The Leslieville of Oceania

It’s funny, for as long as Miranda and I have been together, she’s always longed to spend time in Leslieville. Any time we drive near it, she speaks of her old apartment, her favourite coffee spot, her favourite cheese shop. It’s weird. Or at least I thought it was weird, until now. Leaving New Zealand has been tough. It’s been less than 24 hours and I miss it, a lot. It’s the type of place that just gets you. From the kind people who reside there, to the laid back lifestyle (Miranda was SO laid back there), to the beautiful scenery anywhere you look, to the wildlife everywhere! It really is an amazing place, and I already can’t wait to go back.

So why all the love?

Our last series of posts saw us getting up close and personal with Sea Lions and Crabs on the best beach in NZ.

Since then, we saw more wildlife!

Takahe are pretty common. These guys turned up every night in this field to hunt.

Seal colonies are scattered through NZ (not to be confused with Sea Lions). This was our first encounter. The most obvious one is the back thing in the bottom left. The other shiny black things are also seals.

Seals are everywhere if you know where to look.

Miranda didn’t immediately warm up to the idea.

And predictably, birds flew at her head. Note the active fearful motion truly captured in this picture.

We encountered the second largest permanently sighted Kiwi!

And a life size permanently sighted Moa. Perhaps the bird which induced the least fear in Miranda. We were all surprised. #flightlessequalsharmless

We met several far too friendly Kea’s. They jumped on our car and pecked at our window. Rude.

Dolphins came along for one of our cruises!

It was pretty cool. They showed off their new baby. And we’re doing out-of-water spins (too fast to capture)

We experienced what caused the formation of pancake rocks. And we saw pancake rocks.

Pancake rocks during a terrential rain storm.

It was so rainy that the motel porter refused to grab our bags, so “we” were forced to get them ourselves. #plebs

We explored glacial lakes.

Did someone ask for lots of wind and mountains everywhere?

We found Miranda’s next Leslieville.

Miranda really found her inner Millenial in Wanaka. Until a rock got stuck in her jandal.

Miranda also found the location of her next wedding! She said I’d be invited. It would make a lovely venue for a wedding, and the wine was nice too!

We drove more curvy roads (and Miranda hardly got sick!)

And we are now pining for the Fiords!

It’s really difficult to capture the awe-inspiring beauty of the fiords.

Mirror lakes offered a unique view of the fiords.

Some final thoughts about New Zealand before we leave.

Reduce, reuse and recycle. NZ is so eco friendly, and I love it. A wooden fork is a little less practical for salad, but A) I’ll tolerate it if it means one less plastic fork in the landfill, and B) who eats salad? #justasalad

The use of language here is unique and awesome. Things are named for what they do, not some silly nonsensical name.

Toilet (Cause that’s what you find in every one, rather than “bathroom”, which mostly don’t have baths!)
Claybird (what’s a “skeet” anyways??)
Muffin splits (English muffin, split them, and eat. No further explanation needed.)
Handle (pint glass with a handle, obviously!)
Trumpet ice cream bar (instead of drumstick, cause who’s ever thought those things were shaped like a drumstick? No one)
Niceblock (a popsicle made without milk, yes)
Place makers (even stores get in the mix, Home Depot, the store you go to to make your place awesome!)
Leaner chairs (muskoka chairs – ok, we may have made this one up, but are hoping to get it adopted NZ-wide!)
Chilly bin (a bin to put food that’s chilly, aka a cooler)
And finally, Aotearoa, the name of New Zealand. Literally means the Land of the White Clouds. It certainly is. Perfect.

All in all, New Zealand, you are beautiful, inside and out. You will be missed.

Xox

Love always,

And now we head to the hottest place on earth!

You May Also Like

For the birds! A birdless tour through Zealandia, a bird sanctuary.

Aus + NZ: #stogansabbatical top 10 (Miranda’s list)

Kia Ora, Welcome!