R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 76

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Auckland Favorites 1

Waterfront Lamppost

And here are today’s Fun Photo Friday Auckland area favorites:

AM 007 New Zealand Vault Auckland Reflection Hear the song of Ngataringa

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Auckland; Viaduct Basin area

Sky Tower in the distance

Time to head back to the Auckland Waterfront, hang a left, and proceed over to the Viaduct Basin and then on to Wynyard Quarter. Viaduct Basin is a harbor for some high-end boats, yachts, and upscale residences with some fine dining as well.

Seein’ Red

It’s a very fun area to photograph, especially if you like boats and still water for reflections:

Galerna Still waters Nirvana

Continue west along Eastern Viaduct and you cross into the ASB North Whar...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Disembarking in Auckland

End of the cruise aboard Majestic Princess

Well, this has been quite a double series. We began with a circumnavigation of Australia, as viewed aboard three ship voyages one year apart — in 2019 aboard Majestic Princess, and in 2020 on back-to-back cruises aboard Radiance of the Seas. Then I followed that up with a circumnavigation of New Zealand aboard the same two ships in 2019 and 2020. So, over the next three weeks we’re going to close out these two circumnavigation voyages with our 2019 d...

Book Review — Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mother’s perspective

In August a fellow author asked me to beta-read and review her book. I was a bit hesitant, as the subject matter was something that normally would not interest me. Well, I’m glad I consented to the review, which you’ll see in just a moment. What I will tell you is this — if you have in your circle someone who is searching for information on raising a child on the autism spectrum, this is the book you need to recommend.

The book is Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mothe...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Rotorua and Tauranga favorites 2

Te Puia sculpture

Here are some Rotorua-area favorites:

Pathway into Te Puia Rest Stop Puarenga Stream Puarenga STEAM!

Bonus Blog, Recipes — Super Dips for the Super Bowl

Here’s my annual Super Bowl Super Dip Recipes (Jalapeño Pesto and Lipton’s® California Onion dips) :

First up: Jalapeño Pesto Dip:

The great things about this recipe are:

It’s healthy as all get out.It’s so tasty you’ll completely forget how healthy it is.It’s not as spicy hot as it sounds (although it’s definitely not for the timid of tongue, either).It goes great with anything from tortilla chips to corn chips to potato chips to even pretzels.It’s so simple to make even a husband can ...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Kiwifruit Country and Te Puia Māori Village

Kiwis in Kiwi Land

Yes, our ship was still in port over in Tauranga. And, yes, today was a very busy day, as you’ve seen these past two weeks. So far I’ve shown you the Rotorua geothermal area, the Living Māori Village, the redwood forest of Whakarewarewa, and rafters going over the falls at Okere. Can’t be a whole lot left to do, right? Wrong. Today we begin with Kiwifruit Country, a tourist attraction north of Okere Falls.

Kiwifruit Country

We arrived there courtesy of our tour hosts ...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Rotorua’s Redwoods and Okere Falls

Silver Leaf Fern

We’re still in and around Tauranga and Rotorua for today’s blog article, but we’re heading away from these towns and into the nearby forests. Just minutes from downtown Rotorua lies a redwood forest. Yep. You read that correctly. Redwoods. As in, the same type redwoods for which areas of northern California are famous.

Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest

The redwoods here, however, are not quite as large as the ones I highlighted in my article on Muir Woods, as you can see fro...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Rotorua and Tauranga favorites 1

Guardian

Today I present the first of two Rotorua area Fun Photo Friday favorites:

Redwoods Forest Whakarewarewa Best Buds Steamed

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Whakarewarewa and The Living Māori Village

Whakarewarewa Geothermal Trail

The geothermal trail here at Whakarewarewa is quite impressive. As I told you on Monday, here you’ll see everything from steaming geysers:

Pohutu Geyser

To bubbling pools of hot mud:

Whakarewarewa Geothermal Trail

And lots of color to boot:

Whakarewarewa Geothermal Trail

But farther up the trail is the Living Māori Village:

The Living Māori Village

And inside the village you’ll find lots of Māori culture. Here is a workshop dedicated to M...