If It Was Today...

New Zealand Top Ten Moments

Posted on March 8, 2025 by If It Was Today

We had such an amazing time in New Zealand that I want to highlight some of our favourite memories. The country has so much to offer that I feel it would be irresponsible to try and pick just one favourite thing (sorry Big G) but I’ll narrow it down to our top ten.

1. Visiting with Duncan and Sarah in Wellington. They’ve been living and working in Wellington for almost a year now, and the opportunity to visit in person and let them act as our personal tour guides around Wellington was special.

2. The Beaches. So many beaches! We aren’t big fans of lying on the beach in the sun, but we absolutely love walking barefoot through the surf. The best beaches for that have a gentle slope, fine sand, and are very long. The north island of New Zealand has this type of beach in spades. And if the beach has a shaded spot where you can sit and read while listening to the surf, it’s perfect. Just like this one.

3. Zealandia: This is one of many nature preserves working to save the native New Zealand species from invasive pests. It is well worth a visit, even if you don’t have a personal tour guide like we did.

4. Paragliding: You can find far more “exotic” adventure activities in New Zealand if you want, but tandem paragliding is one that I’d highly recommend. It was thrilling, but not frightening. It’s a bit like being on a swing … a very high swing with amazing views.

5. Milford Sound: I wasn’t completely convinced I’d like Milford Sound, but I’m very glad we went. It’s absolutely worth a visit. It was a sunny day (apparently an extremely rare event) and the view was stunning. I’m told that in some ways it’s even more impressive in the rain because that feeds thousands of waterfalls on the cliffs. Maybe next time.

6. Seashells: Is it even possible to walk along the beach and not look at the seashells? I know we can’t resist. We found such variety of seashells, and every beach was different.

7. Vineyards: There are few things more satisfying than tasting wines with the wine makers or the vineyard owners. Other than, perhaps, buying wines at the vineyard and then having them for dinner on the rest of the trip. We did both, and plan to return to repeat the experience. This picture is from a very small group tasting with one of the owners.

8. Thermal pools: Soaking in a thermal hot pool for your birthday is a special treat. You can’t guarantee you’ll be in New Zealand on your birthday, but it’s definitely worth soaking in the healing waters anytime.

9. Views from the deck: Jan did a wonderful job finding hotels, but in a few cases she outdid herself with the rooms and the views. Enjoying morning coffee or an afternoon glass of wine with a stunning view is hard to beat.

10. Art: New Zealand has done a fabulous job of highlighting its arts scene. You see giant murals covering walls in most cities and public sculptures in parks. Searching these out was one or our favourite activities. We picked this one because it almost looks like I’m part of the picture with paint spraying my back.

We enjoyed our trip, and enjoyed updating you as we travel. I hope you have enjoyed following us. Unfortunately this is what we came home to.

We’re trying to figure out why we didn’t stay longer.

Posted in Travel | Tagged New Zealand, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments

A Few Thoughts About Visiting New Zealand

Posted on March 7, 2025 by If It Was Today

We just finished a five-week trip to New Zealand and I’ve been docmenting our experiences each day as we travel. But now that we’re back home, I want to provide some broad observations that you might find useful if you are considering a visit to New Zealand.

1. Prepare to fall in love (with New Zealand). Two years ago we booked a three-week trip to New Zealand. It’s a very long flight, so we assumed it would be our only visit. But within a few days we were talking about “our next trip” to New Zealand, and this year we returned for five weeks. By the end of this trip, we were already planning another, even longer, trip. As we travelled around New Zealand, we met many people, often facing even longer flights, who had exactly the same reaction. I’ve yet to meet someone who hasn’t loved everything that New Zealand has to offer. If you visit, you will want to return.

2. Pick a theme. New Zealand offers everything: beaches (to die for), oceans, lakes, thermal springs, mountains, hiking trails, unique birds and plants, vineyards, gourmet food, culture, adventure tours, bird sanctuaries, nature preserves, and more. True, the country is small enough that you could realistically drive the length and breadth, but if you try to see everything of interest along the way, you will be hopelessly overwhelmed. So pick a theme to provide some focus. In our case, it was walking along the beach, though we were able to add in a generous helping of other things as well.

