We were already pretty mellow and decompressed from all of our “nature time” in Australia, and New Zealand relaxed us even more. We hiked nearly every single day – even fit in some hiking on the long driving days. The entire country is the epitome of fresh air and scenery. There are a ton of cows, even more sheep, and more variations scenery than you can shake a stick at (what does that even mean?) - mountains, lakes, glaciers, bays, fjords, and even volcanoes.
New Zealand by the numbers:
- 1 country, 1 currency (NZ dollar), 1 language (English. Sort of.)
- 2 large islands
- 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) by car (an old Mazda Familia)
- 2 3-hour inter-island ferry rides (with the old Mazda Familia)
- 1 historic sailboat ride
- 3 kayaking trips
- 0 Thefts, pickpockets, stolen organs, moped-vs-pedestrian accidents, carpets purchased, lethal crocodile encounters, or kayaking mishaps.
- Another half-liter of strong sunscreen
- 13 sand fly bites in 2 days
Not as many animal sightings here as in Australia. We saw a lot of New Zealand fur seals (which are actually a mis-named species of a small sea lion); some sting rays while kayaking, and a plethora of rare birds.
Here are a few of our new favorite things, uniquely New Zealand:
- Shower floors made of sheet metal (almost everywhere had them)
- One-lane (two-way) bridges on major state highways
- Gurgling mud and highlighter-green geo-thermal areas
- Rugby team (NZ All Blacks) that does a traditional Maori war dance before every game
- Flightless birds
- Real-life scenery breath-taking enough to be the set of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy
Our route was pretty simple (no domestic flights like in Australia). One giant loop beginning and ending in Auckland – all driving. But get out your map again if you’re curious, skip this paragraph if you’re not. Starting in Auckland, we spent 10 days on the North Island, going as far north as the Bay of Islands, and then made our way south along the lakes & volcanic areas (including Rotorua and Taupo) until we got to Wellington. From Wellington, we took a ferry to the South Island, where we spent 16 days. From the Picton ferry stop, we went a tad further north (Abel Tasman), and then made a beeline for the west coast. We worked our way south (through Franz Josef) until Queenstown & Milford Sound. Then we headed to the east coast (Christchurch), and then northward on the South Island; another ferry; and northward on the North Island back to Auckland. A lot of driving.
Our roadtrip logistics were much the same as in Australia. We had lots of kitchenettes (and a car for carrying groceries), so we made most of our meals at “home.”
Observations, Opinions, & Gross generalizations:
- The sun here is strong, like in Australia. Sunscreen. Sun hat. Seriously.
- The people are part of what makes New Zealand unique. They’re really nice, down-to-earth people. They are often surprised and/or puzzled as to why you are visiting their small town.
- They seem to take their drinking age (18) very seriously – we got carded each time at the grocery store for a bottle of wine. And even rudely denied once, which was kind of flattering in a strange way.
- We were accustomed to a lack of road signs from our time in Australia. Or signs that pointed the direction and simply said the name of the next town, instead of a street name or highway number. (The exception for both countries is the bigger towns, which usually have real road signs). We found that road signage in New Zealand is even more “challenging” than in Australia. If/when there was a sign for a turn-off or national park, it was usually just slightly after the turn. So we turned around a lot. Also, they have these square orange signs with a single exclamation point (!). We came across one in Milford Sound, just one sign with an exclamation point, and we wondered what it meant – until we found out 30 feet later: The side of the cliff (and half the road) had fallen away – our entire lane was just gone, indicated by just one sign. We liked the creative use of punctuation marks, though.
- If you’ve read any of the blog posts, you have an idea of how pretty the country is from the over-use of the word “gorgeous” and it synonyms. There is so much diversity of topography and vegetation (and geothermal areas) for a relatively small country.
- We also may have underestimated its size… We spent a month there, but were still unable to see many places, including the northernmost and southernmost coasts.
- The towns are charming. We had great international food in a couple of places.
- The fish & chips there are AMAZING, maybe better than the “original” fish & chips in the UK (from my memory, NZ’s fish & chips are better, but we’ll compare fairly when we’re in the UK this spring). I wanted to put fish & chips in “our favorite things” category, but I didn’t allow it because they’re not uniquely NZ. Sigh.
To sum it up...
We leave New Zealand feeling refreshed and healthy, ready to pound the pavement (and cobblestones) of Europe once more.
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