Walking through Western Springs Park in Auckland. One of the many natural parks in the city.
Category: Travel
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A Hippy in Auckland
Most of the time in New Zealand, so far, has been spent in Auckland. Auckland is an interesting city, busier and bigger than Wellington, it is also home to the tallest building in the South Hemisphere, the Sky Tower.
Auckland is the largest and most populous city in New Zealand.
The geological aspect of the city is also very interesting and unique, in fact Auckland is built on a volcanic field.
There are 50 volcanoes within an area of approx 1,000 square kilometres, forming the hills, lakes and basins of the city. Rangitoto Island, just across Auckland city, was formed by the most recent eruption 600 years ago!
Underlying Auckland there is a pool of magma that occasionally finds its way up to the surface through different routes and erupting in a different place each time.
Each volcano that can be seen on today’s Auckland’s landscape is dormant while the underlying magma is still active meaning that it may be coming through at a new place and form a new cone at any time. Quite impressive!
The whole of New Zealand is such a recent geological formation that the plate is still in continuous adjustment.
People that know me well, know that I am not a big city girl anymore (or maybe I have never been?) but I have tried to adjust to life in the city.
The good thing about Auckland is that it is surrounded by native bushes and plants and it is right on the sea so it does not feel claustrophobic like normally a big city would do. The city is quite easy going and it is common to walk around wearing jandals (big bonus for me!) or like some people do even bear foot!
Since I love taking photos of nature and underwater photos, at first I did not take many photos. Then I started to look at the city under different eyes and discovered that even in a city one can find interesting subjects to portray and create a story.
Now I cannot stop taking photos. Every time I go out I find interest in anything I look at. Unfortunately I do not always have my camera with me but at least my iPhone can take reasonably good pictures.
So, this is Auckland!
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Skate Park – Mapua
We had a really fun time at the skate park in Mapua. Dom doing tricks on the skateboard and me shooting photos. It looked like we were making a super cool photo-shoot for a magazine! This is my handsome man!
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Christmas in Mapua
After a few days in Wellington, we made our way to the South Island to get ready for the family Christmas.
We flew from Wellington to Nelson with Sounds Air on a Cessna Caravan tiny plane that holds only thirteen passengers. The smallest plane I ever been on!
All seats had great view so it was a pretty scenic one hour journey during which we could enjoy the views of the Marlborough Sounds.
They are an extensive network of sea drowned valleys created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels at the north of the South Island.
Very spectacular! The view was definitely a distraction from wondering if the plane was going to land safely. Of course the plane was safe! I just found odd flying in such small aircraft!
We spent few days in Nelson visiting Dom’s dad. I loved the South Island right away. The weather was sunny and hot, I could get rid of my woolly jersey for the first time since being in New Zealand!
Nelson is located on the eastern shore of the Tasman Bay and it is well known for its local arts and crafts scene. The city has one of the best climate in New Zealand and it is nicknamed “Sunny Nelson” due to the annual average of sunshine of over 2400 hours!
During our stay in Nelson we drove to the Abel Tasman National Park. The countryside in this part of the South Island reminded me very much of Tuscany during summer time.
Lush vineyards, fruit and berry trees, green hills and fields. Unfortunately this day I forgot my camera so I am gutted to have no photos of it. I can tell anyways that the National Park is beautiful, with golden beaches and sculptured granite cliffs scattered everywhere.
After few days in Nelson we made our way to Mapua where we were spending the Christmas holidays.
Dom’s mum, Annie, had arranged to do a house swap so we could spend Christmas in a lovely house with a big garden only five minutes walk from the beach absolutely for free!!
Amazing, what a great idea. I only seen this house swap business in movies before, but people actually really do that. Absolutely great!
We had a great time, the weather was sunny and hot, we had a beautiful garden to chill out and take our meals, we ate a huge amount of food and drunk copiously amounts of delicious wine and local brews, we had a great family time.
We went for walks, we did a trip to Rabbit Island, we went berry picking, we went swimming and we walked the dog. Yes, we also had a dog, Sasha, she came with the house and became part of the family during Christmas.
I also celebrated my birthday the day before Christmas. Dom and his family took me out for a lovely dinner to a fish restaurant by the sea with views of Rabbit Island. What a treat, it was a beautiful birthday.
I was also spoiled for gifts, Dom gave me a beautiful silver ring that I now wear every day and his mum and Paul (her husband) got me a New Zealand green stone necklace that is supposed to give strength and courage to the person that is given to.
As tradition says, every member of the family had to wear the necklace for a while before I had it myself. What a cute tradition.
The time in Mapua was fantastic, I loved the place and the weather and of course the people I was with. Dom has a great family, they certainly made me feel part of it.
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Around Wellington
Wellington is New Zealand’s capital city and it is situated at the southwestern tip of the North Island. It is also the Country’s political centre housing the Parliament and all the Government head offices.
