Every day here feels like New Zealand’s saying, “You thought that was good? Hold my coffee.”
We woke early to sunlight sneaking through the camper curtains, the soft glow bouncing off the dash. Breakfast was quick cereal, toast, and the last of the peanut butter before the familiar morning rhythm of wash, pack-up, and coffee. The air was cool, clean, and humming with that quiet promise of another beauty.
The drive north rolled by easy coastal roads, soft music, mountains on the horizon. We stopped at a lookout on route and it was breathtaking.
Onwards we entered Nelson, staring out at snow tipped ranges fading into blue. Looked out he window and took it in. Even the in-between moments here feel like postcards.
🍦 Ice Creams, Playgrounds & Whale Slides
We stopped at Nelson’s Bay a playground paradise where pirate ships, ropes, and a giant smiling whale waited under a flawless sky.
Georgia was off like lightning, Dotty following in her wake, laughing the whole way. Ali grabbed a drink from the café make some snacks then I fetched ice creams and we ate them at on a bench in the sun, it was perfect.
A sandy path wound through the trees to the beach. The smell of salt hit before the view did then suddenly there it was: open sea, sunlit and endless.
We stayed longer than planned, of course. When the kids are happy and the world looks like that, why hurry?
🏝️ Arrival in Paradise
The drive to Kaiteriteri was all winding roads and cinematic scenery cliffs, forest, and water glittering between the trees.
Then, just like that, we arrived.
Kaiteriteri Beach.
Golden sand that squeaked underfoot. Water so clear you could see the ripples of sunlight on the seabed. Tiny islands rising from the bay like something out of a dream.
We parked the van at a spot right across from the shore and just stared. Speechless. It was like camping on the edge of a painting.
Georgia was off shell-hunting, Dotty found her orange basketball and immediately chased it, and Ali and I just stood there, shaking our heads at how ridiculous it all looked.
🐦 Birds, Boats & Basketball
The afternoon slipped by in that golden, unhurried way travel days do.
A pied shag strutted across the shallows, spreading its wings to dry in the breeze. Seagulls wheeled overhead. A yellow coffee boat drifted near the rocks.
Ali and Georgia sat side by side, feet buried in the sand, swapping jokes and secrets while Dotty paraded her basketball like a tiny champion.
Nothing planned, nothing rushed just the sound of waves, the smell of sea air, and the feeling that this was exactly where we were meant to be.
🌅 Dinner with a View
As the light softened, Ali fired up the gas and made proper comfort food sausage and mash, the kind that warms the soul. After yesterday’s fish and chips, it was perfect.
We ate outside, the sea turning liquid gold in front of us. Ali leaned back in her chair, that satisfied grin creeping across her face.
Dotty climbed into the driver’s seat and like she was the “designated driver.” The van didn’t move an inch, but she was steering our imaginary route to everywhere.
🌙 The Perfect End
By nightfall, Dotty was asleep, Georgia reading and then, just when we thought the day was done… Georgia had maths class.
9 p.m. for us, 9 a.m. back in the UK a full lesson in the canteen, still in her pyjamas, grinning. I just laughed. Because honestly, who else gets to say they did maths lessons from a camper park on a New Zealand beach?
When her lesson finished, we stepped outside one last time. The sky was dark now, stars sharp and endless, the air now cool from the warm day. The beach was quiet, the sea whispering against the sand.
Georgia and I stood there in silence tired and happy.
Every time we think New Zealand has shown us everything, it finds another way to knock us flat. We worried before coming that maybe the hype was too much, that nothing could really live up to it.
Oh boy, were we wrong.
New Zealand keeps doubling down.
And somehow, it keeps winning.
Tomorrow? Who knows.
But if today’s anything to go by it’s going to be unforgettable.
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