Category - Humor

There were no fireworks or drone shows. No BBQs or red-, white- and blue-saturated parades. But Old Glory was flying full-mast from a post near the Curvey Basin ski lift, a nod to the 247th birthday of U.S. independence. It was a strange juxtaposition, being otherwise surrounded by a sun-drenched cold, skis scraping along on packed-down snow. But here we were, Yanks skiing on the Fourth of July: hitting the slopes, New Zealand style. Alpine skiing on the Fourth is considered a unique experience for Americans living in the southern hemisphere. However, due to epic snowfalls intrepid snow-lovers could shred…

A nation of islands the size of Colorado in the South Pacific is pretty remote. In fact, New Zealand’s nearest serious landfall is more than 900 miles away (Tasmania). But Aotearoa is far from lost at sea. Being part of the Commonwealth, one may wonder if we’d be stuck with British cuisine, food that isn’t known for Michelin ratings. That answer is yes. But is New Zealand stuck in a rut with beans on toast and bangers and mash? Definitely not. Food is fresh, varied and sometimes surprising. From waffles to whitebait: New Zealand has the cravings covered. The numbers…

We are small-town people. My husband and I grew up in a town of 2,500. Despite proximity to a larger city with restaurants, malls, and the Chicago Cubs farm team, our hometown felt eons away from all the hustle and bustle. There was (and still is) a grain elevator in sore need of a paint job, a quaint town “triangle” (I guess we didn’t qualify for a whole “square.”), and everyone knew everyone else. It was familiar, a bit shabby, and not-quite-with-it…like a favorite pair of old sweatpants. So we were more than pleased when we relocated, and got a…

The joke is on us now. Not ha-ha as in Jim Gaffigan’s “eat fresh” routine, but ironic ha-ha. New Zealand Rock-N-Roll leaves me quaking in my boots. Not the rock and roll played live in pubs and at the theatre (the ABBA tribute band was great fun!). But the kind that causes the whole south island to shift in the wee hours of the morning. Every place has its potential for earthly disaster. Whether it be wildfires, hurricanes or earthquakes (to name a few), you can’t escape that dark looming cloud that can change your world in a heartbeat. When…

In one of my previous posts, I shared our family’s first coast-to-coast journey across (and the first glimpse of) the south island of New Zealand. I couldn’t have known then how often we would take that same breathtaking route over the coming year: As I write this, it is a year to the day that we made that road trip, and I am in disbelief that a year can vanish so quickly. Our family has experienced so much, yet so little, in that time. So today, one year in, I’d like to share some impressions on our New Zealand adventure…

It was way too early to be set free, even by AARP member standards. My husband and I, a very early riser and a regular riser, respectively, felt our wagons a-draggin.’ And not just because we were leaving the comfort of the Stamford penthouse, but because it was Really. Damn. Early. Even release from quarantine wasn’t enough to cull our three teens out of bed. But it was time…14 days, 20 negative COVID tests and 42 ample meals (plus “tea” snacks) later…to start our coast to coast adventure. Our destination was Greymouth, a town on the Tasman Sea, on the…

Welcome to Auckland the overhead sign proclaimed as we made our way through customs. The city we will not see, again. Twice my husband and I have landed in Auckland, the City of Sails, never to have experienced it. The first time we had a layover on our way to Australia, too tired to care we were in New Zealand. Now, the second time, we would be heading straight for a hotel for the two weeks of quarantine required because of Covid. It may have been mid-morning, but the bus to our downtown digs took us past nearly-deserted streets. Little…