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# Ramblings

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

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://ramblings.nz/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Ukraine revisited: Invasion rekindles memories of long-ago trip](https://ramblings.nz/ukraine-revisited/) - 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.
- [The far-reaching wake of the waka](https://ramblings.nz/the-far-reaching-wake-of-the-waka/) - What makes a group of Dutch students so passionate about Māori culture that they travel halfway around the world each year to take part in Waitangi Day festivities?
- [New chapter for Northland sailing ship with a colourful history](https://ramblings.nz/tui/) - The Tui has variously been a sugar barge, a restaurant, a shipwreck museum laden with treasure, and the target of a notorious jewel thief and rapist.
- ['I haven't found that feeling anywhere else': How a waka changed a Dutch paddler's life](https://ramblings.nz/how-a-waka-changed-a-dutch-paddlers-life/) - A Dutch paddler who travels around the world each year to take part in Waitangi Day commemorations says learning about the Māori world has changed his life.
- [A beastly back rub: Hanging out with the hyenas of Harar](https://ramblings.nz/beastly-back-rub/) - There are times in your life you ask yourself: How did I get here? One of those times was in a rubbish dump at night in Ethiopia with a hyena on my back. 
- [Transnistria: How to visit a country that doesn’t exist](https://ramblings.nz/guide-to-transnistria/) - A Soviet time warp and unrecognised breakaway state, Transnistria is one of the strangest places in Europe.
- [The strange case of the giant underpants](https://ramblings.nz/the-strange-case-of-the-giant-underpants/) - How I ended up with a piece of the Czech president’s flag.
- [The Birdman of Atiu](https://ramblings.nz/the-birdman-of-atiu/) - Birdman George has made it his life's mission to save the feathered creatures of Atiu in the Cook Islands
- [The Te Araroa Project](https://ramblings.nz/te-araroa/) - What drives more than 1000 people a year to walk the length of New Zealand? I decided to find out.
- [Hawaiian waka to return 40 years after sparking revival of Māori ocean voyaging](https://ramblings.nz/hawaiian-waka-return/) - Forty years after the rebirth of Māori ocean voyaging, the Hawaiian canoe Hōkūle'a is due back at Waitangi on an epic, 80,000km voyage around the Pacific.
- [Hawaiian voyagers welcomed back 40 years after historic visit to Waitangi](https://ramblings.nz/hawaiian-voyagers-welcomed-back-40-years-after-historic-visit-to-waitangi/) - A voyaging canoe has returned to New Zealand four decades years after reviving one of the world's oldest seafaring traditions.
- [Getting high in Northland: A peak-bagger's guide to the North's 10 highest mountains](https://ramblings.nz/northlands-highest-peaks/) - How to climb Northland’s highest peaks — well, some of them anyway — and where to find them.
- [Who are they? Exhibition aims to identify people in Ans Westra's famous photos](https://ramblings.nz/ans-westra/) - The organisers of an exhibition by acclaimed Dutch-New Zealand photographer Ans Westra are hoping visitors will recognise people in her images.
- [Cares Gorge: Is this Spain's best one-day walk?](https://ramblings.nz/cares-gorge/) - The Cares Trail clings to the side of a 1.5km-deep gorge in the Picos de Europa mountains of northern Spain.
- [Farewell faithful servant: Obituary for a Toyota Corolla](https://ramblings.nz/obituary-for-a-toyota-corolla/) - No object has served me better, or given me a greater ticket to freedom, than a 1987 Toyota Corolla.
- [Hīkoi mō te Tiriti: A new generation rises up](https://ramblings.nz/hikoi-mo-te-tiriti/) - 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’).
- [One man's war: A Hokianga soldier remembers](https://ramblings.nz/hokianga-soldier/) - Bill Guest only left Hokianga once and reckons it was only luck that brought him back alive. The 96-year-old shares some of the horror, and humour, of World War II.
- [Czechostalgia: A photographic ramble through 1990s Bohemia](https://ramblings.nz/czechostalgia/) - Snow-covered landscapes, peeling plasterwork and views from my window: A sentimental selection of photos from Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic in the early 1990s.
- [Walking New Zealand's Hokianga Coastal Track](https://ramblings.nz/hokianga-coastal-track/) - Three days of wildly beautiful coastline — and chances are you won't have to share it with anyone.
- [Northland's 'Tarara' reconnect with Dalmatian roots on Croatia rugby tour](https://ramblings.nz/northland-tarara/)
- ['This must not happen again': How a nation's photographic history was lost, and found](https://ramblings.nz/this-must-not-happen-again-how-a-nations-photographic-history-was-lost-and-found/) - 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.
- [The island with too many kiwi](https://ramblings.nz/island-with-too-many-kiwi/) - An island's overpopulation problem turns out to be a blessing for a mainland conservation project.
- [The love boat](https://ramblings.nz/the-love-boat/) - The author accidentally finds himself on a ship shuttling Eastern European sex workers to the brothels of Istanbul.
- [Māori elder's vow to stay on Moturua Island: 'I have a job to do'](https://ramblings.nz/maori-elders-vow-to-stay-on-moturua-island-i-have-a-job-to-do/) - Matutaera Clendon is determined to stay on the island where he was born and raised, despite orders to dismantle his illegally built tiny home.
- [Jordan in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/jordan-in-pictures/) - Proud desert dwellers, extraordinary hospitality, and the ancient, rock-hewn city of Petra: Just three of the reasons you need to visit Jordan.
- [Mueller Hut, Mt Cook National Park: Is this NZ’s best overnight walk?](https://ramblings.nz/mueller-hut-mt-cook-national-park-is-this-nzs-best-overnight-walk/) - 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. 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.
- [Te Paki: New Zealand's top hike](https://ramblings.nz/te-paki-coastal-trail/) - Could the Te Paki Coastal Track around New Zealand's northern tip qualify as a Great Walk? I decided to find out.
- [Five things to do in Australia's Grampians](https://ramblings.nz/five-things-to-do-in-australias-grampians/) - Hiking, wildlife spotting, Aboriginal culture and wine — a few of my favourite things in Victoria's Grampian Mountains.
- [The Girl Fair: Matchmaking centuries before Tinder](https://ramblings.nz/the-girl-fair/) - Long before dating apps Romanian villagers would bring their daughters to a remote mountain-top in the hope of finding love.
- [How to ride New Zealand’s Timber Trail without blowing your budget — or busting a gut](https://ramblings.nz/riding-new-zealands-timber-trail/) - 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](https://ramblings.nz/mangamuka-gorge/) - Two years ago a massive slip wiped out a highway and turned Mangamuka into a ghost town. Now it's happened again.
- [Bagpipes in Bohemia: A festival full of surpises](https://ramblings.nz/bagpipes-in-bohemia/) - The world's biggest bagpipe festival is not in Scotland. It's in an obscure, post-industrial town in the Czech Republic.
- ["We were starving": How my aunties saved their family from famine](https://ramblings.nz/hunger-winter/) - In the Hunger Winter of 1944-45 Dutch families faced a terrible choice: Starve to death or walk hundreds of kilometres in sub-zero temperatures to find food.
- [Albania in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/albania-in-pictures/) - Destroyed factories, looted manhole covers, stunning scenery and staggering generosity: That was Albania in 1999.
- [Auckland's island escape: Great Barrier's Aotea Track](https://ramblings.nz/aucklands-island-escape-great-barriers-aotea-track/) - The island boasts spectacular beaches, hot springs, raucous birdlife and lush forest — and it's just half an hour from Auckland by plane.
- [Ani: City of Ghosts](https://ramblings.nz/ani-city-of-ghosts/) - One of the great cities of the medieval world, Ani is today a city of ghosts marooned between bitter enemies Turkey and Armenia.
