New Zealand

J.P. Morgan loves me. Infatuated even. He called me yesterday saying, "Josh, buddy, love you, man. Keep up that spending spree!" Obviously, he didn't call me, but I should have at least received a thank you email from Chase. I was treating money like it was a disease I wanted to get rid of. The budget clearly gone.

New Zealand, you are one gorgeous, beautiful, and money draining country, but I wouldn't change my experience for the world. It was my most eagerly anticipated destination and certainly, it did not disappoint!

Lexi and I rented a car and drove throughout the country for 30 days - roughly 13 days on the North Island and 17 on the South Island. It was road trip like no other. We didn't stay in a place for longer than 3-4 days; consistently on the move. Driving through all different types of landscapes - mountains, valleys, rolling green hills, and ocean cliffs. Yes, New Zealand is expensive, but the natural beauty is enough to marvel at to forget the cost.

I'm going to do my best to highlight some of the more memorable stories and cities we visited, but let me warn you now, this…post…will…be…long. We visited 20 plus destinations in New Zealand so you can see why. Below is a breakdown of the cities and areas we have visited.

North Island • Auckland • Whangarei • Tutukaka • Paihia (Bay of Islands) • Rotorua • Waitomo • Taupo • Wellington

South Island • Nelson • Abel Tasman Region • Wharariki Beach • Westport • Pancake rocks • Fox & Franz Joesph Glacier • Wanaka • Queenstown • Doubtful Sound • Lake Pukakai • Christchurch • Marboulgh Sounds Region (Picton & Blenheim)

If you like maps, follow all of our destinations in the link provided below.

With that, sit back and happy reading :)

Nature & Scenery

Thinking about how to start this section is just overwhelming. We saw pretty much every type of landscape you can imagine, but I'll try grouping based on the terrain and expanding from there.

City Life

• Auckland is a very spread out port city, a few skyscrapers, and a modern feel. The best way I know how to explain Auckland was that it felt very much like Denver or Minneapolis. Spectacularly clean and chill vibe. The place to be is near the wharf or in the neighborhood Ponsby where most of the bars and restaurant are located. There are some really spectacular views to be seen in this port city with water all around you. Auckland holds roughly half the population of New Zealand and is ranked as one of the top 5 livable cities in the world. Before I arrived, I built up this idea that I was going to immediately fall in love with this city and would never want to leave. But to my own shock, I wasn't head over heals for the city. Don't get me wrong. It's a really nice city. Only a 3-hour drive to the Bay of Islands to get that beach life, take a 20 min ferry to an island to sip on wine at one of the many vineyards, great job market, cool restaurant, and bar scene. There is a lot to love and I think the top 5 ranking is justifiable. There was just something missing for me compared to Chicago. Perhaps it was just too spread out for my liking or I'm just too much of a homer.

• Wellington is a much more concentrated city unlike it's bigger brother. When you drive through it has more of a city feel to me than Auckland. There is also a much more of a hip vibe here with a seemingly younger crowd, multitude of coffee shows and record stores. I really enjoyed Wellington, but it is really small. Only ~400K people live here and after being downtown for 2 days I felt like I had already seen the entire city. Similar to Auckland, it also has great views as you look out into the horizon. Wellington is also the gateway to the South Island so that's very convenient if deciding to stay here. In Wellington, we visited with Lexi's former college roommate, Lisa, and her boyfriend, Jon. They lived just 20 minutes outside the city center and they were flat out amazing hosts! They drove us around, provided great knowledge on New Zealand, made us breakfast, took me kayaking and fishing…the list goes on. So a huge thank you to both Lisa and Jon for allowing us to stay with them and showing us a good time! Just really good people and I hope to see them again whether in Chicago or Wellington.

• Christchurch is similar in size to Wellington in terms of population. It was much more industrial than I was anticipating, but the city center is nice to walk around. This city seemed to be the child of Auckland and Wellington. A younger, hip crowd like Wellington, but bar and restaurant scene was similar to Auckland. It's a good town to head into for a day, but I didn't find anything special to keep you longer.