Just a few of the things to see on the South Island

3. Tourists are still welcome in New Zealand. This isn’t always the case in some destinations around the world where tourist fatigue is growing. Not here. In New Zealand we felt nothing but warmth and welcoming friendship.

4. Roads may not be what you are used to at home. All the New Zealand roads we’ve seen were very good, but they are also narrow and very winding. Hint for North American visitors: when a New Zealand road sign says the recommended limit for a curve is 25 km/h they mean it. And of course, for many of us there is the added “excitement” of having to remember to “stay left”. That having been said, I still recommend it.

The speed limit was 100 km/hr … in theory

5. Conservation of native species. New Zealand has been isolated from the other continents for about 85 million years. This allowed New Zealand to develop unique flora and fauna – in particular, many birds became flightless. When humans arrived, they brought mammals (e.g., rats, possums, stoats, and cats) that are major bird predators, especially for flightless birds. They also brought plants that have become invasive pests. Thankfully New Zealand recognized what was being lost and has started to fight back with a major focus on conservation of native bird and plant species. This includes replanting native forests and creating reserves where native birds can safely reproduce. It was encouraging to see this plan in action throughout New Zealand.

Nature preserves – also excellent hiking trails

6. Recognizing Māori culture. It feels like there is an honest attempt to recognize and even embrace Māori culture and language in New Zealand, within the constraints of colonial reality. Coming from Canada, we find this refreshing. You see it in names (plants, birds, and places), road signs, greetings and exhibits that explain and in some cases, try to actively preserve Māori culture. This next picture is from the Auckland Botanic Gardens with an explanation of how harakeke was used for weaving. The botanic gardens also grows a number of important harakeke species and makes them available for Māori use.

7. Food and wine: New Zealand is known for its Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines, but when you visit New Zealand you’ll find almost any variety you fancy. And while everyone thinks of lamb, you’ll find a range of meats, fish, seafood, and delicious savory pies. Something for every taste. It also has a wide range of local, and imported, cheese. Our personal favourite was the blue cheese. Every single example we tried was outstanding. So when you visit New Zealand be prepared to pamper your taste buds.

If I was to capture New Zealand with a single thought it would be this: New Zealand represents the perfect mix of exotic (plants, birds, climate, geography) and familiar (language, culture, safety). What more could you ask for?

Posted in Travel | Tagged Beaches, Food, New Zealand, Photography, Travel, Wine | 1 Comment

Serendipity

Posted on March 4, 2025 by If It Was Today

Our hotel in Coromandel town had stunning views with a wonderful balcony, but one thing it didn’t have was air conditioning. It has been hot, so we had to sleep with the patio door wide open to cool down. As dawn approached, Jan got up to close the drapes and was treated to a perfect view of sunrise. She snapped this picture … and then went back to bed (like any sensible person would).

We fly home tomorrow so we’re staying the night at a hotel at Auckland airport. The drive from Coromandel was only 2 1/2 hours, so once again we had time to kill. The plan was to look for interesting places to stop along the way, but the weather didn’t cooperate (it was one of the very few cloudy days we’ve seen) and we didn’t find anything that appealed all that much anyway. And then Jan spotted the Auckland Botanic Garden near the airport. We decided to check it out, at the very least for lunch. In our second example of serendipity for the day, the Auckland Botanic Garden has a temporary sculpture exhibit every second year. The exhibit was technically over, but only a few of the sculptures had been removed, so we were treated to another treasure hunt.

This acorn sculpture will appeal to one of our friends in particular.

Auckland Botanic Garden – Sculpture Trail

The next sculpture honors the huia, which was hunted to extinction because its beak was used in jewelry.

This next piece is called Patchwork of Possibilities and embraces related themes of repurposing materials, quilting, and the rejuvenating abilities of Mother Nature.

Jan particularly liked the next sculpture. According to the description, it “encapsulates the concept of handing to our young those fundamental values that become the building blocks of the world around us”. In its raw form, the stone in this sculpture is covered in a brown rusty rind, which you can see on the wrist of the young hand, perhaps symbolizing the raw potential of youth. It turns out that Jan wasn’t the only one who liked it – the Friends of the Auckland Botanic Garden purchased it to become part of the Gardens’ permanent sculpture collection.

