When is a road trip not a road trip?
In which our plans are thwarted and our road trip revised.
Plenty in Pongaroa
Route 52 between Weber and Pongaroa wound on and on. There was paddock after paddock, sheep, lots of sheep, flowering broom, the occasional farm house (rare but we did see one or two), very few other cars on the road (make that three), and no shops, no service […]
Jill’s Scene is Back On The Scene
Jill’s Scene has been off the scene since going tropical back in November. But this month sees us out and about, off the beaten track, once more. The small village of Otane, in Central Hawkes Bay, features twice. We were there on Waitangi Day – a post is […]
Jill’s Scene Goes Tropical
Jill’s Scene has gone tropical for a week or two. Watch for posts with an out of the way, off the beaten track, quirky take on Thailand.
So Long, Ormondville
After a long hiatus through the winter months, spring, and a birthday in need of a celebration, saw us out and about once again. This time to the Ormondville Pub, more correctly known as The Settlers Arms. We’d never been before and it well and truly met our core […]
Top of The Pops at The Duke
Central Hawkes Bay is beautiful at any time of the year. On our most recent visit – for lunch at the Duke of Edinburgh in Porangahau – the poplars were still yellow, the maples were turning and, after the first rain in months, there was a hint of […]
Puketapu Resurrection
Just when our readers may have given up on us we were out and about again at Easter. This time we chose somewhere a little closer to home for some of our group: The Puketapu. Once this hotel may well have been described as off the beaten track. […]
Lessons From The Crown
We’ve visited the Norsewood cafe several times over the years but this time in keeping with our aim to visit Hawkes Bay Country Pubs we lunched at The Crown Hotel. It was immediately apparent that this is the haunt of the true local: the sort who go along […]
Jill's Scene 
The korero