So the first question that comes to mind when planning any holiday is “What am I going to pack?!?” My recent trip to New Zealand over Christmas and New Years with the boy (yes, he is a bona fide, real life kiwi) was no different. Is it going to rain? Do I need to pack my trench? Will it be “one-layer-of-clothing-cold” or “holy crap I don’t have enough clothes in the world for this” cold? Should I pack heels? (I packed three pairs, we were going to a wedding after all).

Driving home from work the other day the boy asked me, “what was your favorite part of New Zealand, what really stood out to you as New Zealand-ish?” note he did NOT ask, “what was your favorite outfit that you took to New Zealand?” or “do you think you packed the right three pairs of heels to take to New Zealand honey”?

It made me realize that the amazing memories I have of New Zealand aren’t what clothes I wore when to certain places, it was the amazing places themselves. New Zealand is such a beautiful country and two guys from the Land of the Long White Cloud have come up with a great way to bring a positive focus back to NZ after the terrible tragedies of Pine River and Christchurch. They have called it Blog 4 New Zealand (or blog4nz). So to do my part (my future children will be part kiwi so gotta keep it in the family) here are some pics from my two favourite places in NZ (so far, I plan on going back many times to explore even more!)

The amazing power of the Huka Falls (and my awesome maxi)

Huka Falls:

The water that flows through the Waikato River is indescribable, the colour in this picture does not even do it justice by a million! To be honest, I was expecting to see a tall, plunging waterfall (think Niagra, ok maybe not on that scale) but the drop of the falls is only 18 meters in total.  It’s the sheer power of the water flowing through a narrowing in the rock that creates this spectacular sight, and best of all, it’s totally free! Although if you are more adventurous (we had just had a nice relaxing massage, so we passed) you can go on a jet boat ride right up to the base of the falls!! (and just so you know, the dress I am wearing in the photo is the one and only go to, super- maxi of all super-maixs I have talked about in previous posts, and the hat is my favourite hat).

The Huka Falls (without my fabulous dress in the way)

Piha and the Waitakere Ranges:
Remember the movie “The Piano”? The amazing black sand that looked so unreal, so dramatic and bleak? That sand is real baby and it’s burning hot!! Situated just an hour north of Auckland CBD is a strech of coastline with rolling surf and that famous black sand. One of those beaches is Piha Beach. The drive over the ranges is not for the faint-hearted, the road going up into the ranges is steep and the road coming down to Piha is even steeper! But man is it worth it! as you drive down the side of the mountain towards this quaint little town, the blackness of the sand makes all the other colours pop! The clear blueness of the ocean, the green grass of the sandunes and the little beach baches (beach houses) scattered along the shortline jump out at you all again the black.

The view from the top - Piha Beach

Like I mentioned before, black sand it HOT!! Think about how fast you have to run across normal white sand on a hot summers day – well times that by ten and that’s just an idea of what it was like. One of my funniest memories is of the boy taking about three steps onto the sand and then having to BOLT as fast as he could across the rest of the beach – I think his feet actually sizzled when the hit the water! (I was smarter, I did the hot-sand thong (jandal) flick the whole way, although even I had to run at the end cause the sand got caught between my feet and thongs – ouch!)

The black sand against my pale pink toes

The other hidden treasure of Piha is the Piha Cafe. This is a town of two whole shops (and NO clothes shops girls!) So we didn’t have much choice for lunch. We walked into one of the two options and the place looked laid back, fun, beachy – we were expecting a burger, or maybe a fancy sandwich but little did we know that this cafe is owned by former All Black Mark Ellis and that there is a majorly amazing chef working behind the scenes. The menu offered The Beef, The Fish or The Eggs…. hmmmm not much choice so it seems so we both chose The Fish (we are adventurous you know). This is what arrived……

The Fish - Piha Cafe

Hands down the best culinary experience of the whole trip (sorry Mr and Mrs Taylor, your home-cooked meals were yummy too). Grilled salmon with avocado, rocket, semi dried tomatoes and sweet potato (kumera) shavings……toooooooo good!

So even though to me the most fun (and or stressful) time BEFORE I go on a trip is deciding what to wear, it really doesn’t matter unless you take the time to stop and really appreciate the natural beauty that is all around. Thank you New Zealand (and the boy for taking me there) for showing me my own little slice of heaven

To find out more and read other fabulous blogs about the wonders of NZ click here.