It had been a day of Germans. There were six and myself on my caving trip in Waitomo that morning and tonight, the back kitchen of the hostel in Raglan is full and I am again the only one not fluent in Deutsch. As I quietly scrape the remains of spaghetti bolognese off my dishes, … Read More
Otorohanga had left me thinking. The authors of the book I’d read in the town’s i-Site had included a poem by Denis Glover titled “Home Thoughts”: “I do not dream of Sussex downs or quaint old England’s quaint old towns — I think of what may yet be seen in Johnsonville or Geraldine.” Johnsonville, a … Read More
The world’s largest apple is reputedly located in Winchester, Virginia, fixed oddly on the lawn of a stately Civil War mansion as a symbol of its beloved local fruit industry. I’ve seen bigger. On a hillside just outside of Otorohanga, New Zealand, sits an apple so large it can’t not rival that of Winchester, perhaps … Read More
One warm March afternoon, I made my way further up the North Island. From the map on the seat beside me, I knew I would come first to Te Kuiti. The town was already on my radar, having seen it before from the viewing car of the Overlander train I’d taken from Wellington to Auckland in … Read More
Hometown, NZ. It’s a tall order for any small town to attempt to fill, but along an unassuming road just over a hundred kilometers north of Wellington, a little place called Foxton, population 2,700, dares to make such a claim. Maybe it was an instinctive desire to prove it wrong or just the obscurity of … Read More
A roadtrip invariably begins with expectations. Whether a caravan of campervans or a solo expedition, the decisions you make before setting out are what set you up for the journey ahead – who you’re with, where you’re going, just how you plan to get around. “To expect” comes from the Latin expectare – to await, to … Read More