new zealand — Jen Ireland

Kia Ora! That’s Māori for “greetings!” Back in November I searched and searched for Cyber Monday flight deals and landed on a sweet deal for non-stops flights from Houston to Auckland. At 11:55 pm, typed in my credit card info and said “screw it, let’s do this!” This is my ultimate YOLO adventure, so sit back, grab a nice Pinot (Noir or Gris), slice up a kiwi and follow me on my 12 day adventure down under.

thursday | may 16

travel day

Oh how time is a curious thing! We wait so long for something to happen, and when it does, it’s over so fast. The drive over to Houston didn’t feel real. The three hours slipped by so fast and all the thoughts rushed through my head. What if my flight is delayed? Do I have my passport? How will I find my way? It feels like a lifetime ago that I booked this trip and thought I had plenty of time to plan; that the trip was months away. But here we are now, sitting in an airport bar waiting to board my 14 hour and 45 min flight. I’ll be arriving in Auckland at 5:05 a.m. Saturday, May 18. Goodbye Friday and hello Xanax.

saturday | may 18

auckland day one

My first day in Auckland is over now and boy was it a long day. The plane landed early at around 4:30 a.m. local time. By the time I got through customs and got my bag, it was almost 6 a.m. and it was time to figure out where to go and how to get there. I saw advertisements for Sky Bus throughout the airport and figured I would look into doing that instead of Ubering. Since I couldn’t check into my Airbnb until the afternoon, I had several hours to kill while also having all of my luggage.

The bus was $19 to downtown and offered free WiFi, so I went with that. Shortly after sitting down, I realized I didn’t have an exact location to get off at and no clue where to go. I started to panic. When we got to downtown and a street I recognized the name of, I decided to get off and find a place that was open. That place was McDonald’s.

I grabbed a coffee and used McD’s WiFi for a bit and tried to form a game plan. It was still dark outside and nothing was open so I didn’t want to be a girl with all her bags wondering the streets alone. Eventually the sun started to rise and more and more people were out and about on the street. So I left the restaurant and found myself sitting at a bus stop bench.

When I noticed the bus in front of me was parked and the driver was just sitting there on a break, I asked him how you buy a ticket and how much it costs to ride the bus. He answered my questions and noticed I wasn’t from around here so we started talking about where I was from and I mentioned how I didn’t have any place to go because my Airbnb wasn’t ready yet. He said “well I’m about to do my route over the bridge and come back if you want to hop on” so I did, free of charge! This was such an awesome way to kill an hour of time and I got to see the city as the sun was rising. I also got to cross the Harbour bridge which I don’t think I would have done otherwise.

The bus driver even offered to let me sit in the driver’s seat and take a picture of me! This was shaping up to be a pretty awesome morning.

Once back in the city, it was 9 a.m. and more stores and restaurants were open. I found a place to store my suitcase at the Ferry Building and walked around the blocks some more. I made my away around the Harbour docks and the views from there were great.

After walking around a bit and finding some souvenirs at a gift shop, I found a restaurant at the bottom of the Ferry Building where I could sit and have a snack and drink while waiting.

The Shucker Brothers is an oyster-only place that also had a really good happy hour deal. This was my second interaction with a kiwi that was extremely friendly and helpful. He told me all about the different types of oysters they had and what parts of NZ they came from. Since I’m not huge into oysters, I ordered 3 tempura oysters and a glass of Prosecco (his recommendation). I have to say, I was glad I chose this place.

Finally it was time I could head to my Airbnb and get ready for the real adventure to begin. I had signed up for a kayaking tour to Brown’s Island on Sunday, but the tour guide emailed a few days earlier saying the winds will be bad that day and they could upgrade me to the sunset kayak tour on Saturday at 2 p.m. At first I was apprehensive of agreeing to this since I knew I’d be jet lagged from traveling all day, but I decided to rally through and do it.

I stopped by my Airbnb, located in St. Heliers and in a very ritzy and expensive neighborhood, dropped off my things and walked down to the beach to meet the kayaking group.

There were five of us and the tour guide, Eric. He showed us how to paddle properly, got us all our gear and told us how the night would go. Paddling to the island was about 5 km (3.1 miles), we’d hike to the top of the volcano by sunset, (another few km), then back down to the bottom to have dinner and paddle back at night. This initially got me worried as that sounded like a lot more work than my original Brown’s Island trip was going to be. But, all I could do was say YOLO and let’s go.

We set off and almost immediately my arms were tired. I knew this was going to be a physically demanding adventure, but boy, this was tough! After an hour of kayaking, we made it ashore and started our hike.

These next photos at the top of the volcano really don’t do it justice. I’ve never seen something so magical and so worth the view.

brown’s island is the closest little island you can see

The view from the top at sunset was spectacular and something I will never forget. I’m so glad I made the trip up there, and now it was time to go back down.

Since the sun was setting and there’s no electricity (or anything) on the island, we hiked down wearing head lamps to see. About halfway down, Eric led us to a small cave that we explored. The entrance was a small crawl space that you had to get down and scoot through. I wasn’t a fan of doing this at first, but once we could stand up in the cave, I was so glad I did. I don’t have any pictures from inside the cave because we left all our bags outside, but it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I never thought I would add spelunking to my list of things to do in Auckland!

