| Page Views: 1,249 Last Visit to New Zealand: October, 2003 | I Fell In Love with New Zealand by unaS - last update: Oct 7, 2008 |
First let me state outright that I am not objective.
I fell in love with NZ; with the country and the people.
The glorious mountains, the bird life, the green of the land, water, water everywhere;
the way of life and the philosophy of life as I met it.
Would have stayed if it had been possible...
Reserved all my hotel rooms in advance. Arrived in Auckland at 2300 hours to discover that the Auckland City hotel was unbearable. Changed it first thing in the morning with the help of the lovely lady from the 1/2 day tour that I had also reserved in advance. Then went out on my first marvelous exposure to the beauty of this country. Was taken to visit the West Coast and the Gannet colony at Muriwai. It really must be seen!
The City Central hotel was right in the centre of Auckland. Lovely wandering around in the evening, seeing the sights. Lots 'n lots of choices for places to eat.
Next day a full day tour; visited the Maori Arataki Visitors Centre, Mt. Eden, the Rainforest with its Kauri trees, the West Coast and the Phia waterfalls.
I was more than a bit overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.
Visited the Museum and walked around the city.
Took an organized tour to the Waitomo Caves that dropped me off at my motel in Rotorua. That evening went on the very, very well done Tamaki Maori Village and Hangi.
Next day took an organized tour of a purposely built Maori village. It is used to educate the young Maori generation in their heritage, to train carpenters that can then make totem poles to depict their history and to develop the artistic talents of young Maori in other skills. In addition of course, it is used as a tourist attraction - and well worth a visit!
The hot springs and geysers were amazing, then a very entertaining visit to see a sheep herding exhibition.
Flew from Rotorua to Wellington - first time in my life flying in a 2-engine prop plane. Amazing experience. Small plane with only 11 seats, on one side of the cabin rows of two seats and the other side single seats.
A couple of slow and easy days: visited the fantastic Te Papa museum, the Botanical gardens, caught up on my e-mail and took a short vacation from my extended vacation :-)
On to South Island by ferry.
On arrival in Picton got on a long distance bus to Kaikoura. Wonderful ride. The driver was just full of information, entertaining and fun! He wasn't an official guide, this was a standard public service coach; he just loved his country and showing it off.
A ride of some 3 hours - all low rolling hills, vistas of distant mountains. Some steepish curves, then down again to the lowlands...agricultural land with some small villages and towns; many, many farms, sheep, deer, sheep, horses, sheep, cattle, sheep, sheep and more sheep :)
The interesting part is that NZ has no native land animals at all. All native life is birds, reptiles and fish. And what amazing birds they do have! Many flightless ground dwellers due to the lack of predators before humankind came on the scene. |
| Kaikoura bridge from beach side. |
South Island - Kaikoura & Christchurch I think that Kaikoura may be my favorite place on South Island...but then what about Te Anau and even Christchurch?? So hard to decide - I shan't! I just loved it all.
Kaikoura a beautiful small town surrounded by snow capped mountains. The people are especially nice. Everyone was friendly, helpful and proud of their town and their country. The populace is mixed - those of European descent and those of Maori descent.
They have in the last few years switched from whaling and sealing to preservation. The local industry is now tourism. Today they make their living off those same animals by showing them off to tourists! Yet the town remains a small one, with local shops that cater to both tourists and residents. They will go out of their way to be helpful.
Somewhat limited in restaurants, there is one great place to eat breakfast right by the bus stop. Dinners were better bought in the local supermarket, cooked and eaten at the hostel. The hostel/hotel I stayed in also had a pub that served decent pub food.
Took some lovely walks along the beach and on the road above it for the length of the town to the peninsula at the end. There is a seal reserve out there. The rocky beach with its towering waves breaking, the thunder of the surf and the quiet of nature...what can be better?
I stayed at the Bluepackers hostel/hotel. Not perhaps for everyone, but I adored it.
Stayed for 4 nights. Would have liked to remain longer, perhaps forever... Coach to Christchurch.
