It’s not surprising the Kiwis like to call their home paradise. Today we wandered westwards after our delectable three days of kayaking around the Bay of Islands.
Leaving the sunshine and the sparkling Pacific behind we crossed a range of hills and found a little drizzle and cloud. But, this being New Zealand, we did as we had been told and waited 30 minutes for the weather to change. Sure enough we were soon sipping cappuccinos on the deck of an excuisite cafe with the sun shining again and the thermometer unbudged at 23 degrees. Sunshine, good coffee, sea and 4G are obviously the raw ingredients of paradise.
What is most stunning though about New Zealand is the extraordinary diversity of landscapes, flora and fauna.
Within a week or so we have attended a wedding on a wild beach of black, volcanic sand. We have tramped our way across the volcanic heartlands on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We have paddled our kayaks to sun-kissed islands set in a turquoise sea. Today we walked through the astonishing Kauri Forest and were humbled by two thousand year old trees rising high above the pristine, undisturbed native forest.
Everywhere we have gone exotic birdsong and wonderful wildlife sights have followed us. Parqueets darting through the branches of the manuka trees, king fishers flying off-piste down mainroads, the seriously Jurassic pukekos that ran around our tent, the diving gannets next to our kayak and the warbling tuis at dawn.
All of that crammed into the top half of North Island and a week or two of unhurried travelling.
I call it paradise too!
