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Ramblings

Ramblings

Photos, travel stories, reportage and random stuff from New Zealand and around the world by Peter de Graaf

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Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?
Europe Featured Weird Travel 

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?

July 22, 2020July 4, 2021 pdg 3
The Te Araroa Project
Featured New Zealand 

The Te Araroa Project

November 13, 2019December 14, 2021 pdg 2
Transnistria: How to visit a country that doesn’t exist
Europe Featured Weird Travel 

Transnistria: How to visit a country that doesn’t exist

July 19, 2019September 20, 2020 pdg 2
A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar
Africa Featured Weird Travel 

A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar

March 29, 2019September 19, 2020 pdg 0
Albania in pictures
Europe Photos Top stories 

Albania in pictures

September 13, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0
The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief
Europe Top stories Weird Travel 

The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief

August 24, 2019December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Walking New Zealand’s Hokianga Coastal Track
New Zealand Top stories 

Walking New Zealand’s Hokianga Coastal Track

April 20, 2019January 2, 2021 pdg 3
One foot in paradise
Pacific Top stories 

One foot in paradise

May 17, 2018December 28, 2020 pdg 0

NEW ZEALAND

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time
New Zealand 

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time

April 6, 2022April 7, 2022 pdg 0

Where experiencing one of New Zealand’s wildest places doesn’t mean you have to go without fine food and lodgings.

Portmeirion of the south: How the most remarkable village in Wales was almost built in New Zealand
Europe New Zealand 

Portmeirion of the south: How the most remarkable village in Wales was almost built in New Zealand

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021 pdg 2
Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me
Europe New Zealand 

Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me

October 9, 2021January 3, 2022 pdg 3
Project Island Song: Return of the giants
New Zealand 

Project Island Song: Return of the giants

July 21, 2021July 21, 2021 pdg 0
Braving New Zealand’s Old Ghost Road
New Zealand 

Braving New Zealand’s Old Ghost Road

May 22, 2021May 22, 2021 pdg 2

PACIFIC

Tonga in pictures
Pacific Photos 

Tonga in pictures

May 2, 2020July 11, 2021 pdg 0

Unspoiled beaches, decrepit ferries, spontaneous schoolkids and a slow-paced way of life in one of the world’s last absolute monarchies.

The Pacific’s forgotten slave trade
Pacific 

The Pacific’s forgotten slave trade

April 1, 2020July 4, 2021 pdg 0
Another Samoa: Tramping in the tropics
Pacific 

Another Samoa: Tramping in the tropics

November 15, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0
The Birdman of Atiu
Pacific 

The Birdman of Atiu

November 8, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0
Bushwalking in the Grampians
Pacific 

Bushwalking in the Grampians

November 6, 2018October 14, 2019 pdg 0

AFRICA

Egypt in pictures
Africa Photos 

Egypt in pictures

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021 pdg 0

Best known for its ancient wonders, Egypt also boasts biblical sites, superb snorkelling, stoner hangouts, trips down the Nile on traditional sailing boats, and — best of all — sleepy oases of date palms and mud brick homes deep in the desert.

The old man and the lake
Africa 

The old man and the lake

June 1, 2019December 28, 2020 pdg 0
A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar
Africa Featured Weird Travel 

A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar

March 29, 2019September 19, 2020 pdg 0
Six things to do in Harar, Ethiopia, that don’t involve hyenas
Africa 

Six things to do in Harar, Ethiopia, that don’t involve hyenas

March 29, 2019September 19, 2020 pdg 0
Best and worst hotels
Africa Europe 

Best and worst hotels

June 29, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 2

ASIA

Cambodia in pictures
Asia Photos 

Cambodia in pictures

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0

More than 900 years after it was built Angkor Wat is still the world’s biggest religious monument — but this resilient, vibrant country offers much more than temples.

Laos in pictures
Asia Photos 

Laos in pictures

September 27, 2020April 11, 2021 pdg 2
Against the odds: Surviving the Burma railroad
Asia New Zealand 

Against the odds: Surviving the Burma railroad

May 16, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0
Peace at last for shipwreck’s ‘hungry ghosts’
Asia New Zealand 

Peace at last for shipwreck’s ‘hungry ghosts’

May 15, 2018April 11, 2021 pdg 0

CAUCASUS

Ani: City of Ghosts
Caucasus 

Ani: City of Ghosts

July 11, 2021July 14, 2021 pdg 0

One of the great cities of the medieval world, Ani is today a city of ghosts marooned between bitter enemies Turkey and Armenia.

Armenia in pictures
Caucasus Photos 

Armenia in pictures

October 10, 2020March 3, 2021 pdg 0

MIDDLE EAST

Iran in pictures
Middle East Photos 

Iran in pictures

April 18, 2020July 22, 2021 pdg 0

Former US President George W Bush called it part of “the Axis of Evil”. I call it one of the most fascinating and welcoming places I’ve been.

EUROPE

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine
Europe 

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine

March 26, 2022March 28, 2022 pdg 2

A chance discovery sheds light on the last famine in Western Europe: The Hunger Winter of 1944-45.

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip
Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 pdg 0
The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?
Europe Weird Travel 

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?

November 18, 2021November 19, 2021 pdg 0
Portmeirion of the south: How the most remarkable village in Wales was almost built in New Zealand
Europe New Zealand 

Portmeirion of the south: How the most remarkable village in Wales was almost built in New Zealand

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021 pdg 2
Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me
Europe New Zealand 

Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me

October 9, 2021January 3, 2022 pdg 3

About Ramblings

Kia ora and welcome to Ramblings, a fairly random collection of travel stories, photos and reportage from New Zealand and around the world by Peter de Graaf. I’m a reporter and occasional travel writer based in Kerikeri, a small town in New Zealand’s Far North. Read more...

LATEST

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time
New Zealand 

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time

April 6, 2022April 7, 2022 pdg 0

Where experiencing one of New Zealand’s wildest places doesn’t mean you have to go without fine food and lodgings.

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine
Europe 

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine

March 26, 2022March 28, 2022 pdg 2
Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip
Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 pdg 0
The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?
Europe Weird Travel 

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?

November 18, 2021November 19, 2021 pdg 0

WEIRD TRAVEL

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?
Europe Weird Travel 

The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?

November 18, 2021November 19, 2021 pdg 0

The monks of Sedlec Abbey, in what is now the Czech Republic, turned a problem into a morbid masterpiece.

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?
Europe Featured Weird Travel 

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?

July 22, 2020July 4, 2021 pdg 3
The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief
Europe Top stories Weird Travel 

The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief

August 24, 2019December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Is this the world’s strangest parade?
Europe Photos Weird Travel 

Is this the world’s strangest parade?

August 11, 2019September 20, 2020 pdg 0

PHOTOS

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip
Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 pdg 0

Towering monuments, vibrant cities, and a national identity which has somehow survived Soviet oppression and a turbulent history — those are a few of my memories from a trip to Ukraine long before the Russian invasion.

Egypt in pictures
Africa Photos 

Egypt in pictures

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021 pdg 0
Cambodia in pictures
Asia Photos 

Cambodia in pictures

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0
Albania in pictures
Europe Photos Top stories 

Albania in pictures

September 13, 2021October 4, 2021 pdg 0
Czechostalgia: A photographic ramble through 1990s Bohemia
Europe Photos 

Czechostalgia: A photographic ramble through 1990s Bohemia

August 28, 2021August 28, 2021 pdg 0
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