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New Zealand
  • Marc W

New Zealand

My 17 day adventure trip to New Zealand's North and South Island with Intro Travel Group. Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 25, 2023
  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Auckland

    February 27, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Day 1: Fly to Auckland, Arrive at Hostel, Meet the group

    Flew Into Auckland, NZ via BOS -> DFW -> AKL. Didn't sleep the entire trip. Met up with Jade and Paige at the airport before being shuttled to the YMCA Hostel, where I met Jason and Max for the first time. A group of people on the trip were already out exploring the city, so Jade, Paige, and I went on our own little walk down by the Harbor. The next few hours waiting for the rest of the group were filled with just getting to know each other and poking fun at each others language differences, accents and cultures. Eventually we were joined by Ethan, Amy, Sophie, Elena, Grace, and Nia for drinks before our welcome dinner!

    Group Leader:
    Jason - Ireland

    The Group:
    Amy - GB
    Grace - GB
    Elena - GB
    Sophie - GB
    Bryony - GB
    Megan - Scotland
    Charlotte - GB
    Jade - GB
    Page - GB
    Madison - AUS
    Ethan - AUS
    Pipa - GB
    Max - GER
    Nic - GER
    Claudia - GB
    Charlie - GB
    Nia - GB / Wales
    Marc - USA    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Waiheke Island

    February 28, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Day 2: Explore Waiheke Island and Auckland

    Woke up and took a 45min ferry trip to Waiheke Island where we hiked, swam, and explored the island. The group spent most of the day in Oneroa tanning on the beach and swimming in Oneroa Bay. After which, we went for a hike on the Newton Reserve to get a better view of Oneroa city, beach, and bay. It was a nice relaxing kind of day after several long flights. Upon return to Auckland that afternoon, freetime was given to us to explore the city. That night we celebrated our new found friendships over Domino's pizza, which is unfortunately, quite disappointing compared to the US.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Waitomo Caves

    March 1, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Day 3: Route to Rotorua; Glow Worm Caves & Hobbiton

    The group got an early start to the day hopping in a bus to Rotorua with stops at the world famous Glow Worm Caves and Hobbiton Movie set from the Lord of the Rings franchise. It was difficult to take pictures of the glow worms as they need complete darkness and silence to give off their signature bio-luminescent glow. Any outside light or loud sound will dim their lights for hours ruining the experience of the caves. A few of the group had some decent photos, but I can only describe it as if you were stargazing in complete and utter silence and darkness. The caves themselves are incredible works of nature, but the worms specially require a boat and a series of ropes strung across the walls the guides use to traverse the waters in complete darkness.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Hobbiton

    March 1, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Day 3: Route to Rotorua; Glow Worm Caves & Hobbiton

    After the Glow worm caves, the group hopped in the bus to head to one of the most recognizable movie sets in cinematic history: Hobbiton. Funny enough, one of the things I remember most about this part of the trip is actually being forced by the Brits into trying my very first “sausage roll”, which is, essentially, just a breakfast sausage log covered in flaky pastry. It was actually quite good, but alas, it was deemed “not authentic” beginning one of the many invitations to visit London for a proper sausage roll.

    ANYWAYS, back to the main aspect of our trip. The group parked in a separate parking lot away from the set as they try to control how many people enter the movie set with tour groups of 40 people at 30 mins intervals. After boarding the bus, a video played a little retelling of the story of the sets founding, creation, filming, and eventual adjustment into a tourist attraction. We then disembarked the bus for our group's walking tour around the life size set. The group immediately went into full nerd mode, remembering the amazing films and recognizing the iconic hill Bilbo runs up while exclaiming the iconic line “I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE,” which many of us, including myself, attempted to recreate without looking too foolish. Though, I admit that my attempt looks oddly like Jack Sparrow had been transported into the LoTR universe and is now attempting to escape after hearing the rum was gone.

    After our walking tour, which included several 20 min breaks to allow us all to take photographic evidence of our childish excitement, we stopped off for a pint of ale at the Green Dragon. If you don't know the significance of that Inn to the LoTR story, then I am sorry, but you will not be hearing it from me. Go learn you some culture.

