Mike Yardley: Hot & Steamy in Rotorua
(Photo / Supplied) Sat, 17 Jul 2021, 12:21PM
Few New Zealand destinations offer such a therapeutic, embracing antidote to winter’s bracing chill quite like the geothermal dreamscape of Rotorua. The bubbling mud, hissing geysers and steaming hot springs was a most cathartic, multi-sensory change of scenery to warm my South Island cockles. It’s bewitching to gaze at all that steam, coiling like a phantom as it rises from the earth’s cracks – as compelling as Rotorua’s eggy, pervasive fragrance. The thrills are free at the gorgeously landscaped Kuirau Park, where it’s crater lake ensures the mud keeps boiling and the steam keeps huffing, at every turn. They’ve even developed some free hot footbaths at Kuirau Park, which I gleefully dipped my toes in, for a fleeting warm-up.
Mike Yardley: Port Douglas on a Plate
(Photo / Supplied) Sat, 3 Jul 2021, 11:44AM
Tootling up the Captain Cook Highway, the turn-off to swanky Port Douglas soon beckoned. To the locals, they simply call it “Port,” a fashionable destination for visitors seeking respite from cooler climes for decades – including myself! Fortunes have waxed and waned here. Gone are the high-stakes days when dodgy Christopher Skase unveiled his flashy five-star Sheraton Mirage Resort in the head rush of the 80s’, transforming the small fishing village into a tropical playground for the rich and famous. Today, Port Douglas is like a stroppy starlet that has grown-up into a more mature and grounded luminary. She feels relaxed, upmarket and utterly comfortable in her own skin. I loved taking long walks along the divine crescent-shaped sweep of Four Mile Beach, fringed with coconut palms and decked in soft golden sands.
No matter how often you visit the Capital, one of life’s great truths is that Wellington is a gorge-fest. An enchantingly compact city crammed with culture
Mike Yardley: Eats & Beats in Auckland
Mike Yardley: Eats & Beats in Auckland Sat, 17 Apr 2021, 11:11AM
Basking in the after-glow of Emirates Team New Zealand’s triumphant defence of the America’s Cup, the waterfront bars and eateries strung around Viaduct Harbour and Wynyard Quarter were doing a brisk trade in the golden autumn weather, whenever I headed out for a revitalising stroll. Auckland’s centre of gravity, it’s heart and soul, comes with a waterfront view, whether you’re overlooking Westhaven Marina or at Britomart. An essential dining destination to savour is Homeland, which is far more than just an eatery, but a self-described food embassy. It is an edible billboard for terrific food, encompassing a dining room, cooking school and innovation hub. Headed up by Peter Gordon and Alistair Carruthers, this radiant venue embraces New Zealand producers, teaches people to cook, is a staunch cheerleader for buying local and promoting local producer
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