KAYAKING ABEL TASMAN

On our second day in Abel Tasman, we rented kayaks and explored on the water.

First off, we paddled to a cafe for some coffee (it was early, we have our priorities) THEN we got serious and powered our way over waves to Fisherman Island. After pulling our kayak to shore, we had the beach all to ourselves.

One of the amazing things about New Zealand is that there's just not a lot of people here. The cities are much quieter, driving on the country roads you rarely see other cars and even during peak season in a major tourist spot you feel like you have it all to yourself. 

Between the blue waters and the humming cicadas, Fisherman Island looked like a default desktop background photo and sounded like a soundscapes CD. That last sentence is just one example that shows how much I needed to step away from working on a computer all day back at home. 

On our way back from the island, we spotted a seal lounging in the rocks.

We flipped out.

It was about 8 feet away from us and seemed to understand the effect it had on us simple humans so it hung around for 10 minutes or so... floating around, checking us out and allowing me to take a few shots with my waterproof camera. Seeing this one seal, out on it's own in it's natural habitat, right next to us... was really incredible. Sandy and I were over-the-moon excited. 

After the high of our seal encounter, kayaking back to shore was a bit of an adventure. No one told us that our kayak-return meeting spot would look drastically different in low tide late in the afternoon. As in, it was now a mile long beach where before it was just ocean and a parking lot. 

We were paddling along for awhile, both of us very lost and little seasick. We did a lot of extra paddling and kayak dragging. Eventually, when we found the correct beach, we enlisted the help of locals for directions and to call the kayak place so they could pick us up. I was concerned they'd be worried as they were down 1 kayak and 2 Americans. But of course, no one had even noticed we were lost at sea. 

I often find that whenever I'm feeling quite satisfied with myself (reeling from my new seal friend), the universe has a way of smacking me back down to size (lost and nauseous in a kayak). I suppose it's a good way to keep balanced. 

ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

Abel Tasman National Park is famous for it's unreal beaches and turquoise blue coastal views. Sandy and I spent a day hiking the coastal track and tanning on the golden sand. 

After the full day hike, we stayed at Old MacDonald's Farm campsite. True to it's name, it was filled with animals (many unphotogenic llamas) and we had a good sleep with some lovely views of the landscape right outside our van window. 

NELSON, NZ + CAMP FOOD

In Nelson, Sandy and I stayed at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park. Between dodging small children on bikes and enjoying boysenberry ice cream, we relaxed on the beach, read (I flew through Jonathan Franzen's Freedom) and slept like champs, falling asleep as soon as the sun set. 

Living out of a van is a surprisingly wonderful experience. I spoke of the wonder of it to Sandy beforehand and she became a true convert, loving the ease of being able to pack up and go wherever, whenever you want. We especially enjoyed our little cooking set-up and our camp meals of omelettes and Sandy's original recipe, "lettuce-less salad". When we were feeling wild we'd add in some canned soup but mostly stuck to our 2 favorites. Recipe details below.  

INGREDIENTS:

tomato, red onion, cucumber, orange/yellow pepper (or as they call it in NZ, "capsicum")

avocado, lemon

eggs

olive oil, salt + pepper

Wattie's fiery chilli tomato sauce (ketchup)

OMELETTE:

-cut up 1/4 of an onion and fry with olive oil until almost burnt 

-mix 2 eggs and add to frying pan

-add in diced tomato, salt + pepper

-fold over half to make an omelette. flip again. if it falls apart in the process, present it as a "deconstructed omelette"

-plate with avocado and Wattie's fiery chilli tomato sauce. the latter is crucial. 

SANDY'S LETTUCE-LESS SALAD:

-chop up red onion, tomato, yellow/orange peppers and add to bowl

-squeeze 1/4 of a lemon and 1 teaspoon of olive oil over one serving

-add salt and pepper. 

Bam. Delicious health from the back of a van. 

THE SOUTH ISLAND

After a long and sleepy overnight ferry ride, Sandy and I made our way to New Zealand's South Island.  Our 3 hour drive to our first campsite in Nelson took us through windy roads, green mountains and crystal blue coasts. 

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

I was particularly pumped to visit Wellington after one of my favorite bloggers described it to me as "paaaainfully hippie and artsy" with a similar vibe to San Francisco. The capital city proved to be charming as hell. We had a great day wandering around...and stopping for coffee every 3 hours, still recovering from New Years Eve.

Fidel's (as in Castro) was our first stop for brunch on their sunny outdoor patio. They serve cappuccinos in bowls and therefore get 5 stars. 

Cuba Street was lined with darling little shops filled with items that are most accurately described as "twee". Lots of hand drawn animal themed decor and patchouli-hipster scented candles in Erlenmeyer flasks.

The Wellington waterfront is a busy port with a rainbow of shipping containers and ferries that travel between the North and South islands via the Cook Strait. The Cook Strait is named after Captain James Cook, the first Brit to set foot in NZ in 1769 and later go on to circumnavigate both islands. New Zealand was first SEEN (from afar) in 1642 by a Dutch explorer named Abel Tasman but he never made it to land as the Maori's spotted him and his men, attacked and scared them off. Spears and face tattoos are effective like that.   

