It's been a wild 38 days, here are some of our top tips and highlights from New Zealand. 10. Getting Around It's small and it's a bit smelly but it's home. Getting around by motorhome is one of the most popular ways to see New Zealand and for good reason. Not only is it cost effective but it offers complete freedom to see the country on your own terms. We definitely recommend getting a self contained certified motorhome. This will allow you to take advantage of the many places around New Zealand that are free to spend the night so long as you have the certification sticker on your vehicle. Also be sure to get the free phone app, CamperMate. You can load an offline version to your phone which shows where to find gas, dump stations, freedom camp spots, paid camp spots, things to do/points of interest and full road maps. The best part of the app are the reviews so you know exactly what to expect. We would have been completely lost without the app it was extremely helpful! If you can't stand the idea of living out of a van than still consider driving. The scenic routes around the country are outstanding. The roads are in great condition, lots of signs and it doesn't take long for your brain to swap to driving on the left. Be prepared for tons of switch back roads, and wind especially on the south island. Our advice is to take your time, there are lots of passing lanes so traffic can move past you. Whatever you do don't speed! We went under the speed limit in many cases where 100 kph felt too fast for the curvy cliff side roads. They have 0 tolerance for speeding and drunk driving so don't test your luck. 9. Natural Wonders On top of some of the most scenic driving in the world there are many natural wonders to take your breath away. There are too many to name but here are a few we loved that are worth going out of your way for. Hot Water Beach: Beneath the sand at Hot Water Beach lies a natural hot spring which is revealed at low tide. Bring a spade with you to dig out a personal jacuzzi for yourself and relax in your muddy hottub. You'll only have about 2 hours before the water comes back in so time your visit well! Cathedral Cove: Just a short distance from Hot Water beach is a 45 minute hike that leads to a hidden white sand beach with a unique cave formation. You can also canoe yourself in or scuba dive the area on a calm day. Waitomo Caves: One of two places in New Zealand where you can see thousands of Glowworms light up the caves. The other places is near Te Anau on the South Island. Here we repelled down into the cave, tubed down the river and climbed up and over waterfalls! An absolutely thrilling and enchanting experience. Rotorua: This city is a geothermal hot bed with dozens of geothermal parks and several geysers to view. Note that most of the geothermal parks have an entrance fee anywhere $30.00 per person to $55.00 per person! Geothermal Wonderland is the most colourful and cheaper than Te Puia and other geothermal parks found in Rotorua we recommend this one. Huka Falls: Found near Lake Taupo, Huka Falls is a magnificent rush of water ending with a powerful waterfall. You can see it for free at a viewing bridge or pay for a powerjet boat to take you up close. Sandfly Bay: Found in Otago peninsula outside Dunedin you take the Highcliff road to reach the beach. The views are spectacular with sand dunes, seals, sea lions, powerful waves and if you're lucky a penguin or two. Curio Bay: Found in the Catlins on the South Island. On one side is a huge beach with excellent surfing the other side is a rocky bay with powerful waves smashing the rocks and home to a 180 million year old petrified forest. Milford Sound: An absolute must do while on the South Island. The National park is a dramatic landscape of mountains, waterfalls and flowing water. Take a boat ride out through Milford to get the full experience and hope for a clear day. Even in the rain it was worth the visit though! There are tons of other natural wonders we didn't get to like glaciers, national parks and lakes. You wont be bored if you're outdoorsy that's for sure! 8. Sea Life New Zealand has no shortage of sea life and Kaikoura is one of the best places in New Zealand to enjoy it. Along the sea side road leading up to the small town of Kaikoura there are several spots where large colonies of fur seals like to spend their days laying on the rocks while pups play in the protected pools behind them. You can get right up close to the seals here though you should give them at least 5 meters to avoid disturbing them. Kaikoura is also home to sperm whales, orca, dusky dolphins, giant royal albatross and many other whales throughout the year. It's located along the whale highway and also has a large underwater gorge where sperm whales like to hunt so it's a perfect location for taking a whale watching tour. Further down the coast of the South Island you can easily find sea lions and hectors dolphins as well. Less easy to find are the 3 species of penguin that call New Zealand home. Hohio (Yellow Eyed Penguin), Korora (little blue penguin) and the Tawaki (fiordland crested penguin). These can be found on the south island but require a good amount of patience. If you don't have the patience or time you can do a day tour in Dunedin and a few other places where they have special protected viewing areas. 