Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

If you’ve ever had that “this is it” feeling, then you’ll understand how all of yesterday felt. Whether its a job, a relationship, a pivotal moment in life- it’s that intrinsic feeling that words don’t quite do justice explaining. A mix of joy and awe and a little bit of “Am I crazy?” That leaves you questioning reality just a little bit.

Now you might be thinking, ‘Brooke- take off your vacation rose-colored glasses and come back down to Earth’, and you would be fair to think so! But let me take you through the day and we’ll see if I’ve convinced you by the end.

Set into my new little routine of morning tea (Green tea with peach, passionfruit and New Zealand Kawakawa to be exact), and fruit (fresh pineapple), I wrote out the blog for the previous day while sitting outside on the back porch of our Airbnb. The sun decided it was time to come out right as I was finished up so I threw on my swimsuit, lathered up in sunscreen, and headed out to the pool!

Testing out the hot tub first before moving into the pool all while reading this lovely novel of short stories, “The Overstory” by Richard Powers. Now, I am going to go on a tangent about this floaty because it blew my mind. The functional design is unmatched to any other floaty imo. Not only was it comfy as hell, but the head of the dog was so supportive to my head and neck at a perfect angle for reading AND the legs perfectly supported each of my legs. If someone were to witness my enjoyment on this thing I might be a little embarrassed but it even worked to use the little dog legs as paddles to move around the pool. Clearly I’m a creature of simple pleasures.

Once Matt’s workday ended, we ate a quick lunch of leftovers from the previous night’s dinner at Feather and Plough and then packed up the car with all things needed for the beach: Towels, book, crossword puzzle, sunscreen and water as we headed north to Matauri Bay.

As we passed through a Waipapa on the way to the beach, an ice cream cone shaped sign had me pivoting on a whim to see where it led, and wow am I glad for going off script! Following more ice cream cone signs, we stumbled upon Blue River Orchard. The shop was tucked inside a surrounding blueberry orchard and had fresh blueberries for sale, as well as blueberry juice (😍). We ordered 2 blueberry ice cream cones and watched in bewilderment as it was made right in front of our eyes. The server scooped a big ol’ cup of freshly frozen (clearly grown right then and there) blueberries and plopped 2 scooped of vanilla ice cream into a spiral mixing machine that ground it all together to spat out FRESH blueberry ice cream. I’ve never seen anything like it before and it looked like something Willy Wonka would invent.

After devouring our ice cream in an adorable setting of shade trees, various chairs, benches, and tables along with a children’s play tractor and sailboat, we set back out for the beach!

Making our way north and further out of town, it was nothing but rolling green hills of pastures and COWS. Happy cows eating their grass or laying in flower-filled fields. It’s no wonder the dairy and beef tastes so good here- these cows are living stress-free lives. If reincarnation is real, I wouldn’t be too upset coming back as a New Zealand cow.

Before long, we crested a hill that gave us this view and both Matt and I at the same time went “Holy shit!”.

The waters were pure turquoise and there were less than 10 people there. An introverts dream! We set up our towels and relaxed as the clouds drifted on by. It was warm, but not quite hot enough to swim with the clouds and breeze. Still comfortable enough to relax outside! I continued reading my book while Matt rested his eyes. Every now and again we would pause to drink it all in. Or watch dogs running the beach, because dogs are the best. Maia would have truly loved this beach. 🐕🪽

With limited time to explore, we headed back toward town to see the more well-known Rainbow Falls, and unsurprisingly, our first glimpse of it was stunning.

Taking the trail both up above the falls and then heading down to the pools, we took our time exploring and enjoying the views.

Now I’d love to say we were adventurous and dove in, but to be honest, I was feeling extra sensitive and the idea of the slimy rocks was overwhelming. Some days I can get past it but I knew this day was not it. But not to fret, a swim was in our future- we just didn’t know it yet!

After Rainbow Falls, we decided to keep exploring a bit since neither of us were hungry for dinner yet. Unfortunately, by this time the Stone Store and Te Ahurea that we had seen the previous day, was closed again (so much to see and so little time!). So Matt went back to trusty Google Maps searching in satellite mode. Finding a little cove not too far away, we set out. Winding through more pristine green pastures, various cows and meandering up and down hills, we realized we had stumbled upon a truly spectacular little pocket. Up on top of the small peninsula, the view gave way to more turquoise water surrounding all of this beautiful land. And that’s when it hit us- it felt like a treasure hunt you had been searching your whole life for but you were never told what the treasure actually looked like- only that you would know when you found it.

Not sure if we had inhaled some sort of love-bombing plant pollen drifting by that made us go out of our minds, we continued down and into the small bay dotted with various boats bobbing in the gentle waters. Speechless, we got out of the car and quickly decided we had found our swim spot for the day (and the rest of our lives?). Stripping down, the water was refreshingly cool and we quickly adapted once fully submerged (why is it so hard to wade in past your stomach?!).

Drifting about and using our Chacos as hand-floaties/paddles, I fully took in our surroundings. Small, unimposing houses lined the curve of the hills rising from the bay. A woman swam in the water with her dog obediently following her along the beach. Another woman and her two children came out of the water and began drying off. Birds chirped and sang their songs.

In these moments of pure bliss and peace, the last thing on your mind is to take out your phone and take a picture. So words will have to do justice for now.

Leaving only out of necessity to find food, we dried off and hopped back in the car. Salty, wet hair, towels on the seats and both just in our suits, it was truly summer vibes.

A quick freshening up at the Airbnb and we were back out and on our way to Kai Mata for dinner, which I was really excited to try. And, on theme with every other meal we’ve had in New Zealand, it was delicious.

Needing a break from alcohol (my sleep was starting to take a hit with all the wine 😐) we ordered some yummy sounding mock-tails which did not disappoint at all, in fact they were superb.

And that closes out the day. So, after all that, did I convince you? Beaches, waterfalls, and cows. And ice cream. The recipe for happiness. And all found here!

At some point or another, you’ll find me here again. No big box stores, no Amazon, a slow pace of life with nature at your fingertips and fertile earth to grow food. Kerikeri, you have won my heart!

Keep following along to see if we can discover a place we love more while we continuing our adventure! Only 2 more days in this region before we start our journey south, starting with Coromandel Peninsula.