My Favourite Places in New Zealand

Above: The Desert Road, which skirts Tongariro National Park

From the moment I disembarked off the plane in Queenstown in October
last year, I loved the South Island. The blue hues, the mountains, the scenic drives, everything about it made me feel happy and I felt instantly at home there.

It has taken me a lot longer to reach that point with the North Island, despite making Wellington my home for nearly a year and generally spending a lot more time here. If I’m completely honest, it actually wasn’t
until this weekend that I finally realised that I really do think the North
Island is great. Admittedly, it still isn’t my favourite of the two islands –
South Island will always be my number one – but as we drove home after our recent weekend trip to Tongariro, I couldn’t help but feel that I have finally fallen in love with the North Island.

The two islands are vastly different. Whilst the South Island will always appear in my thoughts are predominantly blue (so many people seem to have written blog posts about blue New Zealand – check out one here), I always see the North Island are greener and browner. On the South Island, the mountains are right there, in your face, around every bend, their snow-capped peaks soaring high above.

By contrast, it was only recently that I realised how mountainous the North
Island actually really is – but the mountains you see always seem so distant
and hard to reach. They’re there, but they are not so bold when it comes to
showing off their magnificence. The South Island shouts at you, screams to get your attention and puts on a good show. The North Island is more subtle, revealing its beauty bit by bit, keeping its secrets closer to its chest.

I have been hoping to write this post for a while, but haven’t felt able to before now because I didn’t think that I would treat both islands equally, which is what they deserve. It’s taken me almost 13 months to reach a point where I consider both islands as equals, but now that I have, I want to write about my favourite places in New Zealand. The places that I have happy
memories of, that I’ve visited with friends and had delicious meals and enjoyed good company and lots of laughter. The places where I’ve been alone and reveled in solitude and my own thoughts. The places I  recommend to people when they ask where to go, getting enthusiastic as I remember my times there.

Let’s begin with my ultimate favourite place in New Zealand – Wanaka.

Without a doubt, Wanaka and Mt Aspiring National Park are the places I
recommend visiting above all others. I spent nearly a week in Wanaka in May and I cried when I left, promising myself I would return as soon as possible and for longer next time.

Admittedly, Wanaka’s township is small, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in its stunning setting. Perched right on the edge of its namesake lake and with far-reaching views across Mt Aspiring National Park, you’d be hard pushed to find anywhere more breathtakingly beautiful. When you look out across the usually still waters of Lake Wanaka, you’ll see the mountains reflected in the distance, the snow turning pink and gold as the sun sets.

Aside from the obviously glorious surroundings and the fantastic location (Wanaka is ideally situated for walking, cycling, flying, kayaking, skydiving, horse riding, paddle boarding, boating…), I find it hard to put into words exactly why I love it so much there. To be honest, I didn’t do much aside
from my scenic flight. I walked, I ate, I drank wine and I relaxed. I spent a few wonderful days in peaceful solitude, enjoying my own company and treating myself. I knew I needed some space and time alone and I got it by the bucket load. Wanaka’s close proximity to my favourite national park is also a bonus. I love the sense of space and vastness that you find in the clean air amongst the mountains there, and how I had such a great  adventure that day when I walked up to the Rob Roy Glacier.

I’d be hard pushed to find many towns in New Zealand that I would call
‘quaint’. One exception is definitely Akaroa, the small township located on
Banks Peninsula. Akaroa is positively brimming over with old-world charm and French flair, without a doubt a continued influence from the French settlers that came to this underrated spot and decided to establish  themselves there.

Above: looking out towards Okain’s Bay on Banks Peninsula

Akaroa and the peninsula are not striking in the way that much of the rest of the South Island is. There are no gigantic gleaming mountains or icy blue lakes to point your camera at and exclaim loudly over. Akaroa’s beauty is a
little more understated – like the North Island, you have to look to find it.
You’re never far away from an unexpected surprise though, as we discovered when we turned off State Highway 75 on our way from Christchurch and disappeared down a narrow country lane that quickly gave way to a gravel road and climbed steadily into the green hills. In very little time, we had excellent views stretching right across the Canterbury Plains to the hazy Southern Alps beyond in one direction and right out across the Pacific Ocean in the opposite, nothing but blue rippled water as far as the eye could see. Picture perfect!