Finally at the bottom of the volcano where the kayaks were, Eric made us all a nice dinner that we ate by moon light, which was full. We gathered our stuff and headed back out on the water to kayak to the mainland.

By the time we got ashore and out of our kayaks, I was completely drained of energy and very cold. Not only were the winds picking up, but the temperature seemed to have dropped when the sun went down. We packed up all the kayaks and gear and went our separate ways. Eric was kind enough to offer to drop me off at my Airbnb since I didn’t feel like walking. There I was, leaving the kayaking van and walking towards my studio with nothing but my backpack, wet clothes, and a lifetime of memories packed into one whole day.

sunday | may 19

auckland day two

After a glorious hot shower and wonderful nine hours of sleep, it was time to get the second day underway! Since my original plan of kayaking in the morning got switched up, I now had an entire free day in Auckland. I took my sweet time getting ready and eventually walked down the hill to the beach where there are several shops and restaurants.

My airbnb is located in St. Heliers, which is about a 15-20 min bus ride from downtown. It’s right on the beach and across from Rangitoto. I decided to stay here because of the proximity to the beach and where the kayaking trip took place.

my airbnb is a studio of someone’s house

Making my way to where the shops are, I found a nice table outside at Moreton’s, where I ordered eggs Benedict with hash browns and a Bloody Mary. The food was heavenly and some of the best eggs benny I’ve ever had. I was very glad I chose this place to eat.

After finishing my meal, I walked around to the different shops but a lot were closed because it’s Sunday. I decided to go back to my studio and use the WiFi to research where to go next and how to get there. Here are some views from my walk back home.

I am glad I made it back to my studio because the weather has been on and off all day. I left and got food while it was nice and sunny. But suddenly the winds pick up and it starts pouring. I guess bipolar weather isn’t just found in FL and TX after all.

After lounging around and waiting for the weather to clear up, I made my way to the Kelly Tarlton Aquarium. It was listed as a “must do” activity in my Airbnb guide and I love aquariums so on I went.

Although this aquarium has nothing on the Atlanta aquarium, it was interesting because it focuses more on the marine life found in and near Antarctica, which makes sense since New Zealand is so close. There were also some species of animals that are native to New Zealand.

There were also sharks, sting rays, turtles and different types of fish. But my favorite were the penguins.

After I was done at the aquarium, I headed into town to make my way up the Sky Tower for sunset. From across the bay at the aquarium, I could see it was raining downtown, but luckily it passed through by the time the bus let me off at the Britomart (Britomart is the central hub of the buses and trains, sort of like a Grand Central Station, but much smaller).

It was about a half mile walk to the Sky Tower, and as I made my way there and looked up at the tower, I immediately thought “Nope, no way in hell would I bungee off that.”

Walking into the base, there is a hotel, casino and restaurants all part of the Sky Tower. I bought my ticket and headed up to the 52nd floor observation deck.

drinking wine with the beast rangitoto i tackled yesterday

I took A LOT of pictures from the Sky Tower, so there are even more that aren’t on here. Since I was up there so long, I have day time and night time shots. However, due to the lighting inside the building, the night shots aren’t great.

I left the Sky Tower and headed back towards my Airbnb, but wanted to stop in Mission Bay for dinner. I passed it on the way to the aquarium and noticed all the cute restaurants that lined the beach, so I made the effort to go check them out.

First I attempted to eat at this Indian place called Mehfill, but the service was so bad I sat there waiting to order for 15 min and just decided to leave. I then landed on a wood fired pizza place; seemed simple and fast. Oak Barrel Wine House was delicious and just what I needed after a long day of sightseeing. I ordered the Funghi pizza, which had mushrooms, tomato, rocket (which I discovered is arugula) and shaved Parmesan.

I decided it was cheaper to Uber back to the studio, so I found a cool bar with WiFi to pick up my ride. The bar was called Good George Brewing and these older gentlemen who were playing pool offered to buy me a drink and asked to play pool with them. I wished I had the energy to take them up on the offer, but I was getting very tired and wanted to go to bed. Maybe next time boys!

monday | may 20

auckland day three

How do you put the best day of your life into words? I’m going to attempt to now…

The day started out with making my way to the Ferry Building to catch the 11:00 a.m. ferry to Waiheke Island. I booked a wine and food tasting tour that included 3 wineries, an olive oil tasting and lunch.

After the ferry docked, I made my way to the tour bus and we set off for the first winery. This was Stoneyridge winery where we were greeted with a Sauvignon Blanc upon arrival and a Syrah after viewing the vineyards and olive trees.

We had lunch here which consisted of chicken and vegetable quiche, salad and bread with olive oil. All was very delicious.

Next stop was an olive oil tasting that was everything I ever wanted. If you know me, you know I love olives and anything that involves them, so this was a treat. The place was called Rangihouha and it reminded me of something out of Jurassic Park. The backdrop was just gorgeous and the olive oil was superb.