    The significance of this tour extends to more than just our childish excitement of our surroundings, but also a give and take of cultural norms. I was able to introduce my new found friends to the standard vacation pose I have used to begin accumulating photos of interesting places, of which I intend to create an album of photos doing said pose all around the world. In exchange, my British friends introduced me to the unlawful act of “nicking” which is apparently quite prevalent in all British bars. As another one of my vacation rituals of buying pint glasses on each vacation was bearing no fruit, I decided I was not going to be leaving the country without some kind of liquid retaining kitchenware. And so I left Hobbiton with both a teacher's pride and a guilty conscience.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Rotorua

    March 1, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    DAY 3: Road to Rotorua

    Post Hobbiton, the group boarded the coach again to set off toward the beautiful city of Rotorua where we enjoyed dinner on E-street with a nice frozen Margareta and one of the best burritos I have ever experienced in my life.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Rotorua

    March 2, 2023 in New Zealand

    Day 4: Maori Cultural Center, Geothermal Pools / Geyser, Kerosene Creek, Picnic, Drunk Marc, Pig & Whistle, Karaoke

    In the morning of day 4 the group woke up to load the bus for a tour around the Maori (M-ow-ree) cultural center in Rotorua. Upon entering the Maori peoples sacred village, we received a tour of the traditional buildings that are still used today to hold regular meetings of all the Maori people in the area. The next stop was the onsite and governmentally funded Maori Art/Culture center where students are sent for 2+ years to learn all the traditional Maori art forms of traditional jewelry making, woodworking, canoe building, weaponry, weaving traditional clothing, and the iconic Maori tattooing. The statues are of famous people and the designs of the Maori carvings tell stories of the significant characteristics of the individual.

    After school, we set out to see the national bird of New Zealand: The Kiwi. New Zealand used to be a part of Australia, but it was all under water. Once it separated and rose from the ocean, the only animals that could reach the land were birds. Without any natural predators or small vermin for the birds to hunt, they eventually evolved to become ground dwellers and lost their wings to feed on insects and worms in the group. They are surprisingly large and can be quite territorial. Still one of my favorite animals and second favorite flightless bird.

    After the Kiwi sanctuary was the second to last stop of the tour: The sulfur geothermal pools and geyser. The mud from the pools is actually very popular for facial creams and masks as it tightens the pores and smoothes out wrinkles. The geyser is always shooting, but only truely erupts every 10-15mins.

    On our way back from the geyser we walked through the Maori art museum and gift shop where you can purchase all handmade works produced by the students of the school to help fund its scholarships and building maintenance. This is where I got the fern necklace, bracelet and a golf ball.

    After the Maori village, the group boarded a bus to find some hot pools along the kerosene creek known for its strong scent and warm running waters. This is also the group's first experience of Marc’s various solo wanderings as I was hiking further down the river for a good 15 mins before returning to both bothered and completely unfazed faces.

    Once the group was sufficiently relaxed, we returned to the city where the rest of the day's free time involved a picnic in the governmental gardens, partying in the lads room with Nics rather unexpectedly great sense of music, and pregaming for a fun night out with the group. The pregame of course involved many flowing drinks and drinking games in the hostel, but was a great introduction into the different drinking cultures and styles of each nation represented. The Irish and Germans stereotypically went for beer, while the UK girls went for their vodka & wine. Meanwhile, the Aussies introduced the squad to another delicious take on pre-made cocktails called vodka cruisers. Let me just say that I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that we do not have these in the Americas as they quickly became a staple drink on the trip. Finally, I felt like the odd one out, per usual, as I was regularly reminded how apparently gross straight whiskey smelled and tastes in my attempts to share and learn these brits a thing or two. Alas, more for me.

