Tag Archive | Photos

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.

Ohinemutu on the banks of Lake Rotorua

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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.

Pilot Bay, Mount Maunganui

Long sandy beaches along with the mild sub-tropical climate that the town enjoys, help ensure that New Zealand’s “Surf City” is one of the most popular summer holiday destinations in the country. Read More…

Take the waters in Te Aroha

Old bath houses in Te Aroha domain

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…

How we came to be honorary kiwis

Today’s post recognises the beginning steps of our life in New Zealand, which ultimately led to the adventures and travels we are now able to make in the Kiwi Blog Bus.

It’s an anniversay day for us.

Three years ago today we got very valuable blue stickers inserted into our UK passports – we were given permanent residence in New Zealand.

We had been here for five months (out of the six allowed as a tourist) and although Sam had a current work visa, myself and the three children were all due to leave the country if our permanent residence didn’t come through in time.

The relief, as you can imagine, was immense.

Especially as we’d already bought a house and shipped over all our personal possessions!

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More travelling dogs

Jess and Pip, were introduced to readers of the Kiwi Blog Bus back in January in this post.

The dogs come with us on every single trip we make in the bus and they just absolutely love it.

Pip is ready to go

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New Zealand sunsets part 1

Happy Holidays - April 2007 - Kapiti coast - Sun setting over my children playing on the beach

New Zealand is one of the first places in the world to greet each new day – but for me it’s the spectacular daily farewell to the sun that is much more impressive.

Or maybe that’s just because I witness a lot more sunsets than sunrises.
I’m not an early bird.

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Free lakeside camping surrounded by some of New Zealand’s best

There is a quiet little spot that’s not far from our home town of Cambridge and we often go there for a day or two to completely chill out.

We can leave home in our bus and in less than half an hour be parked up (for free) at a large lakeside reserve where we can fish, kayak, swim or just relax.

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Sky high in Auckland

If you live in (or have at some point visited) New Zealand then you’ll definitely know it.

If you are in another part of the world (and don’t have a Lonely Planet guide to NZ that you scour every night) then you might not even have heard of it.

I thought I’d blog today about what I consider to be an extremely well-known New Zealand tourist destination: Sky Tower.

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Memories of Christchurch

22 February 2012
It is one year on since the earthquake in Christchurch that killed 185 people and devastated the lives of families around the world.

This is my personal memorial…

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