- [Following in Sir Ed's footsteps](https://ramblings.nz/following-sir-eds-footsteps/) - How Sir Edmund Hillary prepared for Everest in a Welsh climbers' pub called the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel
- [Last bus to Shqipëria](https://ramblings.nz/last-bus-to-shqiperia/) - Two weeks amid the post-communist shambles and spectacular scenery of Albania.
- [No ordinary hole](https://ramblings.nz/no-ordinary-hole/) - The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in Wales is more than slag heaps and old coal mines.
- [A pilgrimage to the birthplace of beer](https://ramblings.nz/pilgrimage-to-the-birthplace-of-beer/) - A 19th century uprising against bad beer, in what is now the Czech Republic, led to the invention of the golden lager we know and love today.
- [The tree houses of Tanna](https://ramblings.nz/the-tree-houses-of-tanna/) - On the island of Tanna, in Vanuatu, you can stay in a tree house overlooking Mt Yasur, a live volcano.
- [Takahē and naked trampers on the Heaphy Track](https://ramblings.nz/heaphy-track/) - Encountering takahē and naked trampers on the Heaphy Track, New Zealand's longest Great Walk.
- [Journey to the end of the map](https://ramblings.nz/journey-to-the-end-of-the-map/) - A road trip to isolated Pawarenga, in North Hokianga, New Zealand
- [An everlasting link](https://ramblings.nz/an-everlasting-link/) - A traditional carved canoe has created a new bond between New Zealand and the Netherlands, two seafaring nations with a shared history going back almost 400 years.
- [The life of Brian](https://ramblings.nz/life-of-brian/) - Prolific author Brian Parkinson has become a leading authority on New Zealand's flora and fauna, despite having no formal qualifications,
- [Godson to the Queen](https://ramblings.nz/godson-to-the-queen/) - The fascinating and little-known tale of how Queen Victoria came to have a Māori godson.
- [Brother's bones home at last](https://ramblings.nz/brothers-bones-come-home-after-62-years/) - An ex-soldier battled for decades to bring his brother home from a cemetery in Malaya and right a historical wrong.
- [Stairway to heaven: Ilchi Lee's Kerikeri dream](https://ramblings.nz/stairway-to-heaven/) - In the bush west of Kerikeri, a small town in northern New Zealand, Korean spiritual leader Ilchi leader says he is building a global headquarters for an organisation of 100 million members.
- [Kiwi couple's answer to the housing crisis: A tiny house on a trailer](https://ramblings.nz/kiwi-couples-answer-to-the-housing-crisis-a-tiny-house-on-a-trailer/) - Rangimārie Mules and Jared Hiakita didn't want to start their life together shackled to a giant mortgage. Their solution was a tiny house on a trailer.
- [Sir Hekenukumai Puhipi: The bridge builder](https://ramblings.nz/sir-hek-bridge-builder/) - Sir Hek Busby spent a lifetime building bridges – over rivers, between peoples, and across the mighty Pacific Ocean.
- [Walking the Queen Charlotte Track (the easy way)](https://ramblings.nz/queen-charlotte-track/) - The 70km Queen Charlotte Track offers fabulous views — and plenty of options for walking in comfort — where land meets sea in the Marlborough Sounds.
- [Paparoa Track: NZ's newest Great Walk](https://ramblings.nz/paparoa-track/) - A practical guide to tramping Aotearoa's 10th Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, and the tragic story behind it.
- [Braving New Zealand's Old Ghost Road](https://ramblings.nz/old-ghost-road/) - One of New Zealand's newest dual-use tramping and mountain bike trails, the 85km-long Old Ghost Road is also one of the most spectacular.
- [Fiordland's Hollyford Valley: A walk back in time](https://ramblings.nz/hollyford-track/) - Where experiencing one of New Zealand's wildest places doesn't mean going without fine food and accommodation.
- [The Hunger Diary: My father and the Dutch famine](https://ramblings.nz/hunger-diary/) - A chance discovery sheds light on the last famine in Western Europe: The Hunger Winter of 1944-45.
- [Hundertwasser in Holland: 'Your loss is our gain'](https://ramblings.nz/hundertwasser-in-holland/) - How a 'New Zealand monument' designed by eccentric Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser ended up being built in Holland instead.
- [Being Dutch: What my heritage means to me](https://ramblings.nz/being-dutch/) - 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?
- [The Bone Church of Kutná Hora: Final resting place of 40,000 people or macabre tourist attraction?](https://ramblings.nz/bone-church-kutna-hora/) - The monks of Sedlec Abbey, in what is now the Czech Republic, turned a problem into a morbid masterpiece.
- [Egypt in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/egypt-in-pictures/) - 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.
- [Portmeirion of the south: How the most remarkable village in Wales was almost built in New Zealand](https://ramblings.nz/portmeirion-in-new-zealand/) - 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.
- [Riding the bamboo train](https://ramblings.nz/riding-the-bamboo-train/) - One of the world's great railway journeys can be found in the rice fields around Battambang, Cambodia.
- [Cambodia in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/cambodia-in-pictures/) - More than 900 years after it was built Angkor Wat is still the world's biggest religious monument — but resilient, vibrant Cambodia offers much more than temples.
- [Azerbaijan in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/azerbaijan-in-pictures/) - Unspoiled mountain villages where time stands still and mind-boggling environmental devastation left by the oil industry — you'll find both in exotic Azerbaijan.
- [Former Yugoslavia in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/former-yugoslavia-in-pictures/) - Images of the dizzyingly diverse former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia.
- [Why you should visit Europe’s least touristy country](https://ramblings.nz/europes-least-touristy-country/) - A lively capital, an ancient cave monastery, the world's biggest wine cellars and a Soviet time warp await visitors to Moldova, Europe's least touristy country.
- [Inside the world's second biggest wine cellar](https://ramblings.nz/inside-the-worlds-second-biggest-wine-cellar/) - The two biggest biggest wine cellars in the world are in ... France? Italy? California's Napa Valley? The former Soviet republic of Moldova? The answer might surprise you.
- [Phone booths of the world](https://ramblings.nz/phone-booths-of-the-world/) - The phone booth has, tragically, become an endangered species — hence my mission to preserve these once ubiquitous features of our urban landscape through photography.
- [Iran in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/iran-in-pictures/) - 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.
- [Spain and Portugal in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/spain-portugal-in-pictures/) - A spectacular mountain range, one of Europe’s deepest canyons, and the charming city that gave port wine – and a country – its name.
- [Project Island Song: Return of the giants](https://ramblings.nz/project-island-song-return-of-the-giants/) - An ambitious ecological restoration project aims to return a small corner of New Zealand to the way it was before humans arrived.
- [Tonga in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/tonga-in-pictures/) - Unspoiled beaches, decrepit ferries, spontaneous schoolkids and a slow-paced way of life in one of the world's last absolute monarchies
- [Turkey in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/turkey-in-pictures/) - A snow-bound palace, a ruined city, welcoming locals, a shipwreck and a fabled mountain — those are just a few of the things I photographed in Turkey in 2004.
- [The Pacific’s forgotten slave trade](https://ramblings.nz/pacifics-forgotten-slave-trade/) - It’s Australia’s shameful secret: A human trade in which tens of thousands of Pacific Islanders were kidnapped as labour for Queensland’s sugar plantations.
- [Remembering Syria: Photos before and after the war](https://ramblings.nz/remembering-syria/) - In 1995 I spent three unforgettable weeks in Syria. Now, after almost 10 years of civil war, many of the places I visited are no more.
