Double Skinny Macchiato - Bex's Coffee Travels: New Zealand

Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts

16 July 2022

Ten Favourite Travel Memories from an Expiring Passport

I was sad to bid farewell to my old passport this week — not just because it was an EU one (*sob*) but also because the stamps inside remind me of the travel experiences I've enjoyed over the past decade. To highlight some of these wonderful memories, I decided to pick one photo from each year, and boy was that hard! (I cheated because the header image features an 11th photo!)

31 January 2018

My Top 10 Travel Experiences of the Past 5 Years

Later this year, I am travelling to Peru, where I hope to cross another item off my bucket list: hiking the Inca Trail and visiting Machu Picchu. I'm really excited about the trip, which will be my first time in South America, and I couldn't help but look back on some of the other amazing travel experiences I've been lucky enough to have over the past few years. I hope some of these will inspire you with your own holiday planning for 2018 and beyond.

29 December 2017

A Year in Leaps: 2017

2017 has been my busiest ever year for travel. I spent 84 days outside the UK on 12 foreign trips, some for business but most for pleasure. 30 of these days were spent on a sabbatical in Australia and New Zealand. I visited five new countries and ten countries in total: the Czech Republic (Prague); France (Paris and Cannes); Germany (Cologne); Italy (Padua); Norway (Oslo); Spain (Barcelona); the United States (New York, Boston, Cape Ann and Maine); Singapore; Australia; and New Zealand.

22 December 2017

Bex's Food and Drink Awards: 2017 Edition

2017 has been a particularly fine year for coffee, food and cocktails for me, partly because I've travelled to diverse destinations with copious coffee and culinary delights. Remind me not to work on next year's list on an empty stomach: reviewing so many food and drink photos gave me quite the appetite!

24 November 2017

How To Spend Four Weeks in Australia and New Zealand

I've only been back from my month-long trip to Australia and New Zealand for ten days and I'm already missing both countries. I blogged on the road about the places I visited — Australia here and New Zealand here — and have posted some of my favourite photos on Flickr — Australia here and New Zealand here — but I also wanted to report back on my overall itinerary: where I stayed, how I got there and how I spent my time. I had 28 full days so this is a very long article and you may wish to make a cup of coffee before you dive in.

17 November 2017

12 Great Specialty Coffee Spots in Wellington, New Zealand

After a couple of intense periods of specialty coffee consumption in Melbourne and Sydney, I reverted back to ‘normal’ levels until I arrived in Wellington, New Zealand. I already had a number of local roasters and coffee shops on my list for the New Zealand capital, but I was also lucky that a coffee-loving Wellingtonian offered to show me around the city and its coffee scene. Lovely Tim (@coffeelater on Twitter and Instagram) seemed to know almost everyone who works in coffee in his home city and introduced me to a number of the movers and shakers, for which I am endlessly grateful.

15 November 2017

48 Hours in Auckland: Specialty Coffee, Food, Shopping and Things To Do

I came to Auckland three times during my fortnight in New Zealand, although only went into the city twice, for one full day each time. I was supposed to have an extra afternoon and evening the day I arrived from Sydney, but my Qantas flight was cancelled and rescheduled so I got in at 00:30 am rather than nine hours earlier. It was perhaps for this reason that I didn’t really take to New Zealand’s largest city the first time I arrived. I don’t like arriving in new cities after dark — and especially not at 2:00 am — and my late arrival meant I woke up late and grumpy on the following day.

13 November 2017

Thrills and Chills in Queenstown, New Zealand

After a bit of culture — coffee and otherwise — in Wellington, it was time to get back into the great outdoors. I almost didn’t come to Queenstown, but everyone I spoke to told me I was mad to come to New Zealand and not visit the South Island, so I ended up booking three nights in the self-proclaimed ‘adventure capital’ of the world. There had been snow overnight — very late in the season as it’s almost summer — and the landing into Queenstown Airport was beautiful, with the mountain range known as The Remarkables looking particularly spectacular with more than a dusting of snow on top.

10 November 2017

48 Hours in Wellington, New Zealand

As soon as the plane came over the mountains and landed next to the clear turquoise waters of the Cook Strait at Wellington Airport, I knew two days would not be enough time in New Zealand's capital. I fell hard for Wellington in a way I never really did with Auckland, although the latter has another day to win me over tomorrow.

08 November 2017

New Zealand North Island Road Trip II: Rotorua, Taupo, Waitomo and Hamilton

At the end of the first installment of my New Zealand North Island road trip, I had just arrived in Rotorua. Unfortunately, the beautiful sunshine of the Coromandel Peninsula shifted into grey skies and persistent rain that didn't stop until I left Rotorua three days later. I didn't let the weather get in the way of my enjoyment, though; having a car of my own also helped me to stay as dry as possible. Here's what I did in the second part of my road trip.

