New Zealand Adventure - Page 5 of 6 -

Page 5 of 6

September 17, 2017

Hiking with friends

One of the nice things of traveling is that you can wake up and for a moment don’t know where you are. That’s what I have again this morning when I wake up in a really nice bed in my friends house. They’re still asleep when I get out of bed, so I get to the living room, make myself a cup of coffee and sit down on the couch with a good book. After a while they also get up and we have breakfast together.

After sleeping in a camper for a couple of days, it’s so nice to be in a real house again. I enjoy the things I often take for granted like a large bed and a hot shower. It’s also very nice to be with friends again. I’m quite good in being alone and I also meet a lot of people everywhere I go, but to be with a friend is something different and also nice. We plan to go on a hike in the afternoon and get some food for lunch on our way to the mountain where we’re gonna walk.

Hiking with Chelsea and Jill in red woods

It’s a beautiful summer-like day again and it’s really warm outside. It’s the first day I can use my shorts. We walk through a pretty redwoods forest and then hike up a small mountain. At the top it’s pretty windy and a lot colder, so I’m glad that I brought my hoodie. We have sandwiches with salad and chicken for lunch, really delicious. Then we meet another friend who went mountain biking in the same area and together we go down again by car.

Even though I would have liked to stay longer with my friends, I feel that I should continue my journey south and say goodbye. I drive another three hours to just after sunset. I arrive at Kaitoke Regional park which must be beautiful, but I can’t see to much of it yet, because it’s already dark. I park my car at the camping place and enjoy again a sky full of stars, that’s one of the nice things of staying for the night in nature.

After having traveled around almost every day since I’ve been here, I plan on maybe staying in this area for a day or two and relax in the middle of nature before I continue to the city Wellington.

September 16, 2017

Visiting Hobbiton

I wake up early as usual and have a breakfast next to the river where I stayed this night. It’s nice and peaceful here, though I can’t fully enjoy it, because I’ve got work on my mind. I decide to first make a stop at a coffee place to work for a couple of hours, before I continue my trip. I arrive just before eight at the coffee place, order a cappuccino and work til about ten. Then I decide it’s been enough for today, because it’s a bright day with sunshine and it feels like waisting it if I would work the whole day. The destination of today is Hobbiton Movie Set where they recorded part of the Lord of the Rings movies.

The Start of the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

My expectations of the Hobbiton Movie Set were high, but are completely exceeded. It’s such a wonderful place, absolutely beautiful. In the middle of many green hills with thousands of sheep there is a small valley known from the movies. I feel like a giant here, because the hobbit houses are really small. It’s a perfect day to visit the movie set. The sky is blue and the sun is shining bright. The tour around the the movie set takes about 45 minutes and ends with a drink in the Green Dragon bar. I set down at the fire place and enjoy a nice pale ale beer. I’m so happy I went to visit this place, it’s absolutely one of the highlights of this trip.

I’ve been in New Zealand for about a week now, but it’s only now that I finally realize that I’m here. The Hobbiton Movie Set was one of the things high on the list to visit and although there is much more to see here on the North Island, after today I feel like it’s getting time to travel in the direction of the South Island. I decide to do another long drive to Napier, to visit my New Zealand friend Chelsea.

Just before six o’clock I arrive at Napier. I drive to a camping place at the beach. There is a big fire at the beach with a group of children around it. I join them for a while and they let me eat something I never had before, lamb tales. It’s a strange taste and I’m not sure that I like it, but I think it’s good to try new things. After a while the group leaves and I stay alone at the fire at the beach. There are many stars in the sky and I enjoy the moment. Then Chelsea and her friend Jill come to pick me up and we drive to a local bar to have some drinks. We meet with some more friends of them and are catching up a bit. It’s nice to see each other again at the other side of the world. Tonight I can stay at their place which is also nice to stay in a house again after a couple of nights sleeping in the camper.

September 15, 2017

Visiting the Waitoma Caves

Today doesn’t start as I had planned. As soon as I drive away from the camping, I feel that something is not right with my car. I stop and see that I’ve got a flat tire. After saying some words I won’t repeat here, I drive back to the camping. Fortunately the camping owner is already awake and comes outside. He happens to have a pump for car tires and gets enough air in the tire to get me to the next town. At the town there is a garage which is already open at 7.30am and a friendly guy fixes my tire in less than ten minutes. The damage, 20NZD. I’m really thankful and glad that I was so close to a town and that the people here helped me so good.

I drive a bit further and stop in the next town for a coffee and something I haven’t seen before, a long donut. It’s the same as a donut, but then straight. That gives the day a good start after all.

