Traveling in New Zealand in 2006 was an opportunity available to me through my decision to enroll in a semester of study abroad in Australia (see that blog post here). It made sense to stop in New Zealand since it was on the way! Therefore, I planned nine days of fun in New Zealand on my way to Australia.
A day after watching the Steelers knock off the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL with my Dad, he drove me to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport with bulging suitcases. I leaving home for the next five months, by far the longest trip I had ever taken. I met my friend and fellow University of Minnesota-Duluth student Jon Meiners at the airport. We had taken a few classes together and were both enrolled for the spring study abroad program in Perth, so we decided to travel together.
After a long travel itinerary from Minnesota to Phoenix to Los Angeles to Aukland, we finally arrived in New Zealand in the early morning of February 8th. After a taxi ride to Base Backpackers Hostel in Aukland we dropped off our bags and wandered down Queen Street until we found a pub that served beer at 9am. I ordered a pint of Steinlager. I was 20 years old, so it was my first time ordering a beer.
We explored Queen Street (pictured below), popping into shops. I bough a New Zealand All Blacks (the national rugby team) jacket and a 30-hour public bus pass, which served me well through my time in Kiwi land. We pushed through our jet lag and wandered around the city on foot, checking out the waterfront, Albert Park, and random Aukland sights. We had pizza at La Porchetta for dinner before returning to the hostel to converse with other travelers and to get some sleep.
The next morning, Jon and I caught a four-hour bus ride to Rotorua. It was a warmer day, probably 70 degrees and sunny. It was welcome summer warmth after coming from the northern hemisphere, where Minnesota was in the midst of its winter. I split my attention on that bus ride talking with Jon and two guys we had just met, David and Mike from Illinois, gazing out at the pastoral landscape dotted with sheep, and reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Jon went Zorbing (rolling/bouncing down the hill inside a big bubble with a little water in it). I opted to save money and skip that, but I went along and watched and drank a Lemon & Paeroa soft drink (“World Famous in New Zealand”).
We stayed at another Base Backpackers, and grabbed beers with our new Illinois buddies at the Echo Bar in the rainy afternoon, then went to an Irish Pub called Hennesy’s for another round and to watch rugby on TV and some live music. Dinner was ramen noodles at the hostel’s communal kitchen.
Rather than going to bed in Rotorua that night, Jon and I hopped an 11pm overnight bus to Wellington. When we arrived there the next morning (on just about zero sleep), Jon realized he had left his luggage behind. That really, super, stunk. He had no choice but to get a bus ride back to Roturua to track down his stuff (I believe he did, and that he then went back to spend the remainder of his trip in Wellington).
We decided to part ways, and I hopped the ferry from Wellington to Picton as planned, but on my own. The ferry served meat pies (very common in New Zealand and Australia) so I had those with coffee for breakfast and fired up my laptop to write my blog posts [I’m typing this up in 2024 and thankful for 2006 Josh for taking good notes!] and download pictures from my point-and-shoot camera to my laptop (this is pre-smart phones era, folks!).
The following two photos are looking back at Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, from the ferry just before departure.
The views from the ferry looked much like this: sea cliffs and grassy slopes shrouded in low cloud cover.
When we arrived in Picton, the small port town on the South Island, it was easy to hop another bus with my pre-paid pass. This time to the city of Christchurch. I prefered the South Island scenery. It was more mountainous (the first mountains I had ever seen, other than the dusty ones I’d just seen out the airport windows in Phoenix a few days prior). I snapped a lot of photos from the bus.
We stopped at a few small towns and scenic spots so passengers could use bathrooms and buy snacks.
When we reached Chrischurch, at about 7pm, I needed to find a place to sleep. I hadn’t made a reservation, assuming I would be able to find something. However, it was rugby tournament weekend and all of the hotels I checked were booked. I was informed that I wasn’t going to be able to find a room that night. But an employee at a different hotel was willing to make some phone calls on my behalf, and found an open spot at Evan’s Backpackers. The proprietor and drove over to pick me up and give me a ride there. It was affordable, and I was super happy to not have to spend a night on the streets. The room was basically just a bedroom in the guy’s house, but I wasn’t fussy!
I slept in the next morning, and then walked into the city to explore. It was a perfect weather day. On my walk I met a friendly old gentleman that invited me to come back for tea (dinner) at his place if I was so inclined (I was shy and didn’t take him up on it, but kind of wish I would’ve looking back on it).
