the house at Whitehorse on the way to the airport. We’re now well into our exploration of a warm, vibrant city some 14,000 km away. We’re meeting wonderful people, seeing...

It’s been a very poor year for aurora viewing, so I want to give you a heads-up that major shows are forecast to occur on February 29 and March 8. We won’t be here, but maybe we’ll get to see the aurora australis. The image below is one I...

I get a fair number of travel company newsletters – it’s a combination of keeping in touch with what’s going on in the industry worldwide, and seeing what deals are available. This morning the great deals are on cruises, particularly Caribbean and Alaska cruises. Two examples – you can...