I love that I was born in Canada. đ¨đŚ I consider it a âlottery winâ that I ended up Canadian. But I have also always had a wandering heart, and consider it another âlottery winâ that I ended up in a family who always valued travel and had the privilege to do so. Iâve travelled far enough and for long enough that I would NEVER proclaim Canada to be the best country in the world! Itâs a pretty great one (though I will not deny itâs dark history and the fact it can do and be better in certain areas), but Iâve been to several countries where, for various and sometimes very different reasons, I think I would have also happily come from and been proud to call my home.
When I travel, I honour my Canadian roots and passport which give me both the opportunity and privilege to travel far and wide fairly easily, but I also strive to be open to and respect the customs, cultures, food and outlook of the places I visit and to experience them as much as I can. I know I will never scratch the surface of what itâs like to live day to day in these places, but I also know I may just come away with another perspective, a different and sometimes better idea of how to live and be, and a connection to the world at large â both the success and pride of other places, as well as a witness to the human struggles beyond my borders.
New Zealand (or Aotearoa, the original MÄori name for the country) and most specifically the North Island, was the latest place that B-Rod and I found ourselves wandering. đłđż
On the plane we both rewatched the movie âWhale Riderâ Itâs one that has stuck with me through the years, that we have both quoted often, that I would put on my âtop 5 moviesâ of all time list, and that we commented may have been what inspired both of us to want to go to New Zealand âat some point.â Looks like after more than 20 years âsome pointâ is now!
Our journey started off in Auckland, since that is where we could find the easiest and most direct flight. Luckily, we got on with no problems. For some reason, this felt like the least amount of prep work or pre-research either of us did for a trip (and we donât usually do that much!) B-Rod was messaging with a friend soon after we arrived in Auckland who was slightly flabbergasted that we had no idea what we would do, where we would go or even how long we would stay. Though I laugh about this, and we do this often when we travel (itâs simply how weâve made standby travel work best for us), it IS something that I do get various levels of anxiety about whenever we/I land in a new place. Yet, despite my consistent initial worries, it also ALWAYS works out . . . just like it did again this time!
We spent two days in Auckland simply wandering, making arrangements to rent a car, and deciding where our next stop would be. We would eventually come to know that New Zealand is very much about the natural environment, and our first introduction to this was the many parks we walked through in our wanders around the city.
During these first days in the city, something happened that NEVER happens . . . . . Rocky felt sick đ. So while B-Rod set off to walk up Maungawhau/Mount Eden (the highest volcano in Auckland), I stayed behind to sleep.
During one particularly rainy period, we went to the Auckland Museum. I always find it interesting to learn a bit about the history (the good, bad and ugly), art and culture of a place Iâm about to immerse myself in. We also took the time to go to the MÄori Cultural Experience at the museum. We were asked not to take pictures or videos while they were doing dances and ceremonies in the Te reo MÄori language. They expressed that these acts werenât performances but their way of life, and they werenât performers but keepers and teachers of these ways. In fact, they encouraged us to take our focus away from picture taking completely and BE in the experience and BE PRESENT to what our eyes were seeing and what we were feeling at that moment. I took this very much to heart, and though this is how I aspire to live life, I found it was a constant theme and reminder for me throughout our wanders . . . . thereâs always a way to allow things to be more simple, always an opportunity to be more present, and always a possibility to be more focused on the moment and less concerned with capturing it.
New Zealand is a country of over 600 islands (two constituting a majority of the land area and population) divided into 16 regions and 1 special territorial authority. We decided to focus our time exploring one island â the North Island (Te Ika-a-MÄui) â and ended up wandering through four regions.
This would be a road trippinâ trip, and B-Rod was tasked with securing our rental car and being the one to drive on the left side of the road. It was definitely an adventure when we went to pick up our car in an âinterestingâ location, and a bit of a shock to B about the car they wanted to rent us! (âA car from 2008, with over 200K kms. A car one year older than ours, and with more kms!â he proclaimed!) But in the end, he was able to get us a slightly less âusedâ and newer car that ended up working out just fine, the service from the company and the guy helping us was good and as always . . . . . it just worked out. AND by the end of the road trip, B-Rod had almost stopped activating the windshield wipers when he went to use the signal lights . . . . almost! đ
Northland Region (Te Tai Tokerau)
We picked up the car and headed north. We LOVED this region and it ended up being our fav area by far!