The rest of the day I keep driving with one more stop at a nice beach. The destination of today is Waitoma, where the Waitoma caves are. I arrive just in time for the last tour of the day. First we walk through beautiful caves with some glow worms and then we take a boat on an underground river to a place with more than 10.000 glow worms. It absolutely amazing to see. I’m glad I drove so long to get to this place, it’s really spectacular.

By the time the tour is ended it’s getting dark outside and I drive to a nearby camping place. I make a quick stop at a supermarket to get groceries for breakfast tomorrow and then drive to the Mangaokewa scenic reserve where I’ll stay tonight. First free camping place of this trip, so I’m happy. It’s in the middle of a forest next to a small river. Except for the flowing water it’s completely quiet, a nice peaceful place to stay for the night.

September 14, 2017

The north point of New Zealand

This morning I get up just before sunset. I still wake up sometimes during the night, partly because of the jet lag and partly because I go to bed so early, but I manage to sleep longer these days.

It’s very peaceful here in the morning and I decide to go for a run at the beach, something I’ve always wanted to do. The run to the other side of the bay and back is only about three kilometers, but still a very nice way to wake up. I continue with my daily workout and then it’s time for a shower. There are only cold showers outside here, so that’s challenging, but also very nice. I can tell you, I’m fully awake now. I make myself some breakfast and enjoy the view.

For me as a energetic/driven person, it’s hard to wind down. Somewhere in my mind there are all the things I still need to do, work for my business that needs to be done, places I want to visit these days, books I want to read. But this morning while I’m watching the beautiful scenery I realize that I can also decide to do nothing today. I could stay in this bay the whole day and all would be well. Even though I probably continue my journey today, it’s actually a nice relaxing thought not to have to do anything. I make myself a cup of coffee and sit down in the camping chair that I got from the rental company.

When I’ve finished my coffee it starts to rain and I see that as my que to start driving again. I drive all the way north to Cape Reinga. It’s a real long road, but fortunately there is almost no one there, so it’s nice to drive and I can keep the speed up. In about two hours I reach the lighthouse in the North. It’s a beautiful place. Some signs next to the walking path tell that the Māori believed that this is the place where their spirits left earth when they died. Whether that’s true or not, it’s absolutely a special place. Beautiful cliffs rise up from the ocean and you can see the coast line for many miles. I walk to the lighthouse and then hike some of the hills next to the cliffs. It’s a bright sunshiny day and a lot warmer than the last couple of days. I stay at the north point for quite some time and eat some lunch there before I hit the road again.

The way back seems even longer and keep driving the rest of the day until it’s dark. On the way back I make a quick stop at Waipoua Forest where you can find trees of 2000 years old. The trees are huge and pretty impressive. After visiting the forest the sun goes down and I stop at a camping nearby the beach. It’s not such a beautiful place as the last two days, but they have a big kitchen where I can charge my laptop and bake some pancakes for dinner.

I hope to get to some more civilized area again tomorrow, because I have some work to catch up on. That’s the challenge of working for yourself. It gives a lot of freedom, but sometimes even on vacation you need to do some work. The time difference makes it a bit easier to let go of work, because it’s almost impossible to make business calls, so everything needs to go via email and internet here in the North is quite unreliable. The fact that I can enjoy this adventure, but also desire for a normal workday (read creating some websites and helping people from a coffee place) is a nice confirmation that I love being an entrepreneur.

Visiting the most north point of New Zealand was one of the points on my list that I really wanted to visit and it was absolutely beautiful. From now on I’ll go more south. I think one or two more weeks on the North Island, before I go to the South Island.

September 13, 2017

Living from sunrise to sunset

Already early in the morning I wake up again, still not completely in the New Zealand rhythm. I wait for the sunrise and then make myself a cup of coffee with the gas cooker provided with the spaceship. I also get myself some breakfast with the food I still had from the hostel and then hit the road again.

I drive to a small town not far from where I stayed for the night, called Russell. There are a few little stores and a bakery. I find one coffee place where I get a cappuccino and go online to post on my blog and check in with some friends. After that I get myself some croissants at the bakery and do groceries for the coming days. I continue driving until I get to the waterside where I need to take a small ferry to go to the other side. It’s nice though I’m also thinking about how everything here costs more than planned. Taking a ferry for just a couple of minutes costs 12,50NZD. I think that’s the thing with traveling, it always costs more than you think. It’s okay and I enjoy the ride. I drive further to a town called Kerikeri where the oldest stone building of New Zealand is located. I guess that for someone from Europe it’s less impressive, but it’s still nice to see. I think it’s also good to find many reasons so get out the car, so you won’t be driving all day. Next to the stone house is another old wooden house with a front porch. There are two benches on the porch and I decide to sit down and read a couple of pages in the book I carry with me. Little things like that can make me really happy. I walk a bit further and visit an old church and a place where there used to be a Māori village. Then it’s time to continue the road trip.

