A little over a year ago, my husband, our 2-year old daughter and I boarded a plane to Spain — the first one of 18 planes in 12 months — to embark on a big adventure. Project title: paternity leave abroad.
After a short stop in Madrid, our second plane brought us directly to La Palma, La Isla Bonita, the first of 18 locations in 12 months. Our luggage decided to arrive two days later. So much for a perfect start.
But apart from that small incident, things went rather well. Our careful planning, which lasted months, has been worth every single minute and allowed us to relax, discover, and … work. While my husband got to test dozens of new playgrounds in his temporary role as a full-time dad, I was spoiled with workspaces close to nature. Nothing boosts my creativity more than a panoramic view.
Curious yet?
Here are my workspaces of the past year, including my all time favorite: Parua Bay, Northland, New Zealand. Gotta 💜 being a digital nomad. Would I do it again? Anytime!
November/December 2017: Puertito de Güimar, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
January 2018: Teror, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.
January 2018: Hong Kong.
January 2018: Hong Kong. Digital nomad setup.
February 2018: Riana, Tasmania, Australia.
February 2018: Riana, Tasmania, Australia. With co-workers on the inside and the outside.
February 2018: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
March 2018: Parua Bay, Northland, New Zealand.
April 2018: Auckland, New Zealand.
April 2018: Benoa Beach, Bali, Indonesia.
May/June and August 2018: Nogent sur Oise, France.
July 2018: Chemnitz, Germany.
Since September 2018: Nantes, France. With a view over the Loire River… to be continued!
Which fabulous digital nomad workspace can you recommend?
Meeting a kiwi up close is a wonderful moment for kids
If I was to recommend one New Zealand location for kiwi watching it would be the region around Whangarei in Northland. Already a few years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Sparky here. In March 2018, I made acquaintance with Ross and 3 of his friends. The 4 kiwi birds have been released into the wild at Parua Bay (Whangarei Heads), after settling over from the stoat free Limestone Island.
Since more than 15 years, Backyard Kiwi (WHLF) is monitoring wild kiwi in the area and capturing chicks shortly after they have been hatching. The birds then get transported to the predator free Limestone Island off the Whangarei Heads coast where they can grow and get strong enough to stand a chance of survival against all kinds of mammals populating New Zealand’s mainland.
Once strong enough (after 6 months or more), the kiwi are recaptured and brought back to Whangarei Heads to introduce wider genetic variety into the area. This might sound like a lenghty procedure, which still does not guarantee the kiwi’s survival once it’s back on the mainland. Still, the success rate speaks for itself: from previously 80 kiwi birds in the region (2001), the number went up to 800+ kiwi (2018). Their movements are tracked and regularly updated in this map, proving that the Whangarei Heads community can truly claim to have kiwi in their backyard.
Backyard Kiwi is organizing regular kiwi releases. If you would like to use the occasion to meet these nocturnal birds up close, keep an eye on their website or Facebook page, where they announce their release dates ahead of time.
Lots of audience for 4 little kiwi birds
Backyard Kiwi staff has been sharing valuable information, like the fact that uncontrolled dogs are a major threat to kiwi
Before releasing the kiwi birds into the wild again, locals and all other visitors had a great chance to see the kiwi live and ask questions
What a star. Photo. Click. Photo. Click.
This one got a bit upset by all the people and the lack of sleep
Whereas this one didn’t mind and fell asleep again
Ross was the one who got released first
On the way to Ross’ new home in Parua Bay
Home sweet home! This is where the kiwi got released. After catching up some sleep it probably went out to search for food. The kiwi birds can move around freely and aren’t forced to stay at their release place. Some of them have been tracked over a distance of 10 kilometres.
Here is a short bonus video from the moment when the kiwi got placed into his new home in Parua Bay. Good luck little fellow!
The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
~Ram Dass
Photo details (please click on the image for best quality):
Canon EOS 60D, 31mm, ISO 1000, F9, 1/640 sec.
Location: Lake Rotopounamu, Tongariro NP, New Zealand.
Please watch the video below if you are curious what you can actually hear in the forest surrounding this lake:
Thanks to one of my Kiwi tweeps (@nickwallen, a savvy Kiwi Marketing Manager) I recently discovered the New Zealand Story, a video “that defines the distinctly Kiwi attributes that make us [New Zealanders] unique”. To be precise, the story defines these three attributes as “typical lil ol’ EnZed”: Open spaces, open hearts and open minds.
After living in New Zealand for 3.5 years I wholeheartedly agree with its content, though the video doesn’t tell the whole story. How could it, in 3:45 minutes? Don’t get me wrong — it’s a great story, but it’s a flawless one as well. It’s TOO perfect. It lacks a little twist; or did you ever lose your heart to a perfect protagonist? I didn’t!
So I decided to use the occasion to publish my secret list of Kiwi curiosities (yes, I kept record), which – in addition to the New Zealand Video Story above – completes the picture and makes that small country on the other side of the globe uber adorable (at least for me). Have a read and let me know if you agree or disagree:
At home – Kiwi curiosities that made me wonder on a daily basis:
Open spaces, yes. Open hearts, yes. Open minds, yes. Open windows, no. Want to get your windows cleaned from the outside? Professional window cleaners practicing high rise abseiling once a year is a thing in NZ.
Sinks without mixing taps. You got the choice between blisters, cold shock, or major bathroom flooding. Yay!
No mobile network in suburbs. Our friends living 30 km outside Auckland CBD cannot be reached after 6 pm. FYI: “Suburbs” in New Zealand can be whole cities, even complete stretches of a coast line.
Finally clear view again!
Locations and tourism – Kiwi curiosities that attract or confuse the common tourist:
Talking about creative Kiwi names, please allow me to elaborate on bank names (ANZ, BNZ), restaurant names (Saigon, Tokyo, Brazil), hair dresser names (Newton Barbershop, Eden Barbershop, Roskill Barbershop), dry cleaner names (Symonds Street Dry Cleaner, Queen Street Dry Cleaner, Papanui Road Dry Cleaner)… you get the idea.
ALL towns in NZ are worth a visit. I ticked off the shearing capital, the salmon capital, the kiwi capital (not Wellington!), the gumboot capital, the doughnut capital… all equipped with life size statues of “whatever they’re famous for”. Why would you not consider a holiday photo with a 4 meter tall salmon as a must have?
A self-declared Republic in the Republic. The small township of Whangamomona on the Forgotten World Highway declared their own Republic as protest reaction to being moved to a different regional council. They have their own President (currently Murt “Murtle the Turtle” Kennard). No kidding!
Doughnut capital in New Zealand — Springfield, what else?!
Food – Kiwi curiosities I prefer to list without comment:
Fried pizza. Fried ice cream.
Vegemite (yeast extract spread from Australia) = yikes; Marmite (yeast extract spread from New Zealand) = yummi.
(Coffee) refill packs are more expensive than new (coffee) tins.
Bavarian hotdogs with Sauerkraut and milk roll (allow me one comment anyway: I’m German, you fools!).
Schwarzwälder Kirsch with strawberries (#OMG).
Typical food prices: .98 NZD or .99 NZD. But of course they have no 1 or 2 cent coins. If not paying by card, the cash price is rounded up or down accordingly.
Kiwis love their food (drinks?) deep fried!
4. Personality — Open hearts, open minds, and…
Full trust in the honesty box system. I personally love it, though coming from Europe I need to work on that trust thingy…
A passion for meaningless security checks. Not sure I can generalize that point, but it happened to me, so it got to be on my list.
Crazy about the NZ catamaran racing in the Americas Cup 2013 against… oh, itself. “Did we win?”. #LOL
Down to earth people. I once asked on Twitter for Auckland cafes doing the best Latte Art. Gred Boyed, the host of TV NZ’s daily evening news tweeted me his personal recommendation. In France, I’m still waiting for Mélissa Theuriau to even join Twitter.
5. On the road — (Spoiler) alert: Kiwis are bad drivers
Aggressive driving behaviour is the one point on this list which actually doesn’t make NZ more likeable. I have been constrained, pushed, honked and yelled at — both as driver as well as pedestrian.
Sticking to their national limit of 100km/h is not an easy task for many kiwis, especially the guys investing a ridiculous amount of money into a Porsche or Ferrari just for being told they can’t race with it.
Kiwis like to customize their car signs. I liked the sign of a German immigrant saying HOTOMA (hot granny).
Kiwis can take themselves very serious. In 2013, NZ changed an old road rule. They advertised for months (billboards, TV, social media) that the new rule would be in effect as of April 1, 2013. In March, they decided to change their ads and put the new rule in place March 25, just because they were afraid people would think the whole rule change would be an April Fool’s joke, increasing the chance of having more accidents in April.
When kiwis don’t drive, they walk or run. Barefoot. Whenever, wherever. My sympathy for that activity stops in front of the public toilet door. Theirs not.
There you go, that’s my personal list of Kiwi curiosities. It’s almost a declaration of love, ain’t it? :)
Quite a collection for someone who thought the Haka is the “most hilarious thing” about New Zealand. That’s 3.5 years ago now. Rookie mistake!
Are you as excited about the latest The Hobbit trailer as I am? Five weeks from today I will sit in one of those wide and comfy cinema armchairs, glued to the screen, absorbing Peter Jackson’s latest visual tricks like a sponge, while marvelling at the Trilogy’s sceneries.
Mt. Ngauruhoe aka Mt. Doom, in Tongariro National Park, New Zealand
Best thing about it: I have been there! Most outdoor scenes have been filmed in New Zealand, just like most scenes for The Lord of the Rings. New Zealand is officially Middle-earth; and Mt. Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park is the most popular location among orcs fans, as they can attempt to climb “Mt. Doom” and conquer Mordor.
One does not simply walk into Mordor? Oh well, I must have gotten lucky the last 6 times I visited. Yes — visited. I looked and behaved like a tourist in Mordor, and of course I captured it on film (in the form of a 16 GB memory card).
On a foggy day, the region is indeed all about doom and gloom (like in the movies). But on all other days, Tongariro is one surprisingly colourful place to discover. I have been lucky enough to visit the region during all 4 seasons. Each season is unique and totally worth it. But let’s allow some photos to talk for themselves.
SPRING: Parts of the Tongariro Crossing are still covered in snow
View over the Red Crater
Turn around 180° and you will see the Blue Lake
Turn around another 90° and you will discover the Emerald Lakes
Getting close to the Emerald Lakes
Occasionally, Tongariros volcanos can smoke (a lot)
SUMMER: Not how you imagine summer? Weather forecasts are nearly impossible for Tongariro
But you can always marvel at the Park’s “low altitude beauty”, like the Tawhai Falls
Heaps of flowers
Blossoms
Colourful bushes
On a rainy day you can visit the thermal pools in Tokaanu
Beautiful underwater landscapes at Tokaanu
Or you can stroll around Lake Rotopounamu; a natural shelter from the rain
Rotopounamu is a bird’s paradise; this little fellow is a North Island Robin
AUTUMN: Returning to Tongariro in autumn looked like summery doom and gloom all over again
Though magic was in the air
The next morning looked very different
Perfect day for the Tama Lakes Walk
Or the walk to the Taranaki Falls
Passing the most colourful moss
Moss in all kind of shapes
WINTER: There is rarely snow on the lower altitudes
Only Tongariro’s volcanos are covered in snow
Perfect place for a snowboarding session
Skiing is fine too of course
Whakapapa ski field in Tongariro
What an enchanted place!
Who else is looking forward to rediscover New Zealand in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies?
