"...The only time we ever want to leave Northland is in the winter. When the days shorten and the rain falls more often than not, it’s time to get away, Usually we pick somewhere hot and exotic such as the tropical islands of the Pacific. But one year we decided to take our holiday in late autumn, and go and see the South Island. Or the mainland, as the locals call it.
Before we left Scotland, more than a few people expressed surprise at our choice of Northland as our destination. They had heard that the South Island, and especially Christchurch, was the place to be, with impressive scenery, low population, and an almost “1950s in Britain” feel. It sounded to them like civilized paradise and, for many, perhaps it is. But, coming from Scotland, we really didn’t want to move to somewhere that, despite its antipodean location, was so similar to the place we’d left behind. I mean, Dunedin is the Gallic for Edinburgh!
However, we did want to see what we were missing. So, after a morale plummeting evening with some friends of friends who assured us with some confidence that we were going to spend the entire month in cold, rain and snow, we set off in the trusty Subaru, leaving our farm in the care of a couple of good pals. We drove to Auckland, a familiar drive by now, and then beyond, into unknown territory. Hours later (about eleven of them) we had traversed the whole of the North Island in one easy step. The roads were good and swift, the scenery varied and dramatic and the occasional stops for coffee and the odd sandwich or pie, varied and undramatic..."