I look at my watch and see that it’s four o’clock in the afternoon. Two more hours until sunset. My first thought is to keep driving so I can reach Cape Reigna just before dark, but then I realize that it’s better to take it a bit slower and I drive to a departed bay where I had seen that there is a remote camping place. The bay is absolutely beautiful and peaceful. I park as close as I can to the beach and walk around for a while. Then I make myself some sandwiches and get into the car, while it’s getting dark outside. I watch some series and read a bit and go to sleep early again. I like it that my day rhythm here is in sync with daylight. I go to bed just after it gets dark and I wake up just before sunrise. It enables me to see the two most beautiful moments of the day for taking pictures and it helps me getting the most use of the days. Relaxing in the morning, driving and other activities in the afternoon and resting again in the evening. It’s a good vacation so far.

September 12, 2017

Spaceship

This morning I wake up happily by the alarm clock, meaning that I finally slept a long night. I pack my bags and go to the kitchen for breakfast. In about one and a half hour a taxi from the camper rental company will pick me up.

During breakfast I plan a bit of a route for today. It’s a bit hard to guess how long the distances will take, but I take my Lonely Planet and set a general direction to go to. I say goodbye to people in the hostel and go outside where a friendly taxi driver from Sri Lanka is waiting for me. The ride is only 15 minutes and it gives me some time to see how traffic is here in New Zealand.

When I arrive at the rental company a friendly lady greets me “Welcome at Spaceships, how can I help you?” I tell her that I’m picking up my car and she shows me my new house on wheels for the coming weeks. They call them Spaceships and they have a bed inside and also hot plates for cooking. Everything looks very comfortable and I’m glad that I’m already happy with my choice.

I get behind the wheel, which is on the right side, and drive away. I had expected that it would take some time to get used to driving on the left side of the road, but for a left handed person like me it actually feels very natural. Driving and map reading at the same time is actually a bit more challenging and I miss a few roads. I’m a bit upset about it for a moment, but then decide to just accept it and enjoy the ride. I’m driving for a couple of hours and then stop at a pretty bay. It’s called Helena Bay, which of course reminds me of my friends in America. I walk at the beach and take my shoes off to feel how cold the water is. It’s actually warmer than expected and for a moment I doubt if I should go for a swim. I don’t have to think long about it, I already know I want to do it. I get my swimming shorts from my spaceship and jump into the water. It’s actually pretty cold after all, so I only swim for a few minutes but I’m glad I did it. First time that I swim in the Pacific Ocean. I happily discover that the travel towel I bought for this trip dries really well and soon I’m not cold anymore. I get dressed again and continue my road trip.

I got some apps on my phone for finding camping places (CamperMate and Rankers Camping) and I drive to a camping place about an hour from where I am. It’s completely departed and right next to the beach, perfect. There is a sign that it costs 16 dollars and I expect to see someone tomorrow morning to pay to. I park my car right next to the beach and get my bed ready. It’s still a bit early so I decide to watch a movie. It’s nice to watch a movie in a camper like this, it gives a bit more home feeling. After the movie I try to sleep, but then a lady knocks at the window and asks me to pay for camping. So I do and then go back to sleep. Softly I hear the waves of the sea and when I look outside the window I see many stars in the sky. Nice location for the first night camping.

September 11, 2017

Hiking at Waiheke island

I had set my alarm on six o’clock this morning to have a long day for a day trip, but that wasn’t necessary. I already wake up around 4am. I try to sleep again but can’t, so I get up to write and post on my blog. I send a few texts to friends and family back home where it is 8pm at the moment. It’s a bit weird how it’s already Sunday morning here and still Saturday night back home.

I’ve nice plans for today, I’m going to take the ferry to Waiheke island. Last night one of my new friends texted me that she wanted to join, so at 7am we have breakfast together in the kitchen. I put some nice jukebox music on and start baking some eggs. Some more people join in the kitchen and like me are a bit swinging on the music. Happy music in the morning, I love it. The breakfast is very good and about an hour later we’ve packed our bags for today and walk towards the harbor. Of course we make a quick stop at a coffee place to get a cappuccino and then we get on the ferry. The boat is smaller than expected and moves a lot on the waves, but it’s a nice ride. It’s also pretty to see the skyline of Auckland from the water. We pass a couple of islands and after about forty minutes arrive at Waiheke.