7. Birds New Zealand is a birders paradise. Both colourful and diverse it's easy to fall in love with the birds of New Zealand. The kiwi bird is the first bird that comes to mind but you'll have a hard time seeing one in the wild. In fact few New Zealanders have ever seen a wild kiwi bird. The best way to view these hilariously lovable creatures is by visiting a sanctuary where day and night have been reversed so you can enter a dark room to view them. The birds in captivity usually have an injury which is why they've been kept in captivity. If you're absolutely set on seeing one in the wild the best way to find one in the dark forest is to listen. Kiwi birds have nostrils at the end of their long beaks for smelling out bugs. Because of this they are constantly sneezing as they eat which you can easily hear. Aside from the Kiwi Bird and Penguins you can easily find the Tui, Kea, Yellow Head, Black Billed Gull, Kakariki (small green parrot), Pukeko and many others while driving around New Zealand. 6. Cost of Living New Zealand is not a cheap place to eat, sleep or drive. On the North Island gas averages around $1.30 per litre. On the South Island gas was over $2.00 in most places! We drove a diesel van so our cost was a bit lower with about $.90 on the North Island and $1.36 on the South Island. Ouch! Food can also be costly, especially for things that are organic, free range or fresh. Usually we don't mind spending a bit more to buy free range eggs over caged and so on however for twice the price it wasn't an option. $7.00 for a dozen free range vs. $3.50 for caged is no comparison. Seasonal veg weren't too bad such as pumpkin, potatoes and parsnip but fresh peppers and tomatoes and meat were very costly. We saved money by cooking almost all of our meals with a couple exceptions and spent around $700 on food for the two of us in just over a month of living here. Wine, thankfully, is not bad, you can easily get a decent bottle for $10.00 or a box for $14.00. Beer and Cider were quite expensive in general though so wine is the way to go! If you're going out for a drink and a meal you can expect around $8 to $10 per pint of beer and around $20- $30 for a dinner. We splurged once while in Queenstown at the Pub on Wharf for a proper Lamb Dinner with a good NZ brew and it was excellent! Paying for campsites is very odd because they charge per person even though we only use one campsite for one van. I guess taking 1 shower each is worth doubling the price? The average powered site cost about $20.00 per person but it's worth it once and a while for the hot showers, laundry (more $$) and power to recharge everything. You can easily get away without having to stay at any paid camps however since the BP petrol stations offer free dump stations and water plus free wifi and power up stations inside! We used these more than once. 5. Best Towns and Cities We feel that with a few exceptions a city is a city no matter where it is. Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin, while each had their own charm, were all cities non the less. Our favorite places were much smaller, easier to get around and extremely friendly. Queenstown is less of a city and more of a ski village not unlike Whistler and Squamish. Unofficial adventure capital of the world it's filled with expats, adventure travel stores, outfitter shops and pubs. It's a fun spot for a few days for sure! Make sure to try a Fergburger and taste some fudge at The Remarkable Sweet Shop! Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city and is worth a day to soak in the port cities charm before heading into the Catlins or onto Queenstown. Kaikoura is small but worth a few days. A small downtown, lots to do and beautiful scenery it's a great town to recharge and see some sea life. Make sure to book a whale watching tour here. Napier is a blast from the past with tons of Art Deco architecture and flare to make you feel like you're back in the 1930's. After a powerful earthquake 1931 the city was rebuilt in the style of the age and has maintained it since. It's a beautiful sea side city in the heart of Hawkes Bay wine region and we would have happily spent a few more days here. It is also home to New Zealand's national aquarium, great on a rainy day! If it's sunny head up to Te Mata Peak for stunning views, you can drive or hike up. Rotorua is a geothermal town well worth the visit but be prepared to spend some cash. It's heavily visited and most of the decent geothermals have been converted into paid parks. Despite the commercialization it's still a great stop with some fantastic spas and geothermal parks to enjoy. It's also a great spot for enjoying Maori Culture with several villages available for Hangi dinners and cultural performances. Taupo is beautiful, home to Huka Falls, geothermal spas and a beautiful lake. It's worth a stop here in the winter but best enjoyed in the summer. It rained the entire time we were here so we didn't enjoy the lake much but there is a ton to do here on a nice day. It also happens to be home to the worlds coolest MacDonalds. 