A New Zealand mountain, a sunset and a cafe
Where were we up to?
……..oh yeah…… one of us had climbed a mountain and was ready to rest weary bones and relax for the evening.
And the rest of us were still full of energy.
(Read I’m pathetic on the peaks of Mount Pirongia)
but it was getting late and we had thoughts of dinner in our heads.
So we decided to go park up the Kiwi Blog Bus for the night and down the road in Pirongia village we found just the place.
I’m pathetic on the peaks of Mount Pirongia
New Zealand is a land of volcanos, extinct or otherwise.
They are especially prominent in the North Island where many of the striking landscape features are due to several million years of volcanic activity.
The highest mountain in the Waikato is the extinct volcano, Mount Pirongia, situated just 25km from my home town of Cambridge.
The Kiwi Blog Bus stopped there last weekend and todays post is about that part of our Easter trip. Read More…
Lake Ngaroto, a simple but enchanting place to get back to nature
Just to wet your appetite
My goodness what a weekend.
We had the most amazing weather (it’s Autumn here in New Zealand) but someone pulled out all the stops for the Easter holidays and we’ve had blue skies, fluffy white clouds and temperatures around 23c.
We’ve only had three nights away but we crammed in loads of awesomeness and New Zealand managed to stun me once again.
So much to post about over the next few days but for now I will leave you with this one picture that for me sums up my great weekend.
Hope everyone had an awesome Easter!
A little bit of bus

Just a quick picture from one of our Good Friday destinations to keep you going.
I’ll post about our trip in full when we get home but so far it will contain a lake, a mountain and another fab New Zealand sunset.
A reminder of Pure New Zealand
I stumbled across a video the other day that I’d like to share, in my opinion it’s just fabulous and pure, feel-good New Zealand.
In 2010 Tourism New Zealand launched “Your Big Break” and asked people to capture the essence of 100% Pure New Zealand and tell the world their story of how they see the youngest country on earth.
Working Day was the winner and you can see all five finalists videos here (Frosty is my personal favourite but I also like Sweet As).
Enjoy Pure New Zealand.
A Kiwi spot of Tudor, Anglican and Maori
Time for a snapshot of some New Zealand history and architecture.
There is a quiet little suburb of Rotorua where you can see a Tudor style Anglican church set in a historic and sacred Maori village.
Ohinemutu is the beautiful lakeside setting for St Faith’s Church & Tamatekapua Meeting House.
Are you a muggle or a seeker?
And I’m not talking about Harry Potter.
Although you may have been pottering through a park when you spied a seeker; a modern-day treasure hunter partaking in the popular activity of geocaching. Read More…
Meet you at The Mount?
Mount Maunganui is a small town in the Bay of Plenty that takes its name from the extinct volcano that rises above the popular resort.
Situated on a peninsula to the north of Tauranga the area and its beaches are known to most North Islanders as The Mount.
Take the waters in Te Aroha
Te Aroha is less than an hour away from Cambridge and we often drive through en-route to Thames, Waihi or the Coromandel.
Although we have not stayed there overnight (yet) I thought I would feature Te Aroha in my post today because it’s a pretty little place and I like it! Read More…








