New Zealand, 2022–2023

On New Year’s Eve, we left Auckland and drove to Rotorua. Since the accommodation we booked was not up to scratch, we rebooked into VR Rotorua Lake Resort, with serene views of Okawa Bay from our first floor room window. On New Year’s Day, we visited Whakarewarewa, a Māori village where 15-20 families still live. The houses are interspersed between geothermal pools, many of which vent steam, bubble hydrogen sulphide (giving the town a rotten eggs smell) and are coated with crusts of yellow sulphur crystals. The Māori legends that we started to discover are really wonderful and are depicted in many of the carved entrances, building facades and ceremonial posts. We were treated to a show of traditional singing and dancing, including the famous haka. That evening, we did a redwood forest canopy walk, made magical with suspended lanterns and multi-coloured lighting effects. We also saw our first possum, up in one of the trees. The next day, we walked for a few hours in the redwood forest, before going to another geothermal spa called Hell’s Gate, where we had a 20-minute mud bath, followed by a soak in a sulphur bath. In the evening, we watched Disney’s Moana.

From Rotorua, we headed to Wellington, arriving in time for dinner with my high school friend [name] and his wife [name]. The next day we took a leisurely drive on the coastal road around the peninsula, stopping at Scorching Bay for breakfast and a swim. That evening we only slept for a few hours, before getting the 2 am ferry to Picton in the south island. From there, we drove straight through to Hokitika.

The next day, we made our way to Franz Josef glacier. I was surprised by how warm the weather was and that the various walkways to viewing points were through lush forests. The viewing area is probably a kilometre from the foot of the glacier today, whereas 100 years ago it stretched right down to the valley, a shockingly visual testimony to the impacts of climate change. We stopped for a refreshing swim in Lake Mapourika before driving on to Haast where we stayed overnight.

From Haast, we drove to Kingston, via a leisurely few hours at Lake Wānaka where we swam, kayaked and sunbathed. The next day, yesterday, we visited Milford Sound / Piopiotahi and enjoyed a 2-hour boat cruise on the fjord. To our great surprise and delight dolphins appeared and surfed along the bow. Their size, speed, grace and apparent joy are breathtakingly beautiful. On the way back, we stopped for a swim at Lake Te Anau. Today is a rest day, to do laundry, although we will visit Queenstown later.

I had hoped to be able to write about swimming with wild dolphins, but it didn’t quite work out. Cyclone Hale has been wreaking havoc in the past few days, mostly on the north island, but it also meant the wave swell was too rough to go out into the open ocean in a small boat today. As it happens, we did a nature cruise in the bay and still saw the rare Hector’s dolphins, which are tiny (males 1.2 m, females 1.5 m). There are only about 10,000 left in the wild, although the numbers have been slowly recovering from a low of 7,000, which is good news.

Rather, I wanted to reflect a bit on the importance of travel, including its shadow side. There really is no substitute for travelling or the enrichment it brings. The holiday element is important of course; we all need a change of pace and scenery to recharge our batteries. But this is the least benefit, in my view.

Today is our last full day in New Zealand. Tomorrow we fly back via San Francisco to London from Auckland. Over the past week or so, we headed from Kingston to Christchurch, staying in a small coastal village called Sumner. Our planned swim with the dolphins in Akaroa was cancelled due to the weather, but we were given a free nature cruise in the bay and managed to see the rare Hector’s dolphins after all.

We then made our way up the coast to Kaikoura and did a whale watching cruise, during which we were able to locate a sperm whale (by picking up their echo-location clicks) and observe it for the 5 minutes or so that it came up for breath. Unlike the excitement of dolphin watching, this was a more serene experience, feeling awe in the presence of these gentle giants and gratitude that they are no longer hunted here.

Here, we have been enjoying the local beach, and this morning we visited the Hot Water Beach, where a geothermal spring runs under the sand. The spot is only accessible at low tide and it wasn’t low enough for us to bury ourselves in the hot sand, but we managed to give our feet the spa treatment. Later today, we will walk to Cathedral Cove, with its stone arch carved by the sea.