Blogs from Russell, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Having travelled everywhere in New Zealand but north of Auckland, we head for Russell. A four hour drive plus an eight minute ferry brings us to this wee place of three streets. A slice of heaven right on the waterfront. On route, the landscape becomes subtropical with deep emerald green trees and pastures. There are hillsides covered in toe toe (pampass) grass. The golf course in Whangarei is perfectly manicured and enormous dairy factories are roadside. Russell provides two days of walks, coffee, and sitting by the bay watching the world go by. We did tour the 1842 Pompallier Mission printing press building. Chris is asked to run the machine and create a 'first impression' of a page for the Maori books. Originally, there were 40,000 books printed at the mission, complete with binding, and a ... read more

Hello Friends and Family! We made it safe and sound up north to The Bay of Islands area. Unfortunately we experienced some rain so missed out on some of the scenery but according to local people here they have been in a drought so the rain was welcome! By the second day it cleared up and we were good to go with sun and highs averaging 25 degrees and quite humid. Some evenings stay warm but other times it cools off. We are renting a lovely holiday apartment set high above Orangi Bay called Oyster Watch as it overlooks a large oyster farm. Warren is enjoying himself feasting on fresh oysters that are available across the street, shucked and served with lemon ready to eat. As well they sell fresh flounder and smoked fish which are ... read more

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! I think it is official – we can call ourselves “Snowbirds”. The weather starts getting cold and we are outta here, north to warmer climes. We are partaking of some of the usual spots: Paris for a month, and day trips out of that wonderful city, with a foray into England for a wedding (who doesn't?). From there we will be travelling for a month around La Belle France, visiting old and new places. In September, we will be heading into Greece for a month with visits to a couple of islands and places Kevin wants to see. I have put in one request – Santorini – and my wish will be coming true. We will, all during this time, be visiting friends (lots!) and family, and, of course, eating. Which is ... read more

Nous voici décidés à acheter une voiture pour visiter le pays. De nombreux choix s'offrent à nous, des voitures Japonaises, Chinoises, Australiennes ou encore Allemandes. Après avoir visité plusieurs concessions dans notre budget, les voitures sont plus qu'usées (180 000 kilomètres). Le vendeur nous conseille alors le solution miracle: une voiture Française (Renault Scénic). Pour avoir une autre vision du marché nous avons poussé la porte de Porsche et d'Aston Martin, malheureusement notre budget ne correspond pas du tout (mais elles sont si belles). Après de nombreuses recherches sur internet, des pots de yaourts en passant par les vieux tacots, voilà notre coup de coeur: Volkswagen 1997 (la même voiture de collection que Papa Jans pour ceux qui connaissent ^^). Une fois la voiture achetée, les documents administratifs remplis, nous profitons d'un week end all... read more

Well, it’s all over but the packing…all reservations are made, calendars filled, kilos lost in anticipation of the upcoming trip…we had a couple of hiccups tho, which was to be expected. Just when we thought it was safe to mentally settle into our apartment in the the Marais in Paris, we got a notification that the plumbing had crapped out (...sorry about that….) and we had to find other accomodation….during the busiest week of the year for tourism…..one month out….. Let your fingers do the walking, I always say….I found a hotel by Les Invalides for less than the apartment and booked it immediately. WWW.Booking.com is wonderful as most of the reservations do not require payment until arrival, and free cancellation up until 48 hours before. This was our backup, in case we couldn’t get an ... read more