Natalie and my honeymoon to New Zealand was amazing! It was a helluva trip in terms of travel - over 16,000 miles of flight round trip - but well worth it. I recommend going to New Zealand for anyone as they have activities that pretty much tick all boxes:
- beautiful beaches (check);
- dramatic mountains (check);
- picturesque country side (check);
- unique flora and fauna (double check);
- good tourist infrastructure (check)
- friendly locals (check)
Highlights
Milford Sound - In the very southwestern part of the South Island, Milford Sound is truly isolated and incredibly dramatic. It has sheer cliffs leading down cold ocean fjords. When it rains, and it does this a lot - locals said it rains 2 out of 3 days and gets roughly 6 meters of rain a year - waterfalls cascade down the mountainside in beautiful, roaring white ribbons. There really is nothing there save for a couple lodging areas, tour boats and a small airstrip but Natalie and I arranged a to do sea kayaking trip around the fjord. "Wilderness Will," our guide who didn't own shoes, lead us and three other kayaks around the water. Fortunately, Natalie and I managed to get one of the days that it wasn't rainy. Not only was it not rainy, it was sunny, warm and the water was calm. We paddled around the fjord and managed to see some beautiful birds, seals lounging in the water and on the rocks and even managed to see a curious but timid Fjordland Crested Penguin. Fantastic.
Tongariro Crossing - In the middle part of the North Island, Natalie and I endeavored to do one of New Zealands "Great Walks." The country has a really excellent conservation agency that maintains extensive outdoor activities and facilities. In particular, they have some single day and multi-day hikes that are really popular. We did a day hike that took us past flowing streams, filled-in craters, smelly geothermic pools, steaming vents and active volcanoes. (Not flowing lava active, but still very much alive - the last eruption was in 2012.) Of note, we hiked past Mt. Doom of the Lord of the Rings movies. I thought about casting my wedding band in the fires of the mountain but Natalie wasn't keen on that. Natalie had never done such a major hike but performed admirably on the 8-hour, 20 kilometer sojourn!
Wildlife - As you might expect as an island nation, New Zealand is home to some unique plants and animals. I was really hoping to see a Kiwi bird in the wild but they are mostly nocturnal and are timid creatures. It is difficult for the average person to see them outside of a zoo or conservatory and we didn't get to spot one, unfortunately. We did, however, see sea lions, seals, penguins and royal white albatross, kias and other animals right up close. In particular, Natalie and I were able to walk amongst nearly two dozen sea lions lounging in the sand on a beach in the Catlins region of the southeastern tip of the South Island. Some of these hulking creatures were frolicking in the surf but most were just sprawled out in the sand. Apart from the sea lions, I loved seeing penguins in the wild. I mentioned above about the crested penguin but Natalie and I also went a reserve when Blue Penguins nested. These are the smallest of all penguins and are absolutely adorable!
Flat whites - I don't know exactly how these coffee drinks are made but they're delicious. New Zealand and Australia are rivals in most things and the story goes that the flat white was created in Australia but perfected in New Zealand. I had never had one before but they are served in every coffee shop.
Lowlights
Dead car battery - The flip side of the epic Tongariro Crossing was that we came back to a dead battery on our faithful camper van called "Kashyyk" (also, affectionately nicknamed "Special K"). We had inadvertently left the lights on and the battery was completely dead. This would not normally an issue but there were only a couple cars left in the parking lot, no one had jumper cables and we were miles from anything. Fortunately, we had befriend this lovely girl from San Francisco who let us use her phone to call for roadside assistance and shuttled us back and forth trying to get help. (Shay, once again, you're a life saver!) Eventually, we got it sorted out but had to drive to four hours to get to Wellington, not arriving until 12:30 AM. It was a long day to say the least.
No dolphins - At the very end our trip we had schedule a tour out into a bay to go swimming with dolphins. We had heard it was a really cool experience and wanted to go for it. We got dressed up in wet suits and headed out in a small boat to try to swim with Hectors Dolphins which are the smallest species of dolphin and are unique to New Zealand. The tour company advertises that 99% of trips get to actually swim with these guys but we were, unfortunately, part of the 1% that didn't. We saw several small pods of these guys but they were never interested in sticking around to play with us. We boated around for two hours in choppy seas and the only thing we got was sea sick. Bummer.
Unexpected
Narrow, curvy roads - Although the pavement was generally smooth, the roads are much narrower in New Zealand than in the U.S. and they are super curvy. The country is very mountainous and it made for some steep up and down driving with tight corners. This not only frayed nerves but also made it much slower driving than what flat-landers from the upper Midwest are used to. It was particularly disorienting at first driving on the left side of the road and dealing with the challenging terrain but as the trip progressed it was pretty much a non-issue. Oh, and instead of having raccoon for roadkill, they have possums. We saw tongue-in-cheek souvenirs saying, "Possums, New Zealand's little speed bumps."
No gas stations - New Zealand is rural, sparsely population nation. There are long stretches between civilization, especially on the South Island, and you have to be very mindful of how much fuel is in your vehicle. There may be no gas stations for 50+ miles on the road you're driving and more than that, some of the gas stations aren't open late. I took it for granted that you could find 24 hour pay-at-the-pump gas stations but this was definitely not the case. We almost got in trouble a couple of times before adopting a very conservative approach to refueling.
With all that said and with what transpired, would we do it again? Absolutely!