Hiking at the island is nice, there are pretty small paths through forest and fields which lead to beautiful bays. The weather here in New Zealand is pretty unpredictable though. It’s even worse than Dutch weather. It can literally change in five minutes. So we walk sometimes in sunshine and sometimes in rain. After a couple of hours we are both tired of hiking and decide to take the ferry back to Auckland.

Back in Auckland I go to Starbucks to work a bit, but the jet lag is too heavy and I can’t focus enough for programming. I almost fall asleep behind my laptop, so I decide to go back to the hostel.

Even though traveling is a great adventure, it can also be uncomfortable. This afternoon I feel a bit homesick. Not so much that I want to go home, but more that I miss the comfort of things you normally take for granted: fast and reliable internet to do some work, affordable good food, the gym and my bike to get everywhere quickly instead of having to walk half an hour. That’s also a nice side effect of traveling: you’ll appreciate the normal things more.

When I come back at the hostel I meet the other Dutch guy, Bas, and we decide to create a typical healthy Dutch dinner together: potatoes, vegetables and meat. I make it a little less healthy with ice cream for dessert. It’s really nice to eat some good food again after a in-flight meals and pizza last night. Tomorrow my road trip starts and I think it can be more challenging then to eat healthy, so I’m glad we have a good dinner this evening. We play some more chess as we did yesterday, but are both very tired so just before nine we call it a day. I hope I’ll sleep longer tonight so that I will be well rested tomorrow for the road trip.

September 10, 2017

First day in Auckland

I wake up around 7am, but decide to sleep in a bit more and wake up again at 11.30am. I feel like I could sleep a lot more, but it’s probably better go get up to beat the jet lag. The hostel where I stay is nice and I’m happy to have my own room where I can just leave all my stuff around.

It’s Spring here in Auckland and the weather feels a bit like the Netherlands. A bit cloudy, but not cold. I don’t feel like taking pictures straight away, but instead am heading to the nearest Starbucks to get online, check my e-mail and post the blog of yesterday. For some it might sound strange, but Starbucks feels a bit like home for me. It’s practically the same everywhere in the world and you know exactly what kind of coffee you’ll get and they have internet. I’m thankful that there is coffee and internet almost everywhere in the world these days.

In the afternoon I walk through downtown Auckland. It’s interesting how there is a variety of old static buildings and modern offices, almost skyscrapers. I end my walk with a visit to the supermarket, which looks a bit like the supermarkets in America, much bigger than the ones back home. I do groceries for the coming days and then head back to the hostel. It’s been many years since I stayed in a hostel and I’m happily surprised to find a big living room and kitchen filled with international people. I put my food in the fridge and start talking to some people from England. They tell me about a hill on the side of the city on which you have a beautiful view of the sunset. I check at my phone what time sunset is today, it’s in 45 minutes. I say goodbye to the people in the living room and go back to my room and decide I’ll go for a short run to the top of the hill.

I put on my running shoes and clothes on and head outside. It’s raining again, but I don’t mind. I love running so much and it feels great to run uphill in the rain. Just in time I arrive at the top. There is a large rainbow on one side and the sunset on the other side, a wonderful view. I’m glad those people told me about this, because I didn’t want to miss this. I stay at the hill for a couple of minutes until the sun is almost gone and then I run back to the hostel. After a fresh shower I walk to the nearest pizza place. Those helpful people also told me that there is a Dominoes around the corner where you can get pizza for five dollars. Sounds like a perfect dinner to me.

Back at the hostel there are a lot of people sitting at the kitchen table. We have dinner together and get to know each other a bit. A couple of them are from Germany and some others from Argentina, there is also another guy from the Netherlands. We switch languages a few times, but stick with English in the end. I love to meet new people and we have a nice evening with conversations and some board games.

Tomorrow I plan to take a ferry for a daytrip to Waiheke Island, so I don’t go too late to bed, making sure I can wake up early again.

September 9, 2017

The Day of departure

It’s interesting how you can look forward to a journey for weeks, but then at the morning of departure find yourself standing in the shower wondering what the heck you’re going to do. Traveling for 24 hours to the other side of the world, what was I thinking?

I think back of the phone call with my brother last night. He told me “Enjoy it as much as you can, because seven weeks will pass by really fast.” He is right, I better enjoy every single moment of it. Leaving for a long journey is actually a bit like it’s your birthday: you get messages and phone calls from so many people wishing you a great time. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!, they tell me and that’s what I’m gonna do.

