Author archive
8 March 2015
We were a bit worried about the weather impacting our flight back. We were told not to worry; I guess the locals can read the weather better than we can. We explored a bit more of the island by car today, taking in the Kaitoke hot spring which involved a scenic hike. By the time […]
7 March 2015
I woke up feeling like a brand new person compared to yesterday evening! I had more than 11 hours sleep instead of my usual 6! We spent the day exploring as much of the island as we could. Lunch at Port Fitzroy consisted of a delicious burger but the staff were dippy beyond reality. First […]
6 March 2015
Above: Flying to Great Barrier at low altitude. It was only a 30 minute flight from Auckland to the Barrier on a Britten Norman Islander. We left from North Shore Airfield rather than Auckland Airport, not only because of the proximity to our home but also to avoid parking hassles/costs at a big airport. Due […]
25 January 2015
We checked in at the office of Pee Jay White Island Tours in the morning and paid for our trip before heading to the boat. The 90 minute journey to White Island started with us leaving the Whakatane River going past the sandbar (which can due to tidal conditions determine the departure time). As we […]
24 January 2015
We left Auckland late morning after my yoga class, for the 3.5h drive to Whakatane. It was necessary to overnight because the starting time tomorrow was unconfirmed till the evening due to tidal conditions. It has been quite a while since I travelled outside of Auckland and it’s nice to be reminded how beautiful New […]
11 January 2015
Despite being on standby, I got on the short flight to Auckland easily. I had accomplished what I had hoped to do for many years, ie. stopover in Norfolk Island en-route from Sydney to Auckland as the airfare was constructed as a single fare with a stopover (rather than two separate fares) and the hefty […]
10 January 2015
This morning, I got a rental car for AUD20 today from my hotel and drove to various points of interest on the island. There isn’t a ring road due to the topography so there was a little bit of backtracking. I soon noticed that everyone waves when you’re driving around! The scenery and buildings seemed […]
9 January 2015
Above: First thing I noticed when I stepped out of the airport were the short double digit number plates on some cars. I also saw a single digit one. Most were four digit though. Gabriel dropped me off at the airport around 0730 for my 0935 departure to Norfolk Island from Sydney Airport’s international terminal. […]