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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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Author: pdg

New Zealand 

Who are they? Exhibition aims to identify people in Ans Westra’s famous photos

May 6, 2025May 6, 2025 pdg 0 Comments Ans Westra, arts, Kerikeri, Netherlands, photography, te ao Māori

The organisers of an exhibition by acclaimed Dutch-New Zealand photographer Ans Westra are hoping visitors will recognise people in her images.

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New Zealand 

Farewell faithful servant: Obituary for a Toyota Corolla

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 pdg 0 Comments cars, Toyota Corolla, transport

No object has served me better, or given me a greater ticket to freedom, than a 1987 Toyota Corolla.

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New Zealand Photos 

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up

January 4, 2025April 11, 2025 pdg 0 Comments Cape Reinga, Dame Whina Cooper, hīkoi, Kaitaia, Kawakawa, Maori, Northland, protest

A photo essay capturing the start of one of New Zealand’s biggest-ever protests, the nine-day Hīkoi mō te Tiriti (‘March for the Treaty’).

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The Northland Tarara on training night at Taipā, ahead of a four-match tour of their Croatian homeland.
Europe New Zealand 

Northland’s ‘Tarara’ reconnect with Dalmatian roots on Croatia rugby tour

October 21, 2024October 21, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Croatia, Dalmatians, Kaitaia, Northland, rugby, Tarara, Yugoslavia

More than a century after their forebears left what was then an impoverished corner of Europe, a Far North rugby team is using sport to rekindle old family ties.

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New Zealand 

Māori elder’s vow to stay on Moturua Island: ‘I have a job to do’

September 21, 2024September 22, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Bay of Islands, Mangahawea, Moturua Island, Ngāpuhi, Northland

Matutaera Clendon is determined to stay on the island where he was born and raised, despite orders to dismantle his illegally built tiny home.

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New Zealand 

‘This must not happen again’: How a nation’s photographic history was lost, and found

September 15, 2024October 6, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Bay Chronicle, Dame Whina Cooper, Daniel Miller, Fairfax, Fairfax Archive, Kaikohe, Kerikeri, Northern News, Northland, Procter Library, Rogers Photo Archive, Stuff

The loss of the Fairfax archive is one of the great debacles of New Zealand history-keeping. Here’s how I found a small part of it back.

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New Zealand 

The island with too many kiwi

September 1, 2024September 22, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Bay of Islands, conservation, kiwi, Moturoa Island, Northland, Ōpua Forest

An island’s overpopulation problem turns out to be a blessing for a mainland conservation project.

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New Zealand 

Mueller Hut, Mt Cook National Park: Is this NZ’s best overnight walk?

August 7, 2024August 8, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Aoraki, hiking, kea, Mount Cook, Mueller Hut, Southern Alps, tramping, walking

Perched 1800 metres above sea level in the Southern Alps, Mueller Hut is surely one of the best places in New Zealand to spend the night.

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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 Comments cycling, King Country, mountain biking, Ngā Haerenga, Ōngarue, Pureora Forest, Timber Trail

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

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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 Comments Far North, Hokianga, Kaitaia, Mangamuka, Mangamuka Gorge, Northland, Tautoko FM, Te Araroa

Two years ago a massive slip wiped out a highway and turned Mangamuka into a ghost town. Now it’s happened again.

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Europe Featured 

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

August 6, 2022August 15, 2022 pdg 0 Comments Achterhoek, Arnhem, Famine, Holland, Hunger Winter, Leiden, Netherlands, World War II

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.

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Europe Photos 

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

August 1, 2022September 28, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Bakhchysarai, Chernivtsi, Crimea, Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Sevastopol, Ukraine, Yalta

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.

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Middle East Photos 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022September 21, 2024 pdg 0 Comments Amman, Bedouin, Jordan, Petra, Wadi Rum

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

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New Zealand 

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

June 5, 2022June 5, 2022 pdg 2 Comments Aotea Track, Auckland, Claris, Great Barrier Island, Hauraki Gulf, hiking, Hirakimata, kākā, Mt Hobson, Tryphena, walking, werewere-kōkako

The island boasts spectacular beaches, hot springs, raucous birdlife and lush forest — and it’s just half an hour from Auckland by plane.

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New Zealand 

Fiordland’s Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time

April 6, 2022April 7, 2022 pdg 0 Comments Fiordland, hiking, Hollyford, Martins Bay, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Te Anau

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

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Europe 

The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine

March 26, 2022March 28, 2022 pdg 4 Comments Amsterdam, Holland, Hongerwinter, Hunger Winter, Leiden, Netherlands, World War II

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

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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 Comments Bohemia, Czech Republic, Kutná Hora, Sedlec Abbey, Sedlec Ossuary

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

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Africa Photos 

Egypt in pictures

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Aswan, Cairo, City of the Dead, Eygpt, Giza, Kom Ombo Temple, Mount Sinai, Sinai, Siwa, St Catherine's Monastery

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.

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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 Comments Auckland, Coromandel, Hauraki Gulf, Nant Gwynant, Pakatoa, Paku, Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, Portmeirion, Snowdonia National Park, Wales

Village’s creator had a “serious flirtation” with an island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf before choosing a bay near his home in Wales instead.

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Europe New Zealand 

Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me

October 9, 2021January 3, 2022 pdg 5 Comments Dutch waka, Eindhoven, Koninginnedag, Koningsdag, Leiden, Netherlands, Te Hono ki Aotearoa

What does it mean to be a New Zealander of Dutch descent? And what if the country of my ancestors decides I no longer belong?

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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

Who are they? Exhibition aims to identify people in Ans Westra’s famous photos
New Zealand 

Who are they? Exhibition aims to identify people in Ans Westra’s famous photos

May 6, 2025May 6, 2025 pdg 0

The organisers of an exhibition by acclaimed Dutch-New Zealand photographer Ans Westra are hoping visitors will recognise people in her images.

Farewell faithful servant: Obituary for a Toyota Corolla
New Zealand 

Farewell faithful servant: Obituary for a Toyota Corolla

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 pdg 0
Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up
New Zealand Photos 

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up

January 4, 2025April 11, 2025 pdg 0
The Northland Tarara on training night at Taipā, ahead of a four-match tour of their Croatian homeland.
Europe New Zealand 

Northland’s ‘Tarara’ reconnect with Dalmatian roots on Croatia rugby tour

October 21, 2024October 21, 2024 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 2
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

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up
New Zealand Photos 

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up

January 4, 2025April 11, 2025 pdg 0

A photo essay capturing the start of one of New Zealand’s biggest-ever protests, the nine-day Hīkoi mō te Tiriti (‘March for the Treaty’).

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

Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip

August 1, 2022September 28, 2024 pdg 0
Jordan in pictures
Middle East Photos 

Jordan in pictures

July 1, 2022September 21, 2024 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
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