What does it mean to be a bicultural society? What are the implications, and what are the opportunities? Those were questions on my mind as I explored Auckland, New Zealand’s by-far-largest city. Like many who come to this beautiful country, it was my hope - and my plan - to discover Maori culture, and to…
Nine times out of ten, my favorite food memories from my travels are small, casual, local sorts of places. Chicharron on a sidewalk in Santo Domingo. A shop in Tokyo that only did eel and rice bowls. Goat stew from a market stall in Curaçao. I could go on. For fine dining to be included…
Lying on a beanbag chair in the afternoon sun, I am a happy guy. Batch Winery, the highest in elevation of Waiheke Island’s more than two dozen vineyards, has a number of them set up on a grassy hill beneath a tree, and the sun lights up the bay and the Auckland skyline beyond. It…
I arrived at Velskov, about a forty minute drive outside of downtown Auckland, excited. Here, on a piece of land that was once pasture and is now - slowly - recovering as native forest, Mamakan Velskov treats visitors to a unique experience that she calls forest farming. She has planted 45 species of edible native…
New Zealand’s North Island doesn’t get the love that the South Island gets when it comes to natural beauty. The region around Auckland especially doesn’t seem to attract too many tourists. Those stay in the city, and leave it for a few special things: a glow worm cave perhaps (amazing experience, by the way, although…
Let’s be honest here. Most people who come to New Zealand don’t do so for the cities. And those who do tend to stay in Auckland. (This makes sense since it is the international gateway and largest city by a considerable margin.) New Zealand’s other cities are seen as pass throughs, or places to be…
Waikenae Memorial Hall is filled to capacity, and then some, when I arrive. This small town along New Zealand’s west coast about an hour north of Wellington has gathered to commemorate, to memorialize, and to remember. Today is April 25, ANZAC Day, and communities all over New Zealand and Australia are doing the same thing,…
As a whole, New Zealand was one of the last land masses in the world to be settled. Ancestors of today’s Maori arrived in the 10th century CE. (Click here to read about the Maori history of New Zealand.) And it wasn’t until 1769 that James Cook “discovered” the islands of New Zealand on behalf…
According to Maori tradition, the demi-god Maui carved a magical fishhook from an ancestor’s jawbone. He and his brothers took their huge waka (canoe) and tried their luck at fishing with the new hook. Maui soon caught something huge! With his brothers’ help, he reeled it to the surface, and they were shocked to find…
Mark Fry’s small desk is an interesting stop on a tour of the Wētā Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand. Here, he makes models, conceptual ideas for many of the projects Weta works on. He passes around a tower from Warhammer, one he made out of an old yogurt container. Others are built from discarded construction…