Browsing Category

New Zealand

Musings, New Zealand, Photography

Father’s Day is for Memories: Fly Fishing in New Zealand

June 17, 2017

I’m excited today to share this new little project I’ve been working on: download my Fly Fishing in New Zealand Photologue here or at the bottom of the post.

Five years ago, Father’s Day was around the corner, and I was half way around the world from my dad. He was home in Oregon, I was…let’s see..if I consult the Daily Travel Journal from our year away, I was deep in the Cedars of Lebanon, which, if I think about it now, is fitting for the daughter of a tree farmer off to see the world. Continue Reading…

Destinations, Musings, New Zealand, Tidbits About Us, Travel Plans

The Night Before Christmas: At the Auckland Airport

December 24, 2012

It’s been a kiwi Christmastime. This November and December, we’ve traversed the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and I’ve been soaking up the spunk and joy in the little things, like this Christmas video from my favorite shop in Auckland.

A Night before Christmas from Pauanesia | Filmed & Edited: Tama Jarman
Music: ‘Walk in the Park‘ by the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra

Tonight, the spunk and joy is accompanied by a bit of melancholy and a large dose of gratefulness.

I’m so close to winging my way home.

It’s Christmas Eve: a few hours before midnight on the 24th of December (a day that sounded so, so far away when we first departed Portland on January 5th). We’re sitting in a hotel room just down the road from Auckland International Airport. Continue Reading…

CarRentals.co.uk, Destinations, Featured Partners, New Zealand

The Promised Land: From Oregon to New Zealand

December 3, 2012

We’re obsessed. Like new parents about their kid, or grandparents about their new grandchild (you know who you are), we can’t stop talking about her, bragging about her, and comparing everything to her.

We love Oregon. It’s that simple.

Yes, we think she’s the greatest state in the union (but not in the same way Texans do). Yes, we believe Oregon has something to offer everyone. Yes, Portlanders live 90 minutes from world-class windsurfing, skiing at Mt. Hood, gorgeous coastlines, and fertile farmland.

I could be preaching to the choir.

There’s just one problem with living in a paradise. It takes quite a place to actually compete with the beauty of Oregon. Continue Reading…

Musings, New Zealand, Weekend Update

Weekend Update: Untethered in New Zealand

November 18, 2012

Time for another semi-random Weekend Update!

Since 2004, I’ve been scheming about one particular thing.

The plan? “Some way, some how, get back to New Zealand.”

On October 31st, 2012, we touched down at Auckland International Airport, and for the past nearly-three weeks we’ve been in a wonderland of sorts, starting in the city, then disappeared into the rolling green hills….


Waitakere Ranges Regional Park Continue Reading…

Destinations, Landscape Architecture, New Zealand

Blueprints for Christchurch: Post-Quake Construction

July 30, 2012

Speaking of being on a landscape architecture kick…

This morning, I’m sitting in my makeshift office on site at Carmel by the Sea, working on a master plan for the 58 year old holiday and conference center on the shores of the Indian Ocean in South Africa. (No, you haven’t missed anything. The blog is country or two backlogged: I have stores from Lebanon to share before shifting hemispheres again…)

But I was too giddy to resist sharing today’s landscape architecture thrill: recently released blueprints for redevelopment of the Christchurch Central Business District in New Zealand.

CG animation of Christchurch, New Zealand produced by Animation Research Ltd. for CERA (the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority), CCDU (the Christchurch Central Development Unit), the Christchurch City Council and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

Eight years ago, I moved to Christchurch, New Zealand for five months. The short season was long enough to forever change me. I fell head over heels for the country and its people. Continue Reading…