A Home Free Global Life
The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine region with many of these vineyards featuring vines that are over a century old. We based ourselves in the small town of Cessnock, in the heart of the wine growing region. With roughly 120 wineries less than 30 minutes from our house, Read more
We came to Sydney for a little ‘vacation’ to celebrate a friend’s 70th birthday. David and Di live a few hours south of Sydney and when we knew our Australia dates I messaged them to arrange getting together. We had hoped to spend a few days with them but they were leaving on a two month travel adventure. Read more
Getting to Canberra became a challenge with increasing fuel shortages and flight cancellations in this part of the world. I don’t know why Air New Zealand cancelled our flight from Auckland to Sydney, Australia with 18 hours notice but it got us scrambling. Read more
For our final stop of this seven week journey on the north island we spent 4 days in the picturesque coastal village of Ngunguru, tucked away on the Tutukaka Coast, about 3 hours north of Auckland. It’s a place known for dramatic headlands and pristine beaches. Read more
From Waipapa we drove 2 hours north to our most northerly destination in New Zealand. We are staying on a Protea flower farm in the countryside, not really close to anything at all. This was the most northerly place we could find accommodation in order to visit Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach, Read more
Continuing our journey north the next stop was a small farm just outside Waipapa, not far from Bay of Islands. We visited the Bay of Islands in 2023 during our cruise from Vancouver, Canada to Sydney, Australia and found it so beautiful we wanted to return. Waipapa is a growing rural settlement in the Far North District and while it serves primarily as a shopping hub for the area, it is surround by rolling hills, orchards, cattle and sheep farms, and historic landmarks. Read more
Whangaparaoa is a scenic, 11 km long peninsula reaching into the Hauraki Gulf and it’s common to see orcas or dolphins in the surrounding waters. You can walk from one side of the peninsula to the other in about 20 minutes. Located at the tip is Shakespear Regional Park with one of New Zealand’s most visited open sanctuaries. Read more
Instead of the hustle and bustle of a city we opted for the rural quiet of Hastings in the Hawke’s Bay Wine Region. It’s our first time exploring this part of New Zealand and we ended up on a charming small farm tucked between sprawling apple orchards and sun-drenched wineries. It’s the perfect place, Read more