- [Georgia in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/georgia-in-pictures/) - Straddling cultural and geographic boundaries between Europe and Asia, Georgia is one of the most fascinating — and scenically diverse — countries on Earth.
- [Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?](https://ramblings.nz/corvin-castle/) - Corvin Castle has everything you’d ever want in a medieval fortress. There’s only one problem: It’s in the middle of a giant steel mill.
- [Far from home: The Czechs of Romania's Banat Mountains](https://ramblings.nz/czechs-of-romanias-banat-mountains/) - How a hiker rediscovered a long-lost ethnic minority after hearing a familiar tune in a remote corner of the Balkans.
- [Laos in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/laos-in-pictures/) - Laos doesn't have the big tourism drawcards of its better-known neighbours — but that's all the more reason to visit this slow-paced, smile-filled land.
- [Peace at last for shipwreck's 'hungry ghosts'](https://ramblings.nz/peace-at-last-for-hungry-ghosts/) - A Northland woman's quest to discover the truth behind a century-year-old maritime tragedy has brought two peoples together – and brought peace to hundreds of "hungry ghosts".
- [Armenia in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/armenia-in-pictures/) - An ancient land sprinkled with 1000-year-old stone churches, Armenia is sliding back to war with its neighbour Azerbaijan over a disputed territory.
- [Top news photos of 2020](https://ramblings.nz/top-news-photos-2020/) - A global pandemic, iwi-led Covid checkpoints, Waitangi Day festivities, politics, record-breaking rainfall, floods and fires — 2020 had it all.
- [A toast to the Walking Dead](https://ramblings.nz/walking-dead/) - On Atiu, in the Cook Islands, resourceful locals brew their own beer from oranges and socialise in bars hidden in the bush.
- [The old man and the lake](https://ramblings.nz/rwanda-by-bike/) - Cycling the Twin Lakes Ride near Musanze, Rwanda.
- [One foot in paradise](https://ramblings.nz/one-foot-in-paradise/) - I'd only been on Aitutaki, a series of atolls sprinkled around a picture-postcard lagoon in the Cook Islands, for a few minutes when Captain Terrible ruined my plans for this story.
- [The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief](https://ramblings.nz/the-merry-cemetery/) - Anyone who tries to tell you death is no laughing matter clearly hasn’t been to Romania's Merry Cemetery.
- [Is this the world's strangest parade?](https://ramblings.nz/worlds-strangest-parade/) - The 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch, one of history’s most original artists, deserves a parade. But an ordinary parade just won’t do.
- [Please don’t press that button, Mr Trump](https://ramblings.nz/dont-press-that-button/) - Why I’m hoping against hope the US won’t go to war with Iran.
- [Bohemia's bagpipe festival in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/bagpipe-festival-in-pictures/) - Every two years the International Bagpipe Festival draws pipers from all over Europe to a small town in the Czech Republic.
- [Six things to do in Harar, Ethiopia, that don't involve hyenas](https://ramblings.nz/six-things-in-harar/) - If you find yourself in Harar, Ethiopia, but you don't fancy getting a back massage from a hyena: Relax. There's plenty of other things to do.
- [Another Samoa: Tramping in the tropics](https://ramblings.nz/tramping-in-the-tropics/) - Hikers' haven American Samoa is home to the only US national park in the Southern Hemisphere.
- [Fiji's Sawa-i-Lau Caves: 'Swim towards the light'](https://ramblings.nz/fijis-sawa-i-lau-caves-swim-towards-the-light/) - A trip to an underwater cave in the middle of an island pushes the author's most basic fear buttons.
- [15 things to do in American Samoa](https://ramblings.nz/15-things-to-do-in-american-samoa/) - American Samoa is just a short hop from Apia in the other Samoa, yet it’s so far off the Kiwi traveller’s radar it might as well be on another planet. But if you do end up in the only US territory south of the Equator, what can you do there? I decided to find out.
- [Romania's singing sheepdogs](https://ramblings.nz/romanias-singing-sheepdogs/) - One of my favourite experiences during my last visit to Romania involved a chance encounter with a shepherd, a pack of singing sheepdogs and a 19th-century-style road crash involving a horse-drawn cart.
- [American Samoa in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/american-samoa-in-pictures/) - American Samoa is so far under the radar even well-travelled friends looked at me blankly when I told them where I was going.
- [Walking with koalas](https://ramblings.nz/walking-with-koalas/) - Koala love-calls provide the sound track along the coast-hugging, 100km Great Ocean Walk in Victoria, Australia.
- [Best and worst hotels](https://ramblings.nz/best-and-worst-hotels/) - My pick of best and worst accommodation ranging from a flash eco-resort to a chicken coop.
- [Best Mideast stopover: Dubai or Oman?](https://ramblings.nz/best-mideast-stopover-dubai-or-oman/) - Your long-haul flight is touching down in Dubai and you want to make a stopover of it – but do you stay in the United Arab Emirates or head to nearby Oman? Here's my verdict.
- [A walk in another world](https://ramblings.nz/a-walk-in-another-world/) - Most Pacific islands lure visitors with promises of sun-soaked beaches — but on Atiu one of the biggest attractions is a place where the sun never shines, Anetakitaki Cave.
- [Meskel: Ethiopia's festival of fire](https://ramblings.nz/meskel-ethiopias-festival-of-fire/) - Nothing was going to stop me seeing one of Africa's most colourful festivals — or so I thought.
- [Rwanda in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/rwanda-in-pictures/) - A colourful, mountainous, densely populated country in the heart of Africa, Rwanda has made enormous strides since the 1994 genocide.
- [Samoa on two wheels](https://ramblings.nz/samoa-on-two-wheels/) - A guide to cycling around Savai'i, the bigger, less developed and more chilled-out of Samoa's two main islands.
- [The highwaymen of Hokianga](https://ramblings.nz/highwaymen-of-hokianga/) - Once a year the Wild West saddles up and rides into Waimamaku, in South Hokianga, for a day of highway robbery.
- [Uncovering Aitutaki’s hidden past](https://ramblings.nz/uncovering-aitutakis-hidden-past/) - One man has made it his mission to revive knowledge of pre-Christian ways on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands.
- [God's brewers](https://ramblings.nz/gods-brewers/) - Belgium's Trappist monks make some of the best beer in the world – but forget trying to watch these pious brewers at work.
- [Twin peaks: Walking Vanuatu's volcanoes](https://ramblings.nz/walking-vanuatus-volcanoes/) - Craters of boiling lava, lush rainforest, bizarre landscapes and charming Ni-Van guides make the walk over Ambrym's twin volcanoes one of the best overnight hikes in the Pacific.
- [Doing the island hop](https://ramblings.nz/doing-the-island-hop/) - Rainbow-coloured reefs, sunset tubing, fire dancing, Fijian hospitality and much more on an island-hopping trip through the Yasawa Islands.
- [Exploring Fiji on foot](https://ramblings.nz/exploring-fiji-on-foot/) - A hiking holiday in Fiji's spectacular Yasawa Islands.
- [Against the odds: Surviving the Burma railroad](https://ramblings.nz/surviving-the-burma-railroad/) - Seventy-five years after being conscripted into the Dutch East Army during World War II, a Northland man's service – and his ordeal on the notorious Burma railroad – has finally been recognised.
- [Lending a hand in Fiji](https://ramblings.nz/lending-a-hand-in-fiji/) - A "voluntourism" programme is improving lives in Fiji’s Yasawa Islands.
- [Where the sun rises](https://ramblings.nz/where-the-sun-rises/) - Travelling around East Cape in search of the easternmost pub in New Zealand - by bicycle.
