Extracts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing Around New Zealand

…North from Wellington off Highway 1 is Paraparaumu Beach

The Paraparaumu Golf Club course…though rather short…has punishing roughs, fast greens and fearsome bunkers…Just pray for a calm day as forceful coastal winds off the Tasman Sea give Paraparaumu “big teeth” to gobble up any hope of a good score.

The history of its development is unique… Continue Reading »

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Excerpts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing around New Zealand

New Zealand’s South Island is noted for a superb eco-tourism area — the Catlins. A 60,000 hectare place of awesome natural beauty, ranging from deserted beaches, dense forests, deep valleys, spectacular waterfalls and great walking tracks. There’s always a chance to view myriad native birds, sea elephants, leopard seals, sealions, New Zealand fur seals, Hector’s dolphins and our favourite – penguins… Continue Reading »

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Excerpts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing around New Zealand

Hopeful of a pleasant afternoon, we purchase tickets in Christchurch to ride the Tranz-Alpine Express through the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps for an afternoon at Greymouth on the West Coast. A local old-timer at the station tells us the train is a bit of a bone-rattler and he’s not far from wrong. After some jolts and bumps, the train sets out across those pastoral Plains and gradually climbs up into the majestic mountains.

Suddenly the train violently lurches…  Continue Reading »

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Excerpts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing around New Zealand

Driving the high country Crown Range Road in Central Otago we soon find ourselves on what was once a Maori trail that later seemed to be paved in gold…Along the way we pass what, at first, looks like Tibetan prayer flags strung out on a wire fence alongside the road. A second look defies belief. Continue Reading »

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Extracts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing Around New Zealand

As often happens during an unplanned road trip, we stop at the first accommodation sign we see when we’re ready to call it quits. At Murchison we lay claim to the last available cottage…closely beating out another couple caught in the competition for limited accommodation but perhaps they were the lucky ones… Continue Reading »

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Excerpts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing around New Zealand

…Play a different course almost every day of a two-week vacation on the Coromandel Peninsula and still have plenty of time to swim, stroll long stretches of soft sand beach and visit the many small towns that dot the 72-kilometre coastal circuit then head south to Rotorua’s really, really hot spots! Continue Reading »

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Extracts from Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing Around New Zealand

What could possibly go wrong? It’s a perfect mid-October spring morning in New Zealand with the sun beaming down from a cloudless sky. Heading north from the Auckland airport with golf clubs safely stowed in “Silver,” our Toyota hatchback rental, Geoff and I are all set to play a round of golf before day’s end. No problem. Continue Reading »

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