After one month of isolation in the Far North, I gifted myself a two-week holiday on the North Island. All I wanted was to drive with loud music and my bad singing voice and enjoy myself and the stunning scenery. I took it easy without a set plan – only had a few definitely-have-to-stops in mind.

From Kerikeri, a friend dropped me in Whangarei, where I spent a Couchsurfing night with cooking and decent conversations, and also learned some interesting details about the kauri trees. Totally unexpected, but I couldn’t have wished for a better start to meet people again.

If you don’t have a car and are looking for alternatives, I recommend Skip; they are the cheapest, comfortable, the busses arrive on time, and as I said: very cheap!

HAMILTON

I picked up my car in Auckland and headed to Hamilton; on the first day, I didn’t want to drive much, just getting a taste of the vibes. Well, it didn’t start too rosy.. just before reaching the city, I saw a very bad accident – it literally happened in front of me. Unfortunately, this experience dominated my thoughts for the day, made me think about my relationships and the question formed in my head: If I were to die today, who would I call to speak to for the last time in this life? I couldn’t answer my own question.. but in such a situation, I would probably freak out, faint, and die anyway.

Hamilton is known as the chlamydia capital (doesn’t sound like the most inviting place for Tinder dates), but that’s not why I came here. What I can recommend is the Hamilton Gardens and one of the best Chinese food.

These thematic gardens are beautiful with a peaceful ambiance (the perfect place to meditate about life and death). My favourites were the Chinese Garden (the only place where I didn’t see any Chinese tourists) and the Sustainable Backyard (which had an aroma that took me back to my childhood).

After a ‘life-changing’ walk, go and have a dinner at The Chilli House. I was in the mood for noodles, and I got them. The place is always busy (we had to wait almost an hour for our food), but it was so worth it. I had their Youpo noodles and mochi (of course), and my belly was so happy and satisfied that I went to sleep with a huge smile.

WAITOMO

From Hamilton, my first stop was the Waitomo Caves. I usually avoid mainstream tourist places, but visiting the most famous glowworm cave was one of the best decisions on my trip.

I don’t know if every cave guide has an extraordinary singing voice or if I was just a lucky one experiencing such an audiovisual orgasm; while admiring the incredible shade of bioluminescent blue glowing around us, two guides demonstrated the acoustics of the caves as if we were in the Scala. 45 minutes of pure magic, zero photos, hundreds of goosebumps, memories for a life.

After the cave, I checked out the Marokopa Falls, which looked impressive even in the gloomy weather with the mossy jungle and gorgeous ferns all around.

THE FORGOTTEN  WORLD HIGHWAY

After some research, there was no question that I would take the scenic route to New Plymouth. First of all, raise your (my) hand who sets off on a 150 km mountain road with half a tank. There’s a reason everyone stops at the gas station in Taumarunui, which I did too, just to stretch my legs and not check the fuel level in my car (I can’t explain).

My destination on the forgotten highway was Whangamomona. If you haven’t heard of this town, it’s famous for calling itself a republic and elected a goat as president. Something stupid and senseless? Of course, it’s immediately on my travel list.

Everything went fine until I reached the town. But when I realized there was not a single gas station in and around, I started sweating a bit from my forgotten gas fillup. The next town was Stratford, 62 km away, and in the last 20 km, the fuel display was flashing madly. I tried to drive as eco-friendly as possible on the stunning mountain road and made no other stops (like at the Bridge to somewhere), so luckily made it to the gas station. It never felt so good filling up my car and paying $70 for it.

NEW PLYMOUTH

New Plymouth is the contemporary city of the West Coast at the foot of Mount Taranaki. Besides art galleries, exhibitions, festivals, and all sorts of events, it has plenty of dope street walls.

Puke Ariki is a must-visit museum. They had a small but captivating Illusion exhibition while I was there, which satisfied my craving for art and culture.

In the CBD, Huatoki Plaza is worth mentioning. By the way, I still can’t get used to how they can call a one-shopping-street-wide part of a town ‘central business district’?! Anyway, grab some food at the Flavours Night Market and then hang out by the black eel pool.

The Coastal Walkway is completely artificial but offers beautiful views of the mountain and the sea, a perfect spot for sunset. However, I find Pukekura Park more captivating; it provides a green getaway during the day and the Festival of Lights in the evening.

There are many great sunset spots around New Plymouth. One of the best is Oakura, a seaside village with lots of campers, surfers, and Holy Guacamole – the latter gives you the perfect beach sunset vibes with burritos and live music on Fridays.

Oh, and after deciding I needed a day off from driving, I went to the Three Sisters and Elephant Rock (69 km north). What can I say?! I’m a maniac, and I was bored.

The sisters are actually two but have many cousins, and the elephant already lost its trunk. I’m still not a black sand person and wouldn’t say I was mindblown by the sight, but it was a nice afternoon to do something – and surprisingly, the walk to the rocks, crossing a mini pool to more rocks, and then back to the car took 3 hours.

On the way, I also stopped at Te Rewa Rewa Bridge – a cycleway across the river surrounded by harakeke with beautiful views of the coastline in the distance.

Three days, about 700 km, good tunes, stretching speed limits (rules in New Zealand are a little more flexible; Australia – New Zealand 1:3), ticking off bucket lists and enjoying my freedom to the fullest.

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