Once in a lifetime
While the world is oohing and aahing over that little black speck called Venus moving across the Sun, I’m just revelling in the once-in-a-lifetime chance to…
A glass half full of…sake!
I’ve always considered sake to be one of those drinks that should be treated with extreme caution. Potentially lethal for the uninitiated. So I eye the…
Top 10 Tips for Better Blogging
What makes a good blog? My Facebook friends – many of them fellow travel writers – had a lot to say on the matter when I…
A glass half full of…what?
There’s a double meaning behind my choice of blog name. Of course, the obvious one is that I’m an optimist at heart. I always tend to…
Blogging is a bastard
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, I started this blog. But it was too much like work. I wasn’t having fun – and,…
Head over heels
One of my favourite travel images…for the sheer exhuberance of being in this beautiful place, an atoll in the Cook Islands (one of my favourite places…
Goodbye to my faithful companion
My trusty old suitcase, which has been my constant companion to airports, hotels, cruise ships, road trips and more for about a decade, has finally cried “enough!”. I…
NZ’s expansive pathway to the heavens
With all the talk of this week’s “super moon”, I wanted to share this wonderful image from Wellington’s Carter Observatory, taken by Sally Eyre. In Maori, the…
Take a break with the seals
With bodies as black, as wet and as gleaming as the rocks they recline on, seals are prolific along the New Zealand coastline. Once your eyes…
An intimate insight into Maori culture
For such a small place, Kaikoura offers a lot to do. Maori culture can be explored in many ways throughout New Zealand, but one of the…
A Glass Half Full 