All posts by Benjamin Welby

About Benjamin Welby

I’m Benjamin Welby. I live in Croydon with my wife and two children. I church at Croydon Vineyard. We’ve had season tickets for Bradford City since 2007. I’ve got degrees in History, Post-War Recovery and Public Administration and have spent the last 15+ years working at the intersection of digital transformation and good governance. I began my career in local government, went on to help launch GOV.UK and most recently worked on defining global standards for digital government at the OECD. I'm currently currently co-authoring a book integrating biblical values with civic life, encouraging Christians to adopt a hope-filled, faith-inspired perspective on democracy and how we are governed. I’m interested in too many things: being a good husband and father, following Jesus, the theology of governing well, a warm welcome for refugees and asylum seekers, that ‘digital’ leads to fair, inclusive and equitable transformation, exploring the world, League Two football, Pantomime, various England sports teams and Team GB…

Rotorua day 2 – Canopy tour, Kaituna and Hot springs

New Zealand, , , , , , , ,

Monday 20th May 2013

Today was packed!

Rotorua Canopy Tour

We started the day being picked up by the Rotorua Canopy Tour minibus. The canopy tour was a relatively new addition to the line up of things to do in Rotorua but it wasn’t hard to see why it had been so well received. After we arrived at the head office we got briefed, kitted out and introduced to each other.

The canopy tour involves exploring a section of forest near Rotorua by six zipwires and three swing bridges. Whilst that might sound fairly sedate we needed all those ropes and harnesses because the zip wires range in length from 40 metres to 220 metres at heights of up to 22 metres off the ground! Think Go Ape, but better!


Continue reading Rotorua day 2 – Canopy tour, Kaituna and Hot springs →

Looping the Coromandel Peninsula

New Zealand, , , , , ,

Thursday 16th May 2013

Tonight we were going to spend our first night with relatives in Hamilton, Waikato but before descending on Christine’s cousin John and his family we added a significant detour to our journey. We hadn’t set aside any time to visit the Coromandel Peninsula and so our only option was to do a driving tour round it in one day.

After an absolutely superb  breakfast at the Palm House we set off and managed to get to Thames (at the base of the Peninsula) in about 3 hours. After stopping for some supplies we set off on State Highway 25, a wonderful road that hugs the coast all the way round. A gorgeous sunny morning made for perfect driving weather.

Looking out from Coromandel Peninsula
Looking out from Coromandel Peninsula

Continue reading Looping the Coromandel Peninsula →

The Lord of Waipoua Forest and his fellow Kauri

New Zealand, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday 15th May, 2013

We set off from Opononi to drive down to our next destination – Pahi. As we wound our way along the coast south of Opononi we spotted an inviting sign saying ‘Scenic Lookout’. With time on our side, and plenty of curiosity we followed it and came across the Arai te Uru Reserve with beautiful views out to sea.

We’d discovered on the previous day that New Zealand had once been covered in majestic Kauri trees and our route south took us through the heart of the Waipoua forest, home to some Kauri trees that had survived everything New Zealand’s settlers had thrown at them. Continue reading The Lord of Waipoua Forest and his fellow Kauri →

On top of New Zealand at Cape Reinga | Te Rerenga Wairua

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 14th May, 2013

Today was another early start as we needed to travel from Mangonui to Kaitaia (30 minutes away) by 0830 to join Harrison’s Cape Runner for a day out to Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua the not-quite-northern-most point of New Zealand (that distinction belongs to Surville Cliffs 30 miles east of the Cape).

We had originally planned to drive ourselves up to the Cape and whilst doing all of this in the day under our own steam was definitely doable it would have meant missing out 90 mile beach, a stretch of New Zealand coastline that is not in fact 90 miles long but is a state highway in its own right (our car hire insurance was explicit about not driving on sand). So instead we plumped for this very reasonably priced ($50 pp) trip.
Continue reading On top of New Zealand at Cape Reinga | Te Rerenga Wairua →

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday 13th May, 2013

We checked out of our motel in Paihia and drove a little way down the road to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It was on this site that the Treaty of Waitangi (Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed between the Maori iwi (tribes) of the North Island and Queen Victoria’s representatives. Although the treaty is seen to be the founding document for New Zealand and 6th February 1840 to be the nation’s birthday it is not a straightforward chapter of history.

The Treaty

This was the first time we encountered some of the specifics of how New Zealand came to be part of the British Empire. Whilst I had studied some aspects of the Empire’s rise and decline what happened in these two islands on the other side of the world had never featured. It’s impossible to do justice to the complexity and the tensions without making this blog post far too long but it came out of a desire in both Britain, and New Zealand from both Maori and pakeha to establish some more formalised structure in relation to land ownership and security.   Continue reading The Waitangi Treaty Grounds →

Russell – the Hell hole of the Pacific

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 10th May and Saturday 11th May, 2013

We packed up our things but before we could say goodbye to Auckland we needed to pick up the car we were trusting to get us around for the next two months. We’d got a fantastic deal from Ace Rental Cars that worked out at less than £500 (and a great deal on car hire excess insurance) so we were a little dubious about the quality of car we’d have.

We needn’t have worried – the car was pretty new and certainly had enough room for our baggage even if it was a petrol based automatic. I’d never heard of a Nissan Tiida though.

A Nissan Tiida
Our trusty(?) wheels

Continue reading Russell – the Hell hole of the Pacific →

Auckland day 3 – One Tree Hill and the Auckland Museum

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday 8th May, 2013

Today the rain was back with a vengeance! Although the weather forecast was fairly bleak we set off early in the hope of getting to Maungakiekie (more commonly known as One Tree Hill) before the rain. We were fairly dry when we got to the top but by the time we reached the Auckland Museum we were absolutely sodden!

Maungakiekie is an important place for both Maori and Pakeha (the Maori word for New Zealanders of European descent) and its chequered history demonstrates something of the tension between the two. Continue reading Auckland day 3 – One Tree Hill and the Auckland Museum →

Auckland day 2 – Devonport

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , ,

Tuesday 7th May, 2013

Our first day in Auckland had been very damp but with the sun shining brightly we decided we were going to spend today out and about and started with the Lonely Planet’s walking tour of the city centre.

Continue reading Auckland day 2 – Devonport →

Arriving in Auckland

Grand Tour, New Zealand, , , , , , , , , ,

Monday 6th May, 2013

It has been quite a season to be a Bradford City fan. Just before we left the UK we secured our place in the playoffs with victory over Burton, the same team we would play in the semi-final. I’d woken up early to watch us lose the first leg and was gutted that the season defining second leg was taking place while we were in a complete information blackhole en route from Tokyo (it can’t be long before we demand web access when we’re airborne). Happily there was 30 minutes of free wifi at Auckland airport leaving Christine, with eyes rolling, distancing herself from the weird, claret and amber clad person randomly celebrating in an airport (we won). Continue reading Arriving in Auckland →

Bringing to an end 5 nights in Tokyo…

Grand Tour, Japan, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 4th May, 2013

Today was a bit problematic for us – we’d been fairly happy in terms of what to do with three days in Tokyo but the fourth stumped us. Particularly as Golden Week was well under way and so everybody was in holiday mode.

Should we go on a day trip to Mount Fuji? Logistically it’s a long trek and there’s no guarantee of seeing the mountain, particularly in May when visibility is apparently at its poorest. Continue reading Bringing to an end 5 nights in Tokyo… →