Earlier this year, Matt and I were throwing around ideas for our ten-year anniversary vacation. My ideas were practical, and his were, of course, completely insane. After a few days of back-and-forth, he suggested we go to New Zealand. Perfect! Our springtime, mid-May anniversary actually occurs near the end of New Zealand’s fall because of that whole opposite-side-of-the-world thing. We decided to go a month early because temperatures would be in the low sixties according to historical weather data. I live in Central Florida and embrace any opportunity to wear a light jacket. April is the tail end of the New Zealand hurricane season (Read: “cyclone season” in the South Pacific.), and typically rainfall is not too heavy. Rain no longer registers with me anyway. In the Sunshine State, it is as ubiquitous as oxygen.
When we go on vacation, I have a tendency to keep a frenetic, Clark Griswold-esque schedule, and it drives hubs crazy. I figured after ten years of matching my pace he’d earned a relaxing vacation, so I outlined a low-key itinerary that minimized hotel room changes and drive times but allowed us to see a good chunk of the country. I decided to stick to the North Island in lieu of covering more ground too quickly.
In mid-April, we left the warm central Florida spring to soak up a pleasant, cooling New Zealand fall. The flight across the Pacific was no joke, long and turbulent. We flew into Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, and stayed four nights. We then took advantage of New Zealand’s relatively cheap in-country flights and flew to Wellington, the nation’s capital, where we spent three nights. For the second half of our trip, we got a rental car and drove back to Auckland. We ignored the GPS and headed to Napier via SH2 as the concierge told us this was a more picturesque drive with less traffic than SH1. Indeed, it was a charming country drive with one beautiful but intense pocket of mountainous switchbacks centered around the Rimutaka Crossing. This route also gave a chance to stop by the Tui Brewery. We spent two nights in the Hawke’s Bay region, one night in Tongariro National Park, four nights in Rotorua, and one night in Hamilton before we flew home.
A Few of My Favorite Things
I put together a list of my top five favorite things from this trip rather than chronicle everything we did. Our trip was meant to be leisurely, but we still crammed in a bunch of stuff. Sure, we would have done things differently if the weather were warmer and the country was overrun with peak-season tourists. There were quite a few things we did not get to do. Regardless, I feel like this is a solid list.
5) Waitomo Glowworm Caves
When I brought hubs home to Kentucky for the first time, I wanted to show off my home state. We got hot browns at the Brown Hotel, visited the Corvette Museum, and toured Mammoth Cave. In hindsight, I can’t believe I forgot the bourbon. Anyhow, hubs is tough to impress, but he was impressed with Mammoth Cave. As I was planning our anniversary trip, I saw that the Waitomo Glowworm Caves were kinda sorta on our way back to Auckland, and we decided to check them out. We booked a combo tour of Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Ruakuri Cave. As an aside, book ahead of time to ensure you will get your desired tour time. We did not do this, so we had to take a tour later in the day.
The thought of setting foot in a dank, dark cavern deep underground might not appeal to everyone. Welp, leave the canary in the car, definitely don’t Google “Floyd Collins,” and suck it up, because it would be a shame to miss these caves. You have the opportunity to see stalactite, stalagmite, column, and drape formations in addition to glowworms. Glowworms can be found throughout New Zealand, actually they can be found nearly worldwide, and this tour provides an easily-accessible place to view them. Glowworm adults hatch with no mouthparts because they only live long enough to mate, but the bioluminescent larval stage lasts nine to twelve months. They make gorgeous constellations across the ceilings of the caves, and the lighting is minimal for full effect. In some places you will also be able to see the long strings of silk spotted with mucus droplets the larvae excrete to ensnare prey. Somewhat less poetic, but cool nonetheless.
4) Auckland Ferry Trips
Hubs likes the city; I like the country. We try to pick vacation spots with a little bit of both, so Auckland suited us. We did the Hop-On, Hop-Off (HOHO) bus our first day in town and then spent the rest of our time ferrying out to the surrounding islands. Was there plenty we didn’t do in Auckland? Sure. What can I say? Ferries are fun. Islands are fun. We took the ferry to Rangitoto with a stop in Devonport on the return trip to see North Head Historic Reserve, hit up wineries and lunched on Waiheke Island, and picked up a few life birds in Tiritiri Matangi. This may seem like a random selection for my list, but if you think about the geography of New Zealand, two large islands surrounded by about six hundred small islands, then you realize you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t check out a few small islands.
3) Wineries
New Zealand’s latitude south of the equator is mirrored by California’s latitude north of the equator, and two areas have much in common in terms of climate and geography. About a hundred years ago, a stand of California redwoods was planted in the Rotorua area, and these trees actually grew faster and softer in New Zealand than they would have grown in California. Grapevines also grow well in these two areas. Vineyards can be found throughout New Zealand in regions that extend from the Northland in the northern North Island to the Central Otago in the southern South Island.
