New Zealand in a Nutshell

New Zealand Fun Facts:

- There are 4.2 million people and 40 million sheep in New Zealand.

- There are 3,100 glaciers over 100 meters long in New Zealand.

- Current exchange rate is something like $1 USD = $1.32 NZD.

- New Zealand is 268,680 square kilometers, roughly the same area as Colorado.

- Throughout our 10 days with a rental car, which we named The Silver Fox, we drove 2,208 kilometers (approximately 1,368 miles). Krista only got us lost twice.

New Zealand Superlatives:

Best city/town:

Krista - Queenstown. Even though I would never take part in the adventure sports, I loved the walks and shops in this town.

Scott - Queenstown. I would like to visit in the winter - loved Christchurch too.

Best attractions or activities:

Krista - Botanical Gardens in Christchurch and hiking Mt. Iron in Wanaka

Scott - Rugby finals game in Christchurch and Milford Sound

Most overhyped attraction:

Krista - The West coast glaciers

Scott - Geothermal springs in Rotorua

Best decision made in New Zealand:

Krista - To stay in Wanaka for an extra day to catch the All Whites soccer game. Also, selling back our New Zealand Lonely Planet to a used book store in exchange for the Australia Lonely Planet.

Scott - NOT searching high and low to watch the Pats/Colts game at a pub with satellite

Best purchase made in New Zealand:

Krista - Khahi dri-fit pants that zip off just above the knee and become shorts. Apparently these are called "convertible pants" by the savvy travelers. Now Scott and I have matching pants - we have always been so stylish.

Scott - 3 liter box of red wine (portable!) for $17.99 NZD

Biggest surprises about New Zealand:

Krista - Very rural - the “highways” are one-lane roads through mountain ranges and farms. The population of New Zealand is far less that I expected. Lastly, I simply cannot get over how many sheep and cows are in this country.

Scott - Colder than expected for springtime; sparse and expensive Internet; not as cheap as 2001!

Most helpful suggestion we can offer for YOUR trip to New Zealand:

Krista - Get recommendations from the locals - some of our best adventures in New Zealand came out of chatting up the Kiwis.

Scott - Concentrate the majority of your time on the South Island, rent a vehicle and stay as long as you can get away with it.

View New Zealand in a larger map

The Sleepy Banks Peninsula

After a road trip across the South Island back to the East coast, we passed by Christchurch and headed for Banks Peninsula on a tip from some nice local folks we met along the way. The Banks Peninsula was formed by two big volcanic eruptions, and it’s home to a bunch of small bays and harbors that make for low-key summer and weekend retreats. The main town is called Akaroa, 83 kilometers from Christchurch. It’s a historic place with a heavy French village influence, since it was the first and only French settlement in New Zealand. Like many places here in NZ, it’s postcard worthy scenery everywhere, with rolling hills sloping into greenish ocean. The big thing to do here is swim with the world’s smallest and rarest dolphins, Hector’s Dolphins, but we decided to leave that - and the cold ocean water - to the experts.

We read about a nice place to stay in the remote area of Okains Bay, not too far from Akaroa. In the middle of nowhere but walking distance to the beach, we spent two very quiet and peaceful days here. And by nowhere, we mean dial-up Internet and a single general store that sells jelly and ice cream and not much more. We did a lot of walking around the beach and caught up on some reading. It was completely relaxing and a nice recharge before heading off to Australia.

New Zealand's West Coast Glaciers

On Sunday, we drove through Mount Aspiring National Park on our way to the two main glaciers along the west coast, Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier. The area had been dumped with rain the previous night, so there were a lot of gushing waterfalls along the mountainous roads as we drove through the park. We reached the glaciers in the afternoon -- they’re only about 20 minutes apart from each other.