After a flight of wine and olive oil tasting, we headed to the second winery, Casita Miro. We tried four wines here and the tasting room and architecture was very Spanish influenced.

from right to left: sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, summer aphrodisiac, madame rouge (very sweet)

Now we headed to our last stop, Mudbrick. Words and even pictures cannot begin to describe just how magnificent the view really was. But here is an attempt at showing how great the vineyard was.

climbing up a bit higher for a better view.

Mudbrick is known for its view and this was probably the most spectacular thing I had ever seen. It was like nothing you can see in North America and the wine was delicious too. We tried a Pinot Gris upon arrival, followed by a Rose and Syrah. I didn’t enjoy the previous two Syrahs because they were very peppery. But the Mudbrick Syrah was much milder and I ended up buying a bottle.

We stayed here for awhile and I made friends with a group of Aussie women who were here for a dance competition. They were 35-40 year olds, but man did they know how to have a good time. They invited me to go with them to the village “downtown” and grab some drinks and food there. I’m so glad I did because these women were so great! Their company was amazing and the extra food and wine was superb. I didn’t get a picture of our food or table because I was having such a good time, but we ended up getting some bottles of wine to share, a cheese and meat board and a prosciutto and rocket pizza. As everything else I’ve eaten in this country, it was delicious.

I enjoyed every second of this day and if I could, I’d pack up and move to Waiheke and be a wine guide forever… living the dream.

tuesday | may 21

auckland day four | queenstown night one

I woke up with a mild wine hangover and realized I needed to watch the final episode of Game of Thrones, which aired at 1:00 p.m. while I was out in the vineyards. I watched it and started packing up my things because I would be leaving Auckland in the afternoon to fly down to Queenstown.

The Airbnb host was kind enough to let me check out later than 11 a.m., so I made my way down the hill to St. Heliers village and grabbed breakfast at Porch Bar and Eatery. I ordered an Americano from the coffee bar and the Wood Mushroom for my meal. It consisted of five different types of mushrooms, cooked in a pecorino sauce and placed on top of sourdough bread and a poached egg. Up until this point, this meal was the most delicious one yet.

I had about an hour left to kill before I needed to be back at the Airbnb and grab my stuff, so I walked along Tamaki Dr. until I got almost to Mission Bay. It looked like it was going to rain and I didn’t want to get caught in it. So I turned around and headed back. It was a nice walk with great views.

Next stop, Queenstown!

boarding the plane on the actual tarmac with mountains all around

It’s a one and a half hour flight down to Queenstown and I paid extra to pick a window seat. Eric, from my kayaking tour, used to live in Queenstown to ski and he said make sure to get a window seat because the fly in and out is spectacular. Man, am I glad I listened to him because flying over the Southern Alps was something that people pay hundreds of dollars to go up in a helicopter and see the same thing. I’ve seen the Appalachian and the Rockies, but they’ve got nothing on these Southern Alps.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with New Zealand geography, Queenstown is situated on the South Island and is surrounded by these huge mountains, also known as the Southern Alps. The geography is deemed similar as that of Patagonia in southern Chile.

To top the great views off, my flight landed at 5:30 pm, right as the sun set. I took about 800 pictures and videos, but here are the best.

The Queenstown Airport is very small and surrounded by these Rocky Mountains. I had some trouble ordering an Uber so ended up taking a much more expensive taxi that kind of got lost taking me to my Airbnb.

My Airbnb is a lot more secluded than the one in Auckland was. I can’t just walked down the street and be where there’s restaurants and shops. It’s located up some windy and steep hills, but let me tell you, it. is. worth. the. trek. By the time I arrived, it was dark, so I don’t have any pictures of the breathtaking view yet, but here are some of the actual space.

As I write this, I’m enjoying a glass of my Mudbrick Syrah from yesterday’s adventure (which is delicious by the way) on the patio overlooking the water and mountains. It’s about 45 degrees out, but the wine is keeping me warm. Because the town isn’t huge and I’m on the side of a mountain, the stars are more clear than ever and seem so close I could touch them. Today may not have been as eventful as the others, by my God has it had the best ending.

wednesday | may 22

queenstown day one

Does heaven meet Earth? Or Earth meet heaven? Whichever it is, I think the answer lies in Fiordland. Where land meets sky and clouds touch the ground. What I do know is the things I saw today were something sent from another world. I think some people probably find religion in a place like Milford Sound. It’s hard to think there isn’t a greater power when you see something so stunning. How something so majestic and massive could exist is beyond me. Being in the presence of the fiords and glacial waterfalls was truly a humbling experience. If you ever need to feel insignificant and realize how small you really are, travel to Fiordland and it may change your life.

The day started with finding the tour bus; which was an adventure of it’s own at 6:30 in the morning, but none the less I found it. We headed out of Queenstown towards Lake Te Anau. The trip was about two and half hours to Te Anau and another two hours to Milford Sound.

The first picture stop of the day was right outside Queenstown at sunrise. I hopped off the bus and took about a million pictures, not realizing that as the day progressed, the views would get more and more breathtaking.