We based ourselves out of Paihai and did day trips from here.
One of my highlights on this trip was our day to Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua. Cape Reinga is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. Itâs also the place where âaccording to MÄori oral history, the spirits of deceased MÄori leap from this tree [at the cape] into the ocean to return to their ancestral homeland of Hawaikiâ We were there on a day with great weather and few people ( we just missed a tour bus) and it definitely had a special feel to it.
The lighthouse and lookout were interesting, but it was actually the trails off to the side that I had the most fun exploring.
From Cape Reinga, it was a short distance to Te Paki Sand Dunes (aka Giant Sand Dunes) where we took the opportunity to play!
We also set off one day to go off into the woods for walks and to visit a couple of pretty incredible, massive kauri trees along the way â Te Matua Ngahere aka âFather of the Forestâ is the second largest kauri tree in NZ (37.4m high with a trunk over 16m. around), considered to be the oldest (estimated to exceed 2,000 years) & TÄne Mahuta aka âLord/God of the Forestâ is the largest kauri tree still standing today and the most famous in NZ (45.2m high with a trunk 15.44 m. around) â simply awestruck to be standing next to them!
On another day, we took the ferry over to Russell/KororÄreka, New Zealandâs first European settlement, and briefly the countryâs first capital.
This walk took us to a flagstaff with an interesting story â basically back in the day the British put up a flagstaff which was promptly cut down by the MÄori, resulting in the British putting up another flagstaff which was cut down by the MÄori (repeat this a few more times). This whole back and forth eventually prompted a brutal âsackingâ of the village by the British. 12 years later a flagstaff that was agreed upon by both parties went up, and it has been standing ever since.
Wandering through town brought us to New Zealandâs oldest church where musket holes from a battle in 1845 (the aforementioned âsackingâ) can still be seen!
Before leaving Northlands, we had time for two more things . . . .
There were two springs beside each other. A nicer complex that had been built recently, and the older more scrappy style holes that were used previously while the newer one was being built. They are open on different days and we ended up going on the scrappy sideâs open day. We drove down a dirt road, in pouring rain with not much fanfare and even B-Rod didnât believe I was leading him in the right direction. It turned out to be AMAZING. It only had very simple change rooms and an outhouse, but it very much had a community atmosphere. You would end up in different conversations with different people when you went to different pools. We had to go back briefly on the ânewer side open dayâ to pick up the swim shorts B-Rod accidentally left behind (that they had already washed for him! â¤ď¸) The people were amazing, it was quite a bit nicer on that side, but we were 100% happy we got to have the other experience.
The day we left the Northland region to head south was my birthday (hell yeah Iâd rather have a spring birthday than a winter one!) And though it was a drive day, I had the intention to do two extra special, similar themed things to celebrate. The first was a glowworm cave just outside of Paihai.
The Kawiti Glowworm Caves were SOOOOO cool! It was my first time seeing glowworms, the walk on the land with the rock formations after going through the caves was awesome, and I loved that it is owned by a MÄori family who basically set up a sign on the side of the road in the 1950âs advertising tours. 70 years later theyâre still going with descendants of the family now leading the tours through the caves!
The trail/walk on the land after the caves felt just as magical!
Auckland Region (TÄmaki Makaurau)
We made our way back to the Auckland Region just for a night to stay on the outskirts of the city. It was a good halfway point as we made our way more south and also because it had the second extra special thing I wanted to do to celebrate my b-day! To break up the drive, we stopped at a couple beaches.
The second beach was very close to where we were going to stay for the night. On one hand it felt slightly cruel that on a day that is a reminder that I am even more years older than half a century . . . . this beach was in âGrannyâs Bayâ
On the other hand . . . . . it was f#&$ing cool! Which means Grannyâs too can be sofa king cool!
That night, we set out at sunset to go on a kayak tour to paddle in bioluminescence.
We were discouraged from taking our phones as the guides told us it was difficult to capture on camera and they werenât always that bright anyways. Well . . . . . it just so happened to coincidentally be a new moon on that very night AND the bioluminescence was so bright, even the guides were marvelling and oohing and ahing at what a good night it was for this! Happy Birthday to me!!!!