It is a very laid back and pleasant city. We spent a few days here before heading off to the South Island for the Christmas Holidays. Wellington has a reputation for its picturesque natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with colonial villas.
Wellington Harbour lies along an active geological fault, which is clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many of Wellington’s suburbs sit high above the centre of the city. We walked around a lot and did some sightseeing driving along the scenic road along the coast.
There is a network of bush walks and reserves around the city which makes it a pleasure to walk around. Wellington is New Zealand’s windy city, it is windy all year round with high rain fall. Besides the wind I found it a beautiful city.
We also went to check out the wind farm on the hills above Wellington and enjoyed stunning views of the city. What place could have suited better for a wind farm project?
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A Green Land
If I was to describe New Zealand in only one word, it would be “Green”. That is it, New Zealand is green. On my way into New Zealand from the plane all I could make out of this volcanic land was green hills, green mountains, green plains and occasionally few brown patches and lakes.
When I got off the plane in Wellington and looked out at the surroundings, my first impression of New Zealand was that it was very similar to Cornwall in England.
Having lived there for about two years on and off, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I was first introduced to New Zealand. Green hills and cliffs dropping down to the sea, blue sky scattered with white fluffy clouds and windy.
At this stage I did not get to see much of Wellington besides its airport, since I was only stopping over for few hours before flying to Auckland. When I landed in Auckland I had a different impression. The airport was much bigger and when I stepped outside the airport I could tell I was in a bigger city.
Dom came to meet me at the airport in the car. The drive from the airport to Central Auckland was about thirty minutes. Looking out of the car window, the surroundings still reminded me of Cornwall. But it did not take me long to change my views.
After my arrival we spent a few days in Auckland and then we departed on a road trip to Wellington where we were going to meet Dom’s family. I was very happy to leave the city since I still had to adjust to the changes from Indonesia to New Zealand.
We drove all the way in two days with a stop over in Taupo. We took the New Zealand State Highway 1 (SH1) and as soon as we left the city I was impressed at how the vegetation became lusher and greener the further south we were getting.
Beautiful scenery, native bushes, ferns and trees everywhere…everywhere I looked it was green! Different shades and hues of green! Hills and mountains covered with pine forests, vineyards, fruit trees, more bushes…it was a beautiful sight.
Taupo is only few hours driving from Auckland. It is a town located in the center of the north island on the shore of Lake Taupo, New Zealand larger lake.
Taupo is a center of volcanic and geothermal activity and hot springs suitable for bathing are located around the area. We arrived in Taupo early afternoon, checked in to a motel and went straight for the hot springs on the Waikato River.
How beautiful! Several pools of steamy hot water running straight in to the much cooler river. It was fantastic, it was like sitting in a hot bath. I think we must have spent about a couple of hours there. Unfortunately I did not have the camera with me, so there is no photos of this fantastic spot. This was my first real taste of New Zealand.
The following day we carried on our journey to Wellington. Few kilometers out of Taupo the SH 1 ascended onto the North Island Volcanic Plateau, passing through the fringes of the Tongariro National Park (the first National Park in New Zealand and the fourth in the world) and into the Rangipo Desert, passing the volcanoes of Ruapehu, Ngauruhore and Tongariro.
The scenery was breathtaking. I have not been to this National Park yet but I would love to experience the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track across the spectacular and unique volcanic terrain. The road between Rangipo and Waiouru is commonly known as the Desert Road.
It is quite impressive how the landscape changes dramatically from lush green to desert for few kilometers and then back to green.
We arrived in Wellington in the late afternoon and enjoyed a few cold beers before a dinner of mutton curry from the local night market. It was in Wellington that I was introduced for the first time to the delicacies of New Zealand food and wine. The produces are so fresh, meat is delicious and wine is just fantastic.
The following day we had an amazing family dinner with a selection of local cheeses and crackers to start followed by slow roast lamb and roast veggies accompanied by floods of Sauvignon Blanc which is my favourite withe wine. For a food lover like me, that was pure heaven.
After months of Indonesian food I thoroughly enjoyed that beautiful dinner! At this point I was starting to see the climate of New Zealand like a fusion of Italy and England.
Amazing wine, ripe juicy tomatoes, delicious tender meat, mouthwatering cheeses, tons of any kind of fresh vegetables, fruit trees and berries and hot summer sun (just like Italy) and green land, cool wind and cold nights (like England).
I was liking New Zealand a lot and I was starting to understand more of Dom’s upbringing and background.
It is quite amazing to think that approximately seventy per cent of the population in New Zealand is ethnically of European origins followed by approximately fifteen per cent Maori.
The Kiwis are in a way so different from the Europeans. They are wilder and more laid back. No surprise since at the end of the day they live on an island almost isolated from the rest of the world.
But this is what makes them so cool. I love it, all of it. New Zealand, its nature, its people, its food and wine and everything else that makes it the amazing place it is.
