My grandparents live in Matamata; when I was a child we used to do the drive up from Wellington, which took about six or seven hours with four kids in the car. I’m not sure how Mum and Dad did it to be honest! From Matamata we’d take day trips to Mount Maunganui to jump in the ocean.
The Mount is still one of my absolute favourite places to visit. We’re fortunate that we get to play a lot of cricket in the Bay of Plenty, as I love it there. It’s such a great spot with the beach; it’s nice and relaxed.
I spend quite a bit of time in Australia and the Mount does have a bit of an Aussie vibe to it, which I like.
The White Ferns are heading to the UK this September to compete in a bilateral series against England in preparation for the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup which will be held in New Zealand.
Reported for our AA Directions Spring 2021 issue