New Zealand
Ahh, New Zealand… the land of kiwis, Kiwis and sunshine!
Auckland
I’ve been putting off writing this post because there is SO MUCH to write about. I have to be keeping up on my writing otherwise all the cool little details and impressions of our days are going to slip away and I’m (you’re) just going to be stuck with a ‘what we did’ schedule of events. Will resolve to do better. Starting tomorrow.
We were in Auckland for one week in early February. The very first thing that thrilled the kids was Sean trying to get into the driver’s side of the cab from the airport because they drive on the other side here. They thought it was hilarious!
Our first impressions of Auckland were of so many gorgeous green spaces. Our Airbnb was right in the Central Business District (CBD), a 7-minute walk from SkyCity, but on a quiet, leafy, lovely side street. We roughly planned out the week after checking in and getting groceries, deciding to do the Wētā Workshop tour, the All Blacks Experience, and a Sky Tower visit on our first full day. Such a touristy day! Both kids said the interactive rugby drills during the All Blacks tour were their favourite parts. Sean liked learning more about the hakas performed by the All Blacks (the Ka Mate, composed by Chieftain Te Rauparaha in the early 1800s) and by the Black Ferns (the Ko Ūhia Mai, composed by Elder Whetu Tipiwai in 2006). My favourite part? Probably seeing a 360-degree panorama of the city from the Tower’s 186 meters up.
The next day, Sean took K to a free cricket game at nearby Eden Park while I took G to a local walk-in doctor. Too much swimming in French Polynesia = outer ear infection. Poor thing was in so much pain. Sean also found an awesome park very close to our apartment where the kids passed some fun evenings.
We spent another morning at what will probably end up being G’s favourite experience of the ENTIRE year, a cat café in the cute little Newmarket area of Auckland. Catfé Mao was hilarious, very adorable, and made for a lot of good catcon. From there we headed to the Auckland Museum. I was especially interested in the Māori Central Hall, learning about Māori and Pasifika culture and the achievements of Polynesian navigators. We also loved exploring the natural history exhibits on the top floors, featuring flora, fauna and geological specimens of Aotearoa New Zealand.
One of our days was spent over on Waiheke Island, which I highly recommend! We took a 10 AM passenger ferry over and got the hop-on-hop-off Explorer bus ticket addition. We got ourselves lost on one of the little ‘tramping tracks’ (hiking is called tramping here…) which ended up a very hot but beautiful detour through some of the hilly residential roads of the island. The houses were stunning! When we finally made it to the Oneroa town bus stop we hopped on a bus to Onetangi Beach (reminded me of Tribune Bay on Hornby, slightly less curved) and walked along and then up, up, up the hill to Casita Miro where we sat on a blanket on the grassy picnic slope and enjoyed fabulous tapas and a tasting flight. Heaven! Hard to put that delight into words, sitting in the warm shade of an olive tree, shoes off, sipping really good wine and looking at the blue sea below.
From there we headed to Tantalus Estate where we enjoyed more sips – a pour of their lovely bubbles amongst them – in their flower-filled, buzzing-with-fat-fuzzy-bees back garden. K and G amused themselves tossing a little foam rugby ball around until that got out of hand (sigh). Leaving Tantalus, we let ourselves out through a back gate in the vines and up the next driveway to Te Motu at which point I cannot recall well the wine(s?!) we tasted but could certainly wax poetical for long hours on the olive oil, bread, cheese, and honey (served right from the comb) we enjoyed. A hop onto the bus brought us back to Oneroa where we had a cold drink before wandering back to the ferry terminal for a sleepy trip back to Auckland around 7 PM. Such a beautiful, sun-soaked day of good food and good wine.
Our last full day in Auckland saw us stroll through the delightfully quirky neighbourhood of Mount Eden (recco: Small Mercies for their yummy ‘donuts with a twist’), hike up the dormant volcano of Maungawhau Mount Eden, and visit the Auckland Art Gallery. The hike was gorgeous and not very strenuous, summiting at a boardwalk around the now-grass-filled crater which is a sacred site for Māori. The art gallery, unbeknownst to us before we arrived, had a feature exhibition on the fashion designs of Guo Pei. Her designs are so fantastical, ethereal, extravagant, awe-inspiring… the website says they present her most “visually intoxicating ensembles” and I would not call that hyperbole. It.was.stunning! We finished our day – and our time in Auckland – with fancy cocktails at the bar of Masu followed by dinner at Botswana Butchery. I have slowly become un-vegan over the past 6-8 months (partially because I knew that continuing strict veganism on this trip would be difficult and would limit my full experience of many cultures / places) and my goodness I was glad to indulge in the Wagyu beef braised carrots, the duck fat potatoes, and bites of Sean’s rack of lamb. Standout at Masu: the “Mr. Bob Harris-san” cocktail of Japanese whisky, honey, umeshu, citrus and cedar bitters. Arrived back to the apartment to throw some things into bags and flop into bed, very full and tired!
From Auckland we caught an inter-city bus to Tauranga and taxied to our Airbnb in Mount Maunganui (‘the Mount’). That’s a (good) story for another day!
