These are my reflections on our time in North Island, New Zealand. My friend Jo, whom I am travelling with (as well as our husbands), is writing an excellent daily blog with photos of our travels. Link here

Another friend of mine commented that holidays can be viewed on many different levels and this is so so true and has given me ideas for this blog. Depending on our interests, whether it be photography, the environment, people, architecture, culture, food and so on, we may present ‘our story’. A country has its own history, cultures and stories too and this makes any comparison with other places almost irrelevant, so if I do this, I apologise!

One of my first impressions of Auckland was the amount of building work going on. There is a ‘building boom’ in hotels, motels, shops, bars and restaurants, especially along the water front. However, I couldn’t help but notice the number of homeless people on the streets (Am I looking for them now?). Homelessness in Auckland has increased by 35% between 2006-2013. There is a lack of social and affordable housing housing in the city (as in many others - now I am making comparisons!). There are colourful workmen everywhere. I took some respite from the city to walk in a lovely park - the Auckland Domain. We had a lovely surprise when our friends Ian and Lizzie met us at our hotel https://skycityauckland.co.nz/ in Auckland.

The majority of towns we have visited in North Island (Rotorura, Napier and Wellington) are built on a linear or grid model and most buildings, are usually only one or two storeys high. This gives the towns (not cities so much), a very different feel to much of Europe (apologies, comparison again). Here is a bit more about housing in NZ (if you ‘accept Wikipedia! ). We have not come across many older buildings on our travels in North Island so far, obviously because of its history. However, as you probably know, the Māori people from Polynesia discovered and settled in NZ 700 years ago. We visited a most interesting Māori experience in Rotorua and several excellent exhibitions in the Te Papa museum in Wellington.

I feel I have to write about food - as I love to try different things when on holiday (I didn’t take many food photos though! ). We have had a few lovely meals out in North Island - most examples being fish meals, one with our friends in Patarura - at a local place called the Wooden Farmer and another at The Crab Shack in Wellington. There are a lot of fast-food outlets with an American influence - very difficult to follow a plant-based diet even if I had wanted to! I am sure someone will tell me otherwise!!! I expected to see lots of sheep in NZ, but so far most of the farming appears to be cattle.

I am unsure if there is a significant shift towards towards sustainability in NZ or if there is a bit of greenwashing?. However, renewable energy is significant here. I thought I would see a lot of solar panels on houses, but there are hardly any. Wellington, the Windy City, says that all its electricity will be powered by renewables/wind by 2030. As noted above, there is a significant increase in dairy farming. This is such a complex subject that I won’t go into any more detail here, but I am keeping an eye open for these issues on my travels. There hadn’t been much rain for over two months and it is much needed. Many of the creeks and rivers appear to have dried up.

Finally, the main reason for my wanting to come to NZ was the scenery and I have not been disappointed. From the sea views at the Coromandel Peninsula, the Blue Springs walk in Putaruru to the sunrise in Rotorua it has been fantastic. Hobbiton was set in the most beautiful countryside. We had great sea views from our hotel in Napier and fantastic views from Mount Victoria in Wellington.

My next blog will be about South Island. Watch this space! Thanks for reading.