A Devonport hide-away and Rangitoto Island – Auckland’s nearest and most recent volcano!

Having fallen on my feet with an I-site that’s helpful and knowledgeable in Devonport, I ended up at the one and only affordable B&B in Devonport – the Secret Garden on Eton Terrace. Run by the friendly and knowledgeable Xenia and Tony, it was really nice to have a proper double bed and homely bathroom [...]

Rainbow Warrior and Mercury Bay/Alderman Isles (Coromandel) a wash-out

I’d been hoping to continue the diving adventure on the Rainbow Warrior, but after 4 days of phoning 3 different operators and always being told that conditions were too rough to operate (”we’ve got 2.5m swell in just the bay, let alone out in the ocean – so we’re not going out to the Rainbow [...]

Diving the Poor Knights Islands, Tutukaka, Northern New Zealand

Have been taking a bit of time out to enjoy the Poor Knights Islands – off Tutukaka, Northern New Zealand.
I hired some Ikelite underwater flashes, and took them to a place rated as one of the Top 10 Dive sites in the world by the late Jacques Cousteau. It’s somewhere I’ve been wanting to come [...]

Greenglow – glow-worm photography and caving

When I reached Waitomo, I was really looking forward to taking photos of glow-worms in the world-famous caves there. But it nearly wasn’t to be… It seems the main caves have decided that in the rush to get as many (ticket-buying) folks through the system as possible, taking of pix is no longer allowed in [...]