My farm works on a schedule of 6 days on and 2 days off, with workers on different rosters for differing days off. For my two days off, I’ve planned different trips around the North Island to make the most of my time here.

My first days off, I traveled the 3.5 hours up to Auckland to catch a game of the Women’s World Cup. I was hoping to be able to see USA or NZ in action, but with my specified days off, the only game I could catch was Spain vs. Zambia. Overall, I figured Spain would be a great watch. I was just excited to be able to attend.

I found it surprising that Australia and New Zealand were the countries chosen to host the World Cup, as we are the unfortunately suffering through winter. Most any other country would be able to provide a warmer climate for the festivities. But alas, I was grateful that my time here overlapped with such a chance event.

The game took place at Eden Park, which is often used as a rugby stadium in Auckland, among hosting other sports. It was interesting seeing the differences in size between that and, say, the Linc back home, but the setup of everything was basically the same. Throughout the inside, there were various food stands and options to eat, as well as stands selling FIFA merch.

The main unique aspect of the setup was a little food truck alley set up in an outside stretch of the stadium. I love a good gathering of food trucks, so I enjoyed looking through the various food offerings, and the crepe that I walked away with.

I won’t go into all of the details, but Spain crushed Zambia with a score of 5-0. Although I didn’t have much of a stake in either side, it was cool to witness people from either country watching with such bated breath and intensity as they saw their country represented on the field.

Despite my journey up for the game, my favorite part of the trip was probably the AirBnB I stayed in. It was a room in an older couple’s house, a set up I generally avoid, but the location was directly next to the stadium and included parking, which was irresistible to me. The couple was lovely, and the room was so perfect that I barely noticed I was in someone else’s house. They also happened to have some cats roaming around, and one followed me into my room. It was nice to have a non-mooing furry friend for a bit.

The room felt like some sort of luxury after staying so long in my freezing farm house. The temperature in Auckland was also warmer, so all around it was nice to escape the cold and wind that cut right through me. I enjoyed snuggling up into a large bed and watching my Netflix shows on a big TV screen, as opposed to my iPad. The bathroom was attached to my room, and included a heated towel rack, so I truly was living in luxury compared to my regular accommodation. But alas, it was only for one night, and I had to leave my love behind.

On my long drive home, I stopped at a doughnut shop that was from a recommended list my mom sent me, and they were well worth it. I had jokingly offered to bring my roommate back one, not entirely meaning it because I wasn’t sure if he wanted it. This led to me eating two doughnuts, coming home to the farm with none, and now a running joke about doughnuts with Steve where we keep coming back with doughnuts from our adventures. Again, I can’t get enough of my treats over here.

After (somewhat regretfully) making two doughnuts disappear, I drove to Piha beach. I ended up missing a turn on the horribly winding roads, and had to double back and essentially redo the entire winding way in. I intended to do a hike to a waterfall on my way to the beach, but wherever Google Maps dropped me off at seemed to be in the middle of a neighborhood, rather than the car park I had been promised. There was no sign for a trail, so I gave up and drove the rest of the way down to the beach.

The beach itself was stunning. There is a giant figure called Lion’s Rock, which is, as it sounds, a large rock. The beach also had black sand, and other rock outcroppings. As this country does, it started raining as I was walking across the beach, and I ended up covered in sand from the raging winds. However, I managed to keep the majority of the sand out of my rental car, which I counted as a win.

My next days off included a trip to Rotorua, a town I had already stopped in during my week-long road trip to my farm. This town has a lot of different activities to offer, and stands an hour away from me, so it was an easy choice for another adventure.

This time, I went to Hell’s Gate, a geothermal mud spa. I had skipped this visit the first time around because I thought it would be weird to do alone. By this point in my journey, I guess I’ve stopped caring about that sort of thing.

The mud spa was a worthwhile adventure. First, you enter a spa that has a basket inside full of the mud. You’re only allowed to spend 20 minutes inside of the tub, so I lathered myself up in mud and sat back to enjoy the hot water. After your 20 minutes are up, you are able to wash off the mud in an outdoor shower, and then are invited to sit in a hot bath with no mud. The water was warm and relaxing, but I only stayed for a short while before I decided I’d had enough of sitting in my own company. It took me several more rinses in the shower to get all the mud off, and was left behind with a sulphuric smell to my skin and clothes. Luckily I’d been warned of that, and made a beeline right to my hostel to take a full shower.

That night, I went to the Rotorua Night Market, as I had the last time I’d been in town. Again, I love a good gathering of food trucks. This time, I indulged in dumplings, and a pair of earrings. There were so many cute options for cheap prices, I wish I’d walked away with more. I was too overwhelmed with choices that I only left with one, but I’m glad to have something to dress myself up with should the moment arise. I’ve decided most of my clothes are getting ditched after my farm stay, as the smell seems to linger on everything, so I may just be walking out of here with a pair of earrings and nothing else.