We spent two days visiting wineries on this trip, and we just scratched the surface of the local wine scene. The first day we spent on Waiheke Island. Waiheke Island is home to about forty boutique wineries and also home to some affluent citizens, I suspect. There is no shortage of good wine or good vistas on this island. The second day of wine tours we spent in Hawke’s Bay which is the northern end of the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail, a stretch of country between Wellington and Hawke’s Bay where 80% of New Zealand’s wine is produced. In short, drink wine. Go with a tour group, go on your own, grab a bottle or two to enjoy later. Some wineries have lovely restaurants, and you definitely should grab lunch or dinner if you have the chance. If you don’t have time to visit any wineries, then you should at least enjoy a bottle of New Zealand wine with dinner while you think about your priorities in life. New Zealand wines are sold in most restaurants.
2) Getting Outside
There is a variety of outdoor activities for all skill levels literally everywhere. You will never have to go far to find a trail to hike, or a track to tramp as they say in the local vernacular. In the North Island alone there are thermal pools, mud baths, a rain forest, active volcanoes, craggy beaches, and waterfalls. You can hike up a mountain or ski down it, take a casual stroll through a manicured garden or make the eight-hour Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike between the frozen peaks of Mount Tongariro and Mount Nguaruroe. Tongaririo National Park was a must-see for the three-mountain view alone, and we also went mountain biking along the Old Coach Road in this area. We saw the Lady Knox Geyser, mud baths, and walked the three-tiered trail around the thermal pools at Wai-O-Tapu. We hiked around Rangitoto and Tiritiri Matangi Islands and did the short walk up Mount Eden. We drove Te Mata and walked along Huka Falls. We did an afternoon canopy walk through the redwoods at Whakarewarewa. Hamilton Gardens was an easy walk through incredible gardens, and it was much bigger and cooler than we’d anticipated. I like to think I beat my personal record for most mountains climbed in a two-week period. I also like to think walking through vineyards counts as an outdoor activity.
1) Lord of the Rings Tours
I was loathe to put this as my top pick because I am sensitive to the fact there is so much more to New Zealand than The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. There is also Flight of the Conchords. Kidding, kidding. This country is breath-taking and special, and it also happens to be ripe with Tolkien lore. If you’ve read the books or seen the movies, then your inner geek will connect with this country in a special way. There were over 150 filming locations in New Zealand. You can do self-guided tours on public properties, a simple Google search will provide written directions and lat/long coordinates, or you can select from many guided tour options.
Hubs and I did a full-day guided tour in Wellington led by the illustrious Jack of Wellington Rover Rings tours. He is the President of the Wellington Tolkien Society and knows just about everything there is to know about both the films and the books. We were part of an eclectic, like-minded, and energetic group of nine companions (Seriously!), and the tour was crammed full of filming locations, movie trivia, and a tour of the WETA Cave Workshop. It’s a miracle my heart didn’t explode from this brush with nerd utopia. I haven’t had many chances in life to look around and think to myself, “Hey, I’m not the biggest nerd here!” I also have never been in a group of people who catch my random LotR quotes or who know about Tom Bombadil. Golden times.
We also did the obligatory Hobbiton tour. We opted to do the Evening Banquet Tour which meant we toured the Shire at dusk, ate a Hobbit-inspired banquet dinner at the Green Dragon Inn, and then waddled back to our bus with lanterns for light. The weather was abysmal, but even soggy shoes and forty-degree weather couldn’t dampen my spirits tromping through the Shire. I am an idiot for not picking up a loaner umbrella at the entrance! I tried to get hubs to go back the next day since it was clear and sunny, but The Man shot me down. You don’t have to be a hard-core fan to appreciate the charm of Hobbiton. It is an insanely popular attraction, so book ahead.
Travel Tips and Trivia Tidbits
I picked up a few useful bits of information during our stay. I thought I’d pass them along to any future travelers.
- METRIC – Do yourself a favor and learn to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit and kilometers to miles so you will have a comfortable internal frame of reference. I used these simple tricks to get rough approximations:
- To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply the degrees Celsius by two and then add thirty. This simple shortcut will give you a workable estimate. If you are a superstar and can do the math in your head, then remember °F = (1.8 x °C) +32.
- To convert from kilometers to miles, I remembered that 100 km is about 60 miles or that 5 km is 3.2 miles and would scale the numbers accordingly. Again, if you can do the math in your head, then remember 1 kilometer = 0.62 miles.
- DRIVING – This tip comes courtesy of hubs. If you plan to rent a car and you enjoy driving, then do yourself a favor and get a rental that is fun to drive. The roads are curvy and wrought with elevation changes. Personally, I found the drives terrifying, but driving was one of the things he enjoyed most on this trip. He wished we’d gotten a vehicle that handled better. Also remember the cars are right-hand drive, and they drive on the opposite side of the road. Personal preference, I would avoid a manual transmission because the terrain is so mountainous and you’ll be shifting with the opposite hand.
- IN-COUNTRY FLIGHTS – Flights within New Zealand are fairly inexpensive, and they are a quick and easy way to cover long distances. Driving is nice, but speed limits are low, the mountain roads are sinuous, there is no shortage of slow-moving vehicles on the two-lane roads, and there are not many highways, so you aren’t driving anywhere fast. Consider flying instead of driving long distances if time is a factor.
