Getting towards the end of the year now and my final post from the past. I couldn’t not show one from this lovely country, visited in December 2014 for the first and only time, I so hoped that I would have been back, but life has conspired against me. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but at least I have very fond and happy memories of this beautiful land.
New Zealand Wrap-up #1
A new week, a new country and a totally new destination for me. For 10 days I will be in the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’, and several smaller rounder ones. Staying near my son’s partner’s parents in-laws in the Waikato (they got married there in February 2018) home to some of New Zealand’s most stunning landscapes. I may get to explore a little further, but I’m actually quite content to soak in the views from where we are staying and chill out with my new grandson.
Home Sweet Home
We are staying high above Ngarunui (Ocean) Beach. Located 5km west of town this wide expanse of black sand beach lends itself to lazy beach walks and picnics in the sand. It’s also a popular spot for surfing, bodyboarding and swimming.
Aqua
What transfixes me the most is the colour of the water – a cloudy, milky turquoise, possibly because of the black sand, which is the finest powder sand I have come across and glitters in the sun.
Surfing
Raglan is a small surfer town on the coast and boasts the world-famous surf break Manu Bay. The long, peeling left-hand break, said to offer one of the longest rides in the world, featured in the 1966 surfing film Endless Summer. Situated on the West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island, just a 45-minute drive west of Hamilton or a two-hour drive south of Auckland, Raglan offers stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, inspiring arts or simply a good old cup of coffee.
Golden
You may have eaten Kiwi fruit, but these are golden kiwi fruit and taste SO much better. Sweeter and without that odd chemical reaction that I and many others have when eating the green fruit. I am becoming addicted!
Christmas Trees
The pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa) with its crimson flower has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad. It is just about to flower so I hope to capture some good shots of trees in full bloom before I leave.
Happy Days…!
This post is a contribution to Fandango’s Flashback Friday. Have you got a post you wrote in the past on this particular day? The world might be glad to see it – either for the first time – or again if they’re long-time loyal readers.
TRAVEL WORDS 
Beautiful pictures – you are making me want to visit NZ! 🙂
It’s a lovely country and I have only seen a tiny part of it. People say it is like England, but I thought it was more like Wales with the vivid green colours and the rounded hills, but the colour of the ocean is unique.
Well, you’re lucky to have been at all, but fate certainly has conspired. Never say never, Jude. It does look beautiful.
What a fantastic time you had, Jude! A country I would have loved to have visited, but alas it never worked out
Lovely to read and see your memories of a NZ trip. I was there two years ago with very happy memories.
It is a stunning country, I only wish I had been able to get back there to see the South Island. Feels an awful long way away now.