06 November 2017

New Zealand North Island Road Trip I: Coromandel Peninsula

I commenced my first New Zealand trip in Auckland — later than planned thanks to Qantas incompetence — but I’ll be returning there before I fly home next week, so for now, I’m skipping ahead to the next section: a short North Island road trip. I rented a car from central Auckland (it was under $200 NZD for a Toyota Corolla for six days) and was soon heading south on State Highway 1. Here is what I got up to along the way.

Coromandel Peninsula
Although the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula is accessible by public transport or by tour, it’s more convenient if you have your own transportation because then you can stop at whichever scenic spots and small towns take your fancy. There isn’t much to do in most of the towns and villages, especially this early in the season, so it was nice to have the flexibility to stop off, have a wander, grab a coffee and then hit the road again.

I headed first for the small town of Thames — hey, I’m from Oxford and live very close to the river now — which took about 90 minutes from Auckland. The roads were good and it was an easy drive. I stopped for a rather good Coffee Supreme piccolo at Coco Coffee Bar, walked up and down the high street (there was a cool indoor marketplace called The Depot with various independent shops and eateries) and then continued. There’s also a small town museum and a mining museum, but not much else.

From Thames, I followed the SH 25 north along the western side of the peninsula. Navigating was easy, partly because I was using Google Maps on my iPhone and partly because there is generally only one road. The roads, however, quite quickly became rather precarious, although they afford splendid views of the sea as they weave along the coast and inch up the steep, verdant mountains. Most of the trickiest bends have handy suggested-speed indicators, which helped in judging the severity, and I soon got used to the concept of one-way bridges. Although I occasionally got stuck behind a slow vehicle or, more often, frustrated other drivers for sticking to the speed limit, it was a decent drive.

I stopped for lunch an hour later at Coromandel Town, which, like Thames, is a small mining town that was less picturesque than I had expected, although had a bunch of quirky independent shops and plenty of character. I should have stopped for seafood at the Coromandel Mussel Kitchen just outside town but missed the turn and instead was left with the main street offerings. I ended up having a decent Allpress piccolo and scrambled eggs on sourdough at a place called Wharf Road (on Wharf Road).

I wasn’t sure I’d have time to go all the way to the top of the peninsula so I cut east to Whitianga instead. There are two routes — the southern is ‘less travelled and legendary’ (according to the Lonely Planet) but sounded like a more challenging drive, so I went for the northern route, which had some steep climbs and fantastic sea views. I stopped briefly at a couple of beaches on the way, one (pictured below and at the very top) primarily because I saw a penguin ‘warning’ sign. There weren’t any penguins, unfortunately (I’m beginning to think they’re as mythical as goats in trees in Morocco, which I didn’t see either), but the beach was gorgeous. I found out later that it's called New Chum Beach, and has been voted one of the most beautiful beaches in New Zealand.

I arrived in Whitianga about 45 minutes later but there was little there to divert me longer than it took to walk down to the esplanade and back.

Hahei
Hahei, where I stayed for the night, is only a short boat ride from Whitianga, but by car, you have to go the long way round which takes about 30 minutes (longer if they are resurfacing the road, which they seemed to be doing in large parts of the North Island during my trip). Hahei itself is a tiny but pretty village, with a handful of shops and eateries, and a few hundred residents. There are two main attractions nearby, which I’ll get to shortly, but both require specific tide timings, which I’d missed. As it was a sunny afternoon, I went for a stroll on the beautiful Hahei Beach, and then hiked up to the Te Pare Reserve, which had great views down over the bay — it reminded me a little of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

I stayed at Tatahi Lodge in Hahei, in a private room in their backpackers’ lodge. The lodge was comfortable, clean and thoughtfully appointed, even if it did feel a bit like sleeping in a particularly nice shed (especially when it poured with rain overnight). I went for dinner at The Pour House, a local craft brewery and pub. I had the fish and chips, which was really good. I even had a sample of one of the beers brewed on site (the Easy Rider, which the bar tender was recommending to most customers), although it was rather too beery for me (I don’t like beer).

In the morning, I rose early and headed out to Cathedral Cove, one of Hahei’s two main sights. It’s about a 50-minute walk from central Hahei, but I decided to jog instead. Note, though, that it’s an extremely steep route, although has great views. I was rewarded when I got to Cathedral Cove beach and found it deserted, which meant I got the iconic view through the cathedral-like hole in the cliff face of the ship-shaped Te Hoho rock to myself for a few minutes before a group arrived. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place. Try to go in the morning (it’s east-facing and so the light is better) and at low tide (otherwise you might not be able to walk through the cave).

