What to say about this beautiful country?
I lived in Sydney for 3 years back in 2007. It was a country I had visited once before, to check out whether I wanted to move there. There were very few Americans in the office when I joined the team, and I had to quickly get used to being surrounded by Aussies and Kiwis (i.e. Australians and New Zealanders). I’ll use another post to talk about all of this, but for now, I have a task: A friend is traveling to NZ for her honeymoon, and she needs some tips!
I am absolutely in love with New Zealand. The North Island has cities, hot springs, wineries on islands, and amazing food. The South Island has adventure, Milford Sound (it stands on its own as one of the most beautiful places in the world), and glaciers.
In this piece, I am going to call out a few spots that I loved. I’ll keep this updated as I am reminded of others, or as you share some of your own tips.
iSites: Use these! They are located across both north and south islands, and offer accommodation booking, excursion booking, and lots of information about the local area. I found these invaluable when we were trying to figure out what to do in each place we found ourselves in. Check it out here.
Must see:
North Island:
Auckland – Main city with lots of adventures to be had. There is a great food scene here, so definitely check out the latest restaurants on Yelp. There is a tower you can ‘jump’ off of, and bungee jumping is also offered in the city.
Waiheke Island – wine country! Just off of Auckland, you can take a boat out to visit the various wine estates there. We got caught in a rainstorm while there, and ended up staying at one winery enjoying the wines, snacks, and gorgeous scenery.
Rotorua – hot springs! There was a saying while we were there…people called this city Rota-vegas. I didn’t let that stop me from getting my hot springs on though, and neither should you. Keep your expectations in check, find a good spot to dip in, and make it happen baby!
South Island:
Milford Sound – literally the most beautiful way to wake up. This is a fjord that has small ferries that leave before the sun rises, taking you out to the sound. It’s absolutely stunning and I have some of the best pictures of my trip from this. We stayed in the RV/Camp ground that was close to the ferry dock, so that we could have an easier morning disembarkation. There was a walk that you could take at night where all the glow worms were out, showing off.
Franz Josef Glacier – this is set up like a ski resort. I took the plunge and paid for the helicopter tour to the glacier. I believe it was something like $400 per person back in 2010, but it was worth it. The glacier is significantly smaller now from I’ve been told, so check out the options that currently exist to see it up close.
More detail to come….
mumura 