New Zealand - Lessons Learned

NZ Tips and Thoughts

Go northwards so your luggage is only overweight once and car rentals are cheaper.

We flew into AKL and drove southward, then flew from Queenstown to AKL, and then home from AKL. During our drive south, I didn't do any souvenir shopping even though there were plenty of things I would have liked to buy; I was afraid we would be overweight and then we'd have to pay a fee for the ZQN-AKL flight as well as the AKL-SFO flight. I recommend driving northward instead. Since all your extra flights would be behind you, you can do your souvenir shopping and only pay an overweight fee once (if needed), at the end. Plus (and this is a huge plus), car rentals are super cheap in the northbound direction. We saw deals for $1 per day!

New Zealand takes their ecology very seriously. 

They've learned the hard way how much damage foreign species can wreak. When the plane lands, the flight crew will tell you to leave any airplane food you may have not finished. The customs form is very thorough; fill it out carefully. Declare your hiking boots and don't bring in any meat or fruit. If you forget that you have an apple in your backpack, that's about $200. Agents will x-ray your bags and actually pay attention while they do. They looked over Mike's boots (that he was wearing) and asked me about mine (which were luckily newish and not yet worn on a trail). If you pack your hiking gear (boots/tent/poles) in your checked luggage, put them on the top because agents might want to take them out to inspect them. Before heading to NZ, you should clean your hiking gear. If your boots look dirty, they will have you take them off and wait while they wash them. You'll get them back in tidy plastic bags.

i-Sites 

are info centers in all the cities and then some. They were all over the place and they are a great place to get maps and information. They try to staff with locals so the folks are actually knowledgeable and they're usually super helpful. They can make bookings/reservations for you at no additional cost, or recommend things to do or places to eat. Asking locals is my favorite way to find restaurants in new cities. We did have one unhelpful i-Site volunteer who could only come up with McDonald's nearby, but we were able to turn around and ask someone else. (To her credit, she was trying.)

Service in restaurants is kind of slow 

and not the sort of "attentive" that we're used to in California. Just be patient and prepared for their more laid-back attitude. No tipping.

Birds 

are often in cafes and restaurants. They just walk in the front door and nobody seems to think it's odd. I saw this all over the North Island. It doesn't bother anyone but I can think of someone who would hate this. To you: Avoid places where the front door is just propped open.

Sand fly bites can be terrible. 

Some bites are just itchy, but a few of mine blistered up pretty severely. Wear bug repellent if you're sensitive. The predominant advice we heard was just to cover up. They like ankles and wrists, they're generally nocturnal, and they won't get you if you're moving. If you get them on your ankles and they are going to be aggravated by socks or shoes, I can recommend blister band-aids from personal experience. Next time, we're going to bring some sort of plug-in to deal with the problem in hotel rooms.

There is so much roadwork 

everywhere in New Zealand. It's why people recommend adding an hour to your drive time estimates. They operate during regular working hours, unlike in CA where road crews start at night and wrap up before the morning commute.

The drive from Picton to Christchurch 

used to be 4 hours, but the earthquake took out huge swaths of the coast road, so the only option is to do the inland drive which is 7 to 8 hours. The inland route is riddled with construction stops since they are trying to widen it (and cut down one-lane bridges) for the increased load. At night, when there is no construction, the drive is much quicker, but nobody recommends foreigners do the unfamiliar drive in the dark. Murchison is now a busy town because it's about halfway on the inland route. Murchison cafes that used to have one espresso machine had to upgrade to three and beef up staff. If you are scheduling yourself to have breaks, stop in St Arnaud and have a little walk on the shore of Lake Rotoiti to stretch your legs.

Driving:

• One-lane bridges are straightforward but you should know about them before you get on NZ roads.
• RR - Half of NZ's railway crossings don't have lights and arms that come down when a train is coming, so approach slowly and look both ways.
• Speed limits are not adjusted for conditions, like they are in the US. Safe driving speed is often lower than the 100 km/h posted.
• If there are vehicles behind you, pull over when it's safe to let them pass.

Pedestrians 

do not have the right of way outside of crosswalks. And even then, it's iffy. There are some brick markings on streets in Queenstown that really look like crosswalks, but they aren't. If you have a light, you're good. But if there isn't a light, oncoming traffic will honk at you.

