When we came up with the idea to go to New Zealand, back in November after that glass of wine at the neighbor’s house, I had no idea of what the country was all about, where to go, or what to do. But what I did know was how to plan a trip that would suit the way I like to travel now and to find a path of least stress.
So here’s my own very personal recipe for success:
1. Forget all about the idea that just because you are traveling such a long distance (and it’s so expensive to get there) you have to stay a long time. I don’t want to stay a long time. Dennis might get grumpy. So the first decision was to go for a minimum of 2 weeks, which would also be more or less the maximum.
2. If you are moving around from one place to another make sure that there is a minimum 3 or 4 night stay in each place and be careful to account for travel time.
3. No hotels. I want space – a living room. bedroom. kitchen, balcony or terrace, and views. A bathroom is nice too. “Vacation rentals” or “holiday lets” or whatever the local terminology is, is the way to go for me.
4. Make sure there is recovery time. Stay put for awhile upon arrival to rest, recuperate and get oriented.
5. Travel light.
All this meant that I knew right off the bat that we would only scratch the surface of all that is on offer in New Zealand, and that we were limited to 4 locations.
Auckland – New Zealand’s largest city and where the international flights land.
Northland – I’d seen lots of paintings, photos and videos of this area of the North Island through an artist I’ve been following and liked what I saw. We stayed on a very rural hilltop overlooking the ocean about 1/2 hour from Whangarei, the largest city in the north.
Wellington – Another city, smaller than Auckland and where you get the ferry to South Island. A dynamite museum on the waterfront and Botanical Garden oasis.
Nelson – A small city on the north part of South Island. When Howard found out it was the “craft beer capital of New Zealand” and I heard about its thriving arts scene the choice was a no brainer. I want to live there. Except Dennis likely wouldn’t appreciate the move.
We arrived in Auckland after our 13 hour flight at 5:30 on a Sunday morning. We picked up a phone at the Vodofone kiosk at the airport and piled into the $100 taxi for our first destination – a waterfront condo at Prince’s Wharf, right downtown. (The airport is far away; if we hadn’t been so wrecked we might have considered the airport bus that stops 5 minutes away $16 per). I had not been particularly enthusiastic about being in a large city, no matter how nice it might be, but see (4) above. The compromise was the harbour.
The manager met us at the front door to let us in, and we found that we had been upgraded to a large 2 bedroom instead of what I had paid for. Walls of glass and a huge terrace stretching the entire length of the apartment, views from living room and both bedrooms, faced one side of the harbour, out to the bridge. The skyscrapers of the immediate downtown were somewhere to our backs and not within view. The scenery was of the sky, the water, and the endless fascination of the boat and ship activity on the water.
And that wasn’t the only activity. I had thought that such an early hour on a Sunday morning downtown would be a snoozer, but instead, the scene was total excitement. A Triathlon had just begun and the start line of the first portion of the event, the swimming, was just below our balcony. All morning the sounds of the loudspeaker announcers carried over the harbour, the streets around it were blocked off, and through my binoculars I could watch the thousands as they swam, biked and ran their routes and hear the cheering of the supporters as these nut cases crossed the various finish lines. Later (after the NFL final game between Seattle and Green Bay was over – oh what joy when it was discovered it was being carried on local cable) when we went out to explore, we found a busy scene on the streets, wharves, restaurants and cafes of the waterfront, under brilliant summer sunshine.
We spent our 3 days in Auckland either on the water or within about 3 blocks of it, totally ignoring the rest of the city. Right beside Prince’s Wharf is the ferry terminal with its gorgeous restored old building with ferries coming and going constantly to and from various day tripping (or longer) destinations. My favourite was the 12 minute ride across the harbour to the town of Devonport, a little historic cutie of a place, with great walks, restaurants, bars, galleries, shops and views. It would also be a great dinner destination – a short ferry ride across and a ride back in darkness and city lights. We also took a harbour cruise which took us out past Devonport for a brief stop at the “new” volcanic island of Rangitoto, with its black rock shoreline, which erupted from the sea 600 years ago. I loved the look of the old wooden hexagonal lighthouse, first built in 1870 – cottage style. The first lighthouse keeper spent 19 years living in this one room 50 feet above the sea before taking early retirement for reasons of “ill health”. No kidding, what a job!
There were other summertime destination trips by ferry that we couldn’t do before it was time to head up to Northland. Several people recommended the island of Waiheke, still only a 35 minute ride, with numerous wineries, sandy beaches, shops, restaurants and places to stay. The other place that had my attention was a little further still, to Coromandel. Just the first of many things left on the table.
A great beginning to a great trip, with back towards the concrete, facing New Zealand waters.