This time last year, I flew out to Chile by myself with very little ability to “hablo Español” and travelled across South America while working remotely. I had a blast – and just about managed to learn some Spanish on the way – but, after spending several months back in the UK, I had the urge to travel again.
Having “done South America” and travelled to North America, Europe, Asia and Africa in the past, the only continent eluding me was Oceania (Antarctica doesn’t count). So back in mid-November, with very little knowledge of where I wanted to go and a foolish ignorance of just how vast this continent is, I bought a flight from London to New Zealand. I planned to head to New Zealand before going to Australia, with no plans beyond that. But I vowed to diary my adventures along the way – with diary entries that had to be heavily edited to create this blog!
I put together a loose plan of where I wanted to go, booked a couple of rental cars (not cheap) and went on an Airbnb and Hotels.com (who screwed me over when they changed their rewards scheme, so no more business for them) blitz.
The Longest Day Ever | Wednesday 3 January to Friday 12 January
To get to New Zealand, I had two flights. The first was six hours into Dubai and, luckily, the seat behind me wasn’t taken so I got to share a three-seat row with another person, which meant plenty of space. I watched the Gran Turismo movie then Fast X, which killed time pretty effectively, but I didn’t get any sleep. Any concerns about the connection in Dubai were allayed as the second flight was delayed by an hour. I wandered around the airport and found a particularly gaudy Budweiser bar where I got chatting to a guy from New Zealand, who gave me some much-needed tips on where to go.
Flight two was a very different affair. The 16-hour slog from Dubai to Auckland was as painful as it sounds having already been awake for 24 hours. The flight was full, I fell asleep briefly watching John Wick 4 then Succession but was, unsurprisingly, pretty tired when we eventually landed in Auckland at 12pm on Friday. A pricy taxi got me to the Grand Millennium for about 1.30pm but check-in didn’t open until 3pm. So I left my bags behind and, despite this being the last thing in the world I wanted to do, went for a wander down Queen Street and found a Starbucks to wake myself up. I got into my room at 3.30pm and decided to have a little nap… which turned into sleeping until 10pm!
Exploring Auckland | Saturday 6 January to Friday 12 January
My body clock was all over the place on Saturday – I was pretty sure it was Thursday – given I was adjusting to being 13 hours ahead of the UK. But I ventured into central Auckland to see what I could find. The first plan was to find some food, as I hadn’t eaten for nearly 24 hours. I found a cool cafe called Rude Boy Deli & Eatery, which was far less threatening than it sounded, and had an excellent Big Breakfast and a Mocha. I also bought a local SIM card from the hotel reception, so I didn’t get completely lost, then wandered through the city centre and up to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which was really interesting.
The next morning, I exited the hotel to a huge demonstration supporting Palestine. I joined them for a few minutes, half-listened to some guy’s speech, then headed off down Queen Street – where there was a much smaller demonstration supporting Israel, so I wisely hurried well clear. I headed for the quay area where a huge cruise ship, Coral Princess, was moored. I took a look at the various ferry options, including those to Kaiheke Island, which I quite fancied visiting, walked all around the port and had a little sit in the sun at the end of the port. It is really beautiful in this area with loads of restaurants, shops and an ice cream parlour to keep you entertained.
My body clock was still all over the place by Monday and I woke up around 4am – just in time to watch the dire Luton v Bolton FA Cup 3rd round tie which, for some unknown reason, was being broadcast live on NZ Sky Sport. I had a bit of work to do during the week – a few articles about e-bikes – but got plenty of time to explore the city, including Albert Park, a local brewery, and a really cool pub called The Northern Line, where a friendly barman gave me plenty of NZ travel tips.
A highlight of the week was my decision to eat at the hotel restaurant Ember. I had a delicious steak with green peppercorns and a huge bowl of tasty spiced fries. Another highlight was the Friday, which began with breakfast at The Shelf, where I had a deconstructed iced mocha and waffles, before wandering out into a new part of the city to check out the national stadium Eden Park.
Road Tripping in New Zealand | Saturday 13 January to Sunday 21 January
Before this trip, my only taste of driving outside the UK was a couple of short drives in Vancouver. But I was putting that right as I hired a car from Auckland for a few days. As such, Saturday morning marked what I regarded as the first proper leg of this journey. I picked up a rental car from Europcar in Auckland City, which turned out to be a Kia Sconic.
The first leg of the adventure was to drive out of the city centre to a place called Wairoa, near Tauranga. It was about two hours from Auckland and, luckily, New Zealand also drives on the left, so driving wasn’t a problem at all, other than the indicator stick being on the ‘wrong side,’ which caused me to accidentally switch on the windscreen wipers multiple times when I wanted to change lanes. The roads down were totally clear and gave me a first taste of New Zealand’s magnificent scenery. A highlight was driving through a gorge with huge banks of trees lining either side, but there were amazing views throughout the drive. I stopped halfway at a place called Ngatea, a tiny town with one road and a handful of shops, cafes and a Subway.
My Airbnb was in a remote area in the heart of beautiful scenery. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere but the Airbnb was fantastic – a little nanny cottage on the side of the owner’s house that had a nice kitchen, a good bathroom and a really comfy bed – and I was welcomed out of my car by Frodo the dog – great name – who was a real softy. The owners advised I drive out to Mount Maunganui, which was an excellent recommendation. The town was surrounded by pristine white beaches against the backdrop of the big extinct volcano Mauou.
I got properly out into NZ nature for the first time on Monday, and it felt fantastic. I first drove up to the Kaiate Falls, a couple of small falls in a shallow river that developed into a set of three slightly bigger falls, then one final flourish with a huge drop into a big pool. There were signs all around the site warning of microbiological damage and telling people not to go in the water, but the pool at the bottom looked sorely tempting!
When you come to New Zealand, it seems rude not to visit arguably the world’s biggest celebration of the country’s scenery. With that in mind, I’d booked to visit Hobbiton, the set where the Lord of the Rings movies filmed The Shire. I drove out to the set, near a town called Matamata about an hour from my apartment. As you’d expect, it’s well and truly in the middle of nowhere on the land of an active farm.
My tour was collected by a bus, which drives you into the movie set, and you’re then taken on a two-hour tour through The Shire. Our tour guide was excellent, really friendly and informative and it was well worth the NZ$120 (£60) – which was admittedly a little steep! The views are magnificent and – nerd alert – it was awesome to see the locations I’d seen in the movies in real life.
The original LOTR sets were demolished after filming but, when they returned to film The Hobbit movies, the owners insisted they had to be made permanent. And that’s proven a wise decision as the set is now packed with people 364 days a year – it’s only closed on Christmas Day. We toured the set’s 44 hobbit holes, walked through an actual hobbit hole, got plenty of great stories from the tour guide, and then stopped off for a complimentary jar of ale in The Green Dragon.
The weather took a turn for the worse on Wednesday – it absolutely chucked it down all day! But I was back on the move on Thursday for leg two of the road trip. I drove from Tauranga down to Taupo, stopping off at Rotorua to kill a bit of time en route. But the stop-off was very much the highlight of this entire trip so far.
I hadn’t been sure what to do in Rotorua, but stumbled across an active Mauri village Whakarewarewa. The village is situated on a geothermal field and I booked a ticket on a 1pm tour. That gave me 45 minutes to go and explore the other side of the village, which took me to a geothermal lake where bubbling water, steam and the distinct smell of sulphur dominated. It was an amazing experience unlike anything I’ve seen before. I wandered around the lake then, on the way back, discovered the friendliest cat you’re ever likely to meet, who just wanted me to keep playing with him and tickling his tummy as he rolled around on the gravel.
I eventually dragged myself away and headed back to the village entrance for my tour. Our guide Daniel walked us through the active Maori village, showing us how the locals take advantage of the geothermal activity to cook food on BBQs, which are effectively natural slow cookers, and a huge geothermal pond. We then walked through to the geothermal bathing area, where water flows from a 100C lake down into huge cut-out baths – where it cools to about 40C, and the hardy locals jump straight into it. Dipping my finger in, the water felt scalding and I didn’t fancy the prospect of jumping in, but it’s apparently really good for healing. We continued through the village, all the way up to a fantastic viewpoints of three active geysers, which really topped off the tour.
When the tour was finished, we were free to wander back through the village at our own pace and I stumbled across an ongoing performance. Some of the Maori villagers performed a song then a Haka – which was amazing to witness close up.
I took ludicrous amounts of photos and easily filled the necessary time, jumped back in the car and carried on down to Taupo, which took me through more great scenery. Taupo is effectively a supervolcano, a town based around a giant lake caused by a massive volcanic eruption. I was staying in another Airbnb, which turned out to be another little nanny cottage at the end of the owner’s drive.
I got myself settled in and took a sunny walk down to the lakeside, which was beautiful. The lake is massive and has a little line of beach, so I sat by the lake for a while, had a little wander, then discovered the ridiculously English pub Jolly Good Fellows for a beer by Parrotdog, which was my favourite NZ beer so far. I’d been recommended a good restaurant nearby, which turned out to be a really nice little bar that did very solid pub grub.
I’ve always been intrigued by volcanoes but this trip has really erupted my interest in all things igneous. On Friday, I drove out to Craters of the Moon, an active geothermal field. Along with Rotorua, this is right up there with the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. The area is basically open land that has pockets of geothermal activity, including bubbling mud pools, steam shooting up through open holes in the ground and huge craters with smoke piling out of them. It’s an absolutely fascinating place and these photos really don’t do it justice.
I walked through the geothermal field, far more slowly than all the other visitors, took hundreds of photos and then took to the ‘steep climb,’ which lived up to its name, to get the best possible view of the area. At the end of the hill is the site’s main attraction, a huge active blowhole. After dragging myself away from the craters, I took in another natural wonder. Huka Falls, just down the road from the craters, is an amazing ‘waterfall’ of vast volumes of cascading water through a narrow river stretch. The water looks absolutely treacherous and, indeed, has killed several people foolish enough to try and tackle it. This area was massively touristy, so I took a few photos and got out of there sharpish.
Back in Taupo, I’d heard about a place where you could win NZ$10,000 (£5,000) for getting a hole-in-one at a mini-driving range on the lake. It’s pricey – about £12 for 15 balls! – but unique, so I decided to have a go. My first shot went inches over the top of the hole, I duffed a couple, and seven shots went painfully close. Sunday was the final day of the road trip – I had to drive back up to Auckland to have the car back at the rental agency by 4pm. I’d planned to find another random little town en route, but the drive back up proved much less interesting as the state highway took me directly back into Auckland.
So that wraps up the first leg of this road tripping adventure, but there’s plenty more to come as I explore deeper into the wonders of New Zealand!
Robilaz Writes 
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