Beach Life

• Tutukaka is small. Real small. Not a lot of tourist will head this way as the major attraction is farther north in the Bay of Islands. Yet, we researched and saw a lot of good reviews on these Mermaid Pools. Essentially, they are a few pools of water surrounded by rock sitting in the ocean. We arrived at this amazing beach with large rock formations to the left and right forming a bay. We laid out for about an hour or two soaking up some rays, but we looked around and couldn't find any mermaid pools; just an amazing beach. We saw people walking to the left of us so we picked up our backpacks and followed. We reached what seemed to be the end of the beach, but we saw people walking through the water that went waist high. So we continued to follow. Holding my backpack above my head and walking through the water for 10 minutes around the bend, you reach this secluded beach with a large hill and forest. There is a pathway with only a rope to hold onto as you climb up this extremely steep hill. After a 10 minute climb and 15 minutes through the forest, it opens up to a stunning view of the ocean and directly below are the sitting pools of water or Mermaid Pools. This was just a day trip, but the beach and mermaid pools were really quite amazing.

• Bay of Islands we both wished we spent more time exploring the surrounding islands near the city of Paihia. The water was crystal blue that you could easily mistake it for the Caribbean. As like most places, really spectacular views especially on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. These are the grounds where the Maori people signed a treaty with the British. We did a tour here to get a background of the culture, British influence, and an authentic Maori dance. I highly recommend heading here for the tour alone, very interesting.

Now, there is a contested debate on the validity of this treaty, but I won't get into the specifics. Let's just say that the British have a long history of treating native people terrible. Yet, in saying that, the Maori culture is very much intact in New Zealand. Likely not the degree they deserve, but far and above how Native Americans were and are treated. So it was really interesting learning about the Maori people here and their culture.

• Abel Tasman & Wharariki Beach really tested your driving skills. These are not easy areas to get to as you are going up and down mountains. Up and down, up and down. Repeat. Nevertheless, you get to see some breathtaking countrysides and inevitably to an incredible coastline.

In Abel Tasman, we purchased a ferry ride that took you along the coast and up to a remote beach. One island we passed had baby seals hanging out on the rocks. The ferry took us to this remote beach where we would hike back to where we started. It was a 4-hour hike walking through brush and getting to see multiple beaches. If you wanted, you could just walk down and have an entire beach to yourself. Very cool. Much of the sand was golden due to the granite rock nearby. Not like the white sand you see in Florida or Caribbean, but still very soft.

Wharariki Beach. Heading here was a complete surprise to me. Lexi was researching places to go to while I was driving. She suggested we check out the western tip of the South Island. Basically, we drove northwest until we ran out of road and then drove a bit more onto gravel roads. I'll admit, I was getting frustrated. It seemed like we would never get there, but boy did it impress. When we parked our car, we walked about 15 minutes through rolling green hills with plenty of sheep in the distance enjoying the breezy day. You come out onto this massive beach with enormous rock formations and green patches of grass sprinkled across these beach mounds. In the distance, you see two large rock formations with one having a large archway. For any Game of Thrones fans out there, I felt like Daenerys landing on Dragonstone for the first time. See video to the right till it gets to 1:15.

It might be the best beach I've ever seen. Maybe not one you want to lay out on due to the extreme wind, but it was nothing like I've seen before. I don't know why this isn't listed as a top place to see, but for now, I'm happy with it being a well-kept secret

Mountains, Lakes, and Everything Else

• Fox and Franz Joseph Glacier were both really awesome to hike to. We did the free 1-2 hour hike. You could very easily knock out both of these in a half day. They are about 30 minutes apart from each other by car. There are plenty of other activities and tours that you can do here. We would have liked to do the helicopter ride to the top of either glacier where they give you ice picks and special boots to hike the glacier. Yet, we needed to conserve our cash. If going, I recommend Franz Joseph over Fox. Franz Joseph Glacier is much bigger and you can get a nicer picture, but the hike up to the Fox was a much

better hike overall.

• We were not expecting Queenstown to be so…brown. We arrived at the peak of summer and New Zealand was experiencing a heat wave that they haven't experienced in over 2 decades. So maybe we were just unfortunate, but it definitely felt like we were in a desert. Much of the grass was burnt and the heat was brutal. We still managed to have a great time in this touristy town. By far the most people we had seen since Wellington; this town is crawling with people left and right. Very difficult to drive through. There are plenty of bars, restaurants, and shops to keep you busy. The town is situated right on a lake and once you arrive here you understand why so many people love this area. You could probably spend 2 weeks here and still have plenty of things to see and do. It's a mecca for extreme sports and the birthplace of bungee jumping. Literally, you name it, they probably have it. We did small stuff like explore the town, gondola ride, and luge. I really wanted to do bungee jumping. Hell, I'm in the place where it all started so why not. I talked to a few people who said that the canyon swing was actually much better so I took their advice and did this. I really wished Lexi did this with me. In the end, she was so close to doing a tandem jump with me, but it just wasn't in the cards. If she did go, I wouldn't have gotten her awesome video below in addition to my GoPro video.