Pies 

are culturally important to Kiwis. Try the pies. Having a (meat) pie from the local servo will tell you a lot about a town, apparently. It's not like getting a hot dog and nachos from the AM/PM.

Queenstown Restaurants:

Blue Kanu, Madam Woo, and Flame were recommended to us by locals.
There's a massive queue at Ferg Burger but the trick is to call in your order and pick it up. All the locals we asked said that it's not worth the hype and that there are no locals in that line.

Queenstown jet boat:

If you're doing a jet boat ride in Queenstown, Shotover Jet is said to be better than KJet because it goes further. We heard this from the Greyline bus driver.

Auckland harbour cruise:

If you do the one with Fullers, sit on the right (starboard) and upstairs (outside) if possible. The right side is where all the sights are. The top can be rainy or windy or sunny, so bring a jacket and maybe a hat.

Glacier Heli-hikes: 

Cancellations due to weather are super common, especially in the off-season. They just can't operate the helicopter safely all the time and they give full refunds in this situation. It's not a bad idea to get into town early and start getting on waitlists.

Places to go next time

• Waitomo - Get to the falls
• Wellington - Te Papa Museum
• Hokitika
• Nelson
• Abel Tasman
• Doubtful Sound - Do this instead of Milford Sound because MS has become very popular and well-known. DS is less touristy.
• Kaikoura
• Christchurch - Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Time tunnel, Tram
• Waiheke Island

Comments for Long Trips

For long trips, plan for a rest day in the middle where you can do laundry and not feel guilty for being "unproductive" travelers. This trip was the longest Mike and I have gone on a vacation together and I don't think we would even have enough clothes for 3 weeks without doing laundry. I'm really glad we had the day in Christchurch where our only goal was to relax and do laundry. Some hotels have washer-dryer in the room (we found this out in our Auckland room). It would have been handy to have a room like that in Christchurch. At least our Christchurch hotel had coin-op machines for guests, though.

Shoes. You won't want to wear your hiking boots when you're hanging out in the evenings. Bring flip flops (jandals) or other comfortable shoes for dinner and hanging out. The only problem with my flip flops was the sand flies. 

3 weeks worth of toothpaste for two people is about 2.5 oz
3 weeks worth of contact solution for one person is almost 4 oz.

Tips for the Ladies

Multi-day hiking trips:

One reason New Zealand tracks are fantastic is that there are toilets well-spaced along the route. They actually request you use the toilets (to avoid polluting bush margins and waterways), but if you're desperate, they ask that you step at least 100 steps (50 m) off the track and make sure you're not near flowing water. As I learned, if someone doesn't put the lid down on the toilet, the bathroom completely fills with bugs. There were a few toilets like this and I just couldn't get myself into the cloud of bugs, so the last few hours of the hike on our last day were definitely at a quicker pace than we'd gotten used to. Unlike trails in California, where you can usually find a good spot off-trail to squat, the Queen Charlotte Track was almost impossible to get 100 steps off of; it was either cliff and rockface, or dense rainforest. For future big hikes, I am going to consider investing in a SheWee. Also, try to plan your tramping around your period or at the very least, track your cycle carefully for a few months before your trip so you aren't unpleasantly surprised.

Clothing:

Bring fancy casual. Everyone says New Zealand is super casual and you can get away with wearing your hiking gear into pretty much any restaurant. I mostly agree. We saw people without shoes on all the time. However, if you go to some of these fancy B&Bs where you dine with a group of strangers (potential friends) or the resorts where you go into their nice restaurant, you will be dining with people who did not just hike 10 miles; some of them were lounging on the beach or having a spa day. I definitely felt self-conscious about my dinner-wear in a couple of those places. And of course there are fancier restaurants that you just would not want to bring your muddy boots into. Speaking of boots, we were asked to take our hiking boots off at the door when we got to B&Bs on the track. So definitely bring another pair of (packable) shoes if you are hiking. My flipflops were all right but felt too casual at dinner and they left my feet and ankles out for sand flies to attack.

Auckland nightlife looks an awful lot like the the Bay Area, so pack a cute outfit if you want to mingle and party, but you don't have to. In the city there was such a mix of people and styles that I never felt awkward. T-shirt and jeans, or flip flops and shorts, or sexy short dresses -- they would all be in the same restaurant or bar and it was no big deal.