Bit of a bold statement there, Wellington.  

Later on in the day, we took the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens. Sandy contemplated the reality of death but also how to maximize her tan on the way up, as seen in the photo above. 

Accessorizing with nature. 

Before a Malaysian dinner and gelato back on Cuba Street, we drove to the top of Mount Victoria for a good view over the whole city. The view from Mount Vic was great but we actually decided that if we spent the remaining two weeks of our trip at Kaffee Eis eating gelato, it would be worth the 9,000 mile flight to New Zealand so we HIGLY recommend a visit there if you ever find yourself in Wellington.

After that, we napped in our van for a few hours before catching a 2:30 AM ferry to the South Island. That's the beauty of living out of a van: home is where you park it. 

ROAD TO WELLINGTON

From Omokoroa, we had a long drive to Wellington  to make our late-night ferry to the south island the following day.  

Reputation-wise, the south island is understood to be far more impressive (it's snow capped mountains are legitimately insane) than the north....but the scenery of the north island is nothing to ignore. Sandy and I were constantly in awe driving through the rolling green hills of the country side. Vocab words that you rarely get to use in everyday life like "pastoral", "bucolic" and "idyllic" came to mind during this long drive and Sandy's reaction of: "HOLY HELL!", also summed up the feeling quite nicely. 

Parked on Lake Taupo.

Fueled by coffee and mixed nuts, we drove through the mountains, took a quick dip in Lake Taupo and made it to our Wellington campsite just in time for a colorful sunset. 

NEW YEARS EVE IN OMOKOROA

For New Years Eve, we headed to Omokoroa because my Kiwi friend Steve (who I lived with in Melbourne, 6 years ago or so) invited us to his friends house party. I was imagining a small Allston-style house party so Sandy and I were beyond thrilled when we pulled up to a super sick house on a Kiwi orchard (how appropriate), complete with a tent designated just for dancing. 

My favorite photo of Sandy to date. 

Sorry for the blurry photos but my camera was acting up and also, let's face it, that's usually the sign of a good night. We danced in and out of the rain to Fleetwood Mac and Kanye West, drank champagne and ate Tim Tams, heard best attempts at American accents, deciphered Kiwi slang, lit sparklers and fireworks and woke up next to the Kiwi orchard feeling like a mix of fantastic and like absolute hell. It was great to catch up with Steve on the past 6 years of life and see how the other side of the world throws a party. 

Note the gorgeous violet tree, dance tent and remnants of a slip and slide. 

Sandy sitting on our home. 

Steve and I, 6 years after we slept in a shed in St. Kilda, Melbourne. He let me crash there when I was broke and I paid rent with sandwiches from the cafe I worked at. 

After a lazy morning lounging under the dance tent, once again, we hit the road. 

CLIMBING THE MOUNT

While in Mount Manganui, we hiked up the sheep covered, beachside Mount for some pretty aerial views of the ocean and the  town. 

ROTORUA TO MOUNT MAUNGANUI

The few days before New Years Eve, Sandy and I made our way from Rotorua (a town of geothermal wonders that smells like rotten eggs due to the sulfur but you get used to it) to Mount Manganui (a gorgeous little beach city that's now one of my favorite places). 

Hot mud pools. Or something like that.

Adorable reminders to keep left on the road.

Picnicking at the Mount.

Sandy and Mount Maunganui. 

Sandy has quite a small head and I have quite a large head so together we kind of look like circus freaks. She has to stand about 1 foot in front of me in order to even it out as we did not do here. 

FUN FACT: The Mount is actually an extinct volcanic cone.

We had a couple of lovely picnic and ice cream filled beach days there making it the best volcanic cone yet. 

TAMAKI MAORI VILLAGE

While in Rotorua, Sandy and I went to the Tamaki Maori Village for an authentic New Zealand cultural experience.

The Maori's are the indigenous people of New Zealand and like Native Americans in the US or Aboriginals in Australia, they have very sensitive and complex history with the European settlers and have struggled to keep their culture alive. Racism certainly exists in New Zealand and the Maori people also deal with many economic and social obstacles so I was bit concerned that this "must see" tourist experience would wind up being campy and culturally offensive. Luckily, I was wrong and it was awesome. 

The Tamaki Village was founded by two Maori brothers. One sold his motorcycle to fund the venture and it's gone on to become the most award winning village in NZ, portraying the history and the traditional spirit quite realistically.

About 15% of NZ's population identify as Maori and about a fifth of those have kept the language alive and well. There's definitely a Maori influence in all parts of New Zealand culture, tribal tattoos are quite popular among everyone (even face tattoos! Which is always a surprise to see in grocery store), much of the Maori craftsmanship is featured in jewelry and their national rubgy team, the All Blacks, do the Haka (the traditional warrior dance) at the start of every match.