• While in Queenstown, we also booked a tour to see Doubtful Sound. What's a "sound?" Great question. I didn't have a clue either. A sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land according to Wikipedia.

The more famous sound that people go see is Milford Sound. This is supposed to have more dramatic mountain regions and waterfalls, but the trip was much farther and many locals stated that there are so many other tour boats in the water that it chipped away at the charm it once had. Many locals suggested for us to see Doubtful Sounds which is much larger than Milford Sound, a longer tour that goes out to the ocean, and very exclusive - only one boat is out on Doubtful Sound. When we went out, it was just us and nature which was really what we were looking for.

If any part of New Zealand reminded me of Lord of the Rings (if you had no idea, Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand) or maybe Jurassic Park, it was Doubtful Sound. Taking a boat through a beautiful mountain region covered with lush green forests surrounded by nothing but nature and a calm silence. That, and a group of bottlefin dolphins jumping out around your boat. It was quite an experience and one of our favorite tours.

• We spent all of 15 minutes at Lake Pukaki, but that's all you need to be in utter awe of the color of this water. I was just driving by, saw it, and needed to pull over. It looks like a made up color that could only come in your 64 Crayola Crayon box. You know, the one that included a sharpener on the back. That's how you know you were cool in school. Since I love movies and movie references, the color I would call this lake is Bobby Boucher Blue. In Waterboy, Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler) has a vile of glacier water with this glowing blue color. My picture and videos don't do it justice, but maybe Google Lake Pukaki and see the multiple photos for yourself.

• While we are on the subject of crazy colors, the sulfur pools just outside Rotorua were equally insane. Deep orange and radioactive yellow-green in color.

People

Within the first 2 hours of being in New Zealand, we were in utter shock of how polite and kind the people were, at least in Auckland. We jumped off our bus and began walking around with our phones looking for our Airbnb. We were asked, not once, not twice, but by three different people if we needed help, did we know where we were going, could they help us find public transportation. I yelled at Lexi to put her phone away because I didn't want someone being so damn friendly to me again.

But not all was sweet and rosy. Going to grocery stores always came with a bit of anger directed our way (see more in lowlights). Yet, in general, people were really kind, helpful, and proud of their country.

New Zealand, as stated, is expensive so all of our Airbnb's were private rooms. Private rooms are where you stay in a house or apartment with another person or family. I know that might sound unappealing to some, but it really is a great way to meet the locals and get excellent recommendations. I highly recommend to those thinking of traveling or wanting in the future to really explore this option. It's always much cheaper than a hotel or an Airbnb to yourself. Especially in non-English speaking countries, having someone who is bilingual can come in handy and if not, at the very least, you get dipped into another culture.

Back to private rooms in New Zealand…we really met some down to earth people. We stayed at one place in Taupo where this lovely couple, Tina and Trev, made us this fantastic and I mean out of this world fantastic chicken curry dinner. The four of us sat down for dinner like a family and had great conversations. Many of the herbs, spices, and fruits were grown right in their own backyard and everything else was bought at a local farmer market. We even loved hanging out with their dog Zooey. Truly a great stay!

Another person I can not forget to mention is Alwyn. He was a fantastic host offering us muesli (similar to granola cereal), bread, honey, etc. His place is immaculate. Seemingly professionally cleaned and carefully looked after. Yet, it was the conversations we shared that really made this an excellent stay. About his family, where he lived, his job, future travels and more. Having such a great time, it was only fitting that the place that started our New Zealand adventures was also where we ended them. I reached out to Alwyn about staying at his place in Auckland before our flight to Melbourne and he was more than kind to offer his place up for free. As a thank you for being such a gracious host, we took him out to dinner. I hope that his future travels bring him to Chicago so that I can return the hospitality.

Food and Drink

The food and drink were just OK. Nothing too different from what we have back in the States, but by far, the best food was in Auckland and Wellington. The beer and coffee were the most noteworthy for me as they had quite the variety and high quality.