- [Looking for Uncle Joe](https://ramblings.nz/looking-for-uncle-joe/) - Joseph Stalin is alive and well in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
- [The sound of metalwork](https://ramblings.nz/the-sound-of-metalwork/) - Old traditions are being revived in the mountain village of Lahic in Azerbaijan.
- [Stranded](https://ramblings.nz/stranded/) - Two mass strandings in a month push whale rescuers to the limit in New Zealand's Far North.
- [North Wales in 48-and-a-bit hours](https://ramblings.nz/north-wales-in-48-hours/) - Lots of castles, a very small house, a very long place name, some of the best scenery in Britain, and an astonishing 5000 years of history.
- [On an Italian mountain high](https://ramblings.nz/on-an-italian-mountain-high/) - In Italy’s Dolomite Mountains hiking doesn’t mean you have to go without the good things in life.
- [Dining with the dead](https://ramblings.nz/dining-with-the-dead/) - Memories of the dead live on in Georgia's extraordinary cemeteries.
- [Hong Kong in 48 hours](https://ramblings.nz/hong-kong-in-48-hours/) - Exploring Hong Kong’s hectic blend of east and west during an all too short stopover
- [In a corner of a foreign field](https://ramblings.nz/in-a-corner-of-a-foreign-field/) - The author discovers a piece of New Zealand in a corner of the former Soviet Union
- [Inside the Axis of Not-So-Evil](https://ramblings.nz/inside-the-axis-of-not-so-evil/) - Former US president George Bush dubbed it part of the Axis of Evil. Instead I found kindness, warmth and generosity, along with a young generation itching for freedom and a vast gulf between rulers and the ruled.
- [Best photos of 2019](https://ramblings.nz/best-photos-2019/) - For once picking my favourite photo of the year was easy.
- [Bushwalking in the Grampians](https://ramblings.nz/bushwalking-in-the-grampians/) - Wildlife abounds in the Grampian Mountains of northwestern Victoria.
- [Ethiopia in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/ethiopia-in-pictures/) - A photographic journey through one of the most fascinating countries on the planet, including the 12th century rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the colourful eastern city of Harar, and the spiritual epicentre of Axum — legendary home of the Ark of the Covenant.
- [Waitangi Day in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/waitangi-day-in-pictures/) - A selection of my favourite images from Waitangi Day, the anniversary of the signing of New Zealand's Treaty of Waitangi, taken since 2010.
- [Best photos of 2018](https://ramblings.nz/best-photos-of-2018/) - From a new Prime Minister's visit to a tearful whale stranding and a mass haka in the rain, these are a few of my favourite news photos of 2018.
- [Vanuatu in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/vanuatu-in-pictures/) - Vibrant coral reefs, lush rainforests, other-worldly landscapes created by active volcanoes, extraordinary homegrown religions untouched by missionaries, and some of the happiest people on Earth – welcome to Vanuatu.
- [Ethiopia's Meskel festival in pictures](https://ramblings.nz/ethiopias-meskel-festival-in-pictures/) - Once a year Ethiopia’s Christians celebrate what they say was the discovery of Christ’s cross more than 1600 years ago. All over the country they dress in brightly coloured robes, dance, sing, pray and build towering bonfires.

## Pages

- [About the author](https://ramblings.nz/about/) - Peter de Graaf is a reporter and occasional travel writer based in Kerikeri, New Zealand.

## Categories

- [New Zealand](https://ramblings.nz/category/new-zealand/)
- [Pacific](https://ramblings.nz/category/pacific/)
- [Asia](https://ramblings.nz/category/asia/)
- [Europe](https://ramblings.nz/category/europe/)
- [Middle East](https://ramblings.nz/category/middle-east/)
- [Africa](https://ramblings.nz/category/africa/)
- [Weird Travel](https://ramblings.nz/category/weird-travel/)
- [Caucasus](https://ramblings.nz/category/caucasus/)
- [Featured](https://ramblings.nz/category/featured/)
- [Top stories](https://ramblings.nz/category/top-stories/)
- [Photos](https://ramblings.nz/category/photos/)

## Tags

- [Tehran](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tehran/)
- [Iran](https://ramblings.nz/tag/iran/)
- [Battambang](https://ramblings.nz/tag/battambang/)
- [Cambodia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cambodia/)
- [bamboo train](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bamboo-train/)
- [railway journeys](https://ramblings.nz/tag/railway-journeys/)
- [Tanna](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tanna/)
- [Vanuatu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vanuatu/)
- [volcano](https://ramblings.nz/tag/volcano/)
- [tree house](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tree-house/)
- [Edmund Hillary](https://ramblings.nz/tag/edmund-hillary/)
- [Wales](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wales/)
- [Pen-y-Gwryd](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pen-y-gwryd/)
- [Snowdonia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/snowdonia/)
- [Pawarenga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pawarenga/)
- [Hokianga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hokianga/)
- [Whangape Harbour](https://ramblings.nz/tag/whangape-harbour/)
- [Te Aupouri](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-aupouri/)
- [Georgia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/georgia/)
- [Batumi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/batumi/)
- [Batumi Botanical Gardens](https://ramblings.nz/tag/batumi-botanical-gardens/)
- [New Zealand](https://ramblings.nz/tag/new-zealand/)
- [Albania](https://ramblings.nz/tag/albania/)
- [Kukës](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kukes/)
- [Tirana](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tirana/)
- [Blaenafon](https://ramblings.nz/tag/blaenafon/)
- [Big Pit](https://ramblings.nz/tag/big-pit/)
- [National Mining Museum](https://ramblings.nz/tag/national-mining-museum/)
- [Newport](https://ramblings.nz/tag/newport/)
- [Hong Kong](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hong-kong/)
- [Lantau Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lantau-island/)
- [Victoria Peak](https://ramblings.nz/tag/victoria-peak/)
- [cemeteries](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cemeteries/)
- [Italy](https://ramblings.nz/tag/italy/)
- [Dolomites](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dolomites/)
- [hiking](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hiking/)
- [Bolzano](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bolzano/)
- [Conwy](https://ramblings.nz/tag/conwy/)
- [Llandudno](https://ramblings.nz/tag/llandudno/)
- [Portmeirion](https://ramblings.nz/tag/portmeirion/)
- [Mt Snowdon](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mt-snowdon/)
- [Llanberis](https://ramblings.nz/tag/llanberis/)
- [Anglesey Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/anglesey-island/)
- [Caernarfon](https://ramblings.nz/tag/caernarfon/)
- [Tre’r Ceiri](https://ramblings.nz/tag/trer-ceiri/)
- [Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch](https://ramblings.nz/tag/llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch/)
- [Mt Yasur](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mt-yasur/)
- [Mt Everest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mt-everest/)
- [whales](https://ramblings.nz/tag/whales/)
- [stranding](https://ramblings.nz/tag/stranding/)
- [Spirits Bay](https://ramblings.nz/tag/spirits-bay/)
- [Karikari](https://ramblings.nz/tag/karikari/)
- [Far North](https://ramblings.nz/tag/far-north/)
- [Azerbaijan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/azerbaijan/)
- [Lahic](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lahic/)
- [Caucasus Mountains](https://ramblings.nz/tag/caucasus-mountains/)
- [Stalin](https://ramblings.nz/tag/stalin/)
- [Gori](https://ramblings.nz/tag/gori/)
- [waka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waka/)
- [Leiden](https://ramblings.nz/tag/leiden/)
- [Te Hono ki Aotearoa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-hono-ki-aotearoa/)
- [Waitangi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waitangi/)
- [Museum Volkenkunde](https://ramblings.nz/tag/museum-volkenkunde/)
- [cycling](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cycling/)
- [East Cape](https://ramblings.nz/tag/east-cape/)
- [Gisborne](https://ramblings.nz/tag/gisborne/)
- [Tikitiki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tikitiki/)
- [Tolaga Bay](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tolaga-bay/)
- [Tokomaru Bay](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tokomaru-bay/)
- [Fiji](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fiji/)
- [voluntourism](https://ramblings.nz/tag/voluntourism/)
- [Yasawa Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yasawa-islands/)