This part of New Zealand is extremely remote with less than 1% of the population living here. Along the coastal route we drove, the towns are very tiny and mostly isolated. We visited the Fox Glacier first, the smaller of the two, and then made our way to the more imposing and popular Franz Joseph Glacier. Some 15,000 - 20,000 years ago, both of these glaciers reached the Tasman Sea, but over time, they have gone through various periods of advancement and retreat. Interestingly enough, the Franz Joseph Glacier has actually advanced an average of 70cm each day since 1985. We got a little wet as we learned these fun facts about the glaciers, but they were quite a sight nevertheless.

We stopped by Hokitika for lunch and ate facing the Tasman Sea. Scott had a VIP seat!

Weekend in Wanaka, New Zealand

Reeling from our time at beautiful Milford Sound, we packed up the Corolla and drove northward, heading in the direction of the glaciers along the south island’s west coast. We’ve done quite a bit of driving here in New Zealand, but they let you drive pretty fast and the scenery is very entertaining so we’ve enjoyed the journey as well as the destinations. We’ve posted a photo from along the roadside (see right) to give you an idea of why we‘re OK with receiving radio reception only 5% of the time.

To break up the drive, we stopped at a small resort town called Wanaka, north of Queenstown. Wanaka is a lakeside ski town in the winter and aboating and beach hang out in the summer. Since it is spring, we found it somewhat sleepy and totally charming. After settling in, we walked to the nearby Mount Iron and hiked to the summit for an awesome view of the area. Then, we wandered around town and enjoyed some happy hour beverages outside in the blazing sun.

We liked Wanaka a lot so we decided to stick around for another day, figuring the glaciers would probably still be there. We were glad we extended our stay in Wanaka because we enjoyed a local farmer’s market in the morning, saw a recreational cricket match in the town’s main park and then bellied up to the bar to watch the All Whites, New Zealand’s national football team, defeat the favored Bahrain squad in a World Cup Qualifying match. This is a very big deal here -- the kiwis are going to the World Cup in South Africa next year. This also marks the first time we’ve ever watch a full soccer game…!

Te Anau and Milford Sound, New Zealand

After Queenstown, we drove to Te Anau – a tiny lakeside town a couple of hours drive from Milford Sound. Lake Te Anau, seen from virtually anywhere in Te Anau, is one of New Zealand’s largest lakes. Our accommodations in Te Anau was particularly scenic, as we were perched on a hill that overlooked rolling green hills and pastured with snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Milford Sound is a spectacular fiord that was formed by glaciers cutting through mountains thousands of years ago. (Interestingly enough, Milford Sound was incorrectly named a sound by the Welshmen that discovered it. It is technically a fiord, which is a glacially sculpted canyon. A sound, on the other hand, is sculpted by a river.) The rocky cliffs surrounding the fiord were 1,600 meters high and covered with trees, greenery, and many waterfalls.

We took a nature cruise around Milford Sound that lasted a little over two hours. The ship was brand new and offered heaters as well as a café and full bar. The ship was small enough that it could sail underneath waterfalls and right up to the cliffs. We saw fur seals and many friendly, bottle-nosed dolphin. Milford Sound is a wildly natural and beautiful place, and we definitely think it’s a Must Do for anyone visiting the New Zealand. Check out the photos for evidence!

Queenstown, New Zealand

We arrived in Queenstown and walked around the very small city. It reminds us a lot of Lake Tahoe with towering mountains surrounding a picturesque lake, along with high-end shops and restaurants and an overall relaxed atmosphere. Queenstown is the self-proclaimed the “Global Adventure Capital” where we found many adrenaline junkies sky-diving, bunging jumping, canyoning and white water rafting. We somehow managed to abstain all of the extreme sports J. We spent a lot of time window-shopping, walking around the Queenstown Gardens, and hiking along the lake on the Frankton Walkway.

For the first time on our trip, we had free wifi in Queenstown. We have noticed that the New Zealanders do not use wifi much and it is expensive and hard to find. Free wifi was a welcomed change and allowed us to catch up on email and NFL scores!