Groceries are really pricey. I will probably say this 100 more times but be prepared for high prices. About $60 for 3 days worth of food at the grocery store. Even fast food is expensive. McDonald's meal is about $10-$12 dollars. If you want to eat cheap, you're going to have to go with meat pies in the morning and Dominos at night. Yes, Dominos. For $4 bucks you can get a two topping pizza. Now, the "new and improved" Dominos that is marketed in the States (where they revamped the quality) did not make it to the NZ. It's not a very good pizza but fills you up.

Below are a few foods and drinks that were new to me:

Marmite - Yuck. I don't know why the UK/Aussies/Kiwis like this stuff. It's a salty black tar that you put on your toast like butter or jam. I had to try it after hearing about it and well, I wasn't happy with the product, to say the least. An acquired taste perhaps, but I'd be hard-pressed if many Americans would enjoy it.

Meat Pies - It's a craze. They are everywhere and every brand claims to be the best. Think of a pot pie on the go. I personally, didn't think they were all that great. They are eaten at all times - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - yet, I believe they are more popular in the morning. It's just too much heavy gravy and bread for me. I get why people would like them, as they are super cheap and not terrible. Biscuits and gravy on the go except not as good.

Manuka Honey - this stuff is gold! Try this stuff immediately if you get a chance; some of the best honey I've ever had. There is an ongoing debate whether this is New Zealand or Australian honey. What distinguishes this honey from the rest is that the honey comes from a manuka bush found in both New Zealand and Australia. However, this bush is prominent in New Zealand and "manuka" is a Maori term. Thus, New Zealand wins this debate in my book.

L&P - Lemon and Paeroa is a drink that is kind of like a lemony Sprite. Not half bad.

Kumara - tastes exactly like a sweet potato, but I'm told it isn't. Looks like it. Tastes like it. Must be it.

Coffee - really good coffee. Long black or an Americano was my typical go to.

Beer - Mac's Pale Ale and Tuatara APA were excellent beers.

Fergburger - If you are in Queenstown, you will inevitably see the long line of people waiting outside for this giant burger. I heard good things from reviews and word of mouth. Yet, I was not that impressed. Was it bad? No. But I don't think it was worth the long line and all the hype. Truthfully, it didn't taste all that different from a Whopper at the BK Lounge. I'm going to hold my nose up high on this one.

Safety

Seen the movie Pleasantville? Yeah, I think you're going to be OK in the country.

Highlights

Cleanliness is next to godliness. Isn't that the truth for NZ. They take environmental health to a whole new level and really, should be the gold standard for all countries. Kiwis take pride in their country and deservingly so. I haven't seen a cleaner country or city - not even in the US. Well done Kiwis, keep it up!

Road Trip. It was great to finally be able to have our own freedom to visit place to place without the need of buses or airfare. Getting in a car with the steering wheel on the right-hand side and driving on the left took some getting used to, but it was a great way to see this country.

Canyon Swing. My heart was set on bungee jumping, but the Canyon Swing was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. See videos under Nature and Scenery section.

English speaking country. It was nearly 3 months since I was an English speaking country and it was great to be able to just have a conversation with a complete stranger. Everything is easier when you can actually talk to someone…go figure, right?

Doubtful Sound. I look back at my videos and I'm still in awe. No people. No sound. Just blissful silence. Amazing.

Nature. I had to call out Doubtful Sound separately because it was that amazing. Yet, it's really hard to just pick one place to say it's the best. There is just so much to see on this little country and I was there for 30 days and still had plenty to see. All nature was amazing in it's own right. Everything you hear and see is as advertised and more.

Maori Culture. It's really prevalent in this country if you couldn't tell by their rugby team's dance. I think it is great to see how the country is completely immersed in the indigenous culture. Nothing like I've seen before. Granted, the Maori people deserve more, it is their country after all. Yet, seeing what the British have done in my own country and Australia to the Native Americans and Aborigines makes it nice to see something different.

Lowlights

Dolla Dolla bills yo. I've been complaining the whole time so no surprise that expense is a lowlight for me. We've been planning the majority of this trip on the seat of our pants and for the most part, it has worked out well for us. But in some parts, we've been burned. NZ burned a hole right in my pants. Let me run down the numbers for you.

Flight - $1,800/pp (see story below) Rental Car + Gas - $600/pp Airbnb's - $70/night avg X 30 days = $1,050/pp Food/Drink/Tours & Everything else ~$2,300/pp Natural Beauty = Priceless?

Grand Total = TOO. DAMN. EXPENSIVE. Or roughly $6K/pp.

