Motoring

Let’s Active

Let’s Active

The first pas­sen­ger we put in the rear seats of the new BMW 2 Series Act­ive Tour­er promptly fell asleep before we cleared Ngaur­anga Gorge. “This is good,” I thought. […]

Three-in-one

Three-in-one

To cel­eb­rate the inter­na­tion­al launch of the new M‑series, the BMW people gave me a choice between the new M3 — the four-door sedan ver­sion — or the M4, worth […]

You’ll wish the school run would never end

You’ll wish the school run would never end

Many years ago I owned what I felt was the most com­fort­able car in the world. It was a 1974 Volvo 164 with incred­ibly plush (butt-worn) leath­er uphol­stery and a […]

Weekend in Whanganui

Weekend in Whanganui

It’s not read­ily appar­ent to me why I haven’t spent more time in Whan­ganui. After all, it’s only a couple of hours away from Wel­ling­ton — eas­ily man­age­able after work […]

Riding high with Highlander

Riding high with Highlander

Per­haps unex­pec­tedly, one of my most mem­or­able drives ever was in a Toyota High­lander. Giv­en that SUVs aren’t known for their driv­ing dynam­ics, I was a bit sur­prised at the […]

4‑wheeled aphrodisiac

4‑wheeled aphrodisiac

Accord­ing to the TV com­mer­cial, this Mer­cedes C‑Class is the car that “changes everything”, pre­sum­ably at around the same time as it’s hav­ing who­ever is sit­ting in the pas­sen­ger seat […]

Bon mot

Okay, okay, I admit it, I am guilty as charged. When it comes to the four-wheeled machine, I have always pre­ferred big over small. Sure, it’s a pre­ju­dice but one […]

Upwardly mobile

Upwardly mobile

It’s offi­cial. Wellington’s hot­test new res­id­ence of choice is undoubtedly Clyde Quay Wharf. For those of you a little out of the loop, that used to be known as the […]

A Tale of Two Jaguars

A Tale of Two Jaguars

 A lot can hap­pen in a dec­ade. Take the last ten years for example. We’ve col­lect­ively wit­nessed the rise and rise of social media; the inven­tion of the smart phone; […]

How the other half lives

How the other half lives

The pho­tos were beguil­ing. A large stone fire­place, com­fy loun­gers, a swim­ming pool and expans­ive views stretch­ing over Hawke’s Bay — the prom­ise of a per­fect week­end hol­i­day home, or […]