It was also my first time really seeing bioluminescence and I loved how you could actually play around with the sparkles in the sea. We might not have brought our phones, but one of our paddle mates did and was kind enough to share her captures with us! Pure â¨magicâ¨
Bay of Plenty Region (Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi)
We made our way down to the Rotorua (Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe) region next. We were both interested in the geothermal activity in the area and could smell the sulphur the moment we entered town. We passed through Rotorua and went straight to a smaller town on the other side of the lake called Hamurana. We were so excited to see the view over the lake weâd be enjoying for the next few days.
We knew weâd be exploring different geothermal areas while here, but we were surprised and excited to come across a redwood forest in Rotorua city! These California natives were planted here around 1901 as an experimental program to see how well exotic trees would grow, and to possibly use the timber in building projects. The trees thrived, but the wood was too soft for commercial use, so a redwood forest it remains. I have wanted to go back to the redwood forests in California for so long and have been somewhat sad knowing that I will not go back there for the foreseeable future until . . . . . 3 years at least?! . . . . possibly longer?! đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸ So . . . . . redwood forest in NZ?! YES!!!
We also went to check out the Aratiatia Rapids where âa few times each day, spill gates from a dam are opened at the top of the Aratiatia rapids and the narrow gorge fills with turbulent water surging past at up to 90,000 litres per secondâ Of course B-Rod was right into that!
We made our way to Rotorua largely for the geothermal activity, and there were many parks, walks and hot springs to choose from. We did the free park in town â Kuirau Park â which was actually pretty good (but all it really takes is steam coming from the earth and water boiling naturally in random spots to impress me!) It even had a sulphur foot bath to chill out in.
There were several geothermal parks/walks around the area to choose from, so we eventually decided to go to Orakei Korako. It was a bit of a further drive (but thatâs what we have a car for!) and it sounded like it would be smaller and quieter. There was steam coming from the earth and water boiling naturally in random spots, so of course . . . . I was impressed!
Along with several geothermal parks, there were also several hot springs to choose from. We decided to go right to the source and went to Waikiite Valley Hotsprings whose water âstarts at Te Manaroa Spring, the largest single source of boiling water in New Zealandâ After our soak, we went on the trail to check out the spring . . . steam â . . . . . boiling water â . . . . impressed â
Waikato Region
By this point, B-Rod had gotten his schedule, and we knew how much longer we could stay. There was an area I wanted to go to next to enjoy some beach time, but it was just slightly too far and would be a bit too much of a push to get the rental car back in time. While having a casual chat with someone in Rotorua, they recommended their hometown in the Coromandel Peninsula as a great spot. We didnât end up in their town, but in a town just across the water from them and appreciated their advice as we loved it!
We stayed in a place in a small town called Tairu on a dead end street with a kickass view out towards the water. A LOT of time was simply spent sitting on that deck during the day and at night.
We even had a visit from a WILD parrot while we were sitting out there one day! We also got to hear the continual songs of the starlings and tuis that we had come to love hearing throughout our trip.
Though it wasnât a beach activity, B-Rod found us a great walk to do in the area. The Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway âfeatures historic railway remains set within a stunning natural gorge, including two steel truss bridges and a 1 km rail tunnel. It provides access to significant relics of the areaâs gold mining history.â
Otherwise, we stayed close to Tairu on our last couple days in New Zealand/Aotearoa â sitting on the deck, walking the (very windy) beach and wandering the trails. It was perfect!
But . . . . you may ask . . . . what about the food?! đ
We didnât come up with anything outrageous to try. Pies were the #1 thing that was suggested, so we tried a few.
They were . . . . . . fine. I think itâs one of those things that taste better when you grow up with them.
Fish (snapper) and chips at the beach was a hit . . . but maybe only one âpacketâ to share between the two of us next time đ
Kia ora Aotearoa/New Zealand!
Thank you for the reminder to BE present, that kindness matters, that nature is AMAZINGLY â¨magical⨠and deserves to be respected and protected. We took our Tiaki promise seriously and did all we could to leave your beautiful land as good or better than how we entered it. We canât wait to see you again and explore more of your country soon! đłđżâ¤ď¸
