Mary Jane Walker's Blog: Adventures at Snow Farm Part 1 – Skiing with a broken shoulder! , page 33

'Tossed by the Wind': The rare and remarkable creatures of Tiritiri Matangi (Part One)

Just north-east of Auckland, New Zealand, lies the sanctuary island of Tiritiri Matangi, a high-value scientific reserve that is home to some of the rarest and weirdest creatures on the planet such as the kiwi and the tuatara. And yet you can go there, and even stay overnight. I went there for the most recent time in May 2019. Tripadvisor has awarded Tiritiri Matangi its Certificate of Excellence and, as of the date of publication, rates it at #2 out of 208 things to do in central Auckland!

The Sanctuary Mountain

The world's largest ecological reserve behind a pest-proof fence lies south-east of Cambridge, New Zealand, close to Hobbiton and the Waitomo glow-worm caves. It's the Maungatautari Reserve, also known as Sanctuary Mountain. All kinds of ancient and endangered species now have a chance to thrive on this island in the sky, rising up above the intensively-farmed plains of the Waikato. I went for a ramble on the mountain with the Auckland meetup group, Feet First.

The Catlins, continued

In this post my editor and my father continue their journey around the Catlins, starting at the picturesque Nugget Point lighthouse and the rocks in the sea called the Nuggets, before continuing on to Slope Point and other parts of the region's notorious shipwreck coast. I close with a discussion of tragic M��ori history, and finish with a discussion of how these posts have just scratched the surface. I recommend readers to catlins.org.nz for more information, including a brochure link.

The Catlins: An overlooked corner of New Zealand

The Catlins is a part of New Zealand visited by few, yet full of wonders, including a forest that has changed little since the Jurassic era. The forest stands next to its fossilised predecessor at Curio Bay, where the rare hoiho or yellow-eyed penguin also breeds. Travelling to the Catlins is like travelling back in time, not just to a more unspoilt era but also because there isn't much tourist traffic compared to resorts like Queenstown.

Paradise! The Real Top of the Lake

The other day I headed up to the top of Lake Wakatipu. It's quite scenic, and we're not all like the bogans portrayed in the BBC drama Top of the Lake!

Kars and Ani

In the second of two posts about the region centred on Mount Ararat, I visit the cities of Kars and Ani, which were founded by the Armenians in the time of Anglo-Saxon England. Kars remains a bustling city, but Ani has been ruined for three hundred years and is now being restored. Ani is also hard on the border with modern day Armenia, a border closed since the early 1990s. The region is still traumatised by the massacre of the Armenians more than a hundred years ago.

Climbing Mount Ararat: Borders, bears and rockets

This post is the first in a series of two posts about the region that is centred on Mount Ararat, a historically important mountain in eastern Turkey. It's about my climb up Mount Ararat, a climb I never completed. But I learned a lot about a rather perilous corner of the world, along the way. Would I do it again? Definitely!

The Enduring Lure of Egypt (Part 2)

This is the second of two posts on a trip to Egypt. I reflect on the country's ancient heritage, its mixture of Greek and Arab influences, and a tragic modern political rivalry.

The Enduring Lure of Egypt (Part 1)

This is the first of two posts on a trip to Egypt. I reflect on the country's ancient heritage, its mixture of Greek and Arab influences, and a tragic modern political rivalry.

New Zealand's Post-Colonial Housing Crisis (a second post on housing)

In this article, I argue that New Zealand's once-proud record of housing and employment fell apart in a return to colonial atavism, as a large indigenous population returned to the cities from which the M��ori had once been expelled..