Mary Jane Walker's Blog: Adventures at Snow Farm Part 1 – Skiing with a broken shoulder! , page 23

Through the Catlins by Campervan

This post follows up my two earlier posts about the Catlins. I went through in a campervan at the start of June 2021, and this post passes on some tips for campervanning including all five freedom camping sites in the Catlins. I also go into the forests in the interior, this time.

Around Mount Taranaki by the Southern Side

The Around the Mountain Circuit turned into a bit of an epic for me! Read all about it, and see some amazing photos (I think) in my new blog post about Mount Taranaki, a mountain where the everyday does become an epic so easily.

'The Town of Light': Reefton and the Kirwans Track

Reefton is an old, inland mining town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Thanks to progressively-minded local goldfields engineers, it was one of the first places in the world to get electric lights and power, in the 1880s. The town has lately reinvented itself as a significant tourist destination under the moniker of 'the town of light', and there are indeed a heap of things to see, do and hike in and around the town, including the spectacular Kirwans Track.

There's more to Hanmer than Springs!

There's more to the Hanmer area than the town's famous hot springs! You can venture up gravel roads into an epic wilderness, or go hiking in the St James Conservation Area (where there are five more hot pool sites) and the Hanmer Forest Park, go horse trekking or skiing, or have a whole range of other adventures. It's another one of those areas that's surprisingly overlooked.

The Paparoa Track

The Paparoa Track is New Zealand's most recently-commissioned Great Walk. Running from Blackball to Punakaiki, the Paparoa Track partly follows an old gold-miners' pathway with the hopeful name of the Croesus Track. And it partly also follows a brand-new course, including the epic gorge of the Pororari River. It can be hiked in both directions, though it's best to go from south to north.

Greymouth and Westport: The Heart of the Coast

In this post, I continue my road trip southwards through Westport, Fox River, Punakaiki, Greymouth and its surrounding coal-mining district, and on to Lake Brunner, or Moana.

Karamea: A Road Trip to the top of the South Island's West Coast

The West Coast north of Westport is booming at the moment, with visitors up eighty per cent. It's an area that's easy to overlook, as the road to Karamea and the Heaphy Track is ultimately a dead end. So, I've compiled some photos and a video of some things to see and some places to eat at and to stay at, plus guides to local walks.

My Latest Heaphy Hike (and a flight back over the Dragons Teeth)

This time, I decided to hike the Heaphy Track from west to east, and get a flight back over the amazing scenery of Kahurangi National Park, including the incredible Douglas Range and its pinnacles known as the Dragons Teeth.

Do we need a Referendum on Immigration?

Do we need a referendum on immigration? Successive New Zealand governments have failed to build enough houses or put in enough infrastructure to cope with immigration. So why not make them do it? Otherwise, we risk the rise of another Rob Muldoon.

Thinking Small: How New Zealand tried to squash Auckland

This post follows up on my earlier post, 'Is Auckland Council making itself Redundant? The paradox of retrenchment in the face of growth'. In this follow-up, my editor and I look at how New Zealand as a whole tried to squash Auckland's growth from the mid-1970s onward, and how, by refusing to plan for growth, New Zealand got outcomes it did not plan for!