Climbing Mount Maunganui: surprises at the top
Follow me Mount Maunganui is the name of the extinct volcanic cone that rises above the town of Mount Maunganui, and is now officially known by its Maori name Mauao,…
Read moreAll it’s cracked up to be: a visit to the Shire, an afternoon at Hobbiton
Follow me I remember the first time I discovered The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. My Dad had a drugstore in Nelson, Nebraska, where I spent quite a bit of my…
Read moreParadisiacal grocery shopping, done barefoot
Follow me One of the first things we did, once we were on our feet again after our trip here, was to shop for a few groceries. We are staying…
Read moreAnd we’re here, Part II. The pain.
Follow me Yup, after years of looking forward to traveling back to New Zealand, and months of anticipation, and weeks of preparing for this trip, we are here. I wrote…
Read moreAnd we’re here, Part I. The poetry.
Follow me We are, after all, in New Zealand. Here’s what it took to get here, to the house in Tauranga where we’ll stay for a few weeks: 3 hour…
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