Our Thoughts On New Zealand

We were unsure what to expect when we first arrived here. The majority of people had told us that it was similar to Scotland as it had great scenery and the climate was roughly the same. We had been looking forward to it and were glad of the change from Australia. Luckily for us it was the middle of summer when we arrived and although at first we found it cold, it was still dry and sunny to get out and explore.

We started in Christchurch after our problems with not being booked on the flight despite having a paper ticket, leading to us being upgraded, followed by our hostel being double booked, leading to us having to spend the night with a cool/crazy (still can't decide) elderly Macedonian woman and her Kiwi partner. We instantly felt at home here as the locals were far more welcoming and hospitable than in Oz.

The first night here was spent with a chippy that we discovered was so cheap and heading back to bed to wrap ourselves in blankets due to the cold! Our time in Christchurch was filled with a visit to the botanical gardens and the Canterbury museum where we learned about the indigenous Maori people and the local wildlife, which used to include the huge Moa bird - the tallest bird in the world! We also came across a Scotland shop where we treated ourselves to a warm Scottish jumper!

After a few days in Christchurch we picked up a car which we had rented for 5 weeks. Our intentions were to cover as much as possible and we felt that in the 6 weeks that we had we would be able to see all the main sights. Our first day on the road was spent at the small French town of Kaikoura before we finished the day off at Oamaru. Here we got to view our first live penguin, although it was very far away.

Dunedin was the next big town in our route and we spent a couple of nights here where we climbed the worlds steepest street and explored a couple of the nice beaches in the area. From Dunedin, it was onto the Southern Scenic tourist route which stretches 559km (349 miles) from Dunedin on the East Coast to Milford Sound on the West.

This route was fantastic and there was a constant supply of amazing scenery to keep you occupied whilst driving as well as waterfalls, forests, lakes and viewpoints amongst other things to keep us occupied. Some of the highlights were the seals at Porpoise Bay, penguins at Nugget Point, Slope Point - the Southernmost point on the mainland of New Zealand - Lake Manapouri which was stunning and the cruise at Milford Sound was out of this world!

From Milford Sound it was time to head to the adrenaline capital of the world - Queenstown. We had an amazing time here and managed to spend half of our money here due to the fantastic range of activities on offer. In 2 days we went skydiving from 15,000ft, white water rafting, horse riding and went on the worlds highest arc swing! We also managed to squeeze in a few of the famous Fergburgers that are a must for anyone visiting Queenstown.

Next on the list was Mount Cook National Park where we hoped to see our first proper glacier, however it was mostly covered by rocks and water. We then moved North to Franz Josef Glacier which was great to get up close to before heading to the far North of the South Island. Here lies Abel Tasman National Park which is spectacular and offers many walks and kayaking trips with some great beaches. Also in this area is Nelson where the geographical centre of New Zealand is.

It was then time to get the ferry across to the North Island and Wellington, the capital city, was our first destination. There wasn't a great deal to do here but we did stay right next to the botanic gardens which was nice and we visited the national museum which was especially educational about local marine life and fossils.

Upon leaving Wellington we came across AmeriCarama in Hawrea, an annual car festival celebrating old American cars, before we explored Egmont National park. This was a
preview of Tongariro national Park that we went to the next day and undertook a 20km hike over volcanic terrain as well as climbing up an active volcano which was over 2,200m tall! This mountain was also used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

There was more thermal sights to see and we spent a couple of days in Rotorua exploring hot springs and mud pools where we bumped into a fellow Glaswegian whom we went out for a drink with. we were glad to leave as the sulphur fumes were terrible and it was a relief to head for Matamata where we went on a tour around the set of Lord of the Rings.

Our time was almost up and we thought that we had seen all of the nicest places in New Zealand until we went to the Coromandel region at the top of the North Island. This area was fantastic and had some great beaches, the best of which were Cathedral Cove and Hot Water beach. We were fortunate enough to get some great weather to enjoy them as well.

From the Coromandel region it was only a short drive to Auckland where we stopped off for a couple of nights. We had a walk around the city centre but there wasn't too much that we were interested in doing and it wasn't long before we were heading to Northland. In this region is Waitangi, where the Treaty of waitangi was signed for the Maori's to accept the British colonisation. Located near Waitangi is Russel, the countries first capital. It was then up to 90 mile beach, the furthest North that we travelled.

From looking back on the 6 weeks we have had in New Zealand it is easy to see why this has been our favourite country so far. The scenery is fantastic, the locals are friendly and the amount of activities to take part in is unreal. We were fortunate enough to have great weather to enjoy it all too. Here we got to see so many natural wonders such as volcanoes and glaciers, as well as interesting wildlife like penguins that all contributed to making this an enjoyable experience.