So the travel bug has hit. Where’d you like to go? How about coming down my way. Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud - New Zealand in other words. Yep. It’s a long way if you’re travelling from the Northern Hemisphere. Across the other side of the world, but hey, we’re worth the visit.

First things first. You’ve gotta decide what time of year you’d come. You see, we’re all topsy, turvey if you know what I mean. Summer is winter and so forth.

The Best Time to Visit

One of the best times to visit, (in my humble opinion) is February. The schools are back so the tourist facilities aren’t so busy, and it’s our latter part of the summer - long, hot and cloudless. Most tourists fly into Auckland, but that is not to say you can’t arrive at Wellington, Hamilton, or Christchurch. But this is where forward planning will help. So you need to answer some questions first. How much time have you got, what do you want to see, an overall view or specific areas? We are a diverse country. You can while away the hours on long, sandy and unpopulated beaches or go fishing, hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, even do extreme sports.

New Zealand is two islands. The North Island, and the South Island. Not particularly original I know and, well, there’s actually three if you count a spot at the bottom of the South Island called Stewart Island.

Arriving in Auckland, which is located on a narrow isthmus between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, you could opt for a camper van and drive across our harbour bridge and head north. Northland, typically known as the winterless north, is a rolling countryside dotted with small villages/townships, beaches to die for and rural lifestyle farms. We’re not known for having 60,000,000 sheep for nothing!

Resort Town of Orewa

We’re an outdoorsy nation and if there’s a beach you’ll bet we will take advantage. Surfing, sailing, fishing, diving, swimming with the dolphins or whale watching. Head about an hour north and stop at the resort town of Orewa. Years ago this was an all day trip to reach here, but now is a daily commute for many who work in Auckland. 

Orewa was once the hub for retirees and campers who would stroll its golden sandy beach. As you head out of town, stop at the look out about one hundred yards up the hill. The view is magnificent with the swaying flax bushes used in our historic past by the Maori for cloth making and if it’s the right time of year (November-March) the scarlet brush fronds of the pohutukawa tree, a native tree, typically known as the New Zealand Christmas tree will be a spectacular explosion of color up and down the coastline..

Time to move on.

Go off the beaten track for a while and head over to Matakana famous for the Morris and James pottery and boutique wineries then over the hill to Leigh and Goat Island, where you will find a sea diving paradise. An ocean nature reserve it’s a haven for divers and also home to the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace vessel which was scuttled by an act of sabotage a few years ago. It was decided that the boat would become a marine sanctuary as the boat and its crews life task had been to save and protect the ocean.

There are a myriad of stunning beaches with delightful cafes for rest stops right up the coast - Waipu Cove, Mangawhai Heads. Dotted right round New Zealand are boutique wineries, cheese factories, home made chocolates, honey. It's a calorie disaster!

Puhoi Village

Still on our road north, stop off at Puhoi village. This quaint village was settled by Bohemiams over a hundred years ago and has a great pub and many of the original buildings still in use. Tummy rumbling. Time for a feed (Kiwi speak for - hungry for a meal!) A few miles further along this winding rural road and you’ll come to the Puhoi Cheese Factory where you will see it being made and sample the exotic cheese.

The city of Whangarei (pronounced Fong-a-ray), home to many of New Zealand’s wonderful luxury-yacht builders is gateway to the north and worth a stop to take in the Whangarei falls, or have a picnic down by the river.

Bay of Islands

Next stop and a childhood favourite, is the Bay of Islands. Want to swim with the dolphins, see the oldest building in New Zealand - the stone store just outside Kerikeri. Today the township is bustling, surrounded by a tropical paradise of orchards and boutique foodie stories. Where ever you drive in New Zealand, you’ll be met by a diverse culture, smells, foliage, and foods. Try kina (sea eggs), toeroas (shellfish like pipis), kumara, (a golden sweet potato).

The Bay of Islands is home to our beginning history as a nation. The Meeting House, the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between our indigenous Maori and the settlers, a treaty which binds our nation together today, where the cultural exhibition with the original signed treaty is a rare find in our history.

Back in Paihia, just down the road from Waitangi a ferry regularly crosses the harbour to Russell, a great place to spend a day delving antique shops and whiling away the hours in picturesque and restful scenery.

Now if you want a day off driving, arrange to go on the Ninety Mile Beach trip, where you go by bus up the west coast of this narrow northern tip of the island where the beach seemingly never stops. The bus ride takes you to the northern most tip of the island, to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea joins the Pacific Ocean and if you look close enough you’ll see where the two meet - and guess what - one is higher than the other!

So that’s the northern most spot of our country. Where to next?

Come back again, and I’ll tell you all about my city - Auckland, the City of Sails.

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Jane Beckenham - Columnist