Flight from Buenos Aires to Auckland was $900 one way in September 2017. We waited around Christmas to purchase in January and flights were going for $2,400…for ONE WAY!!! I could have bought a used car. I was able to exploit a "hidden city" flight and get a flight for $1,800. That's still $900 more than I was planning on spending.

For those who do not know, a "hidden city" flight is where you book a ticket to a destination that ends up having a connection to your desired city. In my case, I booked a ticket from Buenos Aires to Fiji. The flight had a connection in Auckland so I just told the ticket agent that I do not intend on getting onto my connecting flight. Therefore, I would just get off in Auckland. Now, I don't believe airlines like this one bit. So be careful if you decide to do the same. I was worried my checked backpack wouldn't get to Auckland, but the woman at the counter for Air New Zealand was more than accommodating.

Radio. The top hits of today sprinkled in with the 2000's and a whole lot of Phil Collins is great for an hour or two, but we were hitting seek every other 10 minutes.

Talk AM wasn't much better. Utterly ridiculous compared to the US. Again, it's like Pleasantville. The top stories or top crime is so little that anything is newsworthy. I can't recall a specific story because there were so many, but if I go to stuff.com.nz (NZ's local news website) the top viewed story is "Thousands of balls in Waikanae River 'stupid and irresponsible.'" https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/101754664/thousands-of-balls-in-waikanae-river-stupid-and-irresponsible

A top story on a bunch or 'heaps' of Chucky Cheese like play pit balls in the water.

Forever Driving. I was burnt out after 30 days of driving. It was mostly my own doing as I felt more comfortable driving. Lexi drove a few times, but 99% it was me. So by the time we got to Australia, I just wanted to zonk out.

Speaking of driving, I almost killed us a few times. Driving is on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right. So a bit of an adjustment the first 3 or so days. The only time I had a problem was when I wasn't fully concentrating. For example, pulling out of a gas station while sipping on a coffee at the same time. I wasn't really thinking until some other car laid on its horn. I saw oncoming traffic coming right towards me. I swerved back into the correct lane quickly and thank god nothing bad happened. There are really horrible stories about tourist, such as myself, driving on the wrong side of the road and getting into fatal accidents. After that scare, I was pretty cognizant there on out.

Stung by Wasp. We were hiking on Queen Charlottes Track and I was stung in my chest on our way back. I was allergic to bee stings as a kid so I was kind of freaking out. Lexi was amazing and used tweezers to pull out the stinger and I always carry a small med kit so I had some Benadryl to take as well just in case. That little sting was really painful as my whole chest was on fire, but it went away after 2 hours of icing it.

Not Rugby Season. I really, really wanted to see an All Blacks rugby game, but they only play in the winter seasons (June - August). They play every year at Solider field - at least the last 2 years - so maybe I'll just have to catch a game back home.

Strange and Weird

Speaking Spanish. On the first day in Auckland, I went to get a coffee at McDonald's and I literally said, Hola to the cashier. I even pointed to the menu on the counter to show what I wanted. I was so conditioned in South America that I forgot I could simply speak English to order food.

No Air Conditioning. Many of the Airbnb's we stood at did not have AC. New Zealand temperature is typically mild all year round with the need for AC only a month out of the year. However, we were there in that month and in an unprecedented heat wave that hasn't hit NZ in over two decades. So many Airbnb's were really hot, but we were usually fine with a fan as it cooled down at night.

No Screens. I don't quite understand it and I even asked Alwyn (our Airbnb host) why this is and he didn't quite understand why either. He just said many people aren't really bothered by the bugs. For us, it was more flies coming into the house than anything. For not having AC you want all the windows open, but it's tough to do at night when moths come straight to any light inside.

Funny Sayings. You'll hear it right away, but there are definitely some quirks when you talk to a Kiwi. "I reckon" is used frequently in place of, "I think." The strangest to me was the "Fun As, Hard As, Sweet As" type sayings. Similar to how we say that was "fun as hell" they drop the hell and just say fun as. I heard someone say, "Those waves were sweet as." All I heard was those waves were "Sweet Ass." Strange.

So many Sheep. I believe the ratio of sheep to humans is 7 to 1.

Recommendations

No question about it…go to New Zealand. It really doesn't matter where you go, you are going to find something amazing. If strapped on time, I recommend staying on the South Island and just drive around. Some of best times were us just driving off the beaten path. That's how we found Lake Pukakai (the really blue lake) and Wharariki Beach.