The Gardens also have many permanent sculptures, such as this one. Jan decided to have a chat.

Of course, being a Botanic Garden, you are now going to be treated to pictures of plants. I’ll start with this bush. For perspective, this was nearly two meters high and 3-4 meters wide, but it created a perfect expanse of leaves that I think would make an excellent inspiration for a fabric design. It appealed to me…

The butterflies were enjoying the flowers, and we were enjoying watching the butterflies.

I also spotted a bee on one of the flowers, and just as I took the picture the bee took flight. You can see the bee is covered in pollen.

I’ve been trying for a month to get good pictures of the New Zealand fern as it opens, and I finally got one I like.

We also spotted birds, This is a pukeko, which sometimes mistaken for the takahe.

Then it was time for lunch and the drive to our hotel. I’d honestly forgotten how much I hate driving in heavy city traffic. Most of New Zealand has narrow winding roads, but they usually don’t have all that much traffic. I like that. A lot.

We’re in our airport hotel as I write this. I’ve checked in for our flight tomorrow. Part of me will be glad to be home, but a bigger part will miss our time in New Zealand. We’re already looking forward to a return visit – next year?

Posted in Travel | Tagged Auckland, Botanic Garden, New Zealand, Photography, Travel | 5 Comments

Driving Creek Railway

Posted on March 3, 2025 by If It Was Today

Coromandel town seems to be known more for rugged scenery than for beaches, so … amazingly … we did NOT go to a beach today. Instead, we visited Driving Creek Railway.

We learned that the railway started as a working railway in 1973 to bring clay for pottery and wood for kilns down the mountain to the newly opened pottery studio. One thing led to another, and over time the railway expanded to allow tourists to ride the railway or the zip line. (Next time I’m taking the zip line!) The pottery studio grew into an arts collective that still attracts artists from around the world. Because of this, you will see lots of pottery related themes, beginning with the sculpture garden in a nature preserve. Here are just some of the sculptures you can see.

The railway has a number of retaining walls, and they have started to line these with clay tiles and art. Eventually, all the tunnels and retaining walls will be lined with pottery.

As the railway climbed up through the forest of native trees, the view became more and more impressive.

The terrain is so steep that several times the train had to pull into a reversing point to change direction. It’s hard to explain, but this picture should give you a sense of what I mean. This was taken on our way down, so we are on the track that goes up, and after we pull into the reversing point, we take the track on the right that goes down.

As we were sitting in one of the reversing points, we looked out the window and Jan spotted a Walking Stick insect. We looked in vain for one when we were in Zealandia, and here we spot one sitting outside our train window. Serendipity.

The land was originally privately owned for the pottery studio, but it has since been turned into a nature trust. This means that you cannot chop down any native trees. It also means that you must help the forest return to a natural state, which means letting tree stumps rot in place.

When we got to the bottom, it was back to the B&B for our final night before heading to Auckland airport. This bubbly is from Marlborough so technically that makes this an ad hoc TOCC meeting.

Usually near the end of a trip, we start looking forward to being home. But on this trip, we’ve already started planning next year’s visit to New Zealand.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Coromandel, Driving Creek Railway, New Zealand, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments

Another Day, Another Beach

Posted on March 2, 2025 by If It Was Today

We moved from the east coast to the west coast of the Coromandel today. It’s a short drive – only 47 km, but the roads are very narrow and winding, so Google maps says that the trip could take up to an hour. We found that to be pretty accurate. You can do the math and figure out how fast (slow) we were driving. But even with a very slow drive, we still had time to kill before we could check into your next hotel. So we decided to check out … wait for it … more beaches. I saw at least three beaches along our route, but one looked particularly interesting. It was a bit off our path, and had an access road that was even narrower and steeper than the rest of the drive, but it turned out to be well worth it.

Most of the beach was pure sand, but one end had rocks that jutted out of the water, and other rock that rose out of the beach.

The surf was impressive to watch, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the water anywhere near the rocks.

As we were walking along the beach, a couple asked us to take their picture, and we started to talk. They were from Germany on an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand. Like us, they had fallen in love with New Zealand and planned to return, even though for them the flight is even longer than it is for us. As we were leaving, they asked if we wanted them to take our picture as well.

