Tamlyns on Tour
Going geothermal around Rotorua!
Wanting to avoid the tourist crowds around the hub of the geothermal area, Rotorua, we headed instead to Lake Rotoiti, a small volcanic crater lake, as our base for exploration. The little boathouse we pitched up at was down a dusty track, through native bush and...
Art Deco in Napier
Cruising through Havelock North, just south of Napier in Hawke’s Bay, we got a really good feeling. Despite it being the middle of the day, with children in school and people at work, there was a great vibe and intimate feel to the township. We checked out the local...
Peaceful Porangahau
Having watched the weather forecasts, because a new cyclone was about to hit the north and east coasts of North Island, we debated whether to drive up the west or east coast. The east coast won, and so it was that we arrived in the little township of Porangahau to an...
Over the Cook Strait to North Island
Grateful for clear blue skies and calm seas, we set sail from Picton for Wellington, on a 3 and a half hour car ferry. Beautiful hey? Kia Ora Wellington! Arriving fairly late, we checked into the Top10 campsite for a couple of nights. Te Papa, New Zealand’s national...
Motueka: our gateway to Abel Tasman National Park
Driving further round Tasman Bay, we pitched up our tent in Motueka (or ‘Mot’ as it’s known here) as a base to explore the Abel Tasman National Park. We noted how small this world is when we met the lovely David, who lives just down the road from us back home, in...
Marlborough Sounds
Driving up the east coast, north from Kaikoura’s rocky peninsula (after our whale-watching extraordinaire experience), we realised how extensive the damage was from the late 2016 earthquake in that area. Witnessing the teams of workers rebuilding fallen or buried...
Bewitched in magical Kaikoura
With dreams to see whales, Kaikoura was on the list of places we had to visit! Recent cyclones almost put a stop to our journey there, because of severe damage to the surrounding roads that resulted in closures. Luckily for us, the main road reopened a few days before...
Cool Hokitika
We knew this would be one cool little town, which would be right up our street, the minute we drove past the beach, lined with driftwood art. The sign for the township’s name is even made from driftwood! Aside from the driftwood, why else is it cool? - It’s the only...
Glacier giddiness!
An hour and half drive on the Haast Highway from Wanaka, on our journey to (hopefully see) Fox Glacier, we visited the easily accessible Thunder Creek Falls in Mt Aspiring National Park. A 10-minute walk led us to the waterfall's viewing platform. After all the rain...
Te Anau to Wanaka
Leaving with memories of the toothy peaks and mirror-smooth waters of Milford Sounds, we headed inland on the Southern Scenic Route. We bypassed the tourist hub of Queenstown, wanting to stay just outside in the serenity of Wanaka. Driving in South Island is full of...
Recent Comments