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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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“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine
Europe Featured 

“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine

August 6, 2022August 15, 2022 pdg 0
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 3
Jordan in pictures
Middle East Photos Top stories 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022August 6, 2022 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

How to ride New Zealand’s Timber Trail without blowing your budget — or busting a gut
New Zealand 

How to ride New Zealand’s Timber Trail without blowing your budget — or busting a gut

January 15, 2023January 20, 2023 pdg 0

Ancient podocarp forest, soaring suspension bridges and oodles of history make the Timber Trail one of New Zealand’s best cycling experiences.

‘We can hear ourselves think again’: Stillness descends on Mangamuka as highway closes for the second time in two years
New Zealand 

‘We can hear ourselves think again’: Stillness descends on Mangamuka as highway closes for the second time in two years

December 1, 2022January 18, 2023 pdg 0
Auckland’s island escape: Great Barrier’s Aotea Track
New Zealand 

Auckland’s island escape: Great Barrier’s Aotea Track

June 5, 2022June 5, 2022 pdg 0
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
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

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, 2021June 2, 2022 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

Jordan in pictures
Middle East Photos Top stories 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022August 6, 2022 pdg 0

Proud desert dwellers, extraordinary hospitality, and the ancient, rock-hewn city of Petra: Just three of the reasons you need to visit Jordan.

EUROPE

“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine
Europe Featured 

“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine

August 6, 2022August 15, 2022 pdg 0

In the Hunger Winter of 1944-45 Dutch families faced a terrible choice: Risk starving to death or walk hundreds of kilometres in sub-zero temperatures to find food.

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
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

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

How to ride New Zealand’s Timber Trail without blowing your budget — or busting a gut
New Zealand 

How to ride New Zealand’s Timber Trail without blowing your budget — or busting a gut

January 15, 2023January 20, 2023 pdg 0

Ancient podocarp forest, soaring suspension bridges and oodles of history make the Timber Trail one of New Zealand’s best cycling experiences.

‘We can hear ourselves think again’: Stillness descends on Mangamuka as highway closes for the second time in two years
New Zealand 

‘We can hear ourselves think again’: Stillness descends on Mangamuka as highway closes for the second time in two years

December 1, 2022January 18, 2023 pdg 0
“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine
Europe Featured 

“We were starving”: How my aunties saved their family from famine

August 6, 2022August 15, 2022 pdg 0
Jordan in pictures
Middle East Photos Top stories 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022August 6, 2022 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

Jordan in pictures
Middle East Photos Top stories 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022August 6, 2022 pdg 0

Proud desert dwellers, extraordinary hospitality, and the ancient, rock-hewn city of Petra: Just three of the reasons you need to visit Jordan.

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
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 

Albania in pictures

September 13, 2021August 6, 2022 pdg 0
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