    Then after a delicious night out with more drinks at the Pig and Whistle, we were escorted to what I can only describe as the local karaoke watering hole with a very eclectic group of locals who did not seem happy to have 19 foreigners showing up to their bar. So began one of the greatest nights of the trip as one after another our group put on stunning performances ranging from Nia rapping the entirety of “Gangsters Paradise” only to quite literally drop the mic and immediately break it, to Jay attempting to relearn spice girls lyrics, and, finally, my solo country performance which left everyone silent and staring, a sign that can only mean the beautiful beginning of their immediate dive into the beautiful, yet misunderstood world of american country music. Once again, I am filled with a teacher's joy of passing on beautiful pieces of enlightening knowledge. By the end of the night, we had made friends with just about every group at the bar and only left at the behest of the majority of the group whose vocal cords were beginning to strain. At least the next day would be a quiet one.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Rotorua

    March 3, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Day 5: Hot Springs, SkyPark, Maori Village Experience

    The final day at Rotorua was a rather unexpected gift of free time. I myself was hoping for an attempt to go White Water Rafting on what is regarded as one of the greatest rivers in the world: The Kaituna River. Unfortunately, a week before our arrival, a cyclone brought heavy rains that flooded the river, making it unsafe for rafting.

    To fill my desire for adventure and adrenaline, a small group of Amy, Ethan, Paige, Sophie, Max, Charlotte, and myself went to the local skypark which had a skyswing, ziplines and luge runs for us to fill our desire for speed, drops, and general fun. While Amy was putting up a good show on her way up the gondola, she immediately was screaming for mercy during our slow climb up to the top of the swing where I had a devilish pleasure of releasing us whenever I desired. I played the part almost too well in my rather loose attempts to pull the cord. The exclamation of error in the machine only caused Amy’s scream to be louder a few seconds later as she was forced to open her eyes to look, in horror, at the smile on my face as I pulled the cord sending the cage into an immediate freefall. A mixture of bodies, metal, laughs and strong curses were sent hurtling through the air as we swung over the treetops of Rotorua.

    The rest of the day's adventures were speeding down luge tracks racing and trying, rather unsuccessfully, not crash into the walls of the track.

    After a quick shower, the entire group met up for a Maori village cultural experience and dinner put on by a local tribe. The best explanation of the experience is everything I wish a Hawaiian Luau was. We had traditional Maori food prepared by digging a hole in the group, covering the food with layers of leaves, and spreading hot coals and embers across the top to cook both sides. The Maori people are one with nature and believe that as everything comes from nature, that is the proper way to prepare food. The dinner, which strangely resembled an American Thanksgiving, was delicious and involved stories of Maori folklore, history, and even a Q&A session on anything the group wanted to learn about the culture. After dinner, the group was led to a natural spring fed river where the tribe's warriors showcased their handmade canoe and warrior chats (not the haka). Fun fact, the water we drank at dinner was pulled from the river as it is the only available water source in the village.

    Following the river demonstration was the introduction of our group to the village leaders, where our tour's “chief Dean from Essex” presented a peace offering of a leaf and song to the tribe to show our desire for friendship. Upon acceptance, we were invited to stay for a show of the tribe's many cultural dances, instruments, weapons, fighting styles, historical stories, and, of course, a haka. Following the performance, we were invited back to their life size village for a night walk back to the river to see the glow worms lining the river.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Taupo

    March 4, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Day 6: World's coolest McDonalds, Golfing, Sunset Sail on lake TauPo (Toe-Pour)

    Raising ourselves in the early morning, the group departed for TauPo (pronounced Toe-Pour) where the day began with rain and clouds, but eventually gave way to a beautiful clear sky. Perfect weather for us to explore the city. In our excitement someone blurted out that the McDonalds in the area is famous for its plane seating, which immediately got everyone excited to see exactly what was meant by “Plane-seating”. Spoiler alert, its exactly what you think it is. An old plane from the 1920s was seated right next to the McDonalds and is now used as seating for any one, usually children, to have a unique place to eat. Well, naturally, all 19 of us piled into the McDonalds and effectively took over all the seating in the plane. Only part of me felt bad whenever a bright eyed child would walk up into the plane, only for those same lights to dim after seeing nineteen 20+ yr old adults hogging all the seats. I regret nothing!

    This experience, of course, should have probably been a one time experience. However, you would be wrong. In the two days we spent in Tau-Po, that same McDonalds was visited a grand total of 5 times by the group. Trust me, I am just as confused.

    One of the flaws of this trip involved understanding that I would not be able to experience the growing golf scene in the country with several of the top 100 golf courses in the world. While I was understandably disappointed, my desire was satiated by a fun game of “quick-everyone-pitch-in. Marc-is-gonna-win-us-$10000.” An island green was constructed 113yrds into the lake and several bays were set up where all you had to do was hit the red dot in the middle of the target. Of the 50 shots I had, 27 must of hit the target, but due to obviously windy conditions and magnetic pull of those lake magnets, I was unable to win the group back its money.