I was able to secure a room in town for that night, at Coker’s Hotel, and they let me store my luggage there while I explored Christchurch. One of the highlights was Cathedral Square, pictured below.
I went punting on the Avon (a ride on a small boat), toured the museum, and explored some impressive botanical gardens until I wore myself out.
That evening, I attended my first Rugby game. The Christchurch Crusaders played the Dunedin Highlanders at Jade Stadium, and the home team one. I savored a Tui Lager and ate a couple of bratwurst while I tried to sort-out what was going on in the game. I wasn’t familiar with the rules of Rugby, but I picked up the gist of it and got to enjoy a beautiful sunset sky in the process.
Somehow, Jon was able to get a message to my hotel staff. He let me know everything was good and that he’d meet me at Base Backpackers in Christchurch the night before we’d catch our flights from Christchurch to Australia. I continued to travel solo for the next few days. It was liberating to be on my own in a foreign country, figuring things out on-the-go.
I ate a cheap dinner at Burger King and booked a room at Discovery Lodge in Queenstown for the next night. After a night of sleep at Coker’s Hotel, I caught my next bus ride from Christchurch to Queenstown. After passing some mountains and vineyards in the Canterbury Plains, the landscape became even more scenic, with snow-capped mountains and turquoise lakes. The following six photos were taken from the bus.
I was excited to arrive in Queenstown. It is a beautiful town nestled in the mountains, along Wakatipu. I checked in at Discovery Lodge and quickly made friends with my Brazilian roommates-for-the-night.
After a late lunch at Pizza Hut, I hiked up a forested trail to the scenic overlook of the city from the top of Bob’s Peak. Parts of it felt like a northern Minnesota forest, except for the views of mountains through the trees and across the lake.
The view from the top was pretty amazing, worth the effort to climb the steep switchbacks (it seemed like a long way up, but I wasn’t a runner back then!). I stayed up there to enjoy the views and breeze for a while before hiking back down the trail.
I made a ramen noodle dinner at the hostel kitchen and worked on a fantasy novel I was working on [and to this date still haven’t made much forward progress on].
I slept well into the next morning, and lounged around reading Harry Potter before I ventured out to check out the lakeshore. I bought some gingerbread cookies and snacked on those while I read in the sun on a flat rock looking out at the lake and mountains. It was a really great, really chill afternoon.
That evening, my new Brazilian friends invited me to join them for dinner. We also recruited a German girl and a Japanese girl from our hostel, and our group enjoyed a restaurant dinner and then we went out to Minus 5, an ice bar (photo block below).
I stayed at Discovery Lodge a second night, and then caught a bus to Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. After some delays due to crossing livestock, we got to our destination. I stayed at Alpine Lodge, a bit of splurge on my tight budget but it was well worth it!
I had a shared room (with a guy from Colorado and a couple from Switzerland this time) at Alpine Lodge, nestled in a glacial valley at Aoraki Mount Cook National Park in the heart of New Zealand’s South Island. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and is covered in snow and glaciers.
Maori art at the visitor’s centre.
I enjoyed a solo hike to a the Hooker Glacier terminus despite whipping winds and cold rain. This was my first big adventure abroad, and I was absolutely loving it! The views were amazing!
I got to see a rainbow on the hike back to Alpine Lodge. Over another ramen noodle dinner, I watched the glow of the emerging sun on the mountains just before nightfall. I was also able to do laundry there, and I wrote all my post cards. My time in New Zealand was winding down!
In the morning, I took a second, shorter hike to one of the other glacier overlooks in the park. The photo below is a zoomed in shot of Mount Cook.
I love the contrast of the glacier-draped rocky mountain, the bluebird sky, foreground hills smothered in green vegetation, and straw-yellow grasses in the photo below.
After my morning hike I had to catch my bus back to Christchurch.
We stopped at Lake Tekapo (below) for a stretch break along the way.
Once back in Christchurch, I visited the aquarium, wandered around the Christ’s College campus, and met up with Jon at Base Backpackers and we traded stories and repacked our luggage for the next day’s flight to Australia. Working in a stop in New Zealand stressed my budget (I was living on student loans that year), but it was so worth it! We took a 4am shuttle to catch our 6:30am flight.
Goodbye, New Zealand!
