Author: Susan Doram

I have gone on a few rides since being in the North Island, but not many. I’ve previously visited the North Island of New Zealand hence why I’ve been quite happy having a base and not travelling anywhere.

I met Shelby a month ago when I was Cycle touring in the South Island. She’s from Washington State in the US. She left the US three months ago and flew to Australia, she cycle toured around Tasmania and then the South Island of NZ. This is only her second tour!!! I met Shelby at…… Continue reading Shelby

Auckland has an Auckland Day, and it’s a public holiday and so of course they had loads of events on including Ice Cream Sunday 😊

I had the chance to catch up with Charlotte and Nicky in Orewa which is just North of Auckland and is where Charlotte now lives. I know them both from Leicester Diabetes Centre which is where we were all working last year. Charlotte moved to NZ three months ago with her partner on his working…… Continue reading Orewa

Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island a ferry ride from Auckland and on Sam’s bucket list. So we went for a day trip to the island. This picture clearly shows that I’ve scoffed far too much 😊. Ferries are quite infrequent to the island, as the last part of the hike was a run to…… Continue reading Rangitoto Island

Princess Leia, Wonder Woman, Mother Theresa, Pippy Longstocking???? After a good week at Sam and Leon’s binge watching Star Trek Discovery I thought I’d better do some cycle touring so I took a trip to Waiheke Island; it’s a ferry ride away from Auckland. Beautiful island, very hilly with loads of vineyards and artwork around…… Continue reading Waiheke Island

After 5 days eating lots of veggies at the meditation centre Sam and Leon took me somewhere which served lots and lots of meat. My past few weeks has been spent in the Auckland area eating far too much, watching far too much Netflix and planning and researching the next part of my tour, which…… Continue reading Auckland

At the beginning of December I signed up to a 10 day meditation course in a place called Kaukapakapa; 30 miles North on Auckland, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. At the time of signing up there was a waiting list. The Centre got back to me and said that if I had a…… Continue reading Vipassana Meditation

I spent a few more days with the Mercy Sisters in Christchurch before flying up to Auckland. The picture above is Christchurch’s Anglican Cathedral which suffered in the earthquake of 2010. Christchurch is still struggling after the earthquake, a lot of people and businesses have moved out. The city hasn’t been rebuilt. There is a…… Continue reading Christchurch to Auckland