12 Days Traveling New Zealand on my First Solo Adventure
December 2015
So get this… My flight left Auckland at 10:55pm on Tuesday, December 15th and I landed in Newark at 12:07am the next day. So on paper, it appears that the travel time was only an hour and twelve minutes… Haha, if only it was that easy to get home from the other side of the …
Well unfortunately it’s arrived… my last day in New Zealand (at least this time around). I had the entire day to explore and just needed to make sure I was back in Auckland in time for my 22:55 flight back to the States. Today was dedicated to the rest of the Coromandel Peninsula and the …
So I think it’s official… I’ve gotten up earlier more mornings on this trip, than I do at home. The alarm clock went off at 5am so I could hike Mt. Maunganui to see the sun rise. It was a pretty tough hike, at least at the speed I was hoofing it… the sun doesn’t …
When I woke up this morning in Auckland, it was gray skies and rain… which made me stop for a minute to appreciate how lucky I’ve been to be blessed with nice weather on this trip. Besides a drizzle last Sunday when I hiked Abel Tasman, the weather has been amazing. I’m very thankful. I …
I was told to skip Auckland or at least don’t waste much time here. But being a big city girl, I think it’s fun to see the “big city” in the country you’re visiting. So I’m thankful I had half a day to explore New Zealand’s largest city. There are more yachts per capita here …
Disclaimer: I’m sorry Mom for what you’re about to read, but both feet are safely back on the ground, so no need to worry 🙂 Bungy jumping took root as a commercial enterprise here in Queenstown pioneered by Kiwi entrepreneur, AJ Hackett. So knowing this, obviously I wanted to try it. However, with a sister …
I think I now understand the true meaning of majestic. Today I saw the most beautiful natural landscape that my own two eyes have ever witnessed in person. I took a day trip to the Doubtful Sound, a vast and untouched wilderness in the Fiordland National Park. It was quite a trek to get there… …
I made my way to the airport this morning… btw, I forgot to mention there is no security checkpoint when you fly domestic in New Zealand. You literally walk into the airport, up to your gate, scan your boarding pass and get on the plane. A nice little reminder of what flying was like before …
I couldn’t leave the Marlborough region without trying their Greenshell mussels farmed from the Marlborough Sounds… I’ve never seen mussels so big!! They definitely lived up to the hype!! I then started my four and a half hour drive to Christchurch along the eastern coast of the South Island. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Rolling …
Guys, I’m so drunk! Just kidding… kind of 🙂 But honestly, I don’t know how I’m not… wait until you hear about my day. I had another early morning as I had to drive an hour and a half through the mountains to get from Nelson to Blenheim where I was meeting my wine bike …