East Coast road trip and climbing Mt. Hikurangi

Mt. Hikurangi stands at 1,752m.a.s.l. (5,748 ft) and is the first place to greet the sun in mainland Aotearoa / New Zealand. The trail starts at Pakihiroa Station in Ruatoria, 80 km north of Gisborne or 50km southwest of Te Araroa. The track to the summit wasn’t always as accessible as it is today, having listened to stories of bush bashing and backcountry orienteering. Nowadays the track is well marked until the final boulder/scree uphill to the summit, where a fair bit of scrambling is needed. We booked a night at the hut (1,250m.a.s.l.), then planned to summit and walk out the next day. My body was definitely not mountain-fit enough for the hike we had planned (we ended up walking for about 11 hours on the Sunday), and my legs especially found the steep downhill exhausting.

A Summer Tiki Tour Of Raglan

Summer in Kiwiland - what’s more Kiwi than the quintessential summer roadie? How did I decide on Raglan? I Googled where I could go rock climbing in the North Island, came across Raglan Rock’s website and planned my road trip from there. Simple as that, really. Turns out Raglan is just one of the many places on my ‘how come I’ve never been there’ gigantic list. Maybe, because I’d always considered it more of a surfing mecca, when really there’s so much you can do.

Bay of Plenty: Walk Amongst The Redwood Giants In The Whakarewarewa Forest

At over 5,600 hectares, the Whakarewarewa Forest is a giant outdoor playground - from locals walking their dogs, multiple walking trails or a day out on the MTB trails. Located just an hour from Whakatane and 15 minutes from the Rotorua CBD, it’s the kind of place where you can see so much in a few hours or spend the whole day. It’s one of the best FREE attractions you can do in Rotorua.

Discover why Ōtarawairere Bay at Ōhope Beach is one of my favourite playgrounds!

In New Zealand, as the island nation that we are, we’re definitely spoilt for beautiful coastlines. Having recently moved back to Whakatane, I decided to check out some of my favourite ‘local tourist’ spots. Having recently moved back to Whakatane, I decided to check out one of my favourite ‘local tourist’ spots. Otarawairere Bay is a hidden gem just a 15-minute walk from its more famous cousin, Ohope Beach.

Discover Our Local: Coastal kayaking adventure with KG Kayaks

A moonlight kayaking tour with KG Kayaks was my introduction to ocean kayaking two years ago. Since then, I have been out on Ohiwa Harbour to check out the little islands - which make great picnic spots by the way! Most recently, I joined him on the Whale Island tour - where we encountered some decent swells due to the Winter months. There was even a curious seal pup swimming alongside us for part of the trip. This blog post covers an awesome morning exploring the beautiful coastline between West End in Ohope and Whakatane.

Road trip with the Canadian: Hitting the west coast of NZ

My friend Tamizan is a surfer, and this trip came about from a conversation about her wanting to surf some of the famous breaks in New Plymouth. I’m not into surfing, but I do like road trips and hiking. I’ve never been to the West Coast, and people have told me about some nice walks in the region. We were lucky with the weather, even though there was chill in the air (being Winter of course), the sun was out apart from the Monday we headed home.

The only other road trip I’ve done late was with my friend, Jemma, when we checked out the Coromandel on the first day of Spring last year. Torrential rain stalked us for most of that trip, which was the complete opposite of this one.