Road Tripping

May 2020

Poor Ben's birthday was spent in lockdown, and although I did my best to cook something fun and buy something nice, I could only hope the next year's one would be better. 

Happily by the end of May, lockdown eased and we were able to take a road-trip to celebrate. We decided to go up north of Auckland, as neither of us had explored that area much. 

We left before dawn, cresting the Brynderwyns as sunrise broke out across Uretiti beach - it was one of the best views I've ever seen. 
Our first stop was Kawakawa, for toilets - though not for the reason you would assume. The Hundertwasser toilets were designed by the famous artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and are notable as they are his only project in the Southern Hemisphere. They are known as the most photographed toilets in New Zealand, so I followed the trend.

Our next stop after a quick ferry over was Russell, in the Bay of Islands. It was a glorious sunny day, and I was madly tempted to swim, even though it was far too late in the year and far too chilly. 

Twee is the word that comes to mind for me for Russell. Gloriously quaint and picturesque, it's just adorable. However our stomachs were complaining, and we had a lunch booking near Kerikeri so off we went again. 

Our lunch at the vineyard was everything I hoped, and I would absolutely recommend a visit. Especially as we walked away with a rather nice dessert wine.

Feeling rejuvenated, we popped into the Stone Store, New Zealand's oldest surviving stone building. Built somewhere between 1832-1836. It was build to sell produce from local farms to ships, as well as European goods to the Maori. However over the years it had many purposes, from a Library, to a Barracks to a boys school. 

Our next pitstop was the nearby Rainbow Falls, a 27m waterfall near Kerikeri. 

A very short walk, it was lovely, easy and scenic. We were a bit too late in the day for rainbows, but it was pretty nonetheless. 

We had travelled a long way and done a lot in one day, so it was time to start heading to our accomodation, a little caravan for the night. 

Cheap and adorable, I would definitely recommend. The owners house wasn't too far away, but they were happily out of site of the outdoor compositable toilet and outdoor shower. I still felt rather exposed showering in the wilderness of the garden, but it was also somewhat lovely in the rain. (Braving the outdoor toilet in the night with only a torch was somewhat less lovely).

Our very last stop for the night was for dinner; we popped out to a nearby a fish and chip shop on the water, in Mangonui. The sunset painting the water in pastel pink whilst we drank beer and waited for our hot dinner was magical.

The ridiculously overpriced fish and chips which weren't all that great - less so. I'd come back for the views, but not to eat. Give me Stanmore Bay fish and chips any day! 

February-May: A very strange Housesit and other tales

February 2020

We couldn't look for a flat until we had jobs, so to pass some time whilst we looked, we organized a housesit - our first (and to date, last) in NZ. It was halfway between Taupo and Rotorua, so a nice way to do some site-seeing. 

It was very rural (we saw petrol for $1.60, whereas in Auckland it was $2.30 so this was rather spectacular). The housesit was also very strange, and that's without taking the pet emu into account. Apparently, the emu had once escaped and they had to chase it down the main road. Happily this did not happen when we were housesitting. 

The owners were lovely, but boy did they love to talk. We soon learned that the husband had built their coffins in advance which were currently being used as bookshelves (how, enterprising?) and he really, really liked trains. Like really liked trains. 

Finally, we escaped the train lecture, train museum and the working miniature train, and the owners left. We were left to look after a chill cat, a herd of angry cows, and a talkative emu. It was going to be fineeee.

Luckily the countryside was beautiful, and we only had to nervously look over the gates occasionally to check the cows (and emu) were ok, had water, and hadn't escaped. 

They also had a wonderful veggie patch and I was able to pick homegrown tomatoes until we were bursting. This was the start of my own personal mission to have my own veggie patch, no matter how long it might take.

Since we were only looking after a cat, we had the freedom to take day trips. We popped over to the Huka falls, where the placid Waikato river turns into a mighty roar, as almost a quarter of a million litres per second erupt from the gorge and fall 11kms below. 

