One of the best walks near Auckland — views of the Kaipara Harbour, ancient kauri forest, and nearly 20,000 steps. Now permanently closed due to kauri dieback disease. This is what it was like.
East Cape is the easternmost point of the North Island.The East Cape Lighthouse was put up on Otiki Hill in 1922 – it was fully automated in 1985 and is controlled from the maritime headquarters in Wellington now. Getting there is an adventure by itself — I’ll blog about the drive around the cape another…
Over the Christmas break, we set out on a tiki tour and headed North of Auckland. Our plan was to put the kayak in the water for the first time in 2017 and paddle around the Kai Iwi lakes. But plans changed – between the crowds and the wind at Kai Iwi, we instead consulted…
New Zealand has a gift that most countries don’t – zero things trying to kill you. No bears, no scorpions, no snakes hiding in your hiking boots. Just wind, weather, and an open road. That’s the magic of the Tiki Tour: throw a tent in the car, pick a direction, and go. We turned left instead of right one afternoon and ended up on a beach in Gisborne just in time to watch surfers come in against one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen. That’s New Zealand in a nutshell – the best moments aren’t planned.
We pulled off State Highway 3 on a whim and found one of the most dramatic coastlines I’ve ever walked. The formations are only accessible at low tide — and they’re disappearing. When I visited there were three sisters. Now there are two.
Bulls, New Zealand has a population of about 2,000 people and exactly one joke. They have been making that joke for decades. It never gets old.
We drove 30 minutes north of Auckland for hot pools and a lazy river. The lazy river was disappointing. The resort’s story since then, though — that’s something else entirely.
A town of 1,600 people in the middle of the North Island decided to become the Gumboot Capital of the World. It worked. There’s an annual throwing competition, a corrugated iron sculpture, and you can throw gumboots any day of the year.
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of a military disaster where thousands of New Zealanders died. Kiwis observe it with enormous pride. Once you understand why, it makes complete sense.
The full name is Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao. Whakarewarewa for short. It’s a real village built on top of a geothermal wonderland where people have lived since 1325 — and yes, they still cook in the hot pools.