Above: a beach near Akaroa

We spent two nights in Akaroa and I could have easily stayed longer. I fell in love with the town, the surroundings and the scenic drives all around the peninsula itself. Akaroa is definitely underestimated by many travellers –
don’t overlook it, go and you won’t be disappointed.

I spent one day – yes, one – in Glenorchy but that was long enough to realise that I loved it. It is a scenic road from Queenstown that winds around the edge of Lake Wakatipu all the way to Glenorchy, where the Dart and Rees
rivers meet the headwaters.

I took Paradise Road up to Diamond Lake and geeked out over the LOTR
Lothlorien filming location in the beech forest there, before returning to the
village and, following a great brunch, taking the Glenorchy walkway out into the wetlands.

Above: Paradise Road, near Glenorchy

It was a perfect, blue sky day, with a bright sun that cast sharp shadows on the mountains and made the riotous autumn colours shine even brighter. I was surrounded by a deep silence, and was alone for most of the walk, save the odd person passing in the opposite direction. The boardwalk threaded amongst trees with bare limbs reaching for the heavens and over deep, still waters. A section of the walk was flooded – I turned back and took a different path, going further in. I realised that I didn’t want to return to my car or drive back to Queenstown, I wanted to stay locked in this secret place, alone with my camera and my thoughts, enjoying the vistas all around me.

Above: Glenorchy boardwalk

This list would not be complete without Wellington featuring somewhere. Despite my love / hate relationship with this small city, I have chosen to make it my home and it is a pretty city, draped across the hills around the harbour. I love the brunches and the coffee and the fact that you can walk ten minutes and be in the middle of bush. However, it is not so much the city of Wellington itself that I love as the people I’ve met whilst I’ve been living here and the memories I’ve created with them, particularly all the good times I’ve had living at The Dwellington. And as the old adage goes, it’s
hard to beat Wellington on a good day.

If you drive an hour north of Wellington, you reach the sleepy wine region of Wairarapa. Dominated largely by farmland and vineyards, and  stretching as far north as Castle Point and as far south as Cape Palliser, this is a huge area with a sparse population and some real wilderness areas. With my friends, I have explored this region quite extensively, including several trips to wineries in and around Martinborough, an epic camping trip near Cape Palliser and several days out to explore other local  landmarks such as Castle Point. I love that this region, so close to the capital, is so rural and remote, and can offer me my fix of the countryside when I need one!

I have some really happy memories from the Kapiti Coast, not least my 2014 New Year’s spent in Waikanae at a friend’s bach. Since then, I have returned
to Waikanae several times, and it has become one of my go-to spots if I ever
want some quiet time away from Wellington. But the Kapiti Coast is much more than Waikanae and recently, P and I spent a day exploring around Paekakariki, Plimmerton and Mana. It was a largely unplanned trip and we ended up staying out until gone 9pm, enjoying happy hour at a bar in Mana that overlooked the ocean and afforded views of the sunset – a rarity in Wellington where the mountains cast long shadows long before the sun officially sets. Once again, it’s the people that have made the Kapiti Coast memorable for me – unplanned trips, weekend stays and my encounter with a friendly local who gave me a lift to Waikanae Beach one day when I hopped off the train.

Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park has everything that I love – volcanoes, mountains, waterfalls and far-reaching views across the North Island. There is even an epic brunch to be had at National Park Village, and you all know that I’m a big fan of brunch. If I’m honest, I wouldn’t love the North Island half as much if it wasn’t for Tongariro National Park.

I’ve been three times now and each time I love it more and more. I last visited just this weekend gone with four friends and we had really awesome
weather – hot, sunny and cloudless skies. Whilst three of our group hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (which I did back in February), C and I spent our day exploring some of the shorter walks on offer in the national park. It afforded me a more in-depth experience and some much needed time practising my long-exposure shots with my camera, and I left the park at the end of the day feeling content and happy.With that in mind, I’ll leave you with some images taken last weekend in Tongariro National Park because, as they do say, a picture says a thousand words and also because I’m pretty happy with some of the results from my long-exposure practise session!!