From the US, New Zealand is a long flight and depending on your origination city, likely a connection. However, the country is worth the flight. New Zealand has resort towns, winery towns, large cities, incredible mountain vista’s, great restaurants, thriving bar and restaurant scenes, native culture and Kiwi’s.
New Zealand evolved with no predatory mammals resulting in many flightless bird species, most of which were hunted to extinction by the first homo-sapiens to arrive there or by vermin that were introduced (usually accidentally) by arriving ships. The unique wildlife of New Zeeland added to the outdoor activities, and city nightlife make New Zealand a worthy destination for a traveler looking for a new adventure.
Our first stop was Queenstown. A resort town in southern New Zealand nestled in a mountain valley next to Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown offers exceptional opportunities for outdoor activity. The views of Lake Wakatipu with the surrounding mountains are lovely. In New Zealand’s summers, activities include jet skis on the lake, hiking and mountain biking in the surrounding mountains, jet boat thrill rides through nearby gorges, golf, and an excursion to nearby Milford Sound for a cruise through this fjord. For the adventurous spirit you can take a scenic 30-minute small plane flight back over the mountains from Milford Sound to Queenstown. This flight was one of the highlights of our trip. Queenstown is also a very popular destination for skiers during the New Zealand winter.
Next, we visited the largest city on the South Island and second largest overall of New Zealand is Christchurch. Long known as an English city due the predominate architectural styles in the city and its numerous gardens resembling English “garden cities”. Christchurch is near the coast and thus offers opportunities to visit beaches and small coastal cities. As Christchurch is surrounded by extensive agricultural areas, we visited two nearby wineries for a delicious lunch and wine tasting. This area of New Zealand has long been known for delectable white wines. If you are a wine drinker Christchurch is a must visit. The city is relatively flat and thus very walkable as you explore the numerous gardens in the city center. We had a great lunch at the market in an Argentinian Churrascaria (steak house). You never know what you can find as you explore a new city.
After, we visited Rotorua. Rotorua is a town on the north island located on the shores of Lake Rotorua. The town is known for extensive geothermal sights and rich Māori culture. The town lies in the Rotorua Caldera (a caldera is the crater of an extinct volcano), the source for the geothermal activity in the area. We visited the Waimangu Volcanic valley, saw geysers, hot mud pools, clear hot springs and hot water pools. We dipped our finger in the water seeping to the surface near the trail, to find it was boiling hot. Another memorable experience is the smell, oh the smell. It sticks with you for quite some time. We had dinner at a Maori cultural site. Enjoyed local foods with the view of another geyser and after dinner a Maori cultural show.
As our trip was ending, we did a land transfer from Rotorua to Auckland. On the route we made two stops to break up the long drive. First as was to a KIWI rescue center and we saw the Kiwi via dark room experience as they are Nocturnal. Did you know they are about the size of a basketball? I had no idea. We also visited nearby caves inhabited by glowworms. This was another highlight of our trip to New Zealand. The glowworms are a species of gnat, they glow a bright green when they are in the larva stage of development. They glow to attract prey as they are carnivorous.
Other activities you can experience are high adventure, like white-water rafting, bungy jumping, ziplining and, of course, mountain biking or hiking in the nearby mountains.
For our final night we spent it in Auckland. This is a modern city with a great waterfront. All kinds of dining options and boutique shopping. This part of the city is very walkable, and we had great weather, so we explored a number of areas in and around this city. It is a very hilly city, so be prepared to walk up and down hills. Only the immediate waterfront was level.
If you would like to experience New Zealand, we recommend this destination by land for at least 10 days. We did 7 and felt there was still so much more to experience but still loved the destination. I know I want to go back for more of New Zealand! Contact Condor Tours & Travel at info@condortt.com or 770-339-9961.
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