    The day ended with a beautiful sunset cruise around lake TauPo where our captain sailed us to maori carvings in the rock wall. The entire trip was DJ’d by Nic of course, who was quickly becoming a legend amongst the group with his ability to pick the perfect song at every opportunity. Many photos were taken, many drinks were drunk, many laughs were had, and many of us froze in the cold lake after peer pressuring everyone to go for a nice swim. Golden hour on the way back to shore is where I began to consider a new career as “Magic Marc.” Let me explain. As I was coming from a freezing cold environment of the midwest winter, the cool late afternoon weather was not yet bothering me, and so in not wanting to get my shirt wet after swimming in the lake, the only clothing I decided to keep on was my swimmers, sunglasses and adventure hat. Meanwhile, the rest of the group appeared to be freezing, layering up in as many jumpers and puffers as they could find. This is where I established my dominance amongst the group, showing I could withstand the immensely grueling 20℃ climate 😉    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Taupo: Huka Falls

    March 5, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Day 7: Huka Waterfall Hike, Skydive Experience, Pasta Dinner

    Day 7 of the trip involved a longer than expected hike to the beautiful Huka falls, walking past an extremely popular bungee jumping outpost who apparently sells unattended children to the circus. Gotta make money somehow I guess. The hike was a great time for Max and I to get to know each other as we quickly pulled away from the group in his attempt to win the alpha role from me. Spoiler Alert… He did not.

    The hike was surprisingly laborious, but the waterfall was worth it. Beautiful rapids leading to a great drop. The only thing that could ruin this day was if the hike potentially took too long for the group to complete on the way to the waterfall causing 6 of us to have to hike back twice as fast to be back at the hostel before the car came to pick us up for skydiving. Good thing nothing like that happened, or I would be extremely annoyed at the tour guide who might have even tried to get us an uber from the falls parking lot only to find out none were in the area and the taxis wouldnt come out that far 🙃    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Taupo: Skydive & Hostel Dinner

    March 5, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Day 7: Huka Waterfall Hike, Skydive Experience, Pasta Night

    The skydiving HUMMER LIMO picked Sophie, Amy, Paige, Grace, Nic and myself up for our transportation to the airport, where only a few of us (not me) almost chickened out before suiting up. Eventually we were signing our lives away, suiting up, climbing in the plane, reaching 17000 ft, jumping out, screaming, and landing before we could even process it fully. The whole experience was almost over too quickly to even remember doing it. Safe to say that everyone was floating on air the rest of the night, just waiting for the photos and videos to come through.

    Have you ever gone to the store to buy food for a group of people thinking everyone will be hungry, buy and cook said food, only for there to be way too many leftovers? Yeah well that's what happened when I volunteered to cook Aglio E Olio for the entire group. We bought 8 packets of spaghetti for the group, boiled a MASSIVE pot of water, cooked 6 packets, and still had enough to feed everyone else in the hostel! I am never cooking that large of a meal again, but everyone said they loved it, so a win’s a win!    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Auckland

    March 6, 2023 in New Zealand

    Day 8: Return to Auckland, Night Out

    The group's return to Auckland was a long one that was not looked upon too greatly as the YMCA hostel beds were squeaky and unforgiving, but alas the north island tour was coming to an end. That night was filled with dinner, drinks, Megan signing everyone’s boobs and a live band that kept everyone out late and having a good time. The group even attempted to get Harry Styles to head to the bar after the concert he was playing that night. Alas, he did not show, and we had to say goodbye to our north island friends… or so we thought.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Queenstown

    March 7, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Day 9: Fly to Queenstown, Explore the City, Welcome dinner, night out, Meet new faces, Jays Jumper,

    The next day was filled with travel to the south island and the beautiful city of Queenstown. A city that feels like it was designed to bring in two types of people: the extremely rich and backpackers. It gave me strong Colorado Springs vibes, even though I've never been there. We also met the new fresh faces that would be joining us to replace the four we lost. In good fashion, we went out for dinner where I finally found a good glass pint glass (which I nicked of course), and had another night out to welcome the new additions to our group.