- [Vinaka Fiji](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vinaka-fiji/)
- [Northland](https://ramblings.nz/tag/northland/)
- [Ventnor](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ventnor/)
- [shipwreck](https://ramblings.nz/tag/shipwreck/)
- [Chinese](https://ramblings.nz/tag/chinese/)
- [Te Roroa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-roroa/)
- [Maori](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maori/)
- [Te Rarawa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-rarawa/)
- [World War II](https://ramblings.nz/tag/world-war-ii/)
- [Burma railroad](https://ramblings.nz/tag/burma-railroad/)
- [Dutch East Indies](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dutch-east-indies/)
- [snorkelling](https://ramblings.nz/tag/snorkelling/)
- [island hopping](https://ramblings.nz/tag/island-hopping/)
- [Ninety Mile Beach](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ninety-mile-beach/)
- [Te Paki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-paki/)
- [Great Walks](https://ramblings.nz/tag/great-walks/)
- [Cape Reinga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cape-reinga/)
- [Te Rerenga Wairua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-rerenga-wairua/)
- [Kapowairua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kapowairua/)
- [Ambrym](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ambrym/)
- [Cook Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cook-islands/)
- [Aitutaki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aitutaki/)
- [One Foot Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/one-foot-island/)
- [paradise](https://ramblings.nz/tag/paradise/)
- [Black Sea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/black-sea/)
- [Odessa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/odessa/)
- [Istanbul](https://ramblings.nz/tag/istanbul/)
- [prostitution](https://ramblings.nz/tag/prostitution/)
- [Ukraine](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ukraine/)
- [Turkey](https://ramblings.nz/tag/turkey/)
- [Moldova](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moldova/)
- [Hundertwasser](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hundertwasser/)
- [Netherlands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/netherlands/)
- [Kindervallei](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kindervallei/)
- [Valkenburg](https://ramblings.nz/tag/valkenburg/)
- [Wellington](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wellington/)
- [Whangarei](https://ramblings.nz/tag/whangarei/)
- [Atiu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/atiu/)
- [tumunu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tumunu/)
- [Belgium](https://ramblings.nz/tag/belgium/)
- [Trappist](https://ramblings.nz/tag/trappist/)
- [beer](https://ramblings.nz/tag/beer/)
- [Achelse Kluis](https://ramblings.nz/tag/achelse-kluis/)
- [Punarei Culture Tours](https://ramblings.nz/tag/punarei-culture-tours/)
- [Waitangi Treaty Grounds](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waitangi-treaty-grounds/)
- [Queen Victoria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/queen-victoria/)
- [Albert Victor Pomare](https://ramblings.nz/tag/albert-victor-pomare/)
- [Waimamaku](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waimamaku/)
- [Wild West](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wild-west/)
- [Pilsen](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pilsen/)
- [Plzeň](https://ramblings.nz/tag/plzen/)
- [Budweis](https://ramblings.nz/tag/budweis/)
- [Budvar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/budvar/)
- [Pilsner Urquell](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pilsner-urquell/)
- [Plzeňský Prazdroj](https://ramblings.nz/tag/plzensky-prazdroj/)
- [České Budějovice](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ceske-budejovice/)
- [Václav Havel](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vaclav-havel/)
- [brewing](https://ramblings.nz/tag/brewing/)
- [Ztohoven](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ztohoven/)
- [Miloš Zeman](https://ramblings.nz/tag/milos-zeman/)
- [underpants](https://ramblings.nz/tag/underpants/)
- [Prague castle](https://ramblings.nz/tag/prague-castle/)
- [Te Papa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-papa/)
- [Samoa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/samoa/)
- [Savai’i](https://ramblings.nz/tag/savaii/)
- [Saleaula](https://ramblings.nz/tag/saleaula/)
- [fa’a Samoa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/faa-samoa/)
- [Ethiopia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ethiopia/)
- [Lalibela](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lalibela/)
- [Axum](https://ramblings.nz/tag/axum/)
- [Harar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/harar/)
- [Addis Ababa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/addis-ababa/)
- [Rwanda](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rwanda/)
- [genocide](https://ramblings.nz/tag/genocide/)
- [Kigali](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kigali/)
- [Lake Kivu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lake-kivu/)
- [Gisenyi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/gisenyi/)
- [Kibuye](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kibuye/)
- [Volcanoes National Park](https://ramblings.nz/tag/volcanoes-national-park/)
- [Meskel](https://ramblings.nz/tag/meskel/)
- [caving](https://ramblings.nz/tag/caving/)
- [Anetakitaki Cave](https://ramblings.nz/tag/anetakitaki-cave/)
- [Dubai](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dubai/)
- [Oman](https://ramblings.nz/tag/oman/)
- [United Arab Emirates](https://ramblings.nz/tag/united-arab-emirates/)
- [Muscat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/muscat/)
- [Mutrah](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mutrah/)
- [telephone](https://ramblings.nz/tag/telephone/)
- [phone booth](https://ramblings.nz/tag/phone-booth/)
- [hotels](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hotels/)
- [Picos de Europa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/picos-de-europa/)
- [Spain](https://ramblings.nz/tag/spain/)
- [Transnistria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/transnistria/)
- [Romania](https://ramblings.nz/tag/romania/)
- [Tiraspol](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tiraspol/)
- [Chișinău](https://ramblings.nz/tag/chisinau/)
- [Dire Dawa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dire-dawa/)
- [wine](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wine/)
- [Mileștii Mici](https://ramblings.nz/tag/milestii-mici/)
- [Cricova](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cricova/)
- [world's biggest wine cellar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/worlds-biggest-wine-cellar/)
- [Australia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/australia/)
- [Victoria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/victoria/)
- [Great Ocean Walk](https://ramblings.nz/tag/great-ocean-walk/)
- [koala](https://ramblings.nz/tag/koala/)
- [12 Apostles](https://ramblings.nz/tag/12-apostles/)
- [American Samoa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/american-samoa/)
- [Tutuila](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tutuila/)
- [Pago Pago](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pago-pago/)
- [Maramureş](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maramures/)
- [Sighetu Marmației](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sighetu-marmatiei/)
- [sheepdogs](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sheepdogs/)
- [SAS](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sas/)
- [Te Auraki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-auraki/)
- [Malayan Emergency](https://ramblings.nz/tag/malayan-emergency/)
- [NZ Defence Force](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nz-defence-force/)
- [Ofu Beach](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ofu-beach/)
- [Fagatogo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fagatogo/)
- [Aunu’u Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aunuu-island/)
- [Tisa’s Barefoot Bar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tisas-barefoot-bar/)
- [Maskelyne Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maskelyne-islands/)
- [Efate](https://ramblings.nz/tag/efate/)
- [Port Vila](https://ramblings.nz/tag/port-vila/)
- [Sawa-i-Lau Caves](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sawa-i-lau-caves/)
- [Grampians](https://ramblings.nz/tag/grampians/)
- [kangaroos](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kangaroos/)
- [Halls Gap](https://ramblings.nz/tag/halls-gap/)
- [Grampians Peaks Trail](https://ramblings.nz/tag/grampians-peaks-trail/)
- [conservation](https://ramblings.nz/tag/conservation/)
- [whale rescue](https://ramblings.nz/tag/whale-rescue/)
