Several years ago a radio jingle regularly promoted Kerikeri as the ‘sunshine centre of the Bay of Islands’. Irritating as that ear-worm was, its effectiveness helped to cement Kerikeri’s persona as a fruit-filled tropical paradise. It conveyed an image of blue skies, golden sun and the citrus for which the town is justly famous, an [...]
I’ve always had an interest in history and recently decided to delve into my own background. All I knew was that my great-great-grandparents lived in the Whangaroa area and their graves were somewhere near the harbour. Missionary James Shepherd arrived in New Zealand in 1818 to be joined by his wife Harriet some years later. [...]
Some people are drawn to books in order to cultivate their imagination; others seek the arts for inspiration; in my case, it’s physical geography that moves me. The act of unfolding maps that unfold landscapes in my mind, building the spatial memories I seek. Like reading a new book filled with interesting characters, I look [...]
Every time I go to Dargaville, I hear a whisper about some hidden discovery that would blow the collective mind if anyone got wind of it. Recently someone did. Unusual conditions on the coast revealed another shipwreck buried deep under the sand at Pouto, on the northern head of the Kaipara Harbour. Pouto is the [...]
Touring around the north of Northland is a step back into our earliest history, both European and Māori. It is the story of how the races met and interacted, of colonial days, development, hardship, conflict and strife – all the factors that shape the north as we find it today. Our group travelled by road [...]
The Bay of Islands is a slightly unimaginative name for a bay of islands on the east coast, 250km north of Auckland, a bay made famous by Captain Cook who, earlier in 1769, stepped foot on Aotearoa promptly claiming it for the Crown. The whole area is outstandingly beautiful and gets incredibly busy during the [...]
Even the exquisitely designed bee motif, embossed in gold on Mana Kai Honey’s business card has been created with precise attention to detail. Using Māori symbolism, it represents the company’s business and personal values where all staff are actively included in Mana Kai’s new era of the honey industry. Derived from the Māori words mana [...]
Honey would have to be one of the most versatile natural products in the world and since ancient times there have been references to its use as a currency. In recent years the antiseptic and antibacterial properties of manuka honey in particular have raised both awareness and the price of the product. Honey is widely [...]
Our first visit to Puketi Forest, west of Kerikeri and south of Kaeo, was marred by steady rain that arrived just as we did. A group of about 30 sodden mountain bikers arriving at the same time from a misty 12km ride along one of the forest ridges, joined us in concluding that home [...]