    Fresh Faces:
    Jarno - Ned
    Shonna - Scotland
    Aby - GB
    Danielle - GB

    Funny enough, we only ended up losing Amy from the north island members as 3 of them followed us to Queenstown for work and travel before they moved on. Bryony works in one of the Queenstown hotels, Max plans on working/traveling in the city, and Nic came down a day late to travel the south Island.

    This aspect of the night also began the infamous Jays jumper addition to my wardrobe. During the night out, I noticed that Jay had taken off his short sleeve jumper and rested it on one of the chairs for safe keeping. In my tispy nature, I thought it would be funny to put it on and see how long it would take for Jay to notice it was missing. However, when I grabbed the jumper for the first time, I didn't realize just how much I had fallen in love with it. I ended up wearing it the rest of the night after exclaiming how comfortable it was and how much I enjoyed it. Jay ended up parting with it saying that it suited me better despite it being as size XL. I immediately bought him a case of beer as payment. The rest of the trip Jays Jumper and myself were inseparable until the infamous pool night which I shall bring up later.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Queenstown: Explore City

    March 8, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Day 10: Morning Walk, Jet Boat Tour, Mountain Hike SkyLine, Ice Bar, Fergburger

    Our second day in Queenstown was very adventurous. In the morning we met one of the other intro travel guides who took us on a walk around Lake Wakatipu while explaining the story of the two lovers and the man's battle against a giant to free and marry his love. The woman was of high noble birth, while the man was a common warrior who was not allowed to marry her. One day a giant came and kidnapped her, and the chief offered her hand in marriage to any man who could return her. Well the man saw his opportunity and sought out the giant. He figured out that the giant always slept during nights where there were winds from the north-west. Therefore, during the next night with those winds and while the giant was sleeping, he snuck into his den, retrieved his love, and then set fire to all land around the giant's den. The giant burned to death in the S shape of Lake Wakatipu. The two lovers were able to marry, and the only thing left of the giant was his heart which is still said to be beating to this day by evidence of the lake's waves.

    After the hike, the group was set for a Jet Boat tour of Lake Wakatipu and the Kawarau River involving many close calls almost hitting various buoys, docks, trees and even a bridge.

    Later a select few of the group decided to go on a hike during the afternoon free time up the Tiki Trail to the top of Bob's Peak for a great view of the city. The 45 min hike brought us to the top of Bob's peak where we were able to take a free gondola ride back to the bottom and evade the $45 fee for a ride up.

    The hike worked up quite an appetite and sweat for its participants. The best solutions at the time seemed to be the -5℃ Ice Bar and the one and only Fergburger, which is famous for having one of the best burgers in all of New Zealand. I gave it 8.5/10. Not the best i've ever had, but still quite delicious.

    Following dinner, the group decided to have a movie night resulting in 10-12 grown adults all singing along to the greatest sequel ever created: Shrek 2. This is also where I was introduced to the unfortunate truth that the rest of the world has better chocolate than the United States and it's not even close.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Fiordland National Park & Milford Sound

    March 9, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Day 11: Fiordland National Park, Mirror Lakes, Milford Sound, Te Anau, Meeting Reese

    Day 11 was one of the days I was looking forward to the most. In typical Marc fashion, I wasn't able to sleep the entire bus ride down from Queenstown to Fiordland National Park on our way to Milford sound. It was quite the ride as our Cheeky Kiwi driver Reese quickly became part of the group as all the tour participants enjoyed his fun facts, cheeky sense of humor, and the fact he looked a little like Obi Wan Kenobi. Safe to say, Reese was a hit.

    We stopped several times in our journey to capture photos of the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand including the flat glacial plains leading to dramatic mountain ranges stretching hundreds of miles in each direction, the mirror lakes, rushing waterfalls, and rainforest walks along rushing rapids and rivers.