Being so close to Rotorua, it seemed a shame not to stop at this geothermic oddity. I highly recommend Kuirua Park, as its free and central. If you don't want to pay, its a great spot to check out the steaming, bubbling, sulfuric geothermal activity.

We also stopped for a meander amongst the mighty Redwoods.

It was drizzling steadily, though somewhat sheltered under the trees, so we only went for a short wander, rather than an epic hike.

During our housesit, Ben interviewed, and was offered a year long contract at Auckland University. Job sorted, I quickly followed, finding a short term temp role working in admin for Auckland Council. February over, we spent March staying with Ben's sister as we settled into our new roles. 

A week after starting however, the world changed, as New Zealand went into its first lockdown, due to Covid. 

A period of strangeness followed, as we tried to work out our new roles working from 'home'. The two-week planned stay with Ben's sister as we looked for flats suddenly became much longer, as we had no other option. My role didn't last much longer, as the council let go must of their temporary staff. 

Still, I kept looking, and as soon as we dropped levels and were able, we viewed a couple of flats, and moved into our first proper home together, the day before Ben's birthday in early May. 

Our little apartment in Albany would be home for the next 10 months, through lockdowns and job hunting, it was our little haven. Small, and boiling in the summer, but we loved it nonetheless. 

It was modern, and clean, and I loved the kitchen to bits. Plus it had a balcony! We really couldn't complain. It was a perfect first flat. 

January - Making the Most of Summer

January 2020

One of the main reasons we had timed our trip back to NZ as we had was because some close high school friends had invited us to their wedding! We flew down to Palmerston North where they had moved for uni and never left, and prepared for a wonderful few days. 

I had my makeup done professionally for the first time which looked great, but also felt like my hair had turned into a solid crunchy mass, and I was a mannequin (or an especially smiley crocodile, I couldn't decide). It was certainly fun for the occasion though, and was extra special as I was a bridesmaid and Ben was a groomsman. 

Seeing our friends get married was really special (it was also the first wedding I had ever been to!) We felt super lucky to be there.

The evening ended with dancing and the sprinklers turning on unexpectedly in the gardens. There's always something!

From Palmerston North we took a bus the rest of the way down to Wellington, to visit more family. We were already halfway there so why waste the opportunity!? It was just as awesome as usual to catch up with everyone, and we had loads of fun cooking, wandering Wellington, experiencing a VR headset for the first time (wild and uncoordinated swinging everywhere) and eating excellent takeaway pizza. 

We took a day trip out to Martinborough all together, and visited a number of wineries, which I would highly recommend for a day out. Although I soon learned from one winery that 'natural' wines, weren't to my taste. The winery made up for it by being very photogenic however.

I would also highly recommend seeing the Great War Exhibition (although I believe its now sadly gone) as it was genuinely one of the best Museum exhibitions I've ever been to. Unlike many other exhibitions on the war that I've seen, this wasn't dry or long worded. It was brought to life, and it was incredible, and moving, and so worth going to. 

December 2019 (Christmas!)

December 2019

Christmas was upon us! Mum kindly let us put up a tree to get us into the spirit of things, and the day dawned sunny and beautiful. 

Mum had a full house with all of us staying Christmas eve, and we were feeling suitably festive. 

Of course food and bubbles on Christmas day doesn't hurt either!

With the weather so gorgeous, we elected to have Christmas lunch outside, something we had never done before. It set a new tradition as eating on the deck was wonderful. It was so nice having everyone together again - especially now looking back, knowing what 2020 would have in store.

Full and happy, Ben and I headed off to our second Christmas with his family for the evening, where we stuffed ourselves even more!

With Christmas over, my next stop was a camping trip with my best friend Shyla, whilst Ben headed off for his own camping trip with friends at Mount Maunganui. Shyla and I had booked a campsite late, so choice was rather limited. We settled on Wentworth Valley in the Coromandel, as pretty much everyone else was booked, and Shyla had been once before and remembered it pleasantly.

