The gallery café is just a few minutes up Mapara Road. Our hosts at Acacia Bay have recommended the eggs benny here. We park and walk, gravel crunching beneath us. It’s an Eden of painted glass and sculpted kitsch. Look closely and you’ll see everything … Continue readingOde to a tattooed barista
Never start a story at the beginning. This is possibly the climax of our tale. It’s certainly the peak as we reach the summit of the Red Crater after hours of tramping along the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We must have hiked at least eight kilometres … Continue readingStones and mirrors
We arrive at the lodge, after navigating a narrow lane banked on both sides by mature trees. The space before us opens up: the garden, the meadow, the sea. Our hosts greet us and show us our room. They offer us welcome drinks and suggest … Continue readingBlack Tom
Crisp and chewy, warm and gooey. There’s nothing quite like a peanut butter chocolate cookie baked in a skillet. Our server brings us our cookie topped with a wobbly scoop of vanilla ice cream and tells us to be careful; the cast iron skillet retains … Continue readingWisdom is a warm cookie
We return to the Redwoods Treewalk after dinner. Driving towards the forest, only our headlights shine our path. It’s nearly pitch dark, that is, till we reach our destination. During dinner, I had sent some pictures of our daytime tree walk to our friends. One … Continue readingThe spectacular journey of our lives
We are not walking on clouds. There are treetops over our heads. There are fans of giant ferns below us. We are taking a stroll in mid-air, between behemoths of trees. We are walking in the redwoods forest, many metres above the forest floor. We … Continue readingThese trees are made for walking