Where to Eat in Whangarei

We spent a couple of months in Whangarei, exploring the area by foot, bike, and campervan. While we were working on our van and enjoying nature, we needed to eat, and thankfully Whangarei has a wide range of restaurants and bars. Based on our attempts to sample everything, here’s where to eat in Whangarei by neighborhood.

Tips for Eating Out in New Zealand

Before you go out to eat in a new country like New Zealand, you want to know the local norms. So, here are some things to know before you eat out in Whangarei and New Zealand in general.

dining times

Restaurants close early in New Zealand. Even in the big city of Auckland, people go out to dinner early. If you leave it until 8PM, your choices for dinner are limited. They don’t wake up as early as French Polynesians, but Kiwis do eat dinner early.

etiquette

I would say it’s about fifty-fifty whether you order at the counter before you sit, or order at your table. Either way, it will usually be obvious when you enter the restaurant, bar or cafe. Regardless of how you order, you will always have to pay at the counter. Sometimes you pay when you order, other times you pay at the end. Don’t expect anyone to bring you a check. Just get up when you’re finished and go to the register to pay. This is consistent with other countries in the South Pacific, but very different from North America and Europe.

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Popular food and drink in new Zealand

Kiwis love their coffee, and coffee culture is evident everywhere. From sit down cafes to coffee trucks, you can get a good espresso-based coffee almost anywhere. We’ve been partial to the flat whites, which is a latte with less foam. It’s going to be difficult adjusting back to our black coffees at sea.

Kiwis also love their pies, but not the fruit pies we’re used to in The States. These pies are savory, like steak and mushroom or mince and cheese. Many cafes sell pies for breakfast and lunch, and most Kiwis have a favorite place for pies, with annual rankings and all. You can even buy pies in the frozen section of the supermarket to heat up at home, which is convenient.

Seafood is abundant here, especially snapper. Everywhere we go, snapper is the fish of the day. It’s either in season or it’s really easy to catch. Or both. We’ve also had amazing mussels and salmon, both of which are much bigger than we’ve seen anywhere else in the world.

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Fiji Favorites

Fiji is an amazing South Pacific island country, full of friendly people, beautiful beaches, and more. We spent a few months there, dodging the rain, arguing with biosecurity, and buying a new boat. We also explored major islands and minor, witnessed music and dancing, and partied with the Fijians. Read on to learn about our Fiji favorites.

Visiting Fiji Villages

Our delayed cruising permit kept us from leaving Savusavu, and buying a new boat meant we didn’t get to explore Fiji much. Still, one of our highlights was visiting a village and experiencing their ceremonies.

Sevusevu

The custom when you visit a village in Fiji is called sevusevu. The protocol when arriving is to introduce yourself to the chief of the village and present a gift of kava. All the markets sell both kava powder and root, packaged nicely in ribbon for presenting to the chief. The giving of sevusevu is a longstanding tradition and shows respect for the people whose land we visit. Once we perform this gesture, the chief will welcome us into his village.

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Tahuata Island: A New Favorite

After six weeks in The Marquesas, it’s now one of our favorite places, in no small part due to lovely Tahuata island. For two weeks we bounced between a few different bays, snorkeling and diving with marine life, exploring the villages, and eating at local restaurants. Add to that marveling at the beauty around us, which is unavoidable in French Polynesia!

Location and Getting There

Tahuata Island is located just south of bigger Hiva Oa, which makes it ideal for anchoring. It’s the smallest occupied Marquesan island, with a village and a few communities with churches. The benefit of its proximity to Hiva Oa is we can stay “away from it all” at quieter Tahuata with the convenience of town a few hours sail, or motor, away.

Tahuata in the Marquesas
Tahuata in The Marquesas Islands

When I said everything would be easy after our Pacific passage, I spoke too soon. Our trip to Tahuata from Ua Pou was terrible. What should have been a 60nm half-day trip turned into almost 24 hours with no sleep for both of us. The wind kept shifting from side to front, from 12 knots to over 20 to next to nothing. We had to be on guard to change the sail trim and position, which we had to do at least once an hour if not more. What was supposed to be 60 miles became almost 120 with all the tacking we had to do!

The good news is we got a lot of time to recover from the trip in a beautiful place with fun adventures.

Sailing track to Tahuata
Our sail to Tahuata

Marine Life

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Manizales Town and Termales

After a fantastic night’s sleep at the finca, yesterday’s plan was to explore the nearby town of Manizales and local hot springs, or termales. We had a great day and are so glad we visited Manizales town and termales.

Manizales Landscape

Manizales is part of a beautiful landscape but I could never live here. The driving up and down and around winding mountains is too much for my motion sickness! I have taken gravol before every single drive into and out of this coffee farm and I am still feeling it!

visit to the town

We took the Hacienda Venecia van to the highway and the lovely Angela from the hotel accompanied us into town. We hitched a ride with a collectivo jeep for a 15 minute journey that cost 5000 COP for the two of us (about $2.20 Canadian). Cool trip – the views along the mountains are lovely. I just would be addicted to Gravol if I lived here.

We walked around the town a bit, visited some plazas and a cathedral.

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First Day in Cartagena: Buenas Dias

So it’s my first full day and I thought I’d get a post in before I move around this busy city. I am excited and nervous as a new solo traveler for my first day in Cartagena!

Sleeping In My New Home on My First Day in Cartagena

I slept well despite the heat. As Marcela hosts volunteers regularly, she knows we gringos can’t take the heat, so I have lots of fans. I have one ceiling fan and two area fans, which are both blasting straight at me, because it is very hot in Cartagena! If you want to know more about where I am staying, you can read more about the homestay.

Breakfast in The Homestay

My desayuno (breakfast) and coffee were provided by my Colombian mom, (who is my age but treats me like a mom) Marcela. Juevos revueltos and pan (scrambled eggs and bread) and both were a little sweet and delicious!

desayuno scrambled eggs first day in Cartagena
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