New Zealand: A night in a rural Maori family lodge

After lunch in Te Puia (see previous New Zealand posts), we next headed out into the very rural countryside, to the Kohutapu Tribal Lodge, where we’d have a communal Maori meal and stay the night. On the way to the lodge, we stopped for a brief hike to some stone carvings made by the original…

New Zealand: Te Puia Maori center

We didn’t have far to go the next day, so we had an easy, 10AM start in Rotorua (see previous New Zealand posts). Piling back into the bus, we rode the short distance to the Te Puia Maori complex, featuring a “living village;” an outstanding cultural center; traditional schools you can tour (e.g. watching master…

Mar 9 newsletter now available

The final batches of New Zealand pix are almost ready; but meanwhile, the newest AskWoody Plus newsletter is also now available! In this issue: ON SECURITY: How small businesses are easy ransomware targets BEST OF THE LOUNGE: Deleting a stubborn file in Windows 7 LANGALIST: Is your deleted cloud data really gone? APPLE MAC: Switchers: Taking a bite of the Apple – Part…

“Fantastic photos!!! What camera did you use?”

There are more New Zealand photos and text to come (see previous New Zealand posts), but the first batches generated some comments and questions like this one from reader Nikos: “Fantastic photos!!! What camera did you use?” Thanks! This was actually my first major trip were I didn’t pack a standard, self-contained,”prosumer” camera. I took…

New Zealand: Rotorua

Rotorua was to be our base of operations for the day, as members of our group scattered off to different prearranged and ad-hoc activities and locations. (See previous New Zealand posts.) My wife went to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves; where bioluminescent fungus gnat larvae dot the walls and ceilings. I went on a self-guided…

New Zealand: Te Whanganui-A-Hei… and Hobbiton

After a reasonably comfortable night in a small cabin (see previous New Zealand posts), we joined the group for breakfast — fixings for make-your-own hot or cold breakfasts are included in the Haka tour; but lunches and dinners are on your own — and then we headed out for a long and interesting day. First,…

New Zealand: Auckland to Coromandel

We’d signed up with Haka Tours for their “North Island Adventure Tour;” scheduled to originate at breakfast at a backpacker’s hostel in Auckland. Early Sunday morning, we Uber-ed from our airport hotel to the hostel. (There’s no Lyft in NZ, and I had trouble setting up the local rideshare company accounts — Ola, Zoomy, etc….

Mar 2 Newsletter Available

More New Zealand pix are on the way; but meanwhile, the newest AskWoody Plus newsletter is now available. In this issue: LANGALIST: How to tell if software truly needs updating BEST OF THE LOUNGE: Speeding up an older laptop PATCH WATCH: Questions on controlling Windows 10 updating OFFICE: Managing multiple email accounts in Outlook BEST UTILITIES: Freeware Spotlight — KillEmAll Don’t miss…

New Zealand: Day 1

It took 2 flights and 22 hours in the air to travel the approximately 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Boston to New Zealand via San Francisco. We left Boston on a Thursday afternoon, and touched down in Auckland around dawn Saturday. The domestic flight, Boston to San Francisco, was on United; cattle car seating with stroopwafels…

Need a vacation? I sure did.

I just got back from an 18-day trip to New Zealand. It was wonderful. For example, this was the view behind our first-night’s hotel, just outside Auckland: It got better from there. 🙂 Over the next few days, I’ll post some notes and pix from the trip which I hope will ease any winter blahs…