- [haka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/haka/)
- [Richie McCaw](https://ramblings.nz/tag/richie-mccaw/)
- [Jimmy Cliff](https://ramblings.nz/tag/jimmy-cliff/)
- [Waitangi Day](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waitangi-day/)
- [Bay of Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bay-of-islands/)
- [Jacinda Ardern](https://ramblings.nz/tag/jacinda-ardern/)
- [Hekenukumai Puhipi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hekenukumai-puhipi/)
- [Treaty of Waitangi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/treaty-of-waitangi/)
- [Ilchi Lee](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ilchi-lee/)
- [Dahn yoga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dahn-yoga/)
- [Kerikeri](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kerikeri/)
- [Earth Village](https://ramblings.nz/tag/earth-village/)
- [Earth Citizens Organisation](https://ramblings.nz/tag/earth-citizens-organisation/)
- [Liechtenstein](https://ramblings.nz/tag/liechtenstein/)
- [San Marino](https://ramblings.nz/tag/san-marino/)
- [Kishinev](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kishinev/)
- [Orheiul Vecchi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/orheiul-vecchi/)
- [Old Orhei](https://ramblings.nz/tag/old-orhei/)
- [hyena](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hyena/)
- [Jugol](https://ramblings.nz/tag/jugol/)
- [walking](https://ramblings.nz/tag/walking/)
- [Maunganui Bluff](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maunganui-bluff/)
- [Ōmāpere](https://ramblings.nz/tag/omapere/)
- [Waimamaku Coastal Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waimamaku-coastal-track/)
- [Hokianga Coastal Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hokianga-coastal-track/)
- [Kai Iwi Lakes](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kai-iwi-lakes/)
- [Czech Republic](https://ramblings.nz/tag/czech-republic/)
- [Strakonice](https://ramblings.nz/tag/strakonice/)
- [bagpipes](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bagpipes/)
- [International Bagpipe Festival](https://ramblings.nz/tag/international-bagpipe-festival/)
- [tiny house](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tiny-house/)
- [food sovereignty](https://ramblings.nz/tag/food-sovereignty/)
- [Kohukohu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kohukohu/)
- [Rawene](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rawene/)
- [Motukauri](https://ramblings.nz/tag/motukauri/)
- [Faenza](https://ramblings.nz/tag/faenza/)
- [Musanze](https://ramblings.nz/tag/musanze/)
- [Ruhengeri](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ruhengeri/)
- [Lake Ruhondo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lake-ruhondo/)
- [Shiraz](https://ramblings.nz/tag/shiraz/)
- [Yazd](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yazd/)
- [Donald Trump](https://ramblings.nz/tag/donald-trump/)
- [Revolutionary Guard](https://ramblings.nz/tag/revolutionary-guard/)
- [Qom](https://ramblings.nz/tag/qom/)
- [Sir Hekenukumai Puhipi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sir-hekenukumai-puhipi/)
- [Hector Busby](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hector-busby/)
- [Sir Hek](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sir-hek/)
- [waka hourua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waka-hourua/)
- [Haami Piripi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/haami-piripi/)
- [Ngātokimatawhaorua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ngatokimatawhaorua/)
- [Hōkūle’a](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hokulea/)
- [Sir James Henare](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sir-james-henare/)
- [Voyage of Rediscovery](https://ramblings.nz/tag/voyage-of-rediscovery/)
- [Mau Piailug](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mau-piailug/)
- [Nainoa Thompson](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nainoa-thompson/)
- [Te Aurere](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-aurere/)
- [Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ngahiraka-mai-tawhiti/)
- [Polynesian Voyaging Society](https://ramblings.nz/tag/polynesian-voyaging-society/)
- [Transdniestria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/transdniestria/)
- [Pridnestrovie](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pridnestrovie/)
- [Bendery](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bendery/)
- [Kvint](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kvint/)
- [Sheriff Corporation](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sheriff-corporation/)
- [Den Bosch](https://ramblings.nz/tag/den-bosch/)
- [‘s-Hertogenbosch](https://ramblings.nz/tag/s-hertogenbosch/)
- [Hieronymus Bosch](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hieronymus-bosch/)
- [Bosch parade](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bosch-parade/)
- [Merry Cemetery](https://ramblings.nz/tag/merry-cemetery/)
- [Cimitirul Vesel](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cimitirul-vesel/)
- [Săpânţa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sapanta/)
- [Sighetu Maramaţiei](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sighetu-maramatiei/)
- [Czechia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/czechia/)
- [Mezinárodní dudácký festival](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mezinarodni-dudacky-festival/)
- [Brian Parkinson](https://ramblings.nz/tag/brian-parkinson/)
- [New Zealand flora and fauna](https://ramblings.nz/tag/new-zealand-flora-and-fauna/)
- [New Guinea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/new-guinea/)
- [Maiden Fair](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maiden-fair/)
- [Girl Fair](https://ramblings.nz/tag/girl-fair/)
- [Târgul de Fete](https://ramblings.nz/tag/targul-de-fete/)
- [Mount Găina](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mount-gaina/)
- [Tinder](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tinder/)
- [Avram Iancu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/avram-iancu/)
- [Apuseni Mountains](https://ramblings.nz/tag/apuseni-mountains/)
- [Te Araroa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-araroa/)
- [Puketi Forest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/puketi-forest/)
- [Raetea Forest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/raetea-forest/)
- [Omahuta Forest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/omahuta-forest/)
- [photography](https://ramblings.nz/tag/photography/)
- [Russell](https://ramblings.nz/tag/russell/)
- [Paihia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/paihia/)
- [Tuia 250](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tuia-250/)
- [Heaphy Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/heaphy-track/)
- [takahe](https://ramblings.nz/tag/takahe/)
- [Karamea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/karamea/)
- [Kahurangi National Park](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kahurangi-national-park/)
- [slavery](https://ramblings.nz/tag/slavery/)
- [blackbirding](https://ramblings.nz/tag/blackbirding/)
- [slave trade](https://ramblings.nz/tag/slave-trade/)
- [tramping](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tramping/)
- [Gouland Downs](https://ramblings.nz/tag/gouland-downs/)
- [Damascus](https://ramblings.nz/tag/damascus/)
- [Syria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/syria/)
- [Krak des Chevalliers](https://ramblings.nz/tag/krak-des-chevalliers/)
- [Arwad Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/arwad-island/)
- [Aleppo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aleppo/)
- [Palmyra](https://ramblings.nz/tag/palmyra/)
- [Deir az-Zor](https://ramblings.nz/tag/deir-az-zor/)
- [Maaloula](https://ramblings.nz/tag/maaloula/)
- [Hama](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hama/)
- [Aramaic](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aramaic/)
- [Dogubayazit](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dogubayazit/)
- [Ani](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ani/)
- [Erzurum](https://ramblings.nz/tag/erzurum/)
- [Hasankeyf](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hasankeyf/)
- [Kars](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kars/)
- [Diyarbakir](https://ramblings.nz/tag/diyarbakir/)
- [Mt Ararat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mt-ararat/)
- [Yusufeli](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yusufeli/)
- [Qazvin](https://ramblings.nz/tag/qazvin/)
- [Esfahan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/esfahan/)
- [Kandovan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kandovan/)
- [Persepolis](https://ramblings.nz/tag/persepolis/)
- [Kerman](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kerman/)
- [Chakchak](https://ramblings.nz/tag/chakchak/)
