So maybe you're the kind of person who seeks the thrill of heli-skiing, bungee jumping or jet boating… Perhaps you enjoy peacefully kayaking or sailing through clear, calm water with sea lions and dolphins… Maybe you prefer to bicycle, climb or trek through beaches, fern forests, and dramatic cliffs and glaciated mountains… No matter your mood, age, budget or interests, New Zealand will entertain and amaze you. It is a country where opportunities for spectacular adventures abound and unfold around every corner.
I jumped at the chance of joining BUNAC, a work abroad program, and embarked on a fresh adventure in New Zealand. Throughout my 9 months abroad, I found myself blown away by the remarkable scenery, laid-back friendly people, and variety of amazing recreational opportunities. The entire country seemed lush and healthy, remote and pristine, and full of hidden, exciting places.
A few fun facts about New Zealand: The country is made up of two main islands, the North and South Island, along with little Stewart Island located below the South Island at 47¼ S Lat - that's darn close to Antarctica! New Zealand's total population is 3 million people, half of which are living in Auckland, which means that 1.5 million people are dispersed throughout the rest of a country the size of California. New Zealand's diverse, magnificent scenery consists of dense rainforests, glaciated mountains, crystal clear lakes, wild rivers and rich, rolling farmlands. The long, narrow country offers unbelievable amounts of coastline made up of inlets and coves, dramatic cliffs, and spectacular beaches. While living there, I explored as much as possible of New Zealand's hot spots and hidden treasures.
After arriving in Auckland, I decided to put my work visa to use as a bartender at the Occidental Belgian Beer Café, in the heart of the city. We served steaming pots of juicy New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels, along with traditional Belgian beer (wonderful combo!). Auckland is a beautiful city with fun and funky markets, cafes, bookstores, pubs, and clubs. The Domain is a huge botanical garden filled with massive trees and great walks, located in the middle of the city near the university, many museums and nice neighborhoods. Well known for its huge harbor and beautiful yachts, Auckland boasts plenty of sailing, kite surfing and paddling opportunities. I enjoyed the weekly Rum Races at the Ponsonby yacht club, where anyone can join a crew and take part in the race. If you're lucky and fast enough your team may win the prized bottle of rum, although it's all a big party either way! We also kayaked across the harbor channel to a volcanic island called Rangitoto, and hiked the dormant volcano to get some excellent views of the countryside. I was impressed by the beautiful parks, numerous waterfalls and groovy surf towns like Raglan all within quick driving time from the city. A fabulous road trip north allowed us to drive along 90 mile beach, devour world famous fish and chips in Manganui, hug 1000 yr old kauri trees in the Waipoua Kauri Forests, and hike against whipping winds to a lighthouse perched on the northernmost point of the island, Cape Reinga.
Imagine an entire town that smells like rotten eggs… yep, one exists southeast of Auckland. The town of Rotorua is littered with hydrogen sulphide gas spewing out of the ground everywhere - roadsides, fields, you name it! These steam vents prove New Zealand is sitting on a volcanic hot spot and it was wild to hike in parks amongst geysers and mudpools bubbling from the ground. We soaked in some natural hot pools and enjoyed Rotorua even more once our olfactory senses adjusted!
After hiking through Cathedral Cove and making our own hot pools on the beaches of the Coramandel Peninsula, we had an awesome spelunking adventure in the Waitomo Caves located southwest of Auckland. Our four-hour journey began with a 100-meter abseil down a lush gorge where we went black water rafting; we jumped on inflatable tubes and floated down a long subterranean river. The cave ceiling was littered with constellations of glowworms that illuminated more each time we clapped or noisily portaged over rocks and shallow areas. The journey culminated with an easy climb out of the cave and a yearning to do it again. Waitomo Adventures Ltd. offers four different trips that all seemed like loads of fun and quite an adventure. Our trip down to Wellington, the southernmost city on the North Island and capitol of NZ, was spent picking fruit and visiting vineyards along the eastern coast. I felt it was my duty to make myself familiar with all the world-famous wines from this region. While working at a hostel and hanging out in Wellington, the first Lord of the Rings movie premiered and I soaked up the show. Some friends and I dressed up in costumes and paraded down onto the red carpet where the entertainment followed. Many of the weird, fictional animals from the movie walked along the red carpet and gave a lot of attention to the crowd. Not long after, the stars of the show appeared. It was quite the monumental event in NZ and I enjoyed being a part of it.
Wellington offered some beautiful costal walks and fabulous views of the snow-capped mountains on the South Island. The ferry ride across Cook Strait, one of the most dangerous, swift channels in the world, was breathtaking. As we entered a labyrinth of beautiful coves and bays in the Marlborough Sounds, the peaceful tranquility of the clear blue water, wooded hills, long mountain ridges and secluded beaches overwhelmed me. I spent 3 months working at the Portage Resort in Queen Charlotte Sound, a popular overnight stay when people hike the 3-day trek along the mountain ridges of the sound. Many people are interested in doing the Abel Tasman Track, but I'd recommend the Queen Charlotte Track because there seem to be less people hiking and it's just as magical and remote. You must take a ferry to the start of the track, and if you have access to a car, I'd suggest driving 2 hours from the nearest town, Picton, on the windy road past Portage to a remote little beach called Titirangi. There's a great place to camp, the beach seems untouched, vast views of the islands and bays are picturesque, and the spiritual energy there is enlightening.
