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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: March & April
For the next couple months I travel all over the place, just watching the kilometers on my car add up and up. My grandparents join me for 16 days of fun (but not 16 nights of hostels). Then, lo and behold, I have more visitors.
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: January & February
Happy 2024 from New Zealand! For the beginning of the year, I visited volcanoes, dropped back down to the South Island, and went on two epic adventures! Then, my parents and my aunt and uncle arrived for almost three weeks of fun!
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: November & December
New Zealand gets busier and I get crazier! You could be forgiven for thinking that "planning" now means "throwing a dart at a board and seeing what sticks." I promise: there is a method to the madness of these next couple months (and I'll let you know what it is once I've figured it out!).
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: September & October
The adventure continues! In September and October, I explored the middle of the North Island, and then took the plunge and went to the South Island!
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Photos from the Kaimai Range
I visited the Kaimai Range several times while I was staying in Whiritoa, so they were disjointed visits. Hour long drives out and back through small towns and straight roads (shocking, but the Waikato region nearby actually has straight roads!). However, since I visited about three times in the span of three weeks, there is no backbone to the whole area and no experience here that was particularly noteworthy, other than loving all the waterfalls. It's simply a pretty and deserving-of-visitors region, so I'm adding my favorite photos and maybe a few comments--mostly for me. Because I'll look back at this blog in three, five, and ten years, and want…
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Waitomo, NZ: Finding Little Lights in the Dark
Last Monday, I drove away from Whiritoa, and I felt set adrift. Uncertain. Lost, even. Suddenly I'm wondering why I have chosen to be half a world away from all the people who know and love me. Experiencing the glow worm region of New Zealand reminded me that I am an explorer. It doesn't make it easier being away from home, but denying the part of me that desires exploration and adventure is also not something I want to do. So I'm taking the hardships with the triumphs, day-by-day, the lights with the dark.
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A Hidden Paradise in Whiritoa, New Zealand
On Google Maps, Whiritoa looks like a beach town at the very bottom of the Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast. As I drove in through 16 kilometers of windy S-curves and 180-degree switchbacks, and then entered the town, I realized that I had been wrong. This was no town. Rather, it was a collection of a few hundred houses clustered around the beach. A single cafe provided snacks and a few staples (bread, butter, milk), but anything beyond would require the twenty minute trek into town. I wondered where the hell I had just based myself for the next month. The answer:
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The Lone Mussel: My Moana Moment
I'm wandering along the beach in Whiritoa. There's no particular hurry and I feel the sand shift beneath my feet. The soft sound of the waves, sussurating in a steady rhythm, creeping up the sand and retreating with gentle movement...and leaving something behind... Disney-princess style.
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1 Year of New Zealand Selfies: July & August
Today, July 29, marks the start of my second month in New Zealand, so I'm posting the first few weeks of my 1 year of New Zealand selfies. When you're traveling alone, sometimes the ubiquitous selfie is all you have. More photos will be uploaded to this page every few weeks.
