Welcome to Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. Māori people originally used this word to refer to New Zealand's North Island, but it has since come to define the entire country— and it seems a perfectly mystical name for a positively magical place. High alpine peaks and imposing glaciers border dense rainforests and wild beaches, while textured valley, vibrant lakes, and gushing waterfalls cut th[...]
New Zealand is one of my all-time favourite travel destinations, dishing up spectacular adventures and surreal scenery within a compact, cultured, and incredibly safe country. By all accounts, it's the perfect place for a long road trip, the views out of the window hard to beat anywhere in the world. After spending 2 months road tripping around New Zealand on a couple different trips, I'm keen to share all my fi[...]
Small, incredibly isolated, and home to about 6-times as many sheep as humans, New Zealand may not seem like the perfect road trip destination—but it is undoubtably one of the world's finest. From soaring alpine peaks and blue-ice glaciers to lush rainforest and pristine beaches, NZ is dominated by natural beauty and ruled by a wild spirit, kiwis and international travellers alike enchanted by the contagious sense[...]
One of the most spectacularly beautiful countries in the entire world, New Zealand is also perfectly set up for road trips, with well-maintained highways out to national parks, huge networks of campsites, and an insane concentration of natural sites all on a relatively small pair of islands. Several years wouldn't be enough time to do NZ justice, but with just 10 days, you can still see some of the South Island's mo[...]
There is so much to love about New Zealand. For starters, it has some of the best alpine trekking in the world, a seemingly infinite number of beautiful lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, a booming wine region, wild beaches with pumping surf, and a crazy assortment of adrenaline-fuelled activities that might make you seriously question why you didn't think of rolling down a hill in a giant ball sooner. All of this p[...]
Set against the spectacular backdrop of The Remarkables and bright Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown is a lively, backpacker-filled resort town in the SW of New Zealand's South Island, best known for its seemingly infinite number of adrenaline-fuelled activities. With alpine peaks perfect for tramping in summer and skiing in winter, beach access onto countless lakes and rivers, endless biking trails, and the world's first c[...]
With an incredibly sophisticated network of well-maintained trails, campsites, and mountain huts all looked after by the Department of Conservation, New Zealand is inarguably one of the world's premier trekking destinations, before you even consider its abundance and diversity of stunning natural scenery. You'll find high alpine regions whose peaks are covered in year-round snow only hours from sunny coastal walks,[...]
Nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps just an hour's drive from Queenstown (New Zealand's adventure capital), the little town of Wanaka is emerging as another fantastic trekking destination on the South Island. Best known in the area is the steep climb up Roy's Peak— you'd surely recognise photos of hikers, arms outstretched, posing over dramatic Lake Wanaka, but what you might not have seen is the long qu[...]
As we prepared for our trip around New Zealand and looked into the seemingly infinite number of incredible hikes on offer, the trek to Mueller Hut was an immediate standout. If the stars aligned and we were lucky enough to have clear skies, we'd be rewarded with unparalleled views of the majestic, snow-capped Mt Cook nearly close enough to touch. I've done this trek twice now, obsessed with the alpine scenery and[...]
At the chilly, distant tip of New Zealand's South Island, Fiordland National Park is home to some of the country's most spectacular landscapes, perhaps none more breathtaking or better known than Milford Sound (Piopiotahi in Māori). Considered by many to be the 8th Natural Wonder of the World, sheer, densely-rainforested cliffs rise thousands of metres out of the sea as waterfalls carry icy freshwater back down to[...]
Our 5 weeks in New Zealand flew by far too quickly and I didn’t get to see half of the things I wanted to, yet I’ve still come away thinking that this is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been and I can’t wait to get back. Missing our lush little neighbour already, I thought I’d compile my favourite photos from the trip into a single post. Read more about New[...]
The wide angle lens on my camera comes in handy so often, but I was a bit regretful today that I didn't have anything with a bit of zoom so I could capture the magic seals we saw today! All the details: Kaikoura Getting there: Kaikoura is located in the far NE of New Zealand's South Island, a 2.5 hour drive from the Christchurch Airport or a 2 hour drive from Picton (where the Interislander ferry arrives from We[...]
After a very unfortunate fiasco with the ferry tickets from North to South Island, wherein I mistook the 9am departure as 215pm and had us trotting around Wellington in search of food while our boat was boarding and leaving, we finally to make it to Picton on an 8pm sailing thanks to a very nice ticket lady who obviously took pity on me while I fought back tears at the ferry desk. I’m in h[...]
After a tear-filled goodbye (me) with dad and Eileen at Arthur's Pass, Cal and I board a bus to Christchurch where we will fly to Auckland on New Zealand's North Island to meet our friends. Dramas with our car rental aside, we eventually connect with Cal's work friend, Jimmy, and my friends, Other Brooke and Katie, at a crappy motel for the night. We are all really excited to see each other, but mostly excited for t[...]
By now, I know better than to assume that any hike in NZ will be leisurely, but Avalanche Peak definitely sends me off to the North Island with an intense yearning for flat ground and a renewed hatred for steep descents. All the details: Avalanche Peak Getting there: Drive to Arthur's Pass Village, about 90 minutes NW of Christchurch Airport. There's a free campsite on the river nearby where you might spend the[...]