One of the things this beach is known for is the “stick in the sand”. I’ve no idea how it started, but it has become a permanent fixture.

The last beach we stayed at had a ton of sea shells that had just been opened by the seabirds. On this beach, the shells had been worn down to the point where almost nothing remained.

A picnic table under a tree by the beach gives you a sense of how relaxing this beach was.

Behind the beach there were equally stunning hills.

Eventually we had to leave the beach and brave the rest of the drive to our hotel in Coromandel town. We arrived safely, and after checking in and unpacking, we went for a walk in a nearby nature reserve with native trees and birds.

The star attraction of the reserve is a 1200 year old kauri tree. Let that sink in for a moment as you think about what was happening in the world when that tree sprouted. Here is a picture of the tree. It’s hard to capture the true scale of the tree, but it is over two meters in diameter.

The upper branches held an entire ecosystem of their own.

Later on the walk we spotted this mushroom near a pine cone and thought it made an interesting picture.

And then, outside the reserve, some blackberries. All I could think of was the snow at home.

And a single African Daisy. More thoughts of snow.

Then it was back to the B&B for drinks on the deck as we looked through pictures to find the theme for the day. The temperature dropped as the sun set, and we enjoyed a lovely Pinot Noir we bought at the winery in Blenheim as we ate on the deck. We enjoyed a steak salad with blue cheese. New Zealand makes fantastic blue cheese, by the way. Every one we have tried here has been amazing. But not as amazing as the view of the setting sun illuminated the hills.

Tomorrow … will be another day. Another lovely day, no doubt.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Coromandel, New Zealand, Otama Beach, Photography, Stick in the sand, The Beach, Travel | 3 Comments

Beachcombers

Posted on March 1, 2025 by If It Was Today

We were enjoying our morning latte and listening to the sound of the surf outside our patio window when an email arrived in my inbox. It was from our snowplow company notifying us that they would be sending the tractors out later today because we were expecting another 10 – 15 cm of snow. Then I realized we only had another four days before we would be leaving this, for that.

After a leisurely morning, we walked along the waterfront to enjoy the sun and to check out places for dinner tonight. As we walked, Jan spotted a fairy house in a tree by the sidewalk.

Later, when we were feeling a bit peckish, we ducked into a waterfront cafe for couveture, beef carpaccio salad (the beef carpaccio in New Zealand is unlike any I’ve ever had before, and it is amazing) and a glass of NZ Rose. We started joking about the snowplow email we had received, and before we knew it, we were checking NZ accommodations for next year.

After lunch we changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach (yet again).

New Zealand beaches are kinda the same, and yet they are all different. This beach had more shells than all the previous beaches combined. And the seabirds loved it – they had a buffet laid out for them and they were taking advantage of it.

You could see them probing for lunch.

And when they found something, all their friends wanted a piece of the action.

On most beaches, all that you see is one half of the shell, but here, it’s clear the shells have been recently opened by the seabirds. This picture shows a bunch of freshly opened shells.

There were so many shells of all types that I may go into more detail on a future post. But for today, I’ll end with this picture that seems to show a bunch of shells cemented together. Interesting.

Tomorrow we are on the move again, heading across the Coromandel to the west side. We’ll see what we find there.

Posted in Travel | Tagged New Zealand, Photography, Sea shells, Seabirds, The Beach, Travel, Whitianga | Leave a comment

Hot Water Beach

Posted on February 28, 2025 by If It Was Today

The name might not be all that imaginative, but it is accurate. Hot Water Beach sits on top of a thermal spring that pushes hot water up through the sand. If you dig a hole in just the right spot, you can create your own little hot tub.

The guide books recommend that you visit within two hours of low tide for the best experience. That meant that today, the best time was between noon and 4:00 pm. Our travel schedule aligned perfectly with this, so we picked up sandwiches as we were leaving Waihi and headed north. The road had stunning views at every turn. This is a polite way to say that the road was narrow, winding, and clinging to the side of mountains all the way. I’m exaggerating, of course, but not by much. It was impressive, but not relaxing. So when we arrived, we took a moment to sit in the shade (in our beach chairs) and enjoy the views over the beach.

After lunch, we changed into our swim suits, applied lots of sunscreen, rented a spade, and went in search of the hot water.

