Uncategorised Archives - Road Trip Dreamer

Heading south from Auckland? Leave the high road, take the low road

So you are heading out on the great road south from Auckland towards Taupo and beyond. Why not take a road less travelled and enjoy drop-dead beautiful rural landscapes, an environmental success story, a bit of history and some great photo ops for Facebook or the ‘Gram?

Instead of the crowded, and dare I say it, perhaps too-familiar State Highway 1 south of Cambridge, take the back roads that follow the Waikato River and the hydro lakes along it. Slower, no doubt, than the sprint down SH1 but you will be richly rewarded for the extra 20 minutes or so.

Actually, I lie. It will be more like 45 minutes because every few km you will be out of the car getting the kind of photos that usually pop up on TV One’s weather presentation.

Arapuni translates roughly as the Hidden Path, and how apt is that? It’s a … Read more

Haddon Hall – England’s Greatest Mediaeval House

There are hundreds of great and grand houses in the UK but Haddon Hall, near Bakewell in Derby, is unique among them.

It is 900 years old and has been in the same family all that time. But that’s not what makes it all that special.

For 200 years during the reign of Queen Anne to the late 19^th century it was locked up. When the key was turned to close it the house was left in a state of suspended existence. Everything was left stock still . . . the tapestry on the walls, the furniture, the pewter in the cupboards. Everything, just waiting to be dusted off and lived in again.

Over the centuries it became known as the “Sleeping Beauty” house.

The owners preferred to live at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire and Haddon Hall slumbered on.

Restoration begins

It wasn’t until early last century that the … Read more

A London to Brighton Road Trip through one of England’s loveliest regions.

Living in London or just visiting? Here’s an easy two or three day road trip to Brighton via Royal Tunbridge Wells .

It can be done comfortably in two days with an overnight stop in Brighton but why not take the extra day and really get the most out of a region that has history, outstanding natural beauty, opulent architecture and some great shopping.

Much of the journey twixt London and Brighton is through the Kentish “Garden of England”, before crossing The Weald into East Sussex.

This is a fertile stretch of countryside with orchards, cornfields, market gardens and hops growing easily and plentifully. It’s also a well wooded region so that much of the time you will drive through leafy lanes and narrow tree-lined roads.

This road trip is one from my eBook Great British Road Trips.

Put together a pick-and-mix British road trip from a collection of

The Catlins Forest Road: What an amazing place

Just finished a road trip through the Catlins area in New Zealand’s Southland. Been a few years since I rode that road . . . what an amazing place it is.

Wildlife – much of it threatened species – in luxuriant abundance, wild golden sanded beaches, life-filled forests set to the music of waterfalls, historic lighthouses, and more walks than you could cover in a month.

Tie it all up with some particularly attractive accommodation options . . . no, there are no five star hotels, not even some fairly average hotels. The real gems are to be found on the farms and in the homes of the locals.

First, however, a few words of warning: There are no ATMs between Balclutha and Invercargill, but many businesses are happy enough to give cash out with purchases. There is minimal cellphone coverage in the area – some around Owaka but that’s … Read more

Queenstown’s Nevis Swing: Longest, Highest, Fastest, Scariest In The World

You hang at an angle, feet still reassuringly touching the launch pad, suspended 130m above the floor of the canyon carved by the Nevis River in the mountains between Queenstown and Cromwell in New Zealand. The only thing stopping you plunging to a very messy end all those metres below is a harness connected to the release mechanism above you.

You are wired up to the Nevis Swing, one of Queenstown’s must-dos for adrenalin lovers.

It’s not too late. You can still chicken out and the A J Hackett crew will winch you back inside to the safety and sanity of the launch pad.

But at this moment you understand what they mean by “feel the fear and do it anyway”.

Even getting to the launch pad is an adrenalin junkie’s happy place.

It starts with a ride on a 4-wheel drive bus up a winding, twisting narrow gravel road … Read more

A Road Trip Into The Wop-Wops

Given the impracticality of overseas travel right now, and therefore the enjoyment of some of the bucket-list road trips – Blue Ridge Parkway or Alaska Highway for instance – I decided to explore one of the backroads at my own backdoor.

State Highway 22 in New Zealand runs from just south of Auckland through classic Waikato rural countryside, terminating 88km further south in Waingaro, famous for its hot pools.

So why do it as a road trip? Because it’s a deep dive into the wop-wops.

Eh? The what?

It’s a Kiwi term meaning well away from whatever passes for civilisation. The back of beyond. Or in Aussie “out the back of the black stump”.

Done as a round trip from Auckland it’s a four or five-hour meander through a rural landscape that encompasses well-groomed lifestyle blocks, small towns and villages, rough hard-scrabble farms, a dramatic coastline, photo-perfect limestone country and … Read more

The Ultimate Guide To A British Road Trip

With international travel severely restricted it may seem the wrong time to launch a book on road trips in Britain.

That hasn’t stopped travel writer David Morris releasing his eBook, “Great British Road Trips”.

“I figure that the desire to travel is still strong,” he says, “and though they can’t set sail right now, people are planning their next adventure for when the world returns to normal, whenever and whatever that may be”.

“For many, many people a visit to the UK is on their bucket list and the best way to see the countryside outside of London is by car.

One of the attractions of the online eBook are money-saving tips that the author has learned from 40 years of visiting Britain.

It’s not as easy as it seems

“A road trip in Britain isn’t, however, as easy to do as it sounds,” he says.

To start with, you … Read more

Gingerbread George’s Railway Station

If Dunedin, New Zealand, has anything to give the nation it is the heritage of its beautiful buildings. They survived the barbarity of redevelopment because nobody wanted to redevelop Dunedin. As a result we have a treasure trove of Victorian architecture.

People visiting the city are often amazed when I suggest that they make a special visit to the railway station.

Say what? The railway station?

Built when railways were at the height of their commercial and technological power, the Dunedin station is a celebration of the confidence and certainty of its masters.

When the then Prime Minister, Joseph Ward, laid the foundation stone there was no doubt that railways were the transport marvel of the age.

Little did anyone in the crowd know that just north a ways, at Temuka, Richard Pearse’s home-built aeroplane had already made a hop skip and a jump to create a technology that would … Read more

What is the world’s best passport?

What is the best passport in the world? And the worst?

A comparison of the passport “value” of various countries makes interesting reading.

It’s easy to assume that a British or American passport would open more immigration doors than any other.

Not so, by quite a margin.

Best passport in the world? Belgium. It allows you to travel visa free to 90 countries, with a further 31 allowing a visa on arrival. All-in-all 121 countries that a Belgian may enter easily.

In the same league, ranked in order, are France, Germany, Finland, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland and New Zealand. They all have easy access to 121 countries, the difference being the visa free v. visa on entry. Bottom of that list, for instance, is New Zealand which has visa free entry to 81 countries and visa on arrival at 40 borders. A total, also, of 121.

A British passport … Read more