I returned to my hotel to shower and check-out and to borrow a beach towel and a spade from the owners. It was almost low tide and I was headed to Hot Water Beach, a ten-minute drive from Hahei. For two hours around low tide, you can dig yourself a hole on the beach that fills with warm to hot water, depending on your spot. I got there about 45 minutes before low tide and the beach was already busy. The Germans had, of course, already found the best spots. There was a lot of asking around as to how hot everyone's water was. Mine wasn't the hottest but I dug it by myself and the water was indeed pretty hot. A fun, if somewhat tiring, activity. I ran into the (rather cooler but still tolerable) sea to clean off and then, after dropping off my spade and towel at the hotel, got on my way.

Wairere Falls
My destination was Rotorua, a three-hour drive from Hahei. I was hoping to find a nice cafe or roadside eatery to stop at for lunch, but although the drive was beautiful (again, many steep, winding mountain and coastal roads), there wasn’t much along the way. However, passing near Matamata (most famous for its Hobbiton attractions; I’m from Oxford, though, so there’s only one Shire for me), I saw a sign for Wairere Falls and, in an effort to be more spontaneous, I took the turning. There was nothing about it in my Lonely Planet but at 153m, it’s the tallest waterfall on the North Island, and you can either take a 40-minute hike to the viewing platform, about halfway up, or climb to the summit if you have three hours or so to make the round trip. Having not had lunch and having done a steep jog at Cathedral Cove, I stuck to the shorter walk, which was a relatively easy if steep hike. The views of the falls at the top were well worth the detour.

And before I knew it, I was approaching the outskirts of Rotorua, of which more in my next blog post.

14 October 2017

My Antipodean Adventure: Four Weeks in Australia and New Zealand

I'm off travelling again today. Regular readers will know that this is hardly news for me; I tend to take one or two foreign trips each month. This one is special, however. I will be away for a whole month, which is the longest I've been able to take off work at one time since I started my career in publishing 11 years ago. I decided to take advantage of my company's sabbatical policy to book in a four-week trip to Australia and New Zealand, both of which have been on my travel to-do list for over 15 years.

I've been planning (and saving!) hard since January and booked my flights from and to London back in April, nailing down the rest of my itinerary over the summer. As always, I found the Lonely Planet guidebooks an invaluable resource. I used their 2015 Australia guide (there is a new edition coming out next month) and their 2016 New Zealand North Island guide, knowing that I would be focusing most of my attention on this part of the country on this trip.

A note on my itinerary and my decision to visit both countries in four weeks: I know that it isn't possible to 'do' either country (or even a small part of Australia) in one month, but I also don't know when I will next get the opportunity to visit this part of the world — after all, it took me almost 34 years to schedule my first trip — and I wanted to have a taster for both countries. Moreover, for me, one of the best parts of travelling is that sense of excitement and wonder I get when I first arrive in a new city. I love revisiting favourite destinations, but I'll never tire of the thrill of discovery.

Excluding my international flights, I have 28 full days and am splitting this time about evenly between the east coast of Australia and New Zealand's North Island. Rather than taking the hefty Lonely Planet Australia guide, I was planning to buy a copy of the more portable East Coast Australia guide; the new edition isn't out until next month, however, and I am very grateful to Lonely Planet who provided me with a review copy, which will be a major point of reference during the first half of my trip.

I have a packed itinerary, which includes several cities, the Great Barrier Reef, some beach time and a road trip around New Zealand's North Island. Being me, a key focus will be speciality coffee. I already have an unfeasibly large coffee to-do list for both Melbourne (my first stop) and Sydney, but to help me sift through the many possibilities, I would really welcome any recommendations — please let me know in the comments or on Twitter (non-coffee-related suggestions are also welcome!). I'm also on the look-out for coffee (and other) tips for Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand.

As usual, I am packing light: I am taking my Rimowa Salsa Air carry-on suitcase (frustratingly, most of my internal flights have a 7kg carry-on limit, which will mean checking my case), my TUMI Halle Backpack and, as a handbag, my purple small Longchamp Le Pliage tote. During the Antipodean late spring, the weather is likely to range from warm to hot (by British standards, anyway), and I'm taking four dresses, two pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans, enough tops and underwear for ten days, three sweaters, my Uniqlo ultralight down jacket, running kit, two bikinis, a pair of running shoes, sandals, flip flops and ballet pumps. Technology-wise, I'm taking my MacBook Air and Kindle, and decided to downsize my camera kit and take just my compact camera (I bought the Canon Powershot G7X Mark II a few months ago, and I've been really happy with it) and my Nikon waterproof camera.

I won't have room to bring much coffee home, but I'm taking my trusty Aeropress with me so I can brew some fine Antipodean coffee while I'm there. I'm also delighted to report that the Made by Knock Aergrind, which I backed on KickStarter some months ago, arrived just in the knick of time and will be coming with me. Alas, it didn't come with any instructions, so I'll have to re-read Brian's great review on the Coffee Spot.

This month is partly about giving myself a break from my hectic day job in the busy press office of a major scientific journal, but while I'm away, as a minimum, I am planning to produce one post about each destination I visit and one speciality coffee update for each relevant city.