"Kia Ora !" New Zealand by dragontml

New Zealand Travel Guide: 16,477 reviews and 34,813 photos

4 months...

New Zealand, Land of the Long White Cloud or know as Aotearoa.

What made me make this trip ?

I applied for the working holiday scheme and stayed in this country for 4 wonderful months ! It took 2 years in planning and I left my job when the time came and began this adventure. Some of my friends could not believe that I would leave my job and just travel ! Well, I did and I can say now, I'm glad I did what I had done. Of course the thought of my return back to KL after the trip - what will I do ? How easy would it be to find a job ? I did have some thought but I did not bother too much as if I did, I just should have stayed on in KL...and so I left Malaysia for 4 months and the travel begins...

I've been home for sometime now and things have somewhat changed a little but that's what happens when time goes by...some for the better and some not.

New Zealand is situated in the South Pacific ocean between latitude 34'S and 47'S. The country runs roughly north-south with mountain ranges down much of its length. Its two main islands cover 266,200 sq km (103,735 sq miles), about the size of Japan or California and slightly larger than Great Britain.

New Zealand has fantastic scenery ranging from snow covered mountains for winter sports, white sandy beaches on the Pacific coast, to mysterious fiords on the Tasman coast.

New Zealand was the first western democracy to give women the vote.

New Zealander Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Mt Everest.

New Zealand invented bungee jumping !

New Zealand has the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the oldest reptile (tuatara), the biggest earthworms, the smallest bats (the only native land mammals), the heaviest insect (a weta), some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.

Re-visit Auckland

Viaduct

Ten days to Auckland after 9 years and New Zealand is still very much beautiful !

The route taken...

Map of NZ

Kuala Lumpur -> Bangkok (29/8) -> Sydney (30/8-5/9) -> Auckland (5/9-18/9) -> Tauranga (19/9-25/9) -> Whitianga (Coramandel) (26/9-29/9) -> Thames (30/9-1/10) -> Hamilton (2/10-4/10) -> Waitomo Caves (5/10-6/10) -> Rotorua (7/10-10/10) East Coast -> Whakatane -> opotiki -> Motu River -> Waihau Bay -> Hicks Bay-East Cape(Lighthouse) -> Tikitiki -> Rangitukia(Farm stay 11/10) -> Gisborne -> Wainui (12/10) -> Napier, Art Deco City (13/10-16/10) -> Taupo (17/10-20/10) -> Palmerston North (21/10-22/10) -> Wellington (23/10-29/10) -> Ferry to South Island, Picton (30/10-31/10)

[Magic Bus Southern Discovery start] Picton -> Nelson (1/11-5/11) Abel Tasman National Park (2/11) - Nelson Lake -> Westport -> Seal Colony -> Punakaiki Pancake Rocks -> Greymouth (6/11) -> Hokitika -> Ross (Gold mining town) -> Harihari -> Franz Josef Glasiers(7/11-8/11) -> Fox Glasiers -> Lake Matheson -> Haast -> Makarora (9/11) -> Lake Wanaka (10/11) -> Arrowtown -> Queesntown(11/11-13/11) -> Te Anau -> Milford Sound -> Te Anau (14/11-15/11) -> Queenstown(16/11) -> Dunedin (17/11-19/11) -> Oamaru -> Mount Cook (20/11-22/11) -> Lake Tekapo -> Timaru -> Christchurch (23/11-6/12) -> Kaikoura & Farmstay (6/12-12/12) ->Blenheim (13/12-20/12)
[Magic Bus Southern Discovery end] -> Christchurch (21/12-27/12) -> Dunedin (28/12-29/12) -> Catlins Coast ->Brighton -> Wahola -> Balcutha -> Kaka Point-Nugget Point -> Owaka, Surat Bay (30/12) -> Papatowai -> Waikawa -> Otara -> Invercargil -> Bluff -> Riverton (31/12) -> Lake Manoupouri -> Te Anau (1/1) -> Milford Sound -> Queenstown (2/1-4/1) -> Cromwell -> Wanaka -> Haast -> Fox Glasiers (5/1) -> Franz Josef -> Ross -> Hokitika -> Greymouth (6/1) -> Punakaiki -> Buller Gorge -> Nelson (7/1-8/1) -> back to Auckland (9/1-10/1) -> Northland -> Matakohe -> Waipoua Kauri Forest -> Haruru Falls -> Paihia (11/1-15/1) -> 90 mile beach -> Cape Reinga -> Bay of Islands -> Whangarei -> Orewa -> Auckland (15/1-17/1) -> Brisbane -> Bangkok -> Kuala Lumpur...home sweet home (18/1)

Pros and Cons

Pros:Green hills, neat towns, rugged coastline, bays, islands, volcanoes, geysers, rose gardens, horse races, trout streams, reverse-season skiing, and world-class mountains, it is all here !
In a nutshell:take your time to eXplore this country...

Last visit to New Zealand: Aug 2011
Intro Updated Oct 28, 2011
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Reviews (49)

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See All Do a Farmstay !
Off The Beaten Path (10)
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Alcohol

Travelogues (3)

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Comments (29)

juliewong Apr 5, 2007 at 6:49 AM Report Abuse

Nice pictures and great tips.
swissballs Jan 18, 2007 at 11:41 AM Report Abuse

Some good tips, if somewhat brief. Nice photo's esp your skydiving adventure!! Cheers, Mike
makiro Jul 20, 2006 at 5:56 PM Report Abuse

Greetings. I love your pages...and your country. Had a wonderful time over chinese new year and can't to return. Rob
imstress Jul 22, 2005 at 2:02 AM Report Abuse

Thanks for sharing beautiful pics of NZ with us. we (2 of us) plan to go NZ this dec. how is the service of magic bus or do u suggest self drive?
RoyJava May 11, 2005 at 2:54 PM Report Abuse

Heey, you've been to New Zealand,... great pictures and loved the mountain views and wild sealife. And for sure you'll love Prague, bye mei, greetzzz RoyJava
allikat Jan 4, 2005 at 4:42 PM Report Abuse

Lovely NZ page - will be back to enjoy it in depth later :o) Greetings from Auckland!
martin_nl Oct 20, 2004 at 3:08 PM Report Abuse

What a wonderful page you've got here. Wow you had four months. That is an amazingly long time, wish I had that amount of time for NZ too. Cool you did the east coast of the North Island, I had to miss out on that one.....
RinaNeo Oct 10, 2004 at 6:39 PM Report Abuse

wish I had more time in NZ... so where are u heading next?
canadacutey Sep 15, 2004 at 8:11 PM Report Abuse

looks like your nz trip was great! Good for you. Nice meeting you way back when. Hope i can get back to kl again one day. cheers!
pdtnc Aug 30, 2004 at 8:11 AM Report Abuse

hiya, thanks for the tips in the forum :)