Beside a river and with good patches of shade, it was lovely, aside from the small fact that the camp owner's idea of 'yes there is room for you last minute' ended up meaning 'pitch you tent directly behind the longdrops, in the forest where no sun gets through'. Did I mention the giant spiders? Happily, after 2 days here the camp emptied out slightly, and we were allowed to shift to sunnier pastures. We were inordinately pleased about this. (see, look at those happy faces).

There were a few other oddities, including no glass allowed in the campsite (this culminated in us popping into the tent every time we needed to pour ourselves a glass of wine - happily we were never questioned on where the wine actually came from). 

The owner of the campsite was also rather unusual, and could often be seen wandering around the campsite in the evenings eating ice-cream and breaking up any parties/searching for glass, followed by the camp security guard, who most definitely had a not-so-subtle-though-they-tried-to-hide it relationship with the great dictator. I haven't had so much entertainment in a campground since the dour campsite receptionist Helga in Germany (who may have not been called Helga, but I feel certain she was). 

As we were in the Coromandel, we decided to head out to the famous Cathedral Cove, which we had never actually gone to before. 

After the drive to get there, we arrived later in the day than we intended. We soon realised we would miss the sunshine on the beach if we hiked it, so we took the water taxi instead, which was rather fun. 

This was our only big trip from camping, the rest of the time we swam in the river, read books and cooked toasted sandwiches (and hid our wine). It was glorious. 

Upon arriving back, Ben and I popped over to Waiheke to see Joy whilst she and her family were over visiting from the UK. 

We spent a lovely day at Palm Beach, one of the many lovely beaches on the island. Here is a photo of me standing in a hole so deep I'm the same height as Joy's son Harvey!

New Zealand

 December 2019

Ben's family lived in Muriwai, and were kind enough to put us up for the month of December. It was wonderful to be so close to the beach again, as the UK, for its many charms, was rather lacking in beautiful beaches, at least in the areas we lived.

Wanting to make the most of the lovely weather and nature NZ has to offer, we decided to take a little camping trip together for a couple of days in December. We headed up north to the DOC campsite Uretiti

Being early December, we had the campground almost to ourselves, which was wonderful. We were right near the beach, allowing us to take beach walks every day. 

The water was freezing though, so we only swam a couple of times! It was a typical Northland beach, huge and sweeping, going almost as far as the eye could see, with sometimes wild winds and big waves.

We took a day trip to the Waipu Caves, involving a short bush-walk. It was very pretty, and apparently if you go far back enough, there are glow worms in the caves. However with only our phone torches and sport shoes, we weren't well equipped enough to go far back. Once we were far enough in that it became pitch black and the water was higher, we gave up.

The next day we took a day trip to Mangawhai Heads, another beautiful beach with sweeping views and great walks. 

We took advantage of the beautiful beaches as much as possible, as it was turning out to be a beautiful New Zealand summer, and we had years of no beaches to make up for!

Camping trip over, it was time to acquaint myself with the city again. My best friend Shyla had organized a prosecco brunch in the city for us as a belated birthday present for me.

One of the nicest things about being back in New Zealand again aside from seeing my family was getting to see Shyla again, and we tried to make the most of it.

I had forgotten how lovely summer in NZ can be, and we took full advantage of Ben's family's pool, drinking beer and lazing in the sun.

It wasn't all lazing around however, Ben's family had signed us all up to the Speights West Coaster, an 11.5 km walk/run starting at Bethells Beach. 

We walked it, but it was still incredibly challenging. The day was very hot, and the climbs were very steep, so by the end (something like 3 hours later from memory) we were utterly exhausted. But we did it!

Soon my brother in the UK was flying out for Christmas, and we were able to day trip up north with him to one of our favourite places, Matakana. 

Charlies Gelato shop resides here, and it's always worth a summer trip for icecream amongst the vines.