Adventures of a Tired Traveller

New Zealand 2026 — Week 3: Auckland to Dunedin (Part 1)

Auckland with the Sky Tower. Photo by hubby.

I think an adventure is anything that scares you even a little bit, but turns out OK.

Thus, any travel is an adventure for me.

I’m lucky, I don’t have to go to dangerous places to have adventures.

I can go to countries like New Zealand, which is actually a bit boring after living in South Africa. So clean, so safe; everything works.

But absolutely lovely.

You can read about our Auckland experience here.

New Plymouth

Our accommodation in the forest outside New Plymouth was the first place where I really, really wished we could have stayed longer.

George’s Place at night. Photo by hubby.

George’s place is a beautiful house in the woods. George himself seemed to me like a person with a story. (Well, actually each and every one of us has a story.) I got the feeling that this could be a story of a special kind.

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I did not get to know him better, because we went to and fro with our payment for the whole flipping evening. It’s complicated why, but it had to do with the fact that we had to cancel our second night at his place in order to make it to the ferry to the South Island on time.

It spoiled the evening for me, but I could still soak in some of the atmosphere. In near total darkness, rain falling softly but constantly, I am alone in the large open-plan kitchen cum living room with books and photos and board games available. And a fridge full of food, probably meant for guests to make your breakfast, as breakfast is included.

George never said so, but I took the liberty to make us that breakfast. (There were only two other guests; it was definitely not all their food.)

Breakfasts at guesthouses in New Zealand generally were disappointing.

When breakfast is offered at a South African stay, it usually means an elaborate buffet with everything from yoghurt, fruit, various cereals, often home-made porridge, and any number of dishes combining eggs, bacon and *boerewors*. It is often accompanied by a concerned hostess urging you on to eat even more.

At the few places in New Zealand that included breakfast, it consisted of a few choices of cereal, coffee and tea set out for you to help yourself.

I really longed for the Continental or English breakfasts you get in Europe and the UK. (Even though I am not really a great breakfast eater when home.)

So we had to leave reluctantly the next morning. I spent some time sitting at the aquatic centre on the beach with coffee and something sweet, longingly watching people doing laps in the pool. (Although I can’t even swim properly!) while hubby explored the beach and took some nice photos of the little inactive volcanoes out at sea.

New Plymouth. Photo by hubby.

They are probably not that little when you get to them.

I felt quite sorry for myself sitting in the gentle sun among happy strangers doing their thing. The bloody moon boot deprived me of numerous interesting walks on that trip. (And wearing the moon boot was in fact totally in vain, but that’s a story for another day.)

The aquatic community centres (often including a regular gym, a playpark, various pools and a nice coffee shop) in New Zealand are really lovely. And you see them in nearly every town of some substance. In the cities I believe there are lots of them.

Being South Africans, where rugby is for many people more of a religion than a sport, it was good to see the rugby fields in every town. The Springboks and the All Blacks are old rivals with many a tight match between them.

Hubby posing as an All Black at a 3D-studio. Photo by me.

For us it was also lovely to see the public toilets, library and veterinary centre in every single town. We are not used to small towns having as many amenities at home.

The abundance of vape shops was not so lovely to see. To me the growing information about the dangers of vaping is very disturbing.

Temple View

Temple View. Photo by hubby.

It was the day we stumbled onto Temple View, supposedly a suburb of Hamilton but more like a town of its own. The impressive white temple sits at the top of a hill, as its newer brother does in Auckland.

It features the temple of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. Which we later realized are the Mormons. Of which we knew nothing but that they used to practice polygamy. I am not even sure if they still do.

That the beautiful place can be a haven of peace for people I can surely understand. Beautiful gardens with a huge pond, lovely flowerbeds with some well-known annuals from South Africa, and friendly volunteers keen to speak to people.

We were even presented with a handful of feijoas. Feijoas is something we have never encountered before. By accident, we arrived right in the middle of the time when they are abundant in many gardens. Everywhere you see stalls where people are trying to get rid of them at a reasonable price or even for free.

We did not like the taste much, but it would probably grow on you with time. For me it is somewhere between a guava and a pineapple. Apparently the fruit can be used for a lot of things, like preserves, etc.

Next up: Auckland to Dunedin (Part 2)

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I am a published writer of romantic fiction in my native language, Afrikaans, trying my wings in the vast English world. I mainly write about travel, mental health, personal growth, and the privilege of growing older.

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