Keep Discovering

Month: July 2013

APN Travel – Royal London.

Right Royal London. ( First published in Mike’s syndicated travel page, APN Regional Newspapers. ) It’s a right royal good time to pay a visit to London, as Britannia basks in the glow of a new blue-blood baby. Revel in the arrival of a new royal in style, by threading together the monarchy’s marquee attractions… Read More ›

The Press-News column July 23

( Mike’s weekly column in The Press, first published July 23.) It’s not Disneyland. Last week’s rejection of the Milford Dart Tunnel proposal was a courageous decision by the Conservation Minister. Courageous because the company directorship behind the proposal reads like a membership list of the Tory old boys club. And what a pompous put-down… Read More ›

ZB Travel – Tropical Cairns

( Mike’s travel notes from Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame Show.) Most visitors to Cairns can’t wait to get out of the place.  Is that fair on the city? Well, it’s understandable, given Cairns is the kind of city that the very term ‘gateway’ was coined for. North Queensland’s tropical wonders are right on the city’s… Read More ›

ZB Travel – Queensland Trains

( Mike’s travel notes from Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame Show.) Queensland has Australia’s greatest offering of scenic train trips?  And they’re booming? I’m sure when most people think of Australia and trains, its those big, long yawning transcontinental trips from Darwin to Adelaide, or Sydney to Perth that come to mind. But it’s the sunshine… Read More ›

ZB Travel – Naseby July 6

Much snow down there still? An astounding amount of snow, which is taking forever to melt around people’s houses. Naseby and the Maniototo district looks like a winter wonderland. The boss of the Royal Hotel in Naseby showed me just high the snow drifts piled up a week ago. It was above the windows, so… Read More ›

The Press -News column July 2.

Now, who will resign? The news ricocheted across the city yesterday morning, like a thunderclap. Despite all the soothing tones of reassurance, despite all the varnished rhetoric that the big bad wolf of revocation would be kept from the council door, International Accreditation New Zealand ( IANZ) has walked the talk and blown the house… Read More ›