The mythical people of They weren’t wrong, this truly is the most spectacular one day hike I have ever done. The views you get are just the most incredible, wide eye, soul filling, indelibly memorable brain images I have ever had the fortune to capture. These are the sort of days I wish I was a professional photographer with a super amazing camera and skills to match so I could capture just a 10th of the scenery to share with you guys. Alas, my modest phone snaps are all I can provide to whet your imagination. Continue reading Tongariro Tramp
Category: New Zealand
Surf n Scram
Want to go surfing tomorrow morning? (such a cool question…)
It’s only £10 to hire a wetsuit and surfboard, I definitely need the practice, so why not?
Tauranga Trek
Tauanga’s bay has been formed by a volcano pushing up out of the sea right at the end of a spit of land. This huge bay is perfect for giant container ships and cruise liners who dock there to load and unload their human and commercial wares. It took me a bit by surprise when I walked around the corner of the main high st and saw that someone had found some very convenient parking for their cruise ship. It also explained the deafening mooing that had pierced my hung over head that morning preventing any further sleep recovery.
Cold From Above, Hot From Below
OMG WHAT A LONG DAY! Literally did so much stuff today is hard to think it’s all happened in one 24hr period!
Woke at Sally’s in Auckland and finally, after 3 days of talking about it, the weather was good enough to go paddle boarding… Good enough, but not great as it started raining. But I was wet anyway from falling in often enough it didn’t matter. We probably were only out for 45 mins but it was long enough for my stomach. I’m definitely a land based mammal… Paddle boarding was good fun tho, if a little tricky to master. I was on the longest, largest, most stable board and I still looked like a kangaroo on an electric fence, not graceful like Sally and Asha.
Recovery Road
Last night was awesome, but I’m paying for it this morning. After breakfast, a lot of water and an aspirin I’m feeling better. I decide to go for a walk into Paihia to see what was going on. Turns out not much, it’s a really small town. However most of the tours and activities leave from here into the Bay of Islands. There is even a helicopter parked on the beach waiting to take people for rides!
Paihia Party
Out of auckland, if you want to head north, you take the State Highway 1. It’s really the only road to get you clear of the sprawl and is much like any other highway. But soon this generic road turns into a (moderately) high speed roller coaster of a road. Its sweeping curves loop around the geological features and farms. It looks uncannily like middle england except as a dream your remembering where everything is picture post card pretty and the roads ripple like a ribbon into the distance. It even lead to Snells Beach in my fantasy.
Tiha Ducati Ha!
Once again I’ve chosen a non-typically good looking bike, a Ducati Multistrada 1000DS… Its got a strange nose, much like my Versys, but I love it.
Strolling Through Sky Town
I like to learn the history of a place, but I’m not a fan of guided tours. Not so much the tour, but having to share street space with a group of tourists. I find it incredibly annoying and rude watching a group of people all taking the same photo, that you could have found on google, while a guide is trying to tell you the history of a place. People who basically walk around with their cameras in front of their faces documenting EVERYTHING aren’t actually experiencing anything more than life through a camera screen, so they may as well have stayed at home!
New Adventures
I decided to quit my job and travel.
Its been a long time coming but ultimately it came down to realising I’m only going to be young once. And, if I don’t get out there and give myself the opportunity to star in life’s stories, I’m not going to have any to tell when I’m old!