Adrian was the name of our tour bus driver. He was a nice kiwi bloke with a lead foot and a death wish. Did I mention the winding roads around the mountains had no railing? Yeah... I came to terms with life, said my goodbyes and figured if this was the end, well at least the last thing I saw was this...

Back on the bus we drove away from the drastic high mountains that surround Queenstown and into the country land, primarily owned by sheep. I learned there are about 28,000 people in Queenstown and over three million sheep. That’s a lot of sheep.

I also learned that the Māori (New Zealand aborigines, similar to our Native Americans) discovered Jade in Queenstown, and that has been the town’s biggest jewel that is mined.

We made our way to Te Anau and the town itself was extremely small. Just some store fronts and a bus stop along the lake. We got a quick brekkie and headed onward to Milford Sound. Shortly out of Te Anau we entered the Fiordland National Forest.

Fiords (or Fjords for Scandinavians) are long, narrow inlets with steep cliffs, created by a glacier. South of Queenstown is the Fiordland National Forest, which is also the Southern most part of New Zealand, and that is straight where I had been wanting to visit. The only way to get to Milford Sound on foot is through Fiordland.

Fiordland National Forest is about 3 million acres big! Also, most of the trees that grow down there (and most of Queenstown) are evergreen trees, so they don’t die. And the Beech tree is the most prominent tree. I have noticed “Beech” is used a lot for street names and storefronts.

Once inside Fiordland, we made a quick stop to the Mirror Lakes. On clear days, you can see the mountain reflections in the water.

We stopped midway in the forest for a photo op and to fill up our water bottles with water from the spring. It was amazing, I’ve never been able to just drop my cup in nature and drink the contents safely. This water was of the purest form and it tasted even purer.

Also found at this watering hole were some parrots known as Kea. They were pretty cool and came right up to us and danced around on top of the bus. They are only found in this part of New Zealand, so seeing them was a real treat.

As we kept driving, the mountains started getting steeper and grander. Good Lord, these fiords were magnificent. Some were so high the peaks were lost in the clouds or covered in snow. Others were covered in gray stone with white stripes of waterfalls flowing down.

just around from the spring - I call this the magnificent mountain

just to the right of the magnificent mountain

Next to this magnificent mountain was a passage for a one way, very narrow tunnel. We drove through that to get to the other side of the mountain and towards the water.

across from the magnificent mountain and next to the tunnel

After moving through winding roads and around the lake, we made it to Milford Wharf, where we boarded our boat for an hour and 45 minute cruise into the Sound and had a buffet lunch. Lunch was nothing special; it consisted of mostly Indian food (which, if you know me even a little bit, you know Indian is my favorite food) but it wasn’t very tasty; clearly wasn’t prepared by true Indians. But I wasn’t upset, I didn’t come to Milford Sound for the food, I came for the views.

just setting sail outside the wharf | waterfalls on top of waterfalls

Unfortunately the weather all day was pretty overcast and by the time we got to the sound, it was drizzling. Most of the cruise was done in light rain, but we still got some amazing views.

And when I say they took my breath away, they really did.

Waterfalls on top of waterfalls. Cliffs as high as the eye could see. Snowy rock met cloudy sky and turquoise water lapped against green rock. Pictures do not do any of it justice. No wonder Milford Sound is deemed the “8th Wonder of the World”.

up close and personal with one of the many waterfalls

During the cruise we came right up next to a glacial waterfall, one of the only ones found in the southern hemisphere. I stayed in the splash zone because when else would I get glacial water soaked into my clothes?

The tour ended around 3:30 p.m. and it was time to head back. We stopped in Te Anau to drop about half the group off and the rest of us continued onto Queenstown. It was a long day (14 hours total!), but man was it worth it.

thursday | may 23

queenstown day two

Today was all about the country side. I woke up early again to catch the tour bus that would take me to Mount Cook. It was about fours each way, with a few stops in between.

We drove by many vineyards and cheese makers, of which I’m pretty sure I will be going to again on my wine tasting tour on Saturday. We also drove by the famous AJ Hackett Bungee Bridge. Honestly, this bridge wasn’t as high as I thought and it looked like something I could jump off... maybe tomorrow...

Our first stop was outside Queenstown in a picturesque town of Cromwell. Cromwell is known for growing lots of fruits such as apricots, peaches, pears, apples and cherries. It’s also located near gold mining sites. Our bus stopped at a cute little fruit and nut shop where I purchased a pear, some coffee and a Manuka honeycomb chocolate bar. This chocolate was so good, I bought 3 more bars when we stopped on the way back. I also got some dried figs and a golden kiwi to eat over the next few days.

the fresh pear that I immediately dropped after taking a bite and bought another

Onward we drove through the country and past rivers and valleys. We also passed a lot of sheep, again.

Our second stop was in the Waitaki District where I grabbed a late breakfast and then off we went.

“vege” quiche-ish thing? i’m not sure what it was… served with apricot jam

Through the Mackenzie District, we started to see Lake Tekapo. This water was so blue it didn’t look real.

Slowly but surely, Mt. Cook started to peak out of the mountains ahead and this is what I came for.