4. Adrenaline Junkies Bungee, skydiving, water rafting, heli skiing, glacier trekking, zorbing and so much more is easily found in New Zealand. You can jump off the skytower in Auckland or skydive over Wellington, you name it it's here. New Zealand has a long history of adrenaline fueled fun but really made it's name after a kiwi named A J Hackett popularized bungee and commercialized the activity. It took off after he took a bungee off the Eiffle Tower in 1987 (illegally). In Queenstown you can visit the AJ Hackett bridge bungee and take a leap yourself off the Kawarau bridge. He is hailed as starting the Adventure Tourism in New Zealand also giving Queenstown is unofficial title as adventure capital of the world. 3. Wine! With wineries found all over the country it's no wonder why NZ wine is known around the world. Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Waiheke Island, Cantebury, and central Otego and some of the wine regions we made our way through. Marlborough is one of the better known regions in Canada with wineries like Oyster Bay consistently being a Canadian favourite. Tasting trails are easy to find if you're up for riding a bike or booking a tasting tour. Don't be surprised if a tasting costs you $15-$20.00 for a sampler of 4. I imagine because of the number of tourists doing wine tours and not actually buying bottles this is common practice in NZ. It's absolutely worth doing a wine tour while in NZ, the rest of the time though you can easily find a nice wine for under $15.00 at the supermarket. We liked Stoneleigh quite a bit and the price was very reasonable. 2. Lord of the Rings As you drive from the north island to the south Island it's hard not to feel like Frodo and Sam. Peter Jackson didn't have to look too hard to find the perfect settings for the movie. You can visit many sites from the filming some free and some not so free. After the filming of the Hobbit they left the set intact for visitors to come see. It sounded really great so we checked it out to learn it is an $80.00 entrance fee per person. The idea of being cattle herded around the set with 40 other tourists with a 15 minute stop at the Green Dragon Pub didn't interest us for such a fee. The drive up to the set looks like the shire with rolling green hills and a lake, it's very beautiful! If you really want to see the dramatic landscapes used in Lord of the Rings you need to head south. On the app 'CamperMate' they've included little film reel dots on the map highlighting different areas where filming happened so you can go see Fangorn forest and Isengard if you have a car and some time plus dozens of other sites. 1. Kiwi Culture
New Zealand is as similar to Australia the same way Canada is to America. Kiwis we met often made this comparison and the better we got to know the country the more it rang true. Like Canada, New Zealand is the quieter, modest counterpart. The similarities don't stop there, with a cute, passive animal as it's national symbol. Also like Canada, although to a greater extent, indigenous culture and New Zealand's national identity are synonymous in many ways. Maori is an official language in NZ with English being the other. There are many dialects of Maori but the most commonly used is because it was the dialect chosen to translate the bible back in the 1840's. Don't be surprised to struggle with street names as most are Maori, as are lakes and mountains. Maori is a beautifully rich culture with gorgeous arts so it's worth visiting a Maori village or museum to learn more. You can visit Maori villages and meet Maori people who will teach you about their customs and history and you can pay to enjoy a Hangi dinner as well. If you've ever seen the All Blacks play rugby than you'll have seen the Maori war dance, the Haka. Women dance Poi, which is a ball on a string swung intricately around the body. It's not uncommon to be welcomed with, "Kia Ora", which is a Maori greeting. Kia Ora is also farewell and thanks so it's said often. The relationship between the Maori and the government could teach Canada and other nations a lot about how to work with indigenous people for the improvement of the country as a whole. You'll be hard pressed to met a nicer nation of people than the Kiwis. Not only are they friendly and accommodating but have an great sense of humor never taking life too seriously, except when it comes to rugby of course.
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