- RESTAURANTS – In general, it was more expensive to eat out in New Zealand than it is in Florida, and the portion sizes were blessedly reasonable. We didn’t have a single bad meal. As one of our tour guides said, workers in New Zealand are actually paid what they are worth, so tipping isn’t an expectation like it is in the States. Of course, tipping is acceptable and appreciated for good service, but wait staff income does not hinge upon customer generosity. Most restaurants, fast food and table service alike, expect you to pay at the register. One restaurant brought us a check that stated we could pay at our seats, but this restaurant was the exception.
- CHINESE TOURISM – Chinese tourism is prevalent, and these folks definitely have their own unique style of sightseeing. One beautiful side effect of this phenomenon- we had epic Szechuan and cart-style dim sum meals. If you are in New Zealand and Chinese cuisine appeals to you, then I think you will be pleased with a few of the little gems you’ll discover.
- HAMBURGERS – This is another tip courtesy of hubs. I had no idea he had so many thoughts and strong feelings about hamburgers, but there you go. Ten years in, and we’re still learning things about each other. New Zealand requires restaurants to cook hamburger patties to well done, so avoid them if this is as offensive to you as it is to him. He did approve of the thin, crusty, smash-style burgers we scored in Auckland.
- ORDERING COFFEE – Kiwis take coffee seriously. The coffee market is supersaturated, and it took me three days to figure out how to order coffee without looking like a total a-hole. Traditional American-style drip coffee, while commonplace in the States, is tough to find in New Zealand. Do yourself a favor and learn the common local coffees that will be available to you before you go: flat white, short black, long black. Trim milk = skim milk. Ice cream = whipped cream when you’re ordering coffee. You’re welcome.
- DO THE HOKEY POKEY – If I have one regret it’s that I didn’t OD on Hokey Pokey while I had the chance. Hokey pokey is vanilla ice cream with chunks of honeycomb, a sort of porous toffee. This Kiwi classic is available at every ice cream shop. Do yourself a favor and try it.
- NATIONAL HOLIDAYS – We were in New Zealand for both Easter Monday and ANZAC Day. Students were also on break the two weeks we were in=country. Many things were closed on the two holidays, and kids were everywhere. I had not given much thought to national holidays when we booked our trip. Lesson learned.
- LAUNDRY – We packed enough clothes for a week with the vague notion that we would do laundry somewhere at some point. We were upgraded to an apartment-style room at our hotel in Wellington, and joy of joys, they had a washing machine AND provided laundry detergent! Note to my future self – book apartment rooms at hotels.
- MAORI – I knew Maori were New Zealand settlers that originated from the Polynesian Islands, but I thought they were strictly historical. I didn’t understand the contemporary prevalence of Maori culture in New Zealand. We heard Kiwi moms speak to their kids in a mixture of Maori and English, and there were two televisions stations spoken entirely in Maori. We spotted quite a few Maori tattoos. Maori symbols fashioned out of jade were sold everywhere.
Return Trip Bucket List
Matt and I arrived with a manageable to-do list, and we ended our trip with a ridiculously long list of things to do when we return. Some of these things we simply didn’t know existed until we started talking to local folks, and we were not there at the right time to complete others. Some things we would like to see and do if we return:
- All Blacks Rugby game
- Coastal rainforest (Auckland)
- Coromandel peninsula/ Hot water beach
- Whakatane/ White Island volcano
- The Gentle Annie
- Fur seals
- Zealandia (Wellington)
- Hot Pools (Rotorua area)
- Whakarewarewa nighttime canopy walk
- Glowworm Cave Tubing
- Biking Wine Tour (Napier)
- Napier Annual Art Deco Festival
- North Island’s rugged west coast
- South Island
- Fiordland Nationals Park (“Pining for the fjords.”)
- Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin
Final Thoughts
I had preconceptions before we visited New Zealand. I expected a country full of gentle folks, men who weren’t afraid to wear short shorts and the women who loved them. While these things most certainly held true, I did get a few pleasant surprises. I was unprepared for the glorious mountains. Essentially New Zealand is comprised of ancient volcano debris underlain by fault lines I can only assume look like craquelure of an antique vase. This country is tough, rugged, and not for the faint of heart. On the whole, citizens are environmentally conscious and make an effort to keep the country clean and pristine. People pack their trash in and out when they hike, they don’t litter the streets, and recycling receptacles are everywhere. When we ate out, most food was fresh and locally-sourced. Biosecurity is no joke; we saw how New Zealand makes a serious effort to control exotic pests and disease at both airport security and on the island ferries. Even the gentlest kiwi puts on their murderface when you mention possum.
The tourism industry is much larger than I’d realized. It comes in third behind agriculture and construction for revenue generation. We were in-country at the start of the off-season, and while some people might find the tail end of tourist season to be a lonely time, we enjoyed it. The last cruise ship came and went during our fifteen-day stay, and the shops transitioned to winter hours. Camper vans and tours buses still littered the parking lots, but the thinning crowds were unobtrusive. The fall weather was perfect. The rain came and went very occasionally and never lasted long. Still, I’d love to see New Zealand in the summer even if it means I have to brave a hoard of tourists. I guess we’ll just have to go back.