Mt. Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand, sitting at 3,724 meters. This is less than 700 meters shorter than Mt. Elbert in the Rockies (4,401 m).

The bus dropped us off at the only hotel in the Mount Cook National Park and I got lunch and walked around. We only had two hours here, which wasn’t long enough to go hiking on any of the trails, so I stayed close by and eventually sat at the cafe just looking out at the great mountain peak.

walked into the hiking trails for a better view

The area was so vast, it was amazing to see the plains meet the rugged rock that grew into snowy peaks. I am so glad I got to see Mount Cook and wish I could’ve stayed for days to hike the different paths.

We headed back to Queenstown at 2:20 p.m. and made the same stops that we made on the way there.

The tour bus driver was very informative on the way back and I learned a lot about the history of the land so we passed through. For instance, recently there was a famous sheep who was overgrown with wool found in the mountains. They called him Shrek and he’s known around the world for having this immense coat.

The driver also called out the “Clay Cliffs” (which I don’t have a picture of because they were on the other side of the bus). He said a few months ago, Disney productions filmed an upcoming movie, Mulan, here and it will be coming to cinemas in 2020... pretty cool! Some other names I got that we passed were the Dunstan Mountain Range and Pisa Mountain Range, named for a leaning rock at the top that resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

our last photo op before the sun set and we got into queenstown

I ended the day trekking up the hills to my Airbnb where I ate some leftover food and drank my Mudbrick Syrah on the patio, listening to some Ray and gazing at the stars. It’s pretty cold at night so as much as I wanted to stay outside and star gaze, I needed to come inside. I did realize that part of the cloudy stuff I can see in the stars above my patio is actually the Milky Way. Apparently the constellations and moon are backwards in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the best places to experience aurora australis is in Queenstown!

All in all, today was one of the more tame days, spent mostly on a bus but seeing a lot of the untouched country. I really enjoyed it, and I hope to come back someday to spend more time enjoying the trails and being outside.

friday | may 24

queenstown day three

Good morning from Queenstown!

view from my airbnb of the remarkables around sunrise

No actual plans today - was able to sleep in (which meant waking up around 7:30 a.m…. still not over the jet lag) and ate breakfast on the patio. This was the first time I could see the view of the lake and mountains during the day (finally!).

I have learned that the mountains you see here are called “The Remarkables” mountain range, and I think I can see where they get the name. They are one of only two mountain ranges in the world that run directly north to south, the other being the Rockies.

The lake is Lake Wakatipu and it’s the largest lake on the South Island and the third largest in all of New Zealand. From above, it is shaped like an “N” and also resembles a finger, so it’s nickname is “The Finger Lake”. It is a glacial lake, meaning the water originated from a glacier and is very cold. Wakatipu is also very deep (380 m, or 1.250 ft) which means I won’t be going in it anytime soon.

After getting ready for the day and lounging around, reading and taking in the view, I made my way down to the city for lunch and to ride the famous gondolas.

First stop was the Skyline Gondolas. I had met a mother/daughter couple from Hawaii on my Milford Sound tour who told me about the gondolas and the luge you can do. It sounded fun so I bought a ticket for the ride up and two luge rides.

Side note: they also do paragliding and bungee jumping up there. Although a small part of me wanted to bungee, I just couldn’t bring myself to spend almost $200 for less than a minute of adrenaline rush. I also think they would have to push me off the ledge. I did see a guy jump as my gondola went down the mountain and it looked insane and I could hear him screaming the entire time… soooo no thanks.

The gondola lift was very steep and a little scary at times. But I made it to the top and decided my first stop would be a luge ride. I wasn’t really sure what “luge” even was, but I soon found out it’s basically a plastic-like “sled” with no wheels and only a handlebar to stop, go and turn. Regretfully I didn’t bring the GoPro helmet attachment, so I couldn’t get any footage going down the track. But man was it fun!

on the ski lift to go to the start of the luge track

I’m so glad I did the luge tickets and wish I could’ve done it more! Not only was the luge fun and exhilarating, but the track had amazing views of the mountains and lake. After doing my luge rides, I got some coffee and ice cream from the cafe and sat outside. The ice cream flavor is “hokey pokey” which is a New Zealand specific flavor. It’s french vanilla ice cream with some caramel swirls and crunchy honeycomb toffee.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned Manuka honey yet, so here’s some information. Manuka honey is sold all throughout New Zealand and it’s a special kind of honey with medicinal purposes. When I first arrived, I noticed it was sold throughout the gift shops. And then on my kayaking trip to Rangitoto, Eric pointed out Manuka and Kanuka plants along the way. Manuka is used for a variety of ailments, like inflammation, digestive issues, sore throat, etc. Kanuka is used to help treat cold sores. Last fact about these honeys, they aren’t cheap. Moral of the story is, honey is a big deal in New Zealand so it’s only fitting their staple ice cream flavor has honeycomb.

had a little selfie photo session on this bench

After walking around at the top of the mountain and getting some more pictures, I descended back down to town. Walking pass the gondola base, there was a Kiwi Bird Experience. I really wanted to see a kiwi so I went to see how much tickets were, but they were $55 and I just didn’t feel like spending that; the gondola and luge tickets were already $55. I did however find this adorable Merino sheep scarf! It’s my favorite souvenir thus far. I’ll share a picture of it tomorrow.

