Finding the Universe

Travel tales, photography and a dash of humor

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Home » Blog

Below you’ll find all our blog posts in chronological order of publishing. Looking for something specific? Try the search at the top of the screen, or head over to our destinations page to explore the world!

Picton to Nelson with Queen Charlotte

Published: 12th June 2011 by Laurence Norah - 8 Comments

Picton is the first place you come to on New Zealand’s south island, having been wowed by the rather awesome ferry crossing from Wellington. More on that ferry crossing, including some photos of our mill pond like crossing, can be found as part of a guest blog I did for Denise over at NZ Escapes, […]

Rivendell and beyond

Published: 9th June 2011 by Laurence Norah - 2 Comments

You may think, having read some of my posts on exploring the world of Tolkien as it has been realised in New Zealand, that the filming locations from the three Lord of the Rings films are treated as sacred, almost hallowed ground. You probably imagine that domes have been carefully placed over the sites in […]

Dimholt: Walking the roads of the dead

Published: 6th June 2011 by Laurence Norah - 8 Comments

The ongoing quest to see as many parts of the Lord of the Rings scenery as possible has continued, with a trip to the Cape Palliser pinnacles, where Aragorn, Gimli and Leglolas spent some time wandering in order to awaken the army of the dead in Return of the King. Cape Palliser is near the […]

Highlights of the Wairarapa

Published: 5th June 2011 by Laurence Norah - 4 Comments

You know those friends of yours who come back from some “life changing” trip, and bore you to tears for ages on end with the joy of travel and how incredibly awesome the whole thing was, slide show and all? (Yes, I appreciate a travel blog is a very similar thing. Bear with me.) Well, […]

Art Deco on the East Coast

Published: 1st June 2011 by Laurence Norah - Leave a Comment

You know when you play Bioshock, and the whole game has this weird 1930’s feel complete with odd writing and funny hats? Well, walking around Napier or Hastings on New Zealand’s East Coast is very much like that gaming experience, only with less on the ghoulish child front and more on the arty, pretty front. […]

New Zealand’s Spectacular East Cape

Published: 29th May 2011 by Laurence Norah - 13 Comments

The East Cape of New Zealand’s North island has a lot going for it. Driftwood fringed beaches jut up against towering cliffs and deserted roads. Spectacular vistas lie around every corner. And it is perhaps the most Maori influenced part of all New Zealand – the closest one may come to seeing how New Zealand […]

What Hobbiton taught me

Published: 23rd May 2011 by Laurence Norah - 8 Comments

I recently visited the set of the Lord of the Rings filming location for Hobbiton in New Zealand. Sadly, that is about all I am allowed to actually write about the experience, due to a rather impressive looking piece of legal paper I had to sign that I’m pretty sure gives Peter Jackson the rights […]

Zorbing Rotorua

Published: 21st May 2011 by Laurence Norah - 12 Comments

Although I have now left Rotorua, there is one more thing I need to tell you about my time there before moving on to new adventures. This thing being the weird and wonderful adventure activity known as Zorbing. It’s one of the quirkier entries in our list of first-trip highlights for New Zealand. Zorbing, for […]

Travel blogging tips from the experts: My Beautiful Adventures

Published: 6th May 2011 by Laurence Norah - 10 Comments

After a brief hiatus, I am delighted to be publishing another article in the series of travel blogging tips. Today’s article features the lovely Andi Perullo, author of My Beautiful Adventures. Shortly to be married (congratulations :)), Andi’s blog features updates on her travels, thoughts on her life, guest posts and even fashion advice. Unlike […]

To luge, perchance to dream

Published: 30th April 2011 by Laurence Norah - 4 Comments

The ongoing mission to experience every adventure activity available in Rotorua has continued successfully with a recent trip to the luge track, kindly set up for us by the nice folk over at the luging park. Luging, for those of you not familiar with the concept (which appears to also evade my dictionary), involves taking […]

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About Us

Laurence and Jessica Norah

Hi there! We're Laurence and Jessica Norah. We've been running this site since 2010 as full time professional travel bloggers. We visit all the places we write about personally, and all our content is based on our own first hand travel experiences. We also take all the photos you see on our sites. So grab a drink, dive in, and read on! You can also find out more about us here. Comic included.
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