For the evening’s activity, I’d booked the geothermal night walk at Te Puia. This place is a cultural center of sorts for the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Rotorua is riddled with geothermal activity, so it was a unique experience to be able to walk through these pools at night.

The Māori often used the hot pools to cook, using different pools and their coinciding temperatures to cook different things. During my tour, they allowed us to try a pudding/custard of sorts, cooked in the hot pools. It slapped.

The walk ended with a geyser. Though we weren’t able to catch the big one – she was feeling shy – we got to see her littler sister go off multiple times.

The next day, I was pretty low energy. My hostel bed shared a wall with the communal bathroom door, so I woke up around 5 AM to the sound of other girls getting ready for the day. I trudged over to Ciabatta Cafe for breakfast, a place that I instantly fell in love with. They had a Banoffee latte offered which I had to try. Banoffee is something I’d seen before around NZ, but this was my first time trying something within the family. I believe it generally includes banana, caramel, and chocolate? Surprisingly, the banana worked well in the latte.

My latte was accompanied by a breakfast sandwich on focaccia bread – amazing – and two cronuts to take home with me. I had to make it up to Steve for the doughnut I’d eaten on my way home from Auckland. That was my first cronut experience, and I’d say it’s a great love child creation.

While still in Rotorua, I’d planned to hike around one of the various lakes in the region. With my low energy, I opted for an easy walking track around a lake instead of a more strenuous hike like I had hoped. Luckily, the walk woke me up a bit more, and the sun shining down helped me to feel more alive to enjoy the rest of my day off. The remainder of my day included finding an amazing ice cream shop, and visiting my favorite store, the Pak’n’Save, to stock up on groceries.

Lastly, on my latest days off, I decided to keep it local and explore my town of Taupō. I’d done some walking around the town area, and sampling plenty of the food, but there were still some key sights around town that I hadn’t caught up with yet.

My working roster had changed, so my day off rotation now matched up with Steve, which it hadn’t previously. I saw a kayak tour that I was interested in, and as they would only allow me to book for 2 people, Steve joined me in the adventure. The kayak trip was to see the Māori rock carving that was only able to be seen from the lake. If I hadn’t kayaked, I would’ve taken a boat cruise over to see it myself. And after the kayak journey, I still might have to.

It was a beautiful day outside, which I’d figured boded well for the kayak journey. We hadn’t been able to book a tour time until 1:30 in the afternoon. The tour was said to take about 4 hours, so already it seemed as if we were going to be in a race against the sun, as we’re running on winter daylight hours.

As we began to kayak, the winds picked up. Every stroke that took us closer to the rock carving was met with a bigger and bigger wave. The carving was initially about 2.5 km away from our starting point. I think we were about 800 meters away when our guide told us we had to turn around. The waves were apparently reaching 1 meter swells, which was too dangerous for us to continue going. We headed back to shore at our launch point, having just had a jovial little paddle on the lake instead of a destination-oriented trip.

The journey was capped by muffins and coffee around a picnic table at the shore. We had a fairly small group in our tour, only filling 3 double kayaks. In addition to Steve and me, there was a couple from Phoenix, AZ, and a girl from Ireland. The Irish girl was doubled up with the guide in a boat, rounding out our group.

It was cool to be with people from the United States, as I hadn’t encountered many except for short stints at a hostel once or twice. The Irish girl was my favorite though, as I feel like we shared a lot of personality/generational similarities. As small as it seems, it was nice meeting someone else who used the same internet references and sayings that I often find myself using. I have no idea why, but hearing her say “slay” when I say that almost every day to the cows was somehow affirming. In the end, I wasn’t too upset about not getting the kayaking result I’d paid for, as I was enjoying being in the company of a fun group of people.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Steve and I had both been craving pizza, so we found ourselves a restaurant that appeared to serve the dish passably, and enjoyed our pizzas with some cocktails. It was the first time I’d eaten in an actual restaurant, something I hadn’t wanted to do alone. It was nice to finally indulge in one rather than eating in just another cafe for once.

For the last day of my Taupō adventures, I was feeling like being a loner, so I separated from Steve. I had planned to hike, but the day proved to be rainy. I enjoyed a short walk through the town’s botanic gardens (every town here seems to have their own) in the rain. After, I just cafe hopped around town, making future plans and doing research about potential ways to continue traveling around the country. While Steve thinks I overthink (true) and plan too much, I enjoy my planning. It helps me see how many potential avenues exist, and gives me something to look forward to when I know what can come next.

As you can tell by now, I spend too much time with Steve.

Now, I’m looking to spend my next two days off in Tauranga, a beach town about 2 hours away. The weather is about 10 degrees warmer (in Celsius), so I’m excited to escape the cold and overcast skies for some sunshine and warmth. If anything interesting happens, I’m sure I’ll tell you about it later. Cheers!