By now it was about 1 p.m. so I stopped to get a bite at… wait for it… Lord of the Fries. I saw this place on Maps and just had to try it out. They do all vegan and vegetarian burgers and hot dogs, but are known for their fries. I wasn’t feeling a burger because basically all I have eaten the past few days was a sandwich of sorts. Not realizing how big the portions were, I just ordered a large sweet potato fry with “parisian” sauce, which was a garlic aioli. Holy crap did they give me a large!

The fries were delicious but I couldn’t eat all of them so I saved some for later. After Lord of the Fries, I walked more into town and took it all in.

Queenstown reminds me of a small European village, like that of Germany or France. I haven’t been to Switzerland yet, but I imagine the towns resemble Queenstown with their European influenced buildings and storefronts with “Ski Hire” signs outside. There are no tall buildings and the streets are narrow. Here are a few pictures of “downtown”.

a bar called lone star! country music was playing outside

fergburger, a famous gourmet burger place

I made my way down to the water and there were more stores and restaurants that wrapped around the lake. It was really pretty, so I sat up on the beach ledge for a while and watched as a guy skipped rocks on the water and people walked by.

After sitting here for a while, I walked around and found a bar. I ordered their homemade mulled wine and it was delicious. This definitely did remind me of Europe! As I sat there drinking my mulled wine and looking at the mountains, it dawned on me that somehow I always manage to travel to cold places. Next time, I’m going near the equator!

I walked around some more and took some pictures of the beautiful and colorful trees near the water.

I stopped at a grocery store to pick up some NZ cheese and crackers and a small bottle of bubbly. I then made my way back towards Lord of the Fries. They had WiFi and I could get an Uber back to my Airbnb from there. I wanted to make it back so I could read on the patio and eat and drink while the sun was still out (sun sets around 5 p.m.)

I enjoyed reading and sipping wine until it got too cold and the sun went down. The rest of my night consisted of eating cheese and crackers, the rest of my fries and some figs and watching a movie on my phone. Although it’s a Friday night, I just didn’t feel like going out again. I want to be rested up for tomorrow’s wine tour!

saturday | may 25

queenstown day four

Today was THE day!!! If you know me at all, you know my favorite wine is Pinot Noir. And guess what, Queenstown makes a ton of Pinot Noirs. So it was only natural that I do a wine tasting throughout the region. This tour was booked through Appelation Wine Tours and man, was Paul, our tour guide great! He knew so much about the region and wine in general. Here are some facts that Paul passed on to us:

Viticulture has only been around in Central Otago since the early 1990’s, so it’s rather new.

Americans are the biggest purchasers of New Zealand wines in the world. We buy over a billion dollars of NZ wine each year. Therefore, they love us and that makes wine their number one export.

The wines grown in the Otago region are cold climate wines, which include Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Rose.

Pinot Noir is known as the “heartbreak grape” because of the difficulty it takes in making a Pinot Noir wine. The grape has to be just ripe enough and acidic enough to be picked and turned into the wine, that a lot of people can’t seem to do it right. It also can only be produced in a climate where the days are hot and the nights are cold.

The vineyards in the Otago region are the southern most vineyards in the world. Also, a fact I picked up from our wine curator at the first vineyard: Otago sits at 47 degrees latitude south. Oregon and Burgundy, France (the other major Pinot Noir producers) sit at 45 degrees north. So it’s only natural that Otago can grow the grapes in just the right temperature.

Enough of the facts, let’s get onto the vineyards. Our first stop was Gibbston Valley Winery. Here, they have a cheesery and a wine cave! We popped over to try some cheeses before starting our wine cave tasting at 10:00 a.m. My favorite was a type of goat cheese, which was hard and not like what we think of goat cheese in the U.S.

posing among the vines | also this is my new merino sheep scarf

Once the winery officially opened, we made our way into the wine cave. ALL barrels you see her are Pinot Noir barrels.

We tried a Pinot Gris, Riesling, Rose and Pinot Noir. I liked all of them, but obviously liked the Noir the most. The Rieslings in this region are different from your typical German Riesling, as they are drier and not as sweet. They taste more like a nice summer wine than straight juice that the Germans produce. After we came out of the cave, we went to the tasting room and our wine guide let us try some more of their wines. I tried a sparking Blanc du Blanc and another Pinot Noir variety. I ended up purchasing a bottle of the Pinot I tried, called School Rock.

After Gibbston Valley, we made our way to Domain Road Winery. The path to get to all these wineries was actually the same road I took on the way to Mount Cook, so I passed by the AJ Hackett Bungee bridge and gold mining towns again.

