Seals and Spires in Cape Palliser, New Zealand

New Zealand Cape Palliser lighthouse
The only way to drive to the southernmost point on the North Island from Wellington is to drive north for almost 60 km then back down south. On the drive around, we stopped at two breweries just off the main road in Upper Hutt. The first one, Kereru was a husband and wife team that was just starting out. The brewing room was built just a year prior and they had previously brewed in their garage. The beer was quite tasty and we really liked their imperial pilsner (which we had never seen before). We Also stopped at Panhead. They don’t have a permit for beer tastings but were kind enough to talk to us for a few minutes.

New Zealand Bulldozer Boat Launch Gravel BeachAfter a few hours of driving, the road starting to hug the coastline and we knew were close to our destination for the night, Ngawi. The main attraction other than free camping (score!), is the funky harbor. There are no docks filled with boats, but instead each boat has its own Continue reading

Touring East Northland, New Zealand

IMG_3724After a red eye flight to Auckland, we chose to camp our first night in the city. Just across the bay in Takapuna, our new app told us there was a campsite on the water. As we pulled in, there were sailboats heeled over, kiteboarders soaring over the calm water, and campers enjoying the day. We knew we were in the right spot. Unfortunately, the site was fully booked for the night. We received directions for another campsite in town and headed over to checkin. The other campsite was okay – there were good facilities but I guess we knew what we were missing. We spent the afternoon organizing our new campervan home and walked to a grocery store nearby. On the walk, we couldn’t help but pause to appreciate the nicely paved roads and side walks, the green grass, the crisp blue sky, and the neatly laid powerlines which was such a contrast to Southeast Asia. It was nice to be here. That night, we had our last meal out – which was at a brewery, Mac’s Brewbar, with our favorite foods! The following morning, we went back to Takapuna park next to the beautiful campsite to have breakfast before hitting the road north. When we arrived, we were excited to see free yoga in the park had just begun. We jumped in, stretched and took the opportunity to get in the mindset for camping in New Zealand. To top it off, as the relaxing hour completed, Continue reading

The Plan for Exploring New Zealand

New Zealand Road Trip Spaceship CampervanOur budget for traveling the world is $50 a day per person. Through research prior to the trip, we learned that New Zealand is one of those locations where it is very hard to stay on budget. But combining our transportation and lodging expenses by living in a campervan would be our best way to keep expenses down.

There are two options for obtaining a camper: buy or rent. Obviously, buying could work out the best financially in the long run. It seems quite common for campers to be on sale because people on holiday do choose this option. And it sounds like it’s possible to get a fairly descent price because short term owners want to get them off their hands fast. But because we only had a month to explore the whole country, we decided for the lesser hassle option of renting.

While in Hong Kong just a few days prior to arriving in New Zealand, we settled on a rental company to use Continue reading