“DELAYED” read the sign board at the airport, making my frantic morning racing around at work to get to the airport seem somewhat futile now. However the beers were taking the edge off my frazzled nerves and it was a taste of the Island time that we needed to get to grips with over the…
Punakaiki on the wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island is a well known tourist stop. Famous for its pancake rock formations, and that is where most people pause for a 20 minute look and carry on. But if you stop and stay a while, you will find that this area has much more…
Banks Peninsula was initially called Banks Island by Captain Cook when he circumnavigated New Zealand back in the 1770’s. When you are out at sea it is easy to see why, as the Port Hills and Mt Herbert rise high above the very flat Canterbury Plains, making it look like the Peninsula is sitting it…
New Zealand is such a wonderful place for cruising, so when I was approached by Look Insurance Services to choose my favourite cruising destinations in the world – I had trouble narrowing it down to just one! Many international cruisers visit New Zealand. It is a great place to hide out from the South Pacific tropical cyclone…
A long weekend = a good excuse for another adventure! The Whanganui River Journey is one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks” – which are nine adventures in the most spectacular New Zealand landscapes. Although not technically a walk – the three day river trip in a canoe still comes under the great walk category through…
Vanuatu is well known for its wonderful diving, so we took along some of our masks, snorkels, fins and regs on our recent holiday. Santo is well known for its million dollar point – where the US Army pushed a large number of tanks and planes and sunk ships after the end of WWII. We…
Port Vila is the main town on Efate. It is a busy bustling place and many of the main resorts are located here. However there is much more to see around the rest of the island. The ring road around the island is 130km long. You can either go on an organised day tour –…
If you are ever in the South Pacific, I can highly recommend a visit to Tanna. We will definitely be back when we sail the Pacific. This time however we were flying in from Port Vila – an hours flight on a tiny plane with Air Taxi Tours. On the way we got to fly…
From 2007 – 2012 I worked for a travel wholesale company as a Business Development Manager. One of the things we represented was the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and our role was to promote Thailand and to host regular familiarisation trips for New Zealand travel agents. I was lucky enough to host a number of…
Christchurch is a perfectly placed city to live in if you are a lover of sailing and skiing! The harbour is 20 minutes drive from the central city, and the mountains are just over an hour away. The two hobbies work so well together as well! We sail from September to June, and then the…
Astrolabe Sailing 