- [Zoroastrianism](https://ramblings.nz/tag/zoroastrianism/)
- [Portugal](https://ramblings.nz/tag/portugal/)
- [Santiago de Compostella](https://ramblings.nz/tag/santiago-de-compostella/)
- [Porto](https://ramblings.nz/tag/porto/)
- [Bilbao](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bilbao/)
- [Cares Gorge](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cares-gorge/)
- [Garganta del Cares](https://ramblings.nz/tag/garganta-del-cares/)
- [Bulnes](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bulnes/)
- [Ruta del Cares](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ruta-del-cares/)
- [Cares Trail](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cares-trail/)
- [Poncebos](https://ramblings.nz/tag/poncebos/)
- [Tongatapu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tongatapu/)
- [Tonga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tonga/)
- [Ha'apai Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/haapai-islands/)
- [Vava'u Islands](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vavau-islands/)
- [Nuku’alofa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nukualofa/)
- [Neiafu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/neiafu/)
- [Yugoslavia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yugoslavia/)
- [Montenegro](https://ramblings.nz/tag/montenegro/)
- [Bosnia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bosnia/)
- [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bosnia-and-herzegovina/)
- [Mostar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mostar/)
- [Sarajevo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sarajevo/)
- [Durmitor](https://ramblings.nz/tag/durmitor/)
- [Kosovo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kosovo/)
- [Prizren](https://ramblings.nz/tag/prizren/)
- [Budva](https://ramblings.nz/tag/budva/)
- [Tbilisi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tbilisi/)
- [Sakartvelo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sakartvelo/)
- [Kazbegi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kazbegi/)
- [Sighnaghi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sighnaghi/)
- [Caucasus](https://ramblings.nz/tag/caucasus/)
- [Hunedoara](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hunedoara/)
- [Corvin Castle](https://ramblings.nz/tag/corvin-castle/)
- [Hunyadi Castle](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hunyadi-castle/)
- [Hunedoara Steel Works](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hunedoara-steel-works/)
- [Transylvania](https://ramblings.nz/tag/transylvania/)
- [Baku](https://ramblings.nz/tag/baku/)
- [Lahij](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lahij/)
- [Şeki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/seki/)
- [Qobustan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/qobustan/)
- [Lenkeran](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lenkeran/)
- [Laos](https://ramblings.nz/tag/laos/)
- [Vientiane](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vientiane/)
- [Mekong River](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mekong-river/)
- [Vang Vieng](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vang-vieng/)
- [Luang Prabang](https://ramblings.nz/tag/luang-prabang/)
- [Attapeu](https://ramblings.nz/tag/attapeu/)
- [Plain of Jars](https://ramblings.nz/tag/plain-of-jars/)
- [Si Phan Don](https://ramblings.nz/tag/si-phan-don/)
- [Armenia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/armenia/)
- [Areni](https://ramblings.nz/tag/areni/)
- [Noah](https://ramblings.nz/tag/noah/)
- [Yerevan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yerevan/)
- [Nagorno-Karabakh](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nagorno-karabakh/)
- [Astrakh](https://ramblings.nz/tag/astrakh/)
- [Lake Sevan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lake-sevan/)
- [Debed Canyon](https://ramblings.nz/tag/debed-canyon/)
- [Tatev](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tatev/)
- [Sanahin](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sanahin/)
- [Geghard](https://ramblings.nz/tag/geghard/)
- [Norovank](https://ramblings.nz/tag/norovank/)
- [Haghpat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/haghpat/)
- [Mangamuka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mangamuka/)
- [Covid-19](https://ramblings.nz/tag/covid-19/)
- [coronavirus](https://ramblings.nz/tag/coronavirus/)
- [Dame Whina Cooper](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dame-whina-cooper/)
- [Panguru](https://ramblings.nz/tag/panguru/)
- [Battle of Kororāreka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/battle-of-kororareka/)
- [Kerikeri Fire Brigade](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kerikeri-fire-brigade/)
- [Tai Tokerau Border Control](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tai-tokerau-border-control/)
- [Haruru Falls](https://ramblings.nz/tag/haruru-falls/)
- [Otiria Marae](https://ramblings.nz/tag/otiria-marae/)
- [Otiria](https://ramblings.nz/tag/otiria/)
- [Moerewa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moerewa/)
- [Project Island Song](https://ramblings.nz/tag/project-island-song/)
- [wētāpunga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wetapunga/)
- [Marlborough Sounds](https://ramblings.nz/tag/marlborough-sounds/)
- [Picton](https://ramblings.nz/tag/picton/)
- [Endeavour Inlet](https://ramblings.nz/tag/endeavour-inlet/)
- [Furneaux Lodge](https://ramblings.nz/tag/furneaux-lodge/)
- [Affinity Cruises](https://ramblings.nz/tag/affinity-cruises/)
- [Queen Charlotte Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/queen-charlotte-track/)
- [Ship Cove](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ship-cove/)
- [Motuara Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/motuara-island/)
- [Kenepuru Sound](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kenepuru-sound/)
- [Anakiwa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/anakiwa/)
- [Pike River Mine](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pike-river-mine/)
- [Paparoa Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/paparoa-track/)
- [Paparoa National Park](https://ramblings.nz/tag/paparoa-national-park/)
- [Greymouth](https://ramblings.nz/tag/greymouth/)
- [Moonlight Tops](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moonlight-tops/)
- [Pike29 Memorial Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pike29-memorial-track/)
- [Punakaiki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/punakaiki/)
- [Blackball](https://ramblings.nz/tag/blackball/)
- [Croesus Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/croesus-track/)
- [Banat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/banat/)
- [Rovensko](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rovensko/)
- [Balkans](https://ramblings.nz/tag/balkans/)
- [Tutamoe](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tutamoe/)
- [Te Raupua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-raupua/)
- [Raetea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/raetea/)
- [Kaipara](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kaipara/)
- [peakbagging](https://ramblings.nz/tag/peakbagging/)
- [Westport](https://ramblings.nz/tag/westport/)
- [Old Ghost Road](https://ramblings.nz/tag/old-ghost-road/)
- [Lyell](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lyell/)
- [Mokihinui River](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mokihinui-river/)
- [Seddonville](https://ramblings.nz/tag/seddonville/)
- [Westland](https://ramblings.nz/tag/westland/)
- [Ghost Lake](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ghost-lake/)
- [Bagratid Empire](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bagratid-empire/)
- [Moturua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moturua/)
- [giant wētā](https://ramblings.nz/tag/giant-weta/)
- [Urupukapuka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/urupukapuka/)
- [Motuarohia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/motuarohia/)
- [weta](https://ramblings.nz/tag/weta/)
- [Czechoslovakia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/czechoslovakia/)
- [South Bohemia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/south-bohemia/)
- [Vltava](https://ramblings.nz/tag/vltava/)
- [Novohradské hory](https://ramblings.nz/tag/novohradske-hory/)
- [Prague](https://ramblings.nz/tag/prague/)
- [Český Krumlov](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cesky-krumlov/)
- [Charles Bridge](https://ramblings.nz/tag/charles-bridge/)
- [Temelín](https://ramblings.nz/tag/temelin/)
- [Šumava](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sumava/)
- [Croatia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/croatia/)
- [Macedonia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/macedonia/)
- [Hungary](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hungary/)
- [USA](https://ramblings.nz/tag/usa/)
- [Shkodra](https://ramblings.nz/tag/shkodra/)
