So you’re coming to Auckland! Auckland’s an interesting city. It’s a cosmopolitan metropolis of 1.4 million people, and it has everything, but on a small scale. Designer shops, shopping malls, beaches, concerts, all cuisines, festivals – it’s all here – just not everywhere and just not all the time. Each part of Auckland is quite

Read More

It happens to me everywhere I go. I’ll be having a conversation with some mates at the hostel and, forgetting I’m not in New Zealand, I’ll say something like… “Yeah nah bro, I reckon that’s all good, cheap as for a mean as feed like that!” And they’ll all stare at me in silence, as

Read More

It was late August when I signed up for the race. Nine weeks out. Part of me didn’t really believe I could do it. But, part of me did. That was the only part that mattered. There’s a long backstory to why I signed up for this race. I was battling a skin condition called

Read More

This post is a part of my Sponsored Reader series. As a long time user and ambassador of their Airpoints credit cards, American Express kindly invited me to enjoy this Chef Series event for American Express Restaurant Month in Auckland. I sent my reader May and a friend to enjoy 3 hours of eating with one

Read More

It’s true – New Zealand is a great place to visit. However, people always seem to have one major complaint about my home country – it’s too expensive. And this, is also true. After many years of travel, I can confirm that New Zealand, particularly the big cities, are some of the most expensive places

Read More

Auckland is a city that raised me. I grew up here – playing soccer on these fields, stealing sour bears out of the supermarket bins, catching those never-on-time buses to school. I am an Aucklander. Yet every year I come back to this city and become more disenchanted. There are a few new restaurants, a

Read More

There is a feeling you get when you surf. It’s a mixture of many feelings – the spray of salt water in your face, the thrill of zooming across an open wave, the sight of a curving ocean spreading in front of you, the sound of your heart pumping faster and faster against your rib

Read More

“What are you cooking?” “It’s like a potato soup thing.” “Is that like, a German thing?” “Yeah.” She had a pretty smile. Really straight teeth, too. I always liked girls with straight teeth. I turned back to my chicken, steaming slowly in my pan. Hostel kitchens are always interesting. Everyone’s trying to cook something healthy,

Read More