WHANGAROA, New Zealand – You’ve heard of faces that could stop a clock? Not Hog’s. His is as complex and intricate as the insides of a Swiss watch – a face that would stop traffic anywhere but New Zealand. You’ve heard of face lifts. Hog’s has been raised to an artistic level that may seem bizarre to an alien but is really a throwback to a prouder time when their country … [Read more...] about A MAORI WITH A FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE, AND SHE DOES
New Zealand
IT’S LIKE VISITING A SUNNY ENGLAND; CHRISTCHURCH, NZ, SHINES
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Punters, pole-taxing themselves, move their narrow wooden boats through the the city with grunts and shoves as part of the scene of a small, charming city that might have been shipped in from England in 1850 as a gift from the British Empire’s Big Mama, Queen Victoria. You could be in Oxford or Cambridge, except that the summer sun in Christchurch … [Read more...] about IT’S LIKE VISITING A SUNNY ENGLAND; CHRISTCHURCH, NZ, SHINES
CALL IT NEW ZEALAND GOTHIC; CAROLINE AND COLIN TREAT THEIR GUESTS LIKE FAMILY
WHATAROA, New Zealand – The cows are happy, and so are the customers, because Mom and Pop take such good care of them. New Zealand Gothic. That’s the portrait I’ll keep in mind of Caroline and Colin Dodunski, the proprietors of Sleepy-Hollow Farm on the lush west coast. He does the farming, she does the feeding and fussing with the guests. Between them they make you part of … [Read more...] about CALL IT NEW ZEALAND GOTHIC; CAROLINE AND COLIN TREAT THEIR GUESTS LIKE FAMILY
WINDY WELCOME; NEVER MIND THE WEATHER – GREAT BARRIER ISLAND IS A DELIGHT
GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, New Zealand – The “Lawn Ranger,” as he advertises himself, is oblivious to ominously rumpling clouds while he trims the grassy expanse amid surf-lashed crags that happens to be Claris Airport. A cyclone called “Fergus” is on the way, and this is the last flight in from Auckland “for a few days,” pilot Greg Morris informs five passengers. Plunking his … [Read more...] about WINDY WELCOME; NEVER MIND THE WEATHER – GREAT BARRIER ISLAND IS A DELIGHT
A DELICIOUS DAY IN NZ; A PICNIC NEAR LAKE WANAKA FOLLOWED BY FLORAL DISPLAY
WANAKA, New Zealand Delicious.Everything about the afternoon is just that: delicious.The picnic lunch was served on the sun-streaked and terraced green hillside of the Rippon Vineyard.Vivaldi-on-tape and the resident Chenin Blanc-from-bottle blended softly with the sapphire blue of Lake Wanaka a short walk below, and the big-brothering mountains beyond. “This scene . . . this … [Read more...] about A DELICIOUS DAY IN NZ; A PICNIC NEAR LAKE WANAKA FOLLOWED BY FLORAL DISPLAY