When doing the Haka warrior dance, you make your eyes wide, stick out your tongue and yell to intimidate others. I plan to use this method if I find myself cornered in a dark alley way or on a bad date. 

We learned about ancient ceremonies, Maori words ("kia ora" means "hi") and experienced a bit of their original lifestyle, warrior traditions and music. The best part was the authentic Hangi, the giant meal that's cooked for several hours using heated rocks in a pit oven deep in the earth. It was like a Maori Thanksgiving. There was even stuffing. That may not have been historically accurate but it was delicious.

WAITOMO GLOW WORM CAVES

After driving through a countryside filled with ostrich farms, Sandy and I made our way to the Waitomo glow worm caves for some black water rafting. Equipped with wet suits, helmets, inner tubes and 2 Germans, we explored the caves with our Maori guide.  

The glow worms are actually a "fungus gnat" but glow worm obviously has a much better ring to it. In the larva stage they glow to attract prey and after they emerge from their eggs, the females continue to glow even brighter but now to attract a mate. The things gals will do to get the attention of some bro, eh?

We crawled through tunnels, jumped off waterfalls (when Sandy was invited to do this she politely replied "that's not happening" but sure enough she did it!) and floated through the caves admiring the neon green glow worms. In the pitch black cave they look like a beautiful night sky, it was quite the experience. 

NEW ZEALAND ROAD TRIP: AUCKLAND TO PIHA

The day after Christmas I got the best gift of all.  My friend Sandy flew all the way from Boston to do a 3 week road trip around New Zealand with me! She skipped the 25th of December all together (it's fine, she's Jewish) to get here and we had a joyous reunion at the airport consisting of the kind of jumping up and down and high-pitched shrieks that only obnoxious American girls can provide.

We picked up our fully-equipped Spaceship camper van, had a big catch-up night in Auckland then hit the road in the morning for an afternoon at Piha Beach on the west coast. 

Lion Rock.

Piha is a little beach town that's famous for it's black sand, surf culture and intense waves (it's also where the reality show "Piha Rescue" is filmed).  We enjoyed the strong sun, a hike up the very steep Lion Rock, fresh fish and chips and the pretty horses.

This was Sandy's first ever camping experience and she just decided to go big by living out of a camper van for 3 weeks straight. What an adorable champ, look at her!

Our Spaceship camper van was awesome the whole trip. Driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side of the car (and the windshield wipers/blinker sides reversed) was a bit of trip. We adapted quickly though, with only a few panicked screams of "left side! left side!" when turning onto an intersection. But that's all part of the adventure. 

AVOCADO PICKING

As I'm someone who began to think of herself as comfortably wealthy once I got to the point in my life that I could order extra guacamole on my Chipotle burritos without a second thought, it felt like the Kenny family lived next to a goldmine since their home neighbored an avocado orchard.

Equipped with mini tractors and a big bucket, Amanda, Carlos, Archie and I had a successful afternoon of avocado picking one sunny day in Te Puna.

Now I grew up in the rural suburbs  but the homegrown fruits and vegetables in New Zealand amaze me. Not only did they live next to an avocado orchard, but the Kenny family grew strawberries, lettuce, peaches, watermelons, beetroot, beans, tomatoes... everything! And they're not farmers either, they both work in marketing but just grow all of that right in their own yard. Apparently this is fairly common in New Zealand as the soil is super rich but I had no idea it was even possible.

To make salads at night, they would just go out and grab some vegetables, wash them off, chop them up and prepare the freshest and most delicious salad I've ever encountered. In the morning, I would just grab a handful of strawberries from the garden to have with my coffee. I used to be quite satisfied with myself eating "local and organic" when I would buy veggies from the farmers market in the parking lot behind Bank of America in Jamaica Plain so THIS just absolutely blew my mind. 

TE PUNA, NEW ZEALAND

When I arrived in New Zealand it rained for a week straight. While there were enough cute cafes and art galleries in Auckland to keep me fairly occupied, the big city was gray and I was thoroughly unimpressed. My friend Amanda rescued me just in time and took me to Te Puna, a little country town on the east coast. We stayed with the family she used to nanny for back when she lived in New Zealand and after 3 months of backpacking it was a welcome break to stay at their gorgeous house (next to an avocado orchard!) with their two adorable little boys, Carlos and Archie.

We started our stay at a holiday party at their families "bach" (summer home) and visited around Mount Manganui and Taraunga too, but mostly we ran around the yard (the boys can handle their mini tractors better than I can parallel park), enjoyed their garden where they grow their own fruits and vegetables (!) and had some epically meaty dinners. 

A hearty lamb dinner. 

Mount Manganui

We prepped for Christmas by wrapping presents and laying out cookies and coffee (Santa had a long night of deliveries ahead of him, it was a smart call on Carlos's part).  The following morning, the boys were thrilled to see Santa's footprints next to their outdoorsy presents that included mini wetsuits and little sleeping bag.  

I missed my family over the holidays but I had a nice little Kiwi Christmas thanks to Amanda and the Kenny family.