New Zealand (Week #11, #12 and #13)

Ginny and I have been keeping a running mental list of things that are noticeably different in NZ as compared to the US. From what we can remember:

• Extreme scarcity of shower curtains - most showers have doors 
• No garbage disposals - I don’t think we’ve seen a garbage disposal the whole time we’ve been here
• Clean public toilets - you can actually use the public toilets here and they’re all over the place
• Very few clothes dryers - almost everyone hangs their laundry out to dry or dries it inside if it’s raining out
• Everyone has chickens, vege gardens and fruit trees - we’re looking forward to doing the same
• Lots of poached eggs and halloumi on menus - and who can blame them? I’m a convert!
• Flavored canned/pouched tuna is a thing
• Towbars on all types of vehicles - never know when you’ll need to hook up to a trailer to haul shit

After staying at an AirBnb and then with a friend in the New Plymouth area, we decided to sneak in another tramp to one of our favorite destinations - Egmont National Park - home of Mt Taranaki. We weren’t able to book the full Pouakai Circuit due to limited hut availability so we booked two nights at Holly Hut and day hiked much of the track which has largely been boardwalked since I last visited. It makes for easy walking and likely creates less erosion as everyone is walking on boardwalks rather than the track. We were quite fortunate to get good weather and saw the mountain every day which is rather unusual as Mt Taranaki is well known for its lousy weather. Our first night at the hut was jam-packed and the second night we shared the hut with just one other couple from Australia. We saw some great scenery, enjoyed incredible stargazing and had no encounters with hungry rodents so considered the trip a smashing success!

After our tramp, we headed south down the coast and after a brief stay at a beautiful garden Bnb in Levin, we made our way to the Wairarapa. While we were waiting to settle on our house in Featherston, we decided that we would stay in the neighboring town of Greytown. We stayed with a great couple at our first AirBnb who gave us a bottle of champagne to celebrate our new home and also loaned us a toaster and electric kettle since they realized we wouldn’t have anything once we moved in. Our second AirBnb was also quite unique as it had a Finnish sauna onsite which we highly recommend if you haven’t tried it before. We also really enjoyed running and walking on the Woodside trail which is a beautiful countryside path connecting Greytown with the train station just north of town. Lastly, we had some of the best Indian food ever which we are really excited about since our future home is just ten minutes away!

On March 1st, we became NZ homeowners for the second time! This time is different from when we bought in Auckland ten years ago in many ways. First of all, we’re in the small sleepy town of Featherston  (population 2,700) as opposed to the biggest city in the country. We’ve already explored some of the trails nearby and they’re truly amazing, including the Remutaka Rail Trail. Secondly, our house is much larger and sits on 3/4 acres including native bush out the back of the property. We’re really excited about planting a garden and getting chickens when we move in later this year. In fact, that’s really the biggest difference - since we’re not moving into our house until the end of the year, it doesn’t feel that real yet. As I mentioned in my last blog post, you all have a standing invitation to come visit starting early in 2024 as we should have the house all set up by then. It’s not too early to start trip planning!