New Zealand in April '16

Highlights of April

Everyday feels like it’ll be the last sunny day until spring next September. So since winter in Taranaki has a slight tendency towards heavy and frequent downpours, we took the chance to visit several (more) beaches this month. I’m only now beginning to realise just how many New Zealand has.

Taranaki:

We began the month with an early morning trip to Tongaporutu to see the Three Sisters and Elephant Rock. Unfortunately, we were a little too late to catch low tide and so I couldn’t get close enough to photograph Elephant Rock how I would have liked (left corner of the top photo). We couldn’t hang around or the tide would catch us out and we’d be swimming back along the river.

We went back to Back beach, you may recognise this black sand beach from my very first post on New Zealand. Back beach is my favourite in Taranaki with an enormous sand dune that flows down the cliff side. Running down is like walking on the moon and you almost float down with big soft steps.

I spotted Pukeko birds in Pukekura Park. A park I’ve been to many times over the years – to feed ducks and eat ice-cream, plus yearly visits to see the festival of lights each Christmas. If you’re in Taranaki, you’ll want to check out Pukekura Park - full of native fauna and flora, a waterfall, a Japanese Garden, a café, an outdoor concert hall and native birds of course.

Waikato:

We rented a beach house with family and relaxed in the bays of Raglan for a few days earlier this month. It was kind of cool to see backpackers again; I don’t often see my fellow budget travellers in Taranaki, which is why I’m always advocating us!

Lowlights of April

A persistent cold and a general feeling of fatigue have plagued me, and it shows in the blog with just four posts this month. Such a shame that when life gets complicated hobbies are the first to go, because that’s when we need them the most.

Coming up in May

I’m going to use May to catch up on a few projects. I want to write more inspirational content on the blog and also face a few personal challenges that I’ve put off for a while. So while travel may take a back seat this month, there will still be weekly posts up here.

New on the blog

Have you seen the new advice page with links to my travel resources? Bear with me while I work on writing more helpful content to get you guys travelling to new places. I’m currently working on motivational posts, packing guides and a ‘how to backpack’ for beginners.

Most popular post this month

20 reasons to visit South America – a big post that took a lot of time and effort but it was fun to write. Seeing all the amazing things we did over in South America listed in a single post like that makes me realise what an incredible trip we had.

Other posts you may have missed

5 ways to get what Raglan’s all about – From my trip up to Raglan earlier this month

Stop dreaming, start planning and travel! – My personal favourite, an inspirational post which are so much fun to write

A lazy evening market stroll in Southeast Asia – More daydreaming about Asia – I don’t think I can help myself!

#NewZealand