It is a large beach, and there aren’t any signs telling you where to dig. But if you follow the crowd, it is soon obvious.

We found a promising spot and went to work.

It isn’t as easy as it looks. As you dig deeper, the water coming up through the sand, pushes more sand into the hole. But eventually we had it deep enough to enjoy. One reason we stopped digging was that as we dug deeper, the sand and the water got hotter.

Sitting in our little hot tub was a little like sitting on a hot water bottle. A very hot, hot water bottle. When a particularly large wave washed into our pool, it brought it back to the perfect temperature. But soon it was hot again, so I started to experiment, because … I’m me. I discovered that the hot spots were very localized. If you moved less than a meter away, the water in the hole might be cold. So I expanded the hot tub trying to get the temperature just right by spanning zones. For a while, my feet were too hot, and my shoulders were too cool. I’ll let you figure out where it was just right.

By the time we left, it was getting very crowded.

Hot Water Beach is definitely worth a visit, but I’m not sure we’ll be back. It’s an interesting novelty, but not as nice as our day at the beach yesterday.

When we got back to the car we changed and then headed to our hotel in Whitianga. We booked a room looking out over the beach.

The water and the wind, along with the drive, was more tiring than we expected, so we decided to eat in tonight. We have a small kitchen, pate, a bottle of lovely Riesling from our winery tour in Blenheim, and the sound of the waves from our open patio door. It’s a good way to end the day.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Coromandel, Hot Water Beach, New Zealand, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

The Days Are Just Packed

Posted on February 27, 2025 by If It Was Today

Yesterday, Jan confessed she was getting a little tired of the sunshine and warm weather, and starting to look forward to being home. Today, as we were walking barefoot through the surf, Jan turned to me and said “forget what I said yesterday”.

Part of the problem yesterday was that it was a travel day. We’ve been generally spending two nights at each stop and then moving on. It was a conscious decision on our part because we wanted to check out a lot of towns to discover places that were worth visiting again. And it has worked, even if it does get tiring. Every time we think we’ve found the best-ever beach, we find an even better one. That happened again today.

As we were walking on the sand, the waves occasionally washed over our feet, so we would move higher up the beach. The Variable Oystercatchers were also walking along the sand, and when the water came in, the oystercatchers would also run up the beach toward dry sand … just like we were doing.

This beach was very flat with a shallow grade, which makes it a very wide beach, perfect for walking or swimming. I think it was even better than the beach at Mount Maunganui. As the water drained out after a large wave, the surface of the wet sand was like a mirror. Here’s another picture with a reflection, similar to the one from yesterday.

At the very beginning of our trip, when we were in Queenstown, we bought two folding camp chairs so we could sit on the beach. We’ve been here four weeks and the chairs haven’t moved from the back seat of our rental car. We just haven’t found an opportunity to use the chairs. That changed today!

I know we could sit and read all day at home, in front of the fireplace. And yet, somehow, it just isn’t the same as sitting with your bare feet on the cool sand, listening to the waves.

We didn’t have the beach to ourselves, but it was pretty close. There certainly weren’t any people encroaching on our spot against the cliff, under the shade of an overhanging tree.

The original plan had been to head back into town for lunch, but it was just too relaxing. A quick search found a small cafe 350 meters from where we were sitting, so I walked over and picked up sandwiches to eat on the beach. We were worried about seagulls, but in the end there was only one, though he insisted on being allowed to clean up the few crumbs that had fallen in the sand. Then it was back to reading and watching the surf.

Doing nothing all day can be pretty exhausting (in a good way) and about 3:30 we packed up and headed back to our hotel. After a cool shower, it was time for a very local brew – a KPA, where the K stands for Kiwi.

Tomorrow is another travel day. Next time we’ll likely stay here for at least a week. We are planning to stop at Hot Water Beach along the way to our next hotel – everyone says it is a must-see. We’ll let you know how it is.

Posted in Travel | Tagged New Zealand, Photography, The Beach, Travel, Waihi | 1 Comment

Jan’s Happy Place

Posted on February 26, 2025 by If It Was Today

When we were in Mount Maunganui in 2023, the thing that we were the least excited about was the restaurants. They were good, but they weren’t great. We had much better luck this time, with excellent meals two nights in a row. Last night as we were finishing up dinner, an Australian family sitting next to us was trying to take a selfie of the full table. We offered to take the picture for them, so of course, they offered to take our picture as well.