- [Krujë](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kruje/)
- [Butrint](https://ramblings.nz/tag/butrint/)
- [Saranda](https://ramblings.nz/tag/saranda/)
- [Berat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/berat/)
- [Elbasan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/elbasan/)
- [Gjirokastra](https://ramblings.nz/tag/gjirokastra/)
- [Slovenia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/slovenia/)
- [Ljubljana](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ljubljana/)
- [Kake Bohinj](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kake-bohinj/)
- [Julian Alps](https://ramblings.nz/tag/julian-alps/)
- [Rab](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rab/)
- [Baška](https://ramblings.nz/tag/baska/)
- [Hvar](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hvar/)
- [Trogir](https://ramblings.nz/tag/trogir/)
- [Korčula](https://ramblings.nz/tag/korcula/)
- [Dubrovnik](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dubrovnik/)
- [Peja](https://ramblings.nz/tag/peja/)
- [Lake Ohrid](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lake-ohrid/)
- [Baščaršija](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bascarsija/)
- [Phnom Penh](https://ramblings.nz/tag/phnom-penh/)
- [Angkor Wat](https://ramblings.nz/tag/angkor-wat/)
- [Angkor Thom](https://ramblings.nz/tag/angkor-thom/)
- [Siem Reap](https://ramblings.nz/tag/siem-reap/)
- [Bokor National Park](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bokor-national-park/)
- [Ta Prohm](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ta-prohm/)
- [Khmer Rouge](https://ramblings.nz/tag/khmer-rouge/)
- [Choeung Ek](https://ramblings.nz/tag/choeung-ek/)
- [Killing Fields](https://ramblings.nz/tag/killing-fields/)
- [Eindhoven](https://ramblings.nz/tag/eindhoven/)
- [Dutch waka](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dutch-waka/)
- [Koninginnedag](https://ramblings.nz/tag/koninginnedag/)
- [Koningsdag](https://ramblings.nz/tag/koningsdag/)
- [Hauraki Gulf](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hauraki-gulf/)
- [Pakatoa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pakatoa/)
- [Paku](https://ramblings.nz/tag/paku/)
- [Coromandel](https://ramblings.nz/tag/coromandel/)
- [Auckland](https://ramblings.nz/tag/auckland/)
- [Snowdonia National Park](https://ramblings.nz/tag/snowdonia-national-park/)
- [Nant Gwynant](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nant-gwynant/)
- [Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pen-y-gwryd-hotel/)
- [Eygpt](https://ramblings.nz/tag/eygpt/)
- [Aswan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aswan/)
- [Cairo](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cairo/)
- [City of the Dead](https://ramblings.nz/tag/city-of-the-dead/)
- [Kom Ombo Temple](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kom-ombo-temple/)
- [Siwa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/siwa/)
- [Giza](https://ramblings.nz/tag/giza/)
- [Sinai](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sinai/)
- [St Catherine's Monastery](https://ramblings.nz/tag/st-catherines-monastery/)
- [Mount Sinai](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mount-sinai/)
- [Kutná Hora](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kutna-hora/)
- [Sedlec Ossuary](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sedlec-ossuary/)
- [Sedlec Abbey](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sedlec-abbey/)
- [Bohemia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bohemia/)
- [Crimea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/crimea/)
- [Lviv](https://ramblings.nz/tag/lviv/)
- [Kyiv](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kyiv/)
- [Sevastopol](https://ramblings.nz/tag/sevastopol/)
- [Yalta](https://ramblings.nz/tag/yalta/)
- [Bakhchysarai](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bakhchysarai/)
- [Chernivtsi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/chernivtsi/)
- [Hongerwinter](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hongerwinter/)
- [Hunger Winter](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hunger-winter/)
- [Holland](https://ramblings.nz/tag/holland/)
- [Amsterdam](https://ramblings.nz/tag/amsterdam/)
- [Hollyford](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hollyford/)
- [Te Anau](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-anau/)
- [Queenstown](https://ramblings.nz/tag/queenstown/)
- [Fiordland](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fiordland/)
- [Milford Sound](https://ramblings.nz/tag/milford-sound/)
- [Martins Bay](https://ramblings.nz/tag/martins-bay/)
- [Great Barrier Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/great-barrier-island/)
- [Mt Hobson](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mt-hobson/)
- [Hirakimata](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hirakimata/)
- [kākā](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kaka/)
- [Claris](https://ramblings.nz/tag/claris/)
- [Tryphena](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tryphena/)
- [Aotea Track](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aotea-track/)
- [werewere-kōkako](https://ramblings.nz/tag/werewere-kokako/)
- [Jordan](https://ramblings.nz/tag/jordan/)
- [Petra](https://ramblings.nz/tag/petra/)
- [Amman](https://ramblings.nz/tag/amman/)
- [Wadi Rum](https://ramblings.nz/tag/wadi-rum/)
- [Bedouin](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bedouin/)
- [Famine](https://ramblings.nz/tag/famine/)
- [Arnhem](https://ramblings.nz/tag/arnhem/)
- [Achterhoek](https://ramblings.nz/tag/achterhoek/)
- [Kaitaia](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kaitaia/)
- [Mangamuka Gorge](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mangamuka-gorge/)
- [Tautoko FM](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tautoko-fm/)
- [mountain biking](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mountain-biking/)
- [King Country](https://ramblings.nz/tag/king-country/)
- [Timber Trail](https://ramblings.nz/tag/timber-trail/)
- [Pureora Forest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/pureora-forest/)
- [Ngā Haerenga](https://ramblings.nz/tag/nga-haerenga/)
- [Ōngarue](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ongarue/)
- [Tangihua](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tangihua/)
- [Hikurangi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hikurangi/)
- [Moturoa Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moturoa-island/)
- [kiwi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kiwi/)
- [Aoraki](https://ramblings.nz/tag/aoraki/)
- [Mount Cook](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mount-cook/)
- [Southern Alps](https://ramblings.nz/tag/southern-alps/)
- [Mueller Hut](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mueller-hut/)
- [kea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kea/)
- [Ōpua Forest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/opua-forest/)
- [Moturua Island](https://ramblings.nz/tag/moturua-island/)
- [Mangahawea](https://ramblings.nz/tag/mangahawea/)
- [Ngāpuhi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ngapuhi/)
- [Kaikohe](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kaikohe/)
- [Bay Chronicle](https://ramblings.nz/tag/bay-chronicle/)
- [Northern News](https://ramblings.nz/tag/northern-news/)
- [Rogers Photo Archive](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rogers-photo-archive/)
- [Fairfax](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fairfax/)
- [Stuff](https://ramblings.nz/tag/stuff/)
- [Procter Library](https://ramblings.nz/tag/procter-library/)
- [Fairfax Archive](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fairfax-archive/)
- [Daniel Miller](https://ramblings.nz/tag/daniel-miller/)
- [rugby](https://ramblings.nz/tag/rugby/)
- [Tarara](https://ramblings.nz/tag/tarara/)
- [Dalmatians](https://ramblings.nz/tag/dalmatians/)
- [hīkoi](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hikoi/)
- [protest](https://ramblings.nz/tag/protest/)
- [Kawakawa](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kawakawa/)
- [Toyota Corolla](https://ramblings.nz/tag/toyota-corolla/)
- [transport](https://ramblings.nz/tag/transport/)
- [cars](https://ramblings.nz/tag/cars/)
- [Ans Westra](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ans-westra/)
- [te ao Māori](https://ramblings.nz/tag/te-ao-maori/)
- [arts](https://ramblings.nz/tag/arts/)
- [wa'a](https://ramblings.nz/tag/waa/)
- [ocean voyaging](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ocean-voyaging/)
- [Hawaii](https://ramblings.nz/tag/hawaii/)
- [Kelly Tarlton](https://ramblings.nz/tag/kelly-tarlton/)
- [ships](https://ramblings.nz/tag/ships/)
- [shipwrecks](https://ramblings.nz/tag/shipwrecks/)
- [treasure](https://ramblings.nz/tag/treasure/)
- [fire](https://ramblings.nz/tag/fire/)