At Domain Road we tried a Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Rose and Pinot Noir, as well as a Sauvignon Blanc dessert wine. Again, all were delicious, but I purchased a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc since I liked it and figured I’d switch things up a bit. I did learn that all the wineries in this region use oak barrels to age their Pinot Noirs. This causes them to have a smokey flavor, which I’m not a huge fan of. Some wines I tried had smokier flavors than others. So that’s why I settled on the Sauv Blanc here. And also why I purchase the Pinot that I got at Gibbston… it wasn’t as smokey as the others we tried.

Domain Road was a lot smaller than Gibbston Valley. They only produce about 7,000 barrels a year, where Gibbston produces over 200,000 (I think those were the numbers). Anyway, the tasting room was a lot smaller and inside a shipping container.

Next stop was Cromwell for a look around town and lunch. Here are some pictures of Old Cromwell.

Lunch was at The Stoaker, where they prepare their meats and vegetables on a grill made out of old wine barrels.

I had preordered a vegetarian meal since I wasn’t sure what all the “meat” meal entailed. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was served delicious mushrooms, cauliflower, potatoes and other smoked vegetables laid out like a charcuterie board. It was all exquisite and meant to be eaten alongside five wines from Wild Earth winery. The meat board that the others ate included meat loaf, vegetables (like I had), lamb, pork belly, oysters and salmon.

greeted with (from left to right) pinot noir 2018, pinot noir 2010, pinot gris, riesling, rose

Lunch was great and the wines were superb. I only wished that someone told us more about the wines so I could understand more of what I was trying and maybe buy a bottle.

Next we made our way back towards town and stopped for a photo op on the river and then in Arrowtown.

The last winery of the day was Akarua, right outside Arrowtown. Here, we had a wine tasting paired with a cheese tasting. We could choose between bleu, Brie or gruyere, and I opted for gruyere. The wines we tried were Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir and a Pinot Noir Reserve. Again, all were delicious and the cheese was amazing. The gruyere was the perfect cheese to pair with the Pinots. I ended up purchasing a bottle of their “25 Steps” Pinot Noir. It’s named after the 25 steps to go up to where the Pinot grapes are in the vineyard.

This place reminded me of something I would see in Austin, again made out of shipping containers and just had a nice atmosphere of that I would find back home. Except this place did have a backdrop of a hill with sheep grazing… so I wouldn’t find that back in Texas.

As we left Akarua, Paul our tour guide gave us all some Patagonia chocolates, which is a New Zealand chocolatier. This was included in the wine tour and consisted of a dark chocolate with citrus peel and nuts and a white chocolate with apricots.

I had Paul drop me off in town, thinking I would walk around and grab dinner. But it was only 4:15 and no places were really open for dinner yet. So I decided to head back to the Airbnb, eat some leftover food and finish the last of my previous wine while taking in the view one last time.

sparkling brut and my patagonia chocolates

sunday | may 27

queenstown day five / auckland day five

Today was a travel day and although it started off pretty boring, man did it end in a different way…

I packed up my stuff and headed for the Queenstown airport around 10 a.m. for my 12:45 p.m. flight. Something I found peculiar when traveling domestically in New Zealand is that they don’t care what you carry on to the plane. I was able to bring on the plane a bottle of wine and other liquids that were over three ounces. They also just make you walk through a metal detector and that’s it; no taking off your shoes or coats or anything like that.

Another thing that is different about the NZ airports is that once you go through security and at your gate, there’s no more restaurants or shops to kill time. They are all only found before going through security… now we all know.

After waiting and finally boarding, we were up in the air and on our way to Auckland.

An hour and 55 minutes later, we were on the ground in Auckland and I made my way on the Sky Bus to my Airbnb.

in the clouds, about to descend on auckland

I made my way to the Airbnb which is off of Queen St (the main shopping street of Auckland; think Mag Mile or Park Ave). Although you would think it’s luxurious, it’s actually not. To enter, you come in through an alley that is the back of all these Asian food restaurants. Through a locked gate, the studio I’m staying in is at the end and there are about 4 different locks to get to the space. It seems safe, yet also kind of sketch.

looking into the airbnb from the gated pathway

I set my things down and went back out for some dinner. Earlier on the bus I had passed an Indian place called Chawla’s that I researched and sounded good, so that was my dinner destination. However, it didn’t open until 5 p.m., so I had about 45 minutes to kill. I walked toward the restaurant and near it was an Irish Pub called Father Ted’s. I figured I always have a good time in an Irish Pub, so I walked in and man did it deliver.

I ordered a Hawke’s Bay Lager and the Top Gun theme song was playing. These two Irish lads asked me if I’d ever seen the movie and I sadly admitted no. And that was the beginning of a wonderful night.

I sat and drank my beer while talking to these two blokes from Limerick and Northern Ireland. The one from Limerick (Colin) actually turned out to be the owner of the Pub and the casino downstairs. So they just kept feeding my drinks all night, all on the house. I showed them what a “pickle back” shot is, which is whiskey with pickle juice and they all thought it sounded disgusting. But I made some converts out of them.

james (from northern ireland), girl from hanover, germany and me taking pickle backs

Eventually I tore away from the group to go get my Indian fix and oh my goodness, was it THE BEST Indian food I’ve ever had.

