New Zealand was the first country I visited outside of the United States and the one that gave me the travel bug. I hadn’t been back since that first visit, 14 years ago.

The Route

After a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, we immediately took another flight down to the Christchurch. From there we rented a car and did a clockwise route along the South Island, circling back to Christchurch before flying to the North Island. We landed in Wellington and proceeded to visit friends throughout the North Island before flying back to the States from Auckland.

The Details

That first travel day included missing our connection flight to Christchurch because our intercontinental flight was supposed to be 13 hours but had a headwind, which extended the flight time by an hour. Luckily, there are countless flights between the islands and we were able to catch the next one, only two hours after our original flight. Once in Christchurch around 3 PM, we rented our car and after a much needed coffee stop and grocery shopping, we made the three hour drive to Lake Tekapo. We had a lovely dinner along the lake and just like that, after over 24 hours of traveling, we finally went to sleep (completely avoiding all jet lag!).

The next morning we traveled early to reach Mt Cook National Park. For Valentine’s Day Jake had gifted me a helicopter ride with a hike on Tasman Glacier and we got incredibly lucky with perfect weather! The flight was only about fifteen minutes to the glacier but then we had roughly two hours on the ice, exploring crevasses and ice caves. It was so sunny this day that we could’ve been walking around in t-shirts. On the flight back, I got to sit in the front for the scenic route back, where the pilot had us climb a few thousand feet to get a head-on view of New Zealand’s tallest mountain. We felt incredibly grateful to start our trip on such a high note.

From there we began to head south to Dunedin, but not before stopping for a drone flight.

What is unmistakable about New Zealand is how kind the people are. We stopped for lunch after our helicopter ride and struck up a conversation with the waitress, who proceeded to gift us a classic Kiwi treat – a lolly cake! Then we made it to Dunedin to visit Kate who I met many years ago while living in Barcelona. Her and her husband instantly welcomed us into their home! Things like this are some of my favorite parts of traveling.

The next day we left Dunedin to drive five hours to the Milford Sound. The Milford Sound is two hours from the closest town so it’s a remote drive that takes you through dramatic mountains with a rather scary looking tunnel that eventually pops you out right at the base of a gorgeous fjord. We took a two hour ferry to explore the fjord.

After the five hour drive to the Milford Sound and the two hour ferry, we still had another two hours back the other direction to make it to Te Anau – the closest town to the Milford Sound.

The following day, as we continued on towards Queenstown, we had to stop at this farm to record the sheep… I don’t think they appreciated the drone very much.

Queenstown is a gorgeous place nestled between mountains with a glacier blue lake. The town center is touristic with cute shops and restaurants. Naturally, parking is a bit stressful given the hustle and bustle but without much hassle we were able to find a spot – allowing us to pick up the world renowned Fergburger! Fergburger is a classic Queenstown burger joint that had a line from 9 AM – late into the night. The burgers are massive and unique. Highly recommend braving the lines for them! After our picnic, we traveled to a waterfall and the end of the lake before looping back to Queenstown for a hike. It helped work off the burgers!

Before leaving Queenstown we made sure to check off a couple more Kiwi things… a meat pie, a kiwi spotting and some bungy jumping! Unfortunately, we didn’t make the time for bungy jumping ourselves so there’s another reason for us to go back some day.

From there, we continued our journey up the West Coast. It’s a rainforest so we weren’t lucky enough to not get caught in the rain but we were lucky enough that the clouds cleared just enough to spot Franz Josef Glacier. There are many small hikes along the West Coast, which are incredibly scenic.

Rounding out the loop of the South Island, we made our way to Abel Tasman National Park in the far north. I hadn’t done enough research ahead of time to realize that the only way to truly explore Abel Tasman is by boat or by foot – neither of which we had time for, but it was fun to get the drone up above it in any case. Finally, we headed south through Marlborough, their famous wine region, and through Kaikoura. Before leaving the South Island, we got the chance to stay with a family friend who I had yet to meet! Suzanne was my mom’s exchange sister and it was the sweetest little reunion between them when we had a video call with my mom. Time and distance have no affect on truly good friendships!

Leaving Christchurch, we flew to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, for a quick visit. After a nice evening with a sweet date, the next day we stopped in Rivendell for an hour before continuing on to visit another family friend, Tina! Tina was another one of my mom’s exchange sisters, and she was the first person to pick me up on my first international trip ever. She treated us to the best Kiwi picnic of fish and chips on the beach.

We wrapped up our trip by visiting more friends, Jordan and Laura, in Rotorua where they have thermal activity and then on to the hills of Hobbiton. We spent one day in Auckland, exploring the city (on Saint Patrick’s Day, thus the green Sky Tower), and enjoying their parks and zoo! We had to see an actual kiwi before we left and the zoo was our best shot.

Our last evening in New Zealand included a reunion with more family friends, the Armstrong’s, who also hosted me during my first trip there. Each of these visits made our entire trip… and to put icing on the cake, we even ran into my old Spanish teacher, Ms. Bradshaw on our flight home. Tired, exhausted, drained – yet fully rejuvenated, overwhelmed with love and happy. Thank you New Zealand for being as special as you are, with people as kind as they come.