the land of the long white cloud...

new zealand is a rugged land, bursting at the seams with beauty, history and culture. while i have visited numerous times over the past few years for birthdays, weddings and what not, i never had the opportunity to visit some of nz’s major drawcards nor some of the places that have significance to me and my family.

without going into to much detail about our adventure and the journeys we went on, i have listed a few ingredients to make your road trip both manageable and enjoyable as well as saying a few things about our holiday story-board.

must have’s for a road trip: l & p, goody goody gum drops icecream (see pic), milk bottles, sour cream and chives grain wave chips, a map, umbrella and some good driving music.





our adventures took us to whakatane, tauranga, gisborne, rauatoria, beachlands, auckland, waiheke island, hahei, tairua and whitianga – might i add that rugby world cup fever was definitely still in the air and not only were flags still flying high and i swear that we saw a couple of cows with “go all blacks” spray painted onto them.

our trip south can be summed up as being rugged, remote, uninhabited, beautiful, wile, scenic and spiritual.















waiheke island is home to art galleries, local artists make recycled home décor, copious amounts of organic cafes and vineyards with ocean views.











the coromandel adventure which saw us visit hahei, tairua and whatianga are famous for their hot water beaches, seafood, cathedral cove and overly friendly locals.









enjoy.