Blogs from Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Tiritiri Matangi is an island in the Hauraki Gulf. Tiritiri Matangi, meaning "tossed by the wind", is an open scientific reserve managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and supporters. Open sanctuary status allows up to 170 ferry passengers daily from Wednesday to Sunday. You can also stay on the island overnight in the bunkhouse. We went for the day. On arrival shoes and bags need to be checked for seeds and pests. There are no rats or hedgehogs on the island and planting is strictly controlled. First time visitors are taken on a guided walk over beach, forest and grasslands to view the abundant birdlife in the area. Birds rarely found in other parts of NZ such as the stitchbird, brown teal, takahe, saddleback, kakariki and whitehead are so abundant here that some are being ... read more

Auckland. Any good bru? Of all the places I thought I'd visit by the time I'm 30 NZ was not a top priority. Brother Jack has hosted me for 4 days in his student accommodation, a shared unit with 4 others and it's been a really good time. Not just because I got to step back and pretend I was a student again with beer pong and have a fair few drinks for a couple of nights, but I found Auckland to be a pretty laid back city. Just my style. The first day, with not much sleep Jack took me on a walk up to Mt Eden - a previous active volcano, provided for an incredible panaromic view of the city. Oh, there's also a deep crater there which is grown over with grass. Pretty ... read more

Apologies for the delay since the last blog. There isn't as much internet access in a campervan surprisingly :-) We had an awesome last week in Japan, spent mostly in Kyoto. So glad we had so much time there. Absolutely beautiful gardens, lots of temple tramping and shrines in the wooded areas. Very pretty - shame I can't put the pictures up just yet. Hopefully soon. Met a lovely lady at the beautiful hostel we stayed at too, who bought us some cherry blossom tea on her trip to Shikoku - a flower in every cup! Will definitely miss the Japanese people, they made the trip much more relaxing and enjoyable just by being so friendly. We've been having a great time driving around New Zealand and both done really well considering we hadn't driven anywhere ... read more

Carla: We have been so lucky with the wonderful hospitality we’ve had ‘down under’, Sam & Bill continued the trend of top class, warm, friendly and energetic hosting when we arrived in Auckland. They once lived very near us in North London and have been lucky enough to de-camp to Devonport – a perfect peninsula just across the harbour from downtown Auckland – and have this gorgeous lifestyle of white clapboard houses, picket fences, organic delis, beaches and beautiful views in all directions. They are honest about the downsides of living in such a small suburb (the total population of Auckland is only 1.4million and Devonport has about 6000 people); they told us how “everyone knows everyone” and so you’ve got to make sure you remain discrete and careful when chatting to neighbours and parents in ... read more

Just a quick note to say I've arrived safely at my hostel in Auckland. I had an awesome night at the Holiday Inn at Sydney Airport last night. The novelty of being in a room on my own for the first night since I left Sri Lanka was pretty exciting for me! Plus there was a double bed, and a bath, and a TV! It probably doesn't seem like a big deal to you guys, but trust me, after two months being constantly surrounded my strangers it was nice to just drink tea and watch TV in bed! Plus having a landline telephone in my room meant I could receive some phone calls from home which was brilliant. I ordered room service and everything. Joy! I spent my last day in Sydney organising a few final ... read more

We are flying over the sunny Pacific Ocean as we write this last blog about our trip to New Zealand. Following our previous post we made our way to the Bay of Islands - a very beautiful playground for the rich about 3 hours north of Auckland, on the east coast. Starting as one of the earliest areas to be settled by Europeans in New Zealand, it is steeped in history and is currently the residence for artists, sailors and the very well-to-do. We pretended we fit right in by sipping our $5.00 coffees on the Strand, strolling through art galleries and joining a sailing charter for a day. With the hope to see the nocturnal, flightless kiwi bird in the wild, we re-visited the Kauri forest. We were able to hug a tree but the ... read more

Nog vergeten te zeggen in ons vorig verslag dat we één van de laatste dagen dat we in Auckland waren Yvonne bezocht hebben in Bethells Beach. Dat was de voorlaatste dag (onze vrije dag trouwens) bij de HelpX hosts in Waiatarua. We hebben een hele leuke dag met haar en haar man Philip meegemaakt. Ze wonen op 10 minuten rijden van een bekend strand daar in de buurt. Ook wonen ze tenmidden in het bos en achter hen is een natuurdomein. Het enige nadeel aan het wonen aan een natuurdomein is dat als je wil bouwen of verbouwen op je land of om het even wat wil doen moet toestemming vragen aan de gemeente. Bijvoorbeeld voor: bomen omhakken of een struik snoeien of broadband internet aanleggen. Het internet heeft 9 jaar geduurd vooraleer ze de vergunning ... read more