New Zealand travel blog
G’day all and welcome to the Midlife Crisis Odyssey Podcast, where not all who wander are lost, but some of us definitely are. Whakatane is a little beachside town in the Bay of Plenty on New Zealand’s North Island. It’s known as the ‘Kiwi Capital of the World’, so I started walking the nearby forests tracks at night searching for kiwis. After many hours of walking in the freezing darkness, I decided that my fifth night of searching would be…
G’day all and welcome to the Midlife Crisis Odyssey Podcast, where not all who wander are lost, but some of us definitely are. NZ is volcanic, copping frequent earthquakes and thankfully less frequent eruptions. One of the most active areas is the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Come and check out this fascinating and potentially lethal part of the New Zealand’s North Island. If you would like to see the post for this podcast, and accompanying photos, you can find it here…
I camped at Lake Ngototo last night, a spot just out of Te Awamutu. After so long in my Covid apartment bunker in Auckland it was great to be outside again. After a beautiful sunset over the lake and surrounding farmland, I was in the bivvy early as the cold of the evening set in. Sometime in the night I was woken by the sound of a car. It pulled up nearby, the engine was switched off, and the stereo…
In the line of fire When I was a kid, I remember we had a wooden souvenir school ruler in amongst our stationery at home. For those younger readers, a ruler is a 30cm long strip of wood along which you drag a pen or pencil to make a straight line on a piece of paper. Oh, and stationery refers to things you use to write or draw with, which is what pens and pencils are. And writing is something…
I was wondering if the day would ever come, but after seven months my two-week stay in New Zealand has finally come to an end. All things considered, it was a pretty good place to see off the initial phase of the Corona pandemic. The way the country was lead during the crisis was impressive. So was the way the nation responded to the serious restrictions placed upon both work and private life. If I had left Australia a couple…
I’ve stayed at a few Airbnb’s whilst I’ve been here in New Zealand, and overall they’ve been pretty good. One thing they’ve all had in common is the provision of a ridiculous number of pillows. A good example is the place I’m in now, where the host has been very generous with the head support. I even found an extra pillow in the cupboard, just in case. Anyway, all this talk of pillows is making me sleepy. Time for me…
On the Hussle and Hustings Well there’s big mobs of rough stuffAnd slingin’ of bulldustAs it draws close to election day, mate Kiwis head to the polls on October 17, and campaigning is ramping up here for the 2020 New Zealand Election. The original polling date of September 17 was abandoned due to Covid-19 not giving both ruckmen a clear run at the ball. The two major parties that will take the lion’s share of the votes are Labour (the…
Urupukapuka is the largest island in New Zealand’s aptly named Bay of Islands. During a recent kayak trip (see Paddling the Bay) I had the opportunity to explore Urupukapuka, and climbed the grassy walking track to the Island’s highest point. I was rewarded with an amazing view over the area’s myriad bays and coves, peninsulas and isthmi. Whilst taking in the spectacular scene, the phrase ‘Swallows and Amazons‘ suddenly popped into my head. I stood on the hilltop. Swallows and…
Paddling the Bay New Zealand’s Bay of Islands is located on the north-east coast of the North Island. Maori called the Bay Ipipiri, however Captain Cook re-named it the Bay of Islands in 1769 on account of it being a bay of islands. Paddling the Bay’s intricate coastline promised a unique perspective on this beautiful area, so I set about organising a multi-day kayak trip. At first, the hire company were reluctant to rent me a sit-in sea kayak as…
‘Round the Cape The Kiwis refer to Northland, the northernmost region in the north of the North Island, as ‘The Winterless North’. Now I’m here to tell you that winter in The Winterless North is still bloody cold, however it is just marginally warmer than the winter in The Wintermore South. Searching for every extra degree on offer, I travelled as far north as I could go, and discovered a spectacular part of Aotearoa. For Kiwis, Cape Reinga is considered…