If you like hipped out, artsy beach towns, you'll love Nelson, located a couple hours west of Picton. Just outside Nelson is the Abel Tasman National Park and Kahurangi National Park, where we hiked to some of the coolest huts I found in NZ. We slept in open lofts built into the side of rock faces and hiked across swing bridges next to waterfalls. The warm, sunny weather in this region of NZ makes it an ideal place for kayaking, sailing, hiking and relaxing. I soaked it all up!
One thing I love about NZ is that it doesn't take long to drive around. Sure, there is usually only one two-lane road from point A to point B, but the country is so small that it seems quick and easy to drive coast to coast, from beach through mountains to beach again. Lots of people choose to cycle throughout the country because it's so biker friendly - extremely safe, clean, and exciting.
Many people associate sheep with NZ, and that's definitely right on. The rolling, green hills of the North Island were dotted with thousands of sheep, and the rugged, mountainous South Island also had its share of sheep. The largest sheep station is located amongst Christchurch's vast farmlands. Past those farmlands heading southwest along the rest of the island is a huge mountain range with plenty of options for the snow bunny in you. Mt. Hutt, Mt. Cook, the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, and Milford Sound are only a few of the many places to play in the snow on the South Island. We chartered a fishing trip on Lake Matheson which displayed a perfectly clear reflection of the nearby Franz Josef glacier, and we caught 2 huge, delicious salmon. There were some nice hikes next to the glacier, guided treks onto the glacier, and we took a helicopter to the top where we hiked around and soaked in the awesome views!
The camping spots and sunsets on the beach along the west side of the South Island were some of the best in the country. Many of my favorite, unforgettable hikes were down in Fiordland National Park, the largest national park in NZ and one of the largest in the world. You can't go wrong with any of the awesome hiking tracks through valleys and over passes, with mountains and ocean all around you. There are plenty of comfortable, cozy huts throughout the park to sleep in and dry out at night, as many of the treks are 3-7 days long. In another beautiful part of the park, Metre Peak stands like a pyramid out of the water on the coast of the Fiord land, where huge amounts of sea life are uniquely found in the shallow water. There's an excellent hike to the top of a nearby glacial ridge and the views are again, spectacular. Don't forget to check with the Dept. of Conservation (DOC) and book the huts ahead of time in popular locations and seasons. If you're interested in volunteering with some DOC projects, check out their website and give them some of your extra effort - it's fun and interesting!
Queenstown, well known as the adventure capitol of New Zealand, is a fun, wild town where you can bungee-jump or jet boat over wild rivers, ski or windsurf on the lake, climb and snowboard the mountains, and groove the nights away- it's hard to know where to start and when to sleep!
The Remarkable mountains were a remarkable backdrop for my awesome hang gliding trip, and the plentiful pubs, fun folks and great live music were a perfect nightcap each day. I spent quite awhile exploring the area around Queenstown; Waunaka is a sister town to Queenstown, but nicely doesn't have the trendy tourist vibe. I'd suggest exploring the glacial hikes at Mt. Aspiring, near Waunaka, where I lost count of all the waterfalls streaming out of the side of the mountain- it was awesome! There are some great 4WD tracks around Queenstown including Skipper's Canyon, no place for nervous drivers since the narrow, windy road seems to be perched on a sheer cliff, and near Arrowtown, an old mining area where we tried our luck panning for gold in the river- no luck finding gold, but we forded over 25 streams on our quest. We also made it down to little Stewart Island, just below the South Island, where kiwi birds are plentiful and our peaceful, 3 day hike seemed to take us far away from any civilization.
I met so many friendly, wonderful kiwis (the people of NZ, not the fruits) along my travels- great groups of people with open minds and healthy, laid back lifestyles. There are so many exciting things to do in New Zealand it's hard to know where to begin. Give yourself plenty of time to visit, although there is never enough time to fit in everything we'd like to do, right?! So go for it- have fun, play hard, create awesome adventures and make lifelong memories!!
What is a "Kiwi?"
The kiwi, New Zealand's national emblem, is a flightless bird with hair-like feathers and a long, slender bill. Found only in New Zealand, it is active at night in the wilderness areas of the country. Be sure to visit one of the many kiwi houses where you can watch them under special nocturnal lighting.New Zealanders often refer to themselves as Kiwis, and the term is also used as a short form for the famous kiwifruit. On the stock exchange, the New Zealand Dollar is also referred to as "the kiwi."
Ratio of Bungy Jumping sites to Lord of the Rings films: 16.7 to 1
Otherwise known as "Bungyland." New Zealand is an outdoor adventure playground. Adrenaline Junkies unite! You can get stoked on everything from bungy to river boarding!
Here are some activities to give a try:
4WD Safaris, Black Water Rafting, Bungy Jumping, Canoeing/Kayaking, Canyoning, Caving, Cycling, Fly By Wire, Glacier Walking, Heli-skiing, Horse Trekking, Hot Air Ballooning, Jet Boating, Motorcycle Tours, Mountain Biking, Mountaineering, Orienteering, Rafting, River Sledging, Rock Climbing, Scuba Diving, Skiing, Sky Diving, Snowboarding, Surfing, Walking/Trekking, Windsurfing, Zorbing (Yes, Zorbing)
Most likely Adventure Sport that you'll toss your cookies doing: Zorbing
Zorbing is the latest adventure sport invented by the Kiwis where you are strapped inside an enormous clear plastic, air-cushioned ball. The ball is then tossed down a long grassy slope as you tumble head over heels.
For affordable accommodations go to: www.hiusa.org
New Zealand Travel Packages & Accommodations: www.yha.org.nz
New Zealand Travel & Tourism: www.newzealand.com
Good Links For New Zealand Resources: url.co.nz/nzl.htm
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