We chatted briefly and mentioned that we were Canadian, which sparked a very interesting discussion. More about that in a later post…

While we were eating dinner, we were looking at his sign on the restaurant wall. How could you say no?

Our next stop is Waihi in the Coromondal. It’s an easy drive, so after we loaded the car and checked out, we headed for the beach. The tide was out, so you can see just how wide and shallow the beach is. When I took this picture, I was standing on the high tide mark, and the beach continues inland another 50 feet of so beyond that point. By the way, if you look very closely, you can see Jan standing beside the rocks, to give you a sense of scale.

In case you are having difficulty spotting Jan in the previous picture, here is an expanded view.

We just walked barefoot along the beach. And walked, and walked. We walked a good two km before we turned around and headed back to the car. We were taking our time, but the wind, the sun, and the sand all combined to give us lots of exercise for the day.

Here are a few more pictures showing Jan walking in the surf and looking for sea shells.

Then it was on the road. We arrived in Waihi in time for lunch before checking into our hotel. We can’t walk to the beach from here, but it’s a short ten minute drive. We plan to head there tomorrow morning, and then check out some of the scenery and hikes in the afternoon. This is forestry and gold mining country, so it has a different look.

I’ll close with a random picture as I was out walking in town this afternoon.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, Photography, The Beach, Travel, Waihi | 1 Comment

Rinse and Repeat

Posted on February 25, 2025 by If It Was Today

Every day that I’ve ever spent in Mount Maunganui I’ve had pretty much the same routine. I suppose it would eventually get boring, but I think it would take a long time. I start with a walk across the street to pick up our morning lattes at The General, then back to the room for breakfast and lattes while working on our morning puzzles. Add in a bit of “nothing much” and a touch of “relaxing” and it’s pretty easy to get to 11:00 AM before we are ready to start a full day enjoying the sun and the sand. This is very different than your experience if you are on a cruise ship. When Jan was shopping yesterday she was asked if she was in town on a cruise ship – she said no, we were here for three days and had been driving all around New Zealand. We enjoy that way much better. Here is where the cruise ships dock.

Cruise ship in harbour … and a lot of sail boats

The first activity on a typical day in Mount Maunganui (after lattes and relaxing) is to walk up the Mount. Jan fully resolved her “summer wardrobe deficit” yesterday, so she joined me on the walk. The good news is that it is warm and sunny here. The bad news is that if you are walking up a mountain in the sun, it gets downright hot.

Jan decided that sheep are far smarter than we give them credit for. They were all relaxing in the shade.

Smart sheep – is that where they get smart wool???

So when we spotted a bench in the shade…

Then it was onward and upward. I kept saying “I think it flattens out around the next corner” but of course it never did. Finally we came to a fork in the road.

Here is a closeup of the options.

Option 1 was to go back the way we came, down 1030 meters of steep path, mostly in the sun. Option 2 was to continue upward for 830 meters on a steep path. Option 3 was to go 430 meters down a steep path, in the shade, and then walk around the base of the Mount – mostly flat and partly shaded. Jan wisely went for option 3. I foolishly continued to the top.

The scenery was lovely, but the sky was clear and there wasn’t much shade. But there was a breeze, and that brought out the paragliders.

Unfortunately there weren’t any tandem paragliders, or I would have been tempted to try it again. I pressed on and eventually I made it to the top, and to prove it I took a picture of the monument.

Then it was down to meet Jan as she was walking around the base. I almost missed her when she went off the path to explore.

It was getting late and we were hungry, so we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a little nap.

Then I went for a long walk (2.5 km each way) along the beach, barefoot through the surf. It is quite windy today and the breakers were impressive. I would have loved to take pictures, but yesterday when I went a bit too close to the water, my iPhone got wet. It’s waterproof so I didn’t worry about it, but when I plugged it in to recharge it gave me a warning that water had been detected, and I should let it dry first – a process that might take several hours. It did dry out eventually, but I decided my phone would stay home today, so no pictures of the surf. But you know what it looks like, right?

Tomorrow we head up into the Coromandel.