    Milford Sound: it's hard to figure out exactly how to describe it and the photos don't really do it justice. It's really just an absolutely incredible part of nature that deserves its places as one of the many natural wonders of the world. It's one of those places where you don't want the sun to come out, because the clouds and fog only add to the natural beauty and mystery of the fjord. Fun fact, Milford Sound is not actually a sound as a sound is usually formed by the flooding of a river valley, not a glacial valley. However, the first explorers didn't know glaciers formed the landscape at the time and so proclaimed them sounds. It's really one of those places on earth that has to be seen in person to truly enjoy and understand.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Te Anau

    March 9, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 11: Fiordland National Park, Mirror Lakes, Milford Sound, Te Anau, Meeting Reese

    The rest of the day involved several more hours of travel and stops along winding roads up and over the mountains and rolling hills of the southern island on our way to our overnight stop in Te Anau. The night involved one of the many night walks the group enjoyed while getting to know the city and exploring each others horoscopes.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Te Anau: Morning Photoshoot

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    The next morning was an early one for Grace, Elena and myself. At a cloudy sunrise the three of us decided to go for a polar bear plunge at 6:30am because why not? While several of the group chickened out after hearing what time we were deciding to wake up, the 3 of us bravely battled the cold water until realizing the sun was not rising above the cloud covered mountains. However, the morning was not over as Megan soon joined us in her desire to capture photos at one of the most famous photography points noted on the New Zealand reddit page she follows. It's easy to see why. The photos came out to be AMAZING.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Lake Manapouri: LoTR Photo Shoot

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    The photography sessions did not end that morning, however. After the group walked through a quick trip at a local bird sanctuary, Reese took us to some random beach without telling us much about what was going on. We all piled out of the bus to walk along the random beach confused as to what exactly was going on. THEN, OUT OF NOWHERE, Reese starts pulling costumes, fake beards/wigs, and SWORDS out of the bus. It's safe to say everyone was excited. For the next hour we all took turns taking photos, playing out fight scenes, and enjoying a chance to nerd out over being in New Zealand and getting to dress up in LoTR outfits! Again, I think the photos tell the whole story.

    The photography session was followed with a long bus ride up the country passing various LoTR filming locations as Reese would give us fun facts about the country and the locations. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see a lot of the locations from the road/bus, but it was still fun to imagine the movies playing out right in front of us.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Gibbston Valley Wines

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    The several hour coach trip was interrupted by a great stop at a Vineyard for some wine and cheese tasting before heading up to Wanaka.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Wānaka: Holiday Homes

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    Funny story, the Wanaka hostel we were supposed to stay at, canceled our reservation due to an agricultural & farming expo taking place in the city that week. With everything else booked, Intro Travel booked the group two holiday homes outside the city that were an extremely welcomed change of pace from the crowded public hostels. The group immediately took advantage of the luxury homes throwing a pool / hot tub party resulting in many empty bottles of alcohol and a certain author of this page spending the night in the wrong house sleeping on the couch, and waking up to the rest of the group taking photos of him sleeping the next morning. Funny enough, it was the best sleep he got the whole trip.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Wānaka

    March 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Day 13: Couch Nap, Kayaking, Wanaka Tree, Ruby Island Exploring and Relaxation, BBQ, Pool Night, Rent Van

    With heavy heads and a silent van ride, the group headed into downtown Wanaka for some morning kayaking on Lake Wanaka. We kayaked across the lake to the famous Wanaka tree which is really just a tree that is growing out of the lake, but it's one of the most photographed trees in the world for its unique position on the lake.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Wānaka: Ruby Island, Van Rental, BBQ

    March 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Day 13: Couch Nap, Kayaking, Wanaka Tree, Ruby Island Exploring and Relaxation, BBQ, Pool Night, Rent Van

    After kayaking, the group was surprised with a boat trip to the small Ruby Island where we spent the next 2 hours swimming and relaxing/recovering on the rock beach.

    With the island proving lacking in quenching our hunger, the group headed back for a quick lunch and grocery shopping for the night's BBQ at one of the holiday homes. A group of us also had to stay behind to book separate transportation for 10 members of the group in our desire to get to the airport 2 days later for the Mt. Cook Heli hike. This began the very unexpected adventure of me driving a van on the other side of the road, for the first time, on the other side of the world.

