Woke up feeling great! On this night I slept really well. I think it was the hot yoga and the seven-thousand gallons of water I lost.

Because I missed the early morning class at EastWest, just did some yoga in my room, went to Little Bird for a small bite, then made my way back to my hostel for my pick up. On this day I was exploring with Bush and Beach, a company that runs all kinds of tours from AKL (Hobbiton for LOTR, cave exploring, etc). Alex met me at my door at 9:50 on the dot, we jumped din the van, and were on our way.

Turns out that I was the only person originally scheduled for the tour. Liz, a native from Australia, was a last minute addition.

Alex MADE the tour. He was so incredibly knowledgeable about everything. I’ll try to do my best to relay all of those details here. Alex told us our schedule for the day: We’d first head to a visitors centre, then head on a nature exploration, see some water falls, head to Piha beach, peep a Kauri tree, then make our way back to AKL.

Alex began by explaining how New Zealand is actually a continent. Also sidenote: Alex has his Masters in geology. During Pangea and the breaking apart of the world, New Zealand saankkkk both southernly and into the ocean. However, due to the percentage of land above water, NZ cannot be classified as a continent. So, most of NZ is volcanic rock. There is very little topsoil, maybe 2-3 feet. Then, all types of volcanic goodness.

We got to the visitor center and took in the scenery. Got a first hand glimpse into the Maori culture and presence in NZ. Turns out that they were not indigenous and migrated from Fiji, Samoa, and other South Pacific islands/nations.

Alex informed us that because NZ is really narrow and is surrounded by other ‘barrier’ islands, the climate/wildlife is quite diverse. NZ hosts the southern most palm trees in the world, and the northern island has a city, rainforest, and crazy beaches within 40 minutes of one another. The width of the island is about 35 miles here in AKL. Also everyone has been telling me that the southern island is where its at, Queenstown in particular. I think I’ll need to make a return trip to check that out at some point.

Ok, so we left the visitor centre and went to our first stop, a little walk through nature. I know ive said this before but the crispityness and freshness of the air was incredible. We walked for about 45 minutes and Alex explained all of the different kinds of vegetation and plant life. Turns out that NZ hosts primarily birds given its Pangeic history, and that because it was an island, four legged animals didn’t really survive. He showed us the famous silver fern, small Kauri trees (more on Kauri to come), and all types of vegetation all living in harmony. Oh, before we began our hike, Alex told us that most of the Hillary hike (87km spanning 4 days) was closed due to mold spores and a decimation of forest life. So much so that they had foot cleaning stations to remove any foreign contaminants contained on shoes before entering. Apparently the Mauri had warned the government that this spore threat was real, and only after a year or so did they make certain implementations.

Also also, Alex explained how NZ is incredibly stringent and diligent about maintaining forests and forest life. They have an entire branch of government dedicated to conservation, as NZ’s chief economic exploits are tourism. SO, they have squads of people that go through and kill all types of invasive animals like possums and rats.

We finished our hike and made our way towards Piha beach to check out a different waterfall. While there, Alex explained how some of the trees there were over 600 years old and grow in all types of different directions as some parts die and are shed, with new parts regrowing. Quite beautiful.

After this waterfall, we popped into a local café for lunch. The first two photos below show a view of Piha beach on the way to the café and this super cute pup who was all about that crumb life. At the spot, Alex suggested one of the NZ pies, and pushed for all 3 of us to share a dessert. The food was delicious, and the steak and pepper pie’s crust was so flakey and fresh. I got a coffee to go, and we then made our way to a location that everyone I had met spoke about – Piha Beach.

Piha beach is breathtaking in its scope and breadth. The Mauri used Piha to describe the wake left as the bow of their ships split the water. They named this beach as such because, from the top of the major rock formation in the middle, the waves breaking along either side of the rock resembled the ships splitting the water. On the beach, the sand is black, and to the eye, it looks brown. However, if you take a magnet, the iron spikes and it is clearly black. It was really interesting how, after the water touched the sand, it left this almost violet color, I hope the picture below captures it. Alex stayed with the vehicle, and Liz was not going to be up to this one hike, so I headed up this hike for these incredible views.

After we wrapped up at Piha, we went to look at the oldest Kauri tree in the vicinity of AKL, around 800 years old. Alex was an expert in intertwining what we saw with the history of NZ and AKL in particular. As Europeans arrived, they saw dollar signs (the NZ kind) in looking at these trees that were nearly 100M tall with no lower limbs. One of these trees provided enough lumber to build 20 homes. So, you can imagine how the Kauri trees were decimated. Although the Mauri used them, they took only what they needed. The way the tree grows was also of great importance in the strength of the wood. As the tree grew, it would shed its lower limbs so there would be no knots in the wood. The largest/oldest Kauri is 4 hours north of ALK, is 100M, and has a diameter of 14M. Massive. It produces both male and female ‘things’ to reproduce, so hopefully, the population will once again be able to grow and flourish.

So, needless to say this day of nature was incredible. We drove back to AKL and got back at around 4:40PM. I popped into the room, did an evening yoga, and then got ready for my dinner at ParisButter.

Holy *explicative*, this meal was OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD. The space was quaint and intimate. A lot of laughter and clinking glasses (reminded me of Jay-Z’s ‘Thank you’ line from BP3) completed the ambience. I got the 5 course tasting menu. They offered wine pairings with each course, but that was going to be OD. The first plate(s) included clam (maybe?), bread, almond gazpacho, a kind of pate with this cherry gelatin on top, and this offensively tasty buttery thing. In the photo it looks like it is on top of the cherry portion, it was not, they were separate.

Second course was a salmon-esque fish beneath this whipped foam of otherworldly goodness with some tart stuff inside. My waitress, Sarah, was French, so it was a little hard to catch what she was saying at times.

Third course was this delectable French onion soup with bacon on top. It was viscious, but not too thick. Perfect consistency and unbelievable flavor, placed within an onion. Presentation was on point, out done by tastular experience.

Third course was venison with these different leaves, souped up rendition of mashed potatoes, eggplant sauce, and one other sauce. Needless to say it was scrumptious. Never had venison before. So, I’m thinking it was cooked to perfection (could have fooled me though).

Then, as I was stuffed to the gills, Sarah would politely ask me if I was ready for dessert. Full disclosure, was not sure. I’d been good thus far not getting dessert, y’all know I have the sweetest of tooths. I gave Sarah the OK, and Dessert was two plates – one lemon sorbet (not really my thing) then this derivative of a chocolate ice cream with this magical sauce atop (very much my thing).

Also, forgot to mention I began with a Sauvignon Blanc (wasn’t my fav, should have gone with the chardonnay), went to a Syrah blend, then had an after dinner cordial of Bookers neat.

I had to take legit breaks between each course, asking for more time in between. This meal was just overwhelming with every bite. All I could do was try to savor each and every bite, which I did. I give myself a gold star for sure.

After food, went to this cocktail bar that the manager suggested called Mea Culpa. They gave me a lovely rendition of an old fashioned, however, I was not ready for the $40 NZD price tag. I never went back there. Thankfully it was only a 2 minute walk back to the hotel from here. I promptly got back, changed, and hopped into bed hoping to avoid any acid reflux.