A long, fulfilling day driving (a little nervously) through New Zealand just enjoying the peace and quiet. An excellent start to some side adventures.
Morning Start
Had to wake up and get down to immigration by 6:50, but as I got there, we mostly just waited again (nothing new). Got cleared eventually and after settling up the account and getting my clearance card, I left around 7:30 for my rental car at 8.
A Surprise
As I excited the port, I saw Nadine (who was on segment 1) pick up Lindsay (a fellow world cruiser) in a car and I realized quickly that the the steering wheel is on the right side and they drive on the left of the road…not gonna lie, kinda forgot about that since I booked the car many moons ago. Did the 15 minute walk to the rental car place and got thrown in the fire pretty quickly right in the middle of Auckland 🤣.
Let’s just say, I’m good at following cars in front of me, but I definitely found a couple things.
- The turn signal and wipers were also swapped so quite a few times I went to signal and ended up drying my already dried windshield.
- I’m so used to hugging the left side of the lane, that trying to remember to center / hug the right was a constant rewiring of my brain.
- I found that I actually adapted pretty quickly and pretty easily yo actually driving and flipping everything I’ve been doing all my life.
Tons of fun actually to drive around the north island for two days.
Tiritiri – Gulf Harbour
First, I drove down to Tiritiri to see if it was possible to get to Tiritiri Island. After a quick stop and call to confirm, I found out they don’t run the ferry service on Mondays and Tuesdays.
No worries, I was now successfully out of the city, and walked around the bay a little bit as well just enjoying the air, sounds and lack of a crowd.
Heading North
Next, I headed to the next stop that popped up as a suggestion on WanderLog, which was Sculptureteum, along the way, I was getting tired (cause I only had 3 hours of sleep), so I stopped when I saw a little town right along the side of the road called Matakana and had a bunch of food and coffee to refuel, and then walked over to the park across the street for a bit to listen to the waterfall and watch the ducks. Beautiful blue and purple streaks in their feathers.
Cafes
Matakana Wharf Reserve
Matakana Wharf Reserve beautiful little park.
Sculptureteum
Interesting place with a ton of sculptures and gardens. Can see why people spend a whole day or half day here, but I spend a couple hours and needed to move on (cause of the distance, but also because it was pretty hot).
Omaha Shorebirds Sanctuary
Was told by the information center to check out the Shorebird sanctuary and the regional park, so I stopped first at Omaha Shorebirds Sanctuary. Found the beach and walked a bit, but it was super windy which made for some different types of pictures, but the actual sanctuary itself was closed for whatever reason.
Tāwharanui Regional Park
Next went down to the Tāwharanui Regional Park to spend sometime with wildlife. Really interesting space they’ve carved out for the birds by building a large fence to keep out the predators with traps and stuff all along the way.
Found a bird blind, and sat there for a bit capturing birds in the rain which makes a really nice effect, especially the water droplets on the birds themselves.
It was SO wet, and the rain definitely started pouring while I was out there walking around as well.
Heading to AirBnB
Stopped to get some quick snacks and dinner and was so tired, just settled for some McDonalds…a little bit different, but mostly the same, other than being able to get a DOUBLE McChicken…lol. Also got some chips solely because they had penguins on the packaging.
Made it to the AirBnB before the sun went down, so was able to do a little bit of wandering with the farm animals.
Overall, a super lovely day, but also not sure how I was able to drive so much on so little sleep, while also rewiring my brain to drive on the right side of the road. Pretty remarkable if I say so myself.
Vibe Check
5 parts joy
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
Leave a comment