A small city with good facilities. A funny looking something , can't really call it a statue - perhaps a sort of sculpture - that resembled nothing so much as a giant ice cream cone in the middle of the city square. A church that attempts to resemble an ancient cathedral, a *great* tourist information centre and the marvelous Willowbank Animal Reserve.
"The icecream cone in Chch is called The Chalice, and it is a reflection of the Cathedral spire, turned by 180°." - Thank you Kakapo2
Christchurch epitomized for me the kind of people that live in NZ. The disabled are not hidden from sight. The buses have hydraulic facilities (they call it "kneeling down") to permit wheelchair access. People with Downs Syndrome are employed in local shops, the city centre is more like a really nice small town. A place that I would be happy to live in.
Had arranged in advance for 2 organized full day bus tours. One was cancelled because there were not enough people. The other, Arthur's Pass with a Jet boat ride included was fun! Used the second day to walk all over the city, climb the tower of the 'cathedral' and get to know people. Am not at all sorry that the organized trip was cancelled!
Visited the Willowbrook Nature Reserve for dinner and tour of the native wild life exhibition. The tour was a revelation. Here I learned the history of the native bird life, saw flightless birds and pictures of the now extinct Giant Moa and a predator, the Giant Eagle. There are cardboard cutouts to give you the idea of their size - awesome! Bought a shirt with pictures of 8 other extinct species and the legend: "Extinction is Forever - New Zealand Cares". There is a great deal of disagreement within the country of who caused the destruction of these species and when. |
| Kiwi - flightless, actually wingless! |
Te Anau - Cruises and Walks What can I say? Yet another town that I could easily spend the rest of my life in.
The town is small but set up to make life easy for visitors :->)
Lots of small places to eat or buy take out food. Good supermarket. Walkable. Small shops with decent prices. Bought a warm jacket to walk around in the evenings.
Had originally planned to stay at the Lakefront Backpackers, but it was too cold to sit outside to smoke in the evenings, so I spent a bit more money and stayed at a lovely motel, in an individual unit. I now see on the internet that it has upgraded to a 4* hotel. It was a lovely place in 2003, but the rates were a good deal lower - perhaps because it was 'off season' and they had empty rooms. (Tips: Accomodations)
The days were lovely and warm not hot, the evenings quite cool. It rained a lot, but it was a soft, gentle rain in no way interfered with day trips and walks.
From here I walked around a portion of Te Anau lake and visited a native bird sanctuary where they are breeding some of the endangered species. Saw a pair of Takahe. The young are raised for release.
Took a day trip across Lake Manapuri and a cruise on Doubtful Sound (actually a fjiord). See Tips: To Do
Took the Milford Track day walk (wish I had had the time for the 3-day trek!) and a cruise on Milford Sound (also actually a fjiord). See Tips: To Do
Regretfully it was time to wend my way homeward.
Back to Christchurch for an overnight. Visited the Anarctic Centre and took the Gondola to the top of the Port Hills and a walk up there around the crater of an extinct volcano. Marvelous views!
Went up to the top of the Skytower - bloody expensive but what a view!!
Flew home via Bangkok - trip report to follow. Would have spent those 4 extra days in New Zealand if I had only known... |
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| Pros: | "All told just about everything." | | Cons: | "Only the one hotel in Auckland" | | In A Nutshell: | "I could happily live here if that were possible." |
unaS's New Zealand Travel Tips
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 Comments for unaS about New Zealand | | | | |
jumpingnorman Thu Jul 23, 2009 18:00 UTC
I am battling between New Zealnd or India for next year...what do you think? Well, I think either or both would be awesome! Norman :) | craic Mon May 11, 2009 19:45 UTC
what a wonderful page - you made me very homesick indeed for NZ | freddie18 Tue Apr 14, 2009 01:55 UTC
Thank you very much for the virtual tour of NZ. I will certainly be using your tips to a trip to NZ after the Philippines and Oz. I will certainly be back to your pages to see more...... | zweiblumen Fri Apr 10, 2009 23:18 UTC
Love the gull and albatross photos! |
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