Lake Tekapo en route to Queenstown, New Zealand

On Sunday, we rented a car (Toyota Corolla) to get from Christchurch to Queenstown, known widely as "the Adventure Capital of the world." (And yes, we drove on the wrong side of the road the whole way!) The drive to Queenstown is about 7 1/2 hours so we split the drive in half by staying overnight in a tiny vacation town called Lake Tekapo (teek-ka-poo).

Lake Tekapo is a beautiful and remote place, with a turquoise lake overshadowed by rolling hills and the Southern Alps mountains. The lake is turquoise as a result of "rock flour" (sediment) in the water's basin, which originated from a stony-bottomed glacier way back when. It's a photographer's paradise.

After a morning hike up nearby Mt John to scope the view and the famous observatory, passing lots of sheep along the way, we hopped back in the trusty Corolla and drove the remaining few hours to Queenstown. Queenstown is one of New Zealand's premier tourist spots, and, by checking our these photos (below), it's easy to see why. We'll be here for the next few days soaking it up.

Christchurch, New Zealand

We had a fantastic couple of days in Christchurch wandering around the small city. Christchurch is the most English of the New Zealand cities, with Euro influence reflected in many of the buildings' Gothic architecture, and we even saw the occasional old school red phone booth. Another English touch is the river that runs through the city is named the Avon. Along the Avon river there were gondola boats giving rides to tourists -- the Kiwis call these "punt boats".

Our first stop was the Christ Church Cathedral which is at the center of the city. (see photo above) After the church, we spent a couple hours exploring and people-watching in the Botanical Gardens. The gardens seemed never-ending and each part was more beautiful than the next.

That night, going on a hot tip from a local, we went to the Air New Zealand Cup rugby finals match- Canterbury vs. Wellington at the stadium. The game was very exciting, the local fans were enthusiastic and the home team (Canterbury) won. We made friends with some locals sitting in front of us and they helped us understand the

rules of the game (see photos).

The bubbling town of Rotorua, then on to Christchurch, New Zealand

On our final day in Auckland, we walked down to the harbor and took a short ferryride over to Devonport , a small village on the North Shore that is home to New Zealand’s Navy. We explored for a bit, including on North Head, where these photos were snapped, ate lunch at a café and headed back to Mt. Eden.

On Wednesday, we hopped an early bus south four hours to Rotorua, New Zealand’s most famous tourist town. Rotorua is known for its geothermal hot springs, bubbling mud polls and geysers. However, what we didn’t know was the sulfurous gases put out by the springs make the town smell like rotten eggs. We spent the afternoon and evening at a spa, dipping in various geothermal pools that were good for our muscles, joints, and skin.

Thursday was drizzly, but we walked around the town of Rotorua anyway, including the Kuirau volcanic park. We listened to a cover band at a pub called the Pig & Whistle and enjoyed our first adult beverages of the trip.

Friday we traveled to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand. We took a beautiful three hour ferrry ride from the North Island (the city Wellington) to the South Island (the small village Picton) and then an awesome train ride down the rugged northeast coast of the island to Christchurch (see photos from ferry and train). We look forward to exploring Christchurch next!

Auckland, New Zealand

After 13 hours on a smooth flight from LAX, we arrived safely to Auckland, New Zealand. We've spent the past couple of days getting settled in, exploring New Zealand's largest city by foot, checking out Maori treasures at Auckland Museum, adjusting to no iPhone data plan(!), and wandering around the awesome neighborhood we are staying in, Mt. Eden, which includes a lookout from atop an old volcano (see photo on left). Auckland is home to about 1 million New Zealanders, and its volcano punctured land is surrounded by two harbors. The weather has been changing constantly from nice and warm to windy and chilly.

Today is our final day here in Auckland and we plan to take a ferry around the harbor. Tomorrow we'll head to Rotorua, home to natural geothermal spas.