I ordered the panner butter tikka, which is basically tikka masala but even creamier. Good lord I don’t know if it tasted better because I had a few beers in me or what, but I ate every last bit.

panner butter tikka and garlic naan | chawla’s

After being fully satisfied for under $20 NZD, I went back to Father Ted’s where they had a beer waiting for me. I played a game of darts with James (with a UF-TN baseball game going on in the background that I found strange to have played in NZ) and a game of pool with Colin. I lost both darts and pool game, but it was fun non the less. We also all took a “Snickers” shot and danced to the Irish live music.

My last night in New Zealand was definitely one for the books! Although I am ready to be back in the comfort of my own home, I also don’t ever want to leave this place.

monday | may 27

auckland day six / travel day

Woke up in the morning not ready for this to be my last day. I decided to get breakfast somewhere close since I had to be out of my Airbnb by 11 a.m.

I walked around the corner and ate at this cute French restaurant called Le Garde - Manger. Here, I ordered a long black coffee (my go-to) and La Fermière (a crepe with mushrooms, onions, herbs and cream, add an egg).

Although the dish was not what I envisioned when I read the menu description (I was thinking more like an omelet stuffed with all five of those ingredients; it was however super delicious and very rich.

I thought the cream would be like a type of heavy clotted cream inside the crepe. But it was actually a creamy mushroom sauce that was to die for. I couldn’t finish it all because it was so heavy. I think this will be my last glutinous meal for a while.

After breakfast I made my way back to the studio to finish packing my things. The plan for the day is to drop of my bags at the store that owns the studio and walk over to the Auckland Domain. It’s listed as a “must-see” in Auckland and also houses the Auckland War Memorial. I also love the name since there is a giant shopping mall called “The Domain” in Austin, so it only seemed fitting that I go see Auckland’s Domain.

I headed out for Auckland Domain and it was a little bit of a trek to the other side of town, but not too bad. It took me about 20 min to get there and I passed over a bridge that was above some of the highways. The way also passed by the big Auckland Hospitals and university buildings for health and medicine. Around the corner from the hospital was an entrance to the Domain.

I walked through the park and gawked at the lovely variety of trees and flowers. The park resembles that of a big city park like Central Park or Boston Common. There were also several rugby and football practice fields.

On the other side of the park was the War Memorial Museum. It’s a beautiful building with a wonderful view of the town and Rangitoto (just can’t go anywhere in Auckland without Rangitoto making an appearance!).

I didn’t go into the museum because it was $25 for non-NZ residents and it didn’t interest me enough. I then walked back the way I came and took more pictures of the trees and skyline.

passing some colorful trees on the way out of the park

sky tower peeping through the park trees and clouds

Walking out of the park, I made my way back towards Queen St. and passed a lot of the Auckland University campus and a nice park across the street. I think because I knew this would be my last time in town, I took a picture of just about everything I saw.

view of the sky tower from albert’s park

Once on Queen St., I went into several stores and shopped a little, looking for any last good souvenirs I could find. I made it all the way to the Harbour Ferry terminal and took the view in one last time. This was where I started; where it all began just 10 days ago. Where I was scared and homeless, but everything turned out just fine (better than fine actually!).

It was about 2 p.m. and although I wasn’t really hungry yet, I knew I didn’t want to have to get food at the airport, so I did some research and found a place that had good reviews and offered relatively healthy meals.

The place was called Food Truck Garage and it was in this cool shopping area that was clearly newer and mostly occupies by hipsters. Since I didn’t want a lot of food, the server suggested the tacos. They were vegan and the “meat” was a nut mince of almonds, cashews and flax seeds. They were actually pretty dang good!

vegetarian nut mince tacos | food truck garage

Finally it was about time to head to the airport. It’s a 45 min bus drive from downtown and I wasn’t sure if there would be rush hour traffic since it was a Monday afternoon. And I definitely didn’t want to be late for an international flight! Luckily, traffic wasn’t too bad and I still made it to the international terminal in under an hour. I had enough time to kill that I grabbed a local NZ beer from a restaurant.

inside a restaurant at the auckland airport

My flight left at 7:30 p.m. local time and landed in Houston at 4:00p.m. Monday; May 27 was a VERY long day. Also from walking all day and not having a place to shower, I felt pretty gross and wasn’t looking forward to being in close quarters on the plane. Thankfully I had an aisle seat and no one sitting in the middle. After an adventurous and long Monday, I made it home and all is well.

// epilogue //

New Zealand is an astoundingly gorgeous country filled with lovely people, delicious food and rich history. I loved every second of being in their land and immersed in the culture. Although I only visited two cities, there are many more I hope to one day get to, including Marlborough (for more sauvignon blancs!), Rotorua, Wellington and to do more outdoorsy things like hiking and being on the water, but I think I’m done with kayaking for now.

New Zealand Kiwis are proud of their beautiful country and embrace their ancestors and the aboriginals who came before them; the Māori. I learned that weird Hawaiian looking language below all the English signs is actually Māori and all landmarks around the country have their English and Māori name. That also explains why a lot of the city names are hard to pronounce. I learned a great deal about the southern island’s countryside and their most prