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

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Hokianga

New Zealand 

One man’s war: A Hokianga soldier remembers

May 29, 2019September 20, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Faenza, Hokianga, Italy, Kohukohu, Motukauri, Rawene, World War II

Bill Guest only left North Hokianga once and reckons it was only luck that brought him back alive. The 96-year-old veteran shares some of the horror, and humour, of World War II.

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New Zealand 

Kiwi couple’s answer to the housing crisis: A tiny house on a trailer

May 28, 2019September 20, 2020 pdg 0 Comments food sovereignty, Hokianga, Northland, tiny house

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.

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New Zealand Top stories 

Walking New Zealand’s Hokianga Coastal Track

April 20, 2019January 2, 2021 pdg 3 Comments hiking, Hokianga, Hokianga Coastal Track, Kai Iwi Lakes, Maunganui Bluff, Ōmāpere, Waimamaku Coastal Track, walking

Three days of wildly beautiful coastline — and chances are you won’t have to share it with anyone.

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New Zealand Weird Travel 

The highwaymen of Hokianga

May 22, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Hokianga, Northland, Waimamaku, Wild West

Once a year the Wild West saddles up and rides into Waimamaku for a day of highway robbery.

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Asia New Zealand 

Peace at last for shipwreck’s ‘hungry ghosts’

May 15, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Chinese, Hokianga, Maori, Northland, shipwreck, Te Rarawa, Te Roroa, Ventnor

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”.

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New Zealand 

Journey to the end of the map

May 9, 2018May 15, 2018 pdg 0 Comments Hokianga, Northland, Pawarenga, Te Aupouri, Whangape Harbour

I’ve never been able to resist places at the end of the map. Show me a dead-end road, a peninsula or a cape, and I’ll show you somewhere alluring and mysterious.

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About the author

Kia ora and welcome to Ramblings, a random collection of travel yarns, stories and photographs 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

Top news photos of 2020
New Zealand Photos 

Top news photos of 2020

January 2, 2021January 2, 2021 pdg 0

A global pandemic, iwi-led Covid checkpoints, Waitangi Day festivities, politics, record-breaking rainfall, floods and fires — 2020 had it all.

Armenia in pictures
Caucasus Photos 

Armenia in pictures

October 10, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Laos in pictures
Asia Photos 

Laos in pictures

September 27, 2020October 1, 2020 pdg 0
Azerbaijan in pictures
Caucasus Photos Top stories 

Azerbaijan in pictures

August 9, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0

WEIRD TRAVEL

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, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 3

It has everything you’d ever want in a medieval castle. There’s only one problem: It’s in the middle of a giant steel mill.

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
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

PHOTOS

Top news photos of 2020
New Zealand Photos 

Top news photos of 2020

January 2, 2021January 2, 2021 pdg 0

A global pandemic, iwi-led Covid checkpoints, Waitangi Day festivities, politics, record-breaking rainfall, floods and fires — 2020 had it all.

Armenia in pictures
Caucasus Photos 

Armenia in pictures

October 10, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Laos in pictures
Asia Photos 

Laos in pictures

September 27, 2020October 1, 2020 pdg 0
Azerbaijan in pictures
Caucasus Photos Top stories 

Azerbaijan in pictures

August 9, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0
Georgia in pictures
Caucasus Photos 

Georgia in pictures

July 5, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 2
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