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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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Northland

Photos 

Best photos of 2019

January 3, 2020April 26, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand, Northland, Paihia, photography, Russell, Sir Hekenukumai Puhipi, Tuia 250, Waitangi

For once picking my favourite photo of the year was easy.

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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 Photos 

Best photos of 2018

January 24, 2019 pdg 0 Comments haka, Jimmy Cliff, Northland, Richie McCaw, Waitangi, whale rescue

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.

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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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New Zealand 

Godson to the Queen

May 21, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Albert Victor Pomare, Northland, Queen Victoria, Waitangi Treaty Grounds

The fascinating and little-known tale of how Queen Victoria came to have a Māori godson.

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New Zealand 

Te Paki: New Zealand’s top hike

May 17, 2018January 2, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Cape Reinga, Great Walks, hiking, Kapowairua, Ninety Mile Beach, Northland, Spirits Bay, Te Paki, Te Rerenga Wairua

Could the Te Paki Coastal Track around New Zealand’s northern tip qualify as a Great Walk? I decided to brave the mosquitoes to find out.

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Asia New Zealand 

Against the odds: Surviving the Burma railroad

May 16, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Burma railroad, Dutch East Indies, Northland, World War II

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.

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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 

An everlasting link

May 13, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Leiden, Museum Volkenkunde, Northland, Te Hono ki Aotearoa, Waitangi, waka

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.

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New Zealand 

Stranded

May 12, 2018September 19, 2020 pdg 2 Comments Karikari, New Zealand, Northland, Spirits Bay, stranding, whales

Two mass strandings in a month push whale rescuers to the limit in New Zealand’s Far North.

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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 0
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