    Upon a relatively safe return to the holiday home, Aby, Danielle, Ethan and myself found ourselves desiring to do more than just sit and relax. Therefore, we decided to go for a walk around one of the many new neighborhoods in the area. The brand new homes has a very confusing and somewhat creepy feel as we could find no signs of life for the first half of our walk. Just new homes with evidence of residents, but no life. Eventually, we found an outdoor beer garden and decided to stop for a drink. Upon entering this beer garden on the other side of the world, I find a yard game all too familiar to my American DNA: Cornhole. Naturally, I had to teach the others how to play, while also having a fun chance to show off. After winning two games however, Ethan and I found ourselves strangely losing the final game and having to jump into the holiday homes pool upon our return with all of our clothes on, which did get a good laugh from the rest of the group.

    The rest of the night involved nothing but a relaxing BBQ, many games of pool, and sleeping in a bed that, honestly, made me miss the couch.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Hooker Valley Hike

    March 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Day 14: Hooker Valley/Mt. Cook Hike, Drive Van & Follow Tour Bus, Billy the Bard, Star Gazing

    Day 14 meant unfortunately saying goodbye to the holiday homes. While most of the group boarded the coach with Reese; Paige, Jade and myself hopped into the van we rented to follow the group to our next destination. The drive up to Hooker Valley hiking trail reminded me of the backside of the Road to Hanna, with its winding roads on the side of mountain hills rolling into Lake Pukaki. The road also provided the group with our first views of Mount Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand. We eventually arrived at the start of the Hooker Valley trail, beginning the 1.5hr hike to the Mt. Cook viewpoint. With mountains on both sides of the trail, it was hard not to take photos every second of the walk. Eventually we reached the end of the trail to see the mountain and several small glacial icebergs sitting on Hooker Lake. Unfortunately, the rain started to push us out of the valley, and so we continued to our next hostel in Lake Tekapo.Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Lake Tekapo

    March 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Day 14: Hooker Valley/Mt. Cook Hike, Drive Van & Follow Tour Bus, Billy the Bard, Star Gazing

    The small vacation town sat right on the shores of Lake Tekapo, has a beautiful rocky shore behind the equally beautiful Church of the Good Shepherd. Lake Tekapo is known for having extremely clear skies at night, boasting a Dark Sky Project tourist attraction right in the center of town. Unfortunately, the tour was unable to acquire tickets as they were sold out for the entirety of the week, however, we were able to see a very interesting performance from a local actor named Billy the Bard who ended up being a Kiwi posing as a Scottish lad telling Maori legends and stories about the stars. We were not entirely sure if he was telling the truth or not, but we handed him $20 anyway for teaching us a song that we sang to the sky, which seemed to clear the sky enough for us to see the stars.

    Eventually, at the end of the performance, several of us grabbed our hostel duvets and sat outside until 2am star gazing.    Read more

  • Marc WNew ZealandTraveler

    Mount Cook

    March 13, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 2 °C

    Day 15: Helicopter Hike Fiasco, Mt. Cook Helicopter Scenic tour, MARC SLEPT IN THE CAR, Hot Springs, Stargazing

    Day 15 was quite a difficult one. 10 of us woke up in the morning to see disturbingly gray skies and rain falling all morning. We were all worried that the weather might ruin our chances to fly up in the helicopter to the top of Mt. Cook to hike the glaciers and ice caves. We called the airport who told us that at the moment the tour was still a go, so we kept our hopes up and piled into the van. I am surprised that so many of them trusted me to drive 1.5hrs having only experienced driving on the left side of the road for the first time for only 20mins 2 days ago, but whatever. By the time we go to the airport, we were under the impression the tour was still a go and we were excited. Upon talking with the pilots however, we discovered there was too much wind and rain on the mountain to go up at our time. The group ended up going for a hike and to a hotel cafe in the area trying to kill some time for the weather to get better. We ended up waiting over 3hrs for an eventual phone call saying there would be no heli hike, and they could only offer a scenic tour instead.

    We reluctantly took the scenic tour as we still wanted to see the mountain, and ended up having a blast. The helicopter took us all around Mt Cook and landed on a couple glaciers, giving us enough time to take plenty of photos.

    After touching down, I felt a certain sort of tiredness from such a stressful day, and so for the first time on the trip, I slept in the car. Oh what a sleep it was!    Read more

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