Kia Ora SuperForest! If you’ve been wondering why my Thursday Inspiration Information posts have gone MIA, it’s because last Tuesday I went MIA to New Zealand. For a 6 week roadtrip through Middle Earth. The first month of which is a Camper Van expedition across both North and South Islands with my Best-Buddy Beau and his friend Pete. Below is a rather lengthy update of the trip thus far.
Anytime I travel somewhere new, I have a certain predetermined vision of that place, pieced together from the fragments of research, scraps of advice and the idealized imagery of my overly romantic imagination. In New Zealand’s case, this vision had reached almost mythic status prior to departure. I was expecting sprawling vistas, sweeping mountain plains. The wild untouched beauty of a country unmarked by man.
I was wrong.
The reality of New Zealand defies the myth I’d built up in my own brain. It is much more grandiose and magical and mythic then I could have ever envisioned. Nature exists here on a macro level – The air is crisp and clean. The grass a texture and hue so green it almost demands to be eaten (never before have I had such cow envy). The ocean a sparkling crystal extension of forever.
And then there are the beaches. And the coves. And the sinewy, cliff-hugging gravel roads that carry you somewhere further beyond those forgotten scenic lookout points, or the abandoned black sand dunes; deeper into that indescribable point where an individual is reduced from wide-eyed, awe-struck spectator into a single exhalation… a sigh of joy.
The trip began in Auckland, where flying in low over the lush terraced hills, the Persian mother sitting next to me (who spent the flight describing to me her story of revolution and escape from war torn Iran in the 80’s), leaned over and remarked: “the country is so green, it looks like a giant, endless golf course!” Indeed, even Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand (which holds over 1/3 of the entire 4 million country population), was built around the green-tipped cones of extinct volcanoes, straddling the Tasman sea and Pacific ocean on either side. And though I found little of interest in my brief 2 day stay, I can not deny the simply charm and beauty of Mt Eden’s Victorian houses, or Western Springs lakeside walkway.
But New Zealand is not about the cities. If fact, any town or city through which we’ve passed, has seemed an unfortunate, albeit small hiccup, in an otherwise unblemished expanse of beauty. And this Camper Van is a blessing. We have the self-sufficiency to wander free, exploring the coasts. Cooking dinner along a remote forest road. Waking up anywhere — next to glittering rivers that yawn, open-mouthed into distant island-lined harbors. Life is good.
We quickly escaped the urban familiarity of Auckland, and set out along the Pacific Coast Highway for Coromandel Peninsula. Within 10 minutes of leaving the city, the countryside unraveled like a Tuscan dream, with quaint country homes, roadside signs advertising farm-fresh eggs, avocados and strawberries. We hooked high over mountain passes, wet with all the tropical flaura of Kauai, before dropping down the coast to the gob-smacking glory of Coromandel.
And here, California’s PCH and Maui’s Hana Road got together and made a genetically perfect love child of a drive. For 2 days, we cruised the curvy road winding around this hand-shaped peninsula, stopping at one mind-blowing bay after another. We woke in the morning to watch a pod of 50 dolphins leap and play no more than 30 feet offshore. We forded frigid rivers to an ancient Kauri grove (New Zealand’s version of a Redwood). In Coromandel Town, we tested the “world famous” Mussel chowder. In the far northern tip, we hiked the coastal walkway through sheep dotted hills, down to a hidden cove where Beau and I bodysurfed, naked in the freezing turquoise water. And that’s just the West Coast.
On the Eastern shores of the Peninsula, there is a beach where for 2 hours either side of lowtide, you can dig a trench in the sand, and hot water springs bubble from underground, forming natural hot pools. The water was so boiling hot, that the friendly Maori couple we shared a pool with, buried the fresh mussels they had picked off the rocks that morning, and cooked them right there in the steaming water.
A two hour hike carried us past Gem and Stingray coves, to the gorgeous white sand of Cathedral Cove, where a high arched cave separates one dramatic beach from the next. And the ocean here reflects sun like a single uncut mirror of blue glass. Heading south, we stumbled upon the secret hideaway of Opito beach, where I walked the shore alone at sunset collecting seashells, not another person in sight.
We spent the night and a relaxing 24 hours in Tauranga town, with the lovely Laura Brooks. Who, if it’s even possible, has become more sweet and wonderful over the years (I think Kiwi hospitality has rubbed off on her). Laura put us up, made us pancake breakfast and tolerated our loud, crass jokes. She even washed and folded our laundry. What a woman!
And now we are in Raglan, on the West Coast, having spent yesterday driving the coast, surfing, and exploring an untamed and empty black sand beach. No one but us and the wild-haired waves. We woke up early this morning, to catch a glassy and un-crowded swell at Manu Point (one of NZ’s best waves), with the locals all talking about how this was one of the best swells yet.
And now we are headed South, to the Glow-worm caves of Waitomo, the Alpine peaks of Tongariro, and the cold waters of Lake Taupo. We have 4 more days on the North Island, before we cross the channel into the supposedly more beautiful South. Though after what we’ve seen and done so far, I can’t imagine how that’s even possible.
I’ll send more updates soon (probably one like this every week or so)
–Always Merry and Bright!
Aaron
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