Happy travels,
Caley
Mount Maunganui
Happy Weeks at ‘The Mount’We began our sojourn at Mount Maunganui (“the Mount” if you’re there) via an inter-city bus with a hilarious driver who a) had an eagle-eye for passengers trying to sneak down to take advantage of the empty “gold” seats on the main level, and b) would, after the front door would randomly blast open, continue ripping down the highway for miles before pulling over to shut it, and c) made G crawl into the luggage hold to unlock a stuck door from the inside. Quite the journey! Luckily we easily found a taxi from the downtown Tauranga bus depot to take us to the Mount and to our lovely Airbnb there.
Right away, we fell in love with this adorable seaside town. The beach goes on forever and a beautiful wooden boardwalk scrolls out along it for excellent walking. The main street is lined with smoothie stands, bakeries, cafes, pubs, ice cream shops, and wine bars. There are great playgrounds, parks and green spaces, plus the gorgeous lava dome that the Mount is named for (its Māori name is Mauao). Temperatures when we were there never dropped below 18c and daytime highs were usually around 26c – perfect for adventuring. We loved seeing dogs sitting in the passenger side windows as it looked to us, every single time, like they were driving. Small pleasures.
We got the kids some helmets and inexpensive (but light-up!) scooters on the first day since we were going to be doing a ton of walking. So worthwhile. Made our daily outings fun (and fast) instead of whine-fests. Also on day one, we checked out a cool-looking nearby gym and promptly signed up. Going to Natural Fit’s 7 AM strength and movement classes became Sean and I’s routine. One of my favourite parts of being in the Mount for a good chunk of time was the healthy routine we got into – near-daily workouts, lots of home cooking (Chicken and Rice Street Cart Style from Smitten Kitchen Every Day is a favourite), and tons of walking. Also, school most mornings for a few hours after the gym and after I’d had a coffee. Our Airbnb had a Breville barista-style coffee machine which made heavenly cups. Still dreaming of that sugared foamy milk Sean frothed up.
Right away, we fell in love with this adorable seaside town.
Although we ate in a lot, we also had our fair share of treats and meals out. Stand-outs included Mixture Eatery for take-out lunch – off to the cricket! – and the best array of gorgeous treats going, Astrolabe’s screaming burger deal on Tuesdays, sashimi at Hide, lamb at Latitude 37, and sandwiches at Flaveur Breads. Also, ice cream at Polar Dessert Bar, Vietnamese-style vegan wontons at Rice Rice Baby (we went twice), and the barbequed swordfish we had at Saltwater for our farewell dinner.
Besides walking/scootering, gym-going and eating, how did we spend our days? Sean and the kids took two surf lessons which they loved; I also loved the free time to go for a giant walk without anyone talking to me. We spent an afternoon at the Mount Hot Pools which was dreamy. We spent many hours at the Grace Avenue playground which was an awesome park as well as being ‘named for me’ as G liked to say. The kids did a clip ‘n’ climb session at Rocktopia. G and I got pedicures one afternoon. We walked over to Leisure Island, did the base track around Mauao, as well as up to its summit (stunning near-360 views). We swam in the pool and dipped in the hot tub at our Airbnb. And we watched 2.5 of the three Lord of the Rings movies – don’t tell me how it ends!
We rented a car for the last few days so we could venture a bit further afield. Day 1 with the car saw us drive to McLaren Falls Park for a little forest tramp (lovely, but short. We liked the bright orange fungal disks growing on the trees and the black goose/swan (???) creature waiting at the end of the track. The next day we drove a few hours to Waitomo and the Ruakuri Cave. We all arrived a bit green from the drive and weren’t in finest form, but the cave tour was phenomenal and surpassed our expectations. The cave now has a newer, human-built entrance after the original entrance was closed out of respect to Māori ancestors buried there. The new entrance is a descending spiral ramp which reminded us of the Malahat Skywalk. Down in the cave system, we saw every manner of stalactite, from delicate, tapering icicles to huge rippley elephant ear shapes to crystal-encrusted columns. We spotted glow worms shining out from the crevices in the ceiling above us, saw their sticky strands of prey-catching web, and learned about their lifecycle. We heard about Māori culture (our guide was Māori and had grown up in the area) and about settlement by other cultures, the extinction of some species, and the introduction of others. Did you know there are an estimated 30 million possums destroying native forestland in Aotearoa New Zealand because they were introduced in the late 1800’s from Australia to establish a fur trade? Eek!
We had planned to drive to the Coromandel Peninsula as well as to Rotorua but the day after Waitomo saw me in bed with a terribly kinked neck; Sean and I both think it was the stress of the road trip. Driving on the other side + a car that constantly drifted towards the ditch + carsick kids and a mom who is extremely emetophobic = stressed Caley. Everyone we talked to asked if we were going to the South Island as well, so I guess we will just have to come back one day! We really have loved our time in this beautiful country.
Until next time,
Caley
What an amazing adventure you are having. Reading this I felt like I was there with you. I love reading about your experiences. Keep the stories coming. Miss you! ❤️
Aw thank you! We sure will. Miss you too xoxo
Sounds like you all loved Auckland
We sure did – a busy and fun week!
What a wonderful adventure you are having Your family will never forget this fantastic experience
Thanks Auntie Shannon!
Happy you were able to make it to Waiheke Island for a day! The wineries were wonderful!
We loved it!
I know you too well to believe that you enjoyed an encounter with a giant black swan/goose creature!
Hahah
This place sounds heavenly, though!
Touche 😉
Yeah… this is wonderful and all… but I wanna know how much time you spent “stirring the pot”… hmmmm 😉 Miss you!! x
I only stir pots with you, James! lol. Miss you!