Tag Archive | Nature

The official medal chart (Kiwi Blog Bus style)

In the spirit of the Olympics ….

(or just because I cannot think what else to blog about today!) this post is about the best of The Kiwi Blog Bus and the winning entries to date.

The positions for most popular post:

Gold medal goes to Waterworks: surely the best fun you can have with recycled objects?! Read More…

New Zealand’s Forgotten World Highway

From the Kiwi Annison archives:

In deepest North Island, not far from the steep volcanic slopes of Mt. Taranaki, there is a road that leads you through isolated hills, wild landscapes and past pioneering monuments.

The Forgotten World Highway, otherwise known as State Highway 43, is 150km of winding road leading from Stratford, near the Egmont National Park, to Taumarunui in the Central Plateau.

Read More…

Huka Huka: Prawns and Falls

From the Kiwi Annison Archives

If we’re ever heading down to Taupo or beyond, one of our favourite spots to call in for a spot of relaxation, great food and good old easy-going kiwi ambience is Huka Prawn Park and its fantastic riverside restaurant.

Situated next to the Waikato River, just a short distance from the powerful Huka Falls, the park breeds and grows tropical prawns (Giant Malaysian River Prawns) using waste geothermal heat from the geothermal power station next door. Read More…

A little place we like to go (infamous for doing it in public)

From the Kiwi Annison Archives:

In one of my strangely popular (!) posts Doing it in public, I mention briefly a wonderful little spot that we quite often like to visit.

Today I give further, deserved, attention to Fergusson Park in Tauranga.

As well as BBQs and a fantastic playground, the large waterside sports field has toilets, changing rooms, a boat ramp and is a very popular area for kiteboarding and windsurfing.

We were drawn there by this… Read More…

Tarawera Falls, one of the best walks in New Zealand

From the Kiwi Annison Archives…..

In December 2010 we made a special visit to Lake Tarawera’s eastern shores.

We had previously been to the western side of the lake (read Lake Tarawera and the Buried Village) but the journey to Tarawera Outlet required us to travel via Kawerau (off SH 30 between Rotorua and Whakatane) where we had to obtain a permit to travel on the private forestry road to the lake. Read More…

Lake Tarawera and The Buried Village

From the Kiwi Annison Archives…..

In central North Island, near Rotorua,  stands Mt Tarawera – the volcano that caused New Zealand’s deadliest eruption.

Read More…

All the signs of a wild west road

 A short but brief post today with some pictures from the very wild west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

These were all taken around Raglan and the countryside and coast that surround the extinct volcano, Mt Karioi.

Read More…

Karangahake: Camping in an old gold-mining gorge

After our walk through the 1km old railway tunnel and back along the riverside (read Going for gold in the gorge) we travelled in the Kiwi Blog Bus through the gorge and over to our campsite for the evening.

We stayed at the Department of Conservation campsite at Dickeys Flat. Read More…

Going for gold in the gorge

We have often visited  Karangahake Gorge to enjoy its natural beauty and gold mining history, but on a recent trip away in the Kiwi Blog Bus we got to camp right in the middle of this wonderous area and discovered a lot more on our explorations.

Read More…

Don’t get too close today… I may just bite

Today I’m in the mood for a rant… so, sorry no nice pretty pictures, but sometimes things just have to be said.

Regular readers will know that our two dogs, Jess and Pip the travelling dogs, come with us in the Kiwi Blog Bus on every trip.

This of course means we have to exercise them and pick up after them – which we do without fail.

We are responsible dog owners and walk them on leads in permitted areas only, we take them off the leads when we are on mostly empty beaches or big spacious fields/dog parks etc. Many beaches have strict rules about what time of year dogs are allowed on, or if it’s in the evenings only. Read More…