New Zealand
Like any place I visit, I always reflect on my trip after I have left and summarize my highlights. New Zealand is a country from another world as if I had landed on a different planet. It really had it all: turquoise, beaches, mountains, glaciers, culture, marine life, kiwis, and friendly folk. Although I only had three weeks in New Zealand, I saw more than I could have imagined on my Stray Bus hop-on-hop-off pass. Stray’s jam packed scheduled allowed me to see all of the main destinations on both the south and north islands, while flying in between to save time.
I would have liked to spend more time in some places (of course I felt this way, it’s New Zealand!), yet I know this glimpse of New Zealand introduced me to the country and allowed me to see the best of it. After this trip, I’ll know where I’d like to visit again and the new places to see if and when I make back it a second time. Of course there were places I missed during the fall season that I can only dream about seeing someday in the summer-the Bay of Islands and the north island tip specifically.
My trip to New Zealand surpassed my expectations even though I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew I would be hiking a lot, seeing lots of mountains, and that it would be much colder than Australia (well, it wasn’t that much colder than Melbourne actually) as I was traveling in the fall, but other than that I went without any set visualizations. It really is everything and more that people say. Seeing it for myself made me realize it truly is a bucket list destination and a must see breathtaking country. Now I understand why most people add New Zealand to their bucket list.
My five top spots in New Zealand (even though I could literally list them all) are:
1. Abel Tasman National Park– For its sea-green turquoise water, isolated beach bays, hiking coastal tracks, and marine life.
Anchorage Bay
2. Wanaka– For its quiet and quaint setting on Lake Wanaka surrounded by miraculous mountains, outdoor living, and Aviation adventure.
3. Franz Josef– For its sleepy town, world renowned Franz Josef Glacier, and rare Rowi kiwis.
4. Queenstown– For its icon reputation: adventure capitol of the world’s southern hemisphere, Lord of the Rings filming sites, gigantic mountains, and 85 kilometre turquoise Lake Wakatipu, and outdoor playground. Oh, and did I mention bustling touristy town?
5. Raglan– For its surfing town life-style, pie shop, relaxed atmosphere, and perfectly turquoise chilling beaches.
I learned very quickly after starting to tour around the islands that New Zealand is bigger than I thought; the roads are almost all windy through the mountainous regions, and there literally are white sheep dotting the entire landscape throughout New Zealand. One word: Beautiful. If you have been to New Zealand, I’d love to hear about your favorite places. If you are planning a journey to New Zealand I’d love to hear about the places you plan to see and how you plan to tackle NZ, as I did a Stray tour due to limited time.
Definitely colder than Melbourne with the ice on the roads and all hahahaha.
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It wasn’t colder when I arrived, or it didn’t feel like it was always. By the end of my tour on the south island it was much colder than Melbourne. 19 degrees in New Zealand is still 19 degrees in Melbourne! haha
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Oh P.S. where did you see ice on the roads?
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On the south island.
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Well, luckily there was none when I was there. 🙂
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It wasn’t winter yet 😉
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haha good thing I left when I did. eeeeks
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thanks for sharing all your experiences and opinions about New Zealand Jess, it’s been a great read and your photos are brilliant!
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Thank you so much. I’m glad I am getting you excited about your very own trip to New Zealand in the future. It’s an amazing country. You might experience NZ very differently than me, after all these are just my anecdotes as I saw them.
Jessica, Turquoise Compass
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Reblogged this on sara33ia.
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It’s never been top of my list, but New Zealand is somewhere I would be more than happy to visit some day. I hope it will surpass my expectations in the same way it has yours!
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Hey Catherine, thanks for stopping by Turquoise Compass and for commenting on one of my recent trips. I knew that I would ‘someday’ visit NZ, but I never expected that day to be this year. After visiting, I wished I had of put it on the top of my bucket list years ago because I didn’t realize just how spectacular it was until I visited it this year! You will love it whenever it is that you make it there.
Jessica, Turquoise Compass
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I’ll second that! So glad you had a great time. Hope you can come back again sometime soon. I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful country!
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I hope to come back soon too! Yes, you are very lucky to live where you do. I feel the same way as a Canadian!
Jessica, Turquoise Compass
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Did you get a chance to explore Mt Cook? For me Wanaka was my #2 as well! The fall colours were FANTASTIC!
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I didn’t get a chance to explore Mt. Cook. Unfortunately, I had to fly from Queenstown to Auckland and I had to skip it (for the time being). What did I miss out on? Yes, Wanaka was pretty spectacular and seeing it in the fall was even more amazing!
Jessica, Turquoise Compass
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I think the great thing about NZ is the huge diversity in landscapes, yet they’re all so close together and accessible. You are right though our roads and windy and you ALWAYS need to leave yourself plenty of time! So glad you loved your trip here.
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I LOVED it. What is your fav. part of NZ?
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You took amazing photos of beautiful New Zealand .It is beautiful like Canada,Alaska,Norway and Iceland.All that stunning Cold beauty stuff.
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Thank you so much. It is easy to take pictures of such beautiful places. I take it you like cold places?
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New zealand is beautiful like Canada ,Alaska,Norway and Iceland
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Do you have plans to visit NZ?
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