Shhhh….! I am going to let you in to a little secret… I am sure that if you come to New Zealand then of course you will want to visit places like Rotorua, walk the Tongariro Crossing and go bungy jumping in Queenstown. Just like every other tourist does when they visit New Zealand… yawn……
About a month ago I was looking forward to slowing down, a few Christmas parties, and a bit of a tidy up at work before knocking off a few days early to start the celebrations. They say a week in politics is a long time, and so just one day later, I was organising 22…
I consider myself extremely lucky to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. In the South Island alone there is just so much to explore and discover, even for someone who has lived here for most of my life. I am also extremely lucky to have an amazing group of friends…
So you’ve been invited to go and stay on someone’s boat? Awesome! The next best thing to having a boat of your own is having friends who have boats. It is much cheaper and just about as much fun. So to increase your chances of having a fantastic time – and being invited to come…
If one of your friends knocked on your door right now and said “Lets go on an adventure – you’ve got 1 minute to get ready” could you do it? No one likes waiting around for people faffing about when you are trying to get out the door for an adventure, nor do they like…
There are so many stunning places to discover in New Zealand, you just have to be prepared to get off the beaten track, drive over rutty shingle roads, walk for ages and get your feet wet to find them. The Sawcut Gorge is one of those places. Flipping through a dog eared magazine in a…
I remember the first time I saw a folding bike in real life, some people turned up to a cafe in Mt Maunganui with these strange looking bikes and carrying dry bags. “Cruisers” we thought, and we were right. We got chatting and they had sailed half way around the world to get to New…
As many of my regular readers know, I have been working at the yacht club for the last few months, getting things in the office all ship shape to hand over to a new club manager. Every day I sit at the desk, gazing jealously at the people heading down the boat ramp, while I…
“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…
Christmas time is summertime here in New Zealand, and with the kids being on summer school holidays and the statutory holidays over Christmas & New Year, this time of the year means you can take a few weeks break without using up all your annual leave. As such, pretty much the whole country goes on…
Astrolabe Sailing 