Packing the last stuff in the morning is still a bit stressful, it’s always a challenge to get everything to fit in your bags, but I manage to fit everything in. Finally when I’m in the train to the airport I’m able to relax. Everything is packed in my backpack and cabin trolley, I’m ready to go. Getting through customs is annoying as usual and I’m thinking by myself again that one day I’ll be flying in a private jet. Never stop dreaming, right?

I thought I would have some time to work at the airport, but everything took longer than expected. Just a cup of coffee and a phone call later and it’s time to depart. I get on the plane and am happily surprised that the seat I bought has an extreme amount of leg space. I can stretch my legs completely and have three windows for myself. I’m so thankful I spend some extra money on this. I send some last goodbye messages and the it’s time to go offline for 12 hours. First I looked up to disconnect (aren’t we all a bit addicted to the internet?), but it’s actually okey. I collected a lot of movies in the last few weeks and have some good books with me, I’ll be fine. In about 12 hours I land in Kuala Lumpur where I have two hours to get on the next plane. I’ll probably write some more when I’m there.

It’s quite strange to be at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. It’s starting to get light and everything looks so different than in Europe, but I’m glad the first part of the journey went terrific and much faster than expected. I do some workouts at the airport and get to talk to a kiwi girl who is also heading to New Zealand. I send a few messages home, post a picture for my daily photography challenge and then it’s time to get on the second plane. After having traveled with KLM the first part, entering a very old plane of Malaysian Airlines is a bit of a disappointment. Less leg space and old uncomfortable chairs. Fortunately I’m a bit tired and also excited for getting closer to New Zealand, so I don’t mind it too much. Though, if I ever fly to NZ again in the future, I think I’ll take the Arabic route. Nine hours traveling left from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, so I’ll watch some more movies and maybe will try to sleep a bit. Next time I land will be in New Zealand, exciting!

The second flight seems to take much longer. Probably because on the first flight I talked with some people and was still full of energy, while now most of the people are sleeping and the lights are off. I’m thankful that I brought my iPad and have a lot of movies with me. I think it’ll be better to stay awake then to fall asleep now, to get faster in the New Zealand day rhythm. Also, I’m not really tired anymore, I just want to be there.

I’ve only just written the lines above and suddenly I do get tired and I close my eyes. I actually manage to sleep for an hour or so. I’m thinking about how comfortable it would be if you could move instantly to the other side of the world, like teleporting, instead of flying 24 hours. In the end I think I wouldn’t like that too much either, because the fact that it’s such a long journey to get there makes it also more special and exclusive. I think that if it was just a matter of seconds or minutes to get to the other side of the world, it would loose some of its value. Having said that, I’ll be glad to finally land in Auckland soon.

The moment you’re landed is often quite a relieve, especially after a long flight. After I got through customs I get myself an New Zealand SIM card so I can be online here as well and then I take the bus to the center where I’ll stay in a hostel for a few days. The long traveling is over for now, time to wind down and prepare for the adventure on the two islands of New Zealand.

August 30, 2017

Meeting a Kiwi in my own city

Every month I organize a board games night in a cafe in my city where many international people come together to play games and hang out with each other. We are usually with about 30 – 40 people and come from all over the world.

Even though I’ve met people from many places during the board games nights, I was very surprised to find a lady from New Zealand on the other side of the table, just a few weeks after I had booked my ticket. Her name is Chelsea and she was visiting the Netherlands for a couple of months. With a lot of excitement I shared my travel plans with her and she was just as surprised as I was, even more to find out that we have the same profession and could probably work together.

It’s very interesting how life goes sometimes and I’m very thankful to already have a friend in New Zealand. Via Chelsea I’ve met more New Zealand people, also called Kiwi’s, who were visiting or living here in the Netherlands. I’ve learned quite a bit about the culture and Chelsea made me a map with all the places I should visit. Some things about people from New Zealand I’ve learned so far: they are super sportive, they’re proud of their country (and also the island they’re from; it was fun to hear a discussion between someone from the North island and someone from the South Island) and they’re not such big fans of Australia. Handy things I’ve learned about New Zealand: you can’t just camp everywhere like I did in America. In some areas you might be able to do it, but in most places you have to go to an official campsite. I’ve also learned that if you follow the main roads, travel times are much shorter than I thought. Auckland to Wellington (crossing the North Island) can be done in a day if you want. Of course I’ll take the more scenic routes, but it’s good to get a bit of perspective of the distances.

I’ll be traveling to the other side of the world, to a place I’ve never been before, but I’m very happy to already know a couple of people there.