Do you remember the first time?
Our trip to New Zealand had been a year in the making. A year of maps, books, and spreadsheets had slowly turned into actual flights, hotel and Airbnb bookings, car hire, ferry crossings, tickets to unique trips resulting in a slightly ambitious itinerary that looked great on paper but how would it pan out on the other side of the world? There was a lot to see and do so we had to focus on our priorities of lighthouses, the Lord of the Rings and the incredible landscapes and nature that Aotearoa had to offer. The active volcano Mt Ngauruhoe emerges from the clouds This series of travelogues follows our journey from the first pint in Manchester Airport to the last pint in Christchurch. It’s not a guidebook, nor a history lesson. On such a tight timescale, we had to forgo a deep dive into the rich culture of the Māori, the arrival of Europeans, Cook’s voyages, and the formal British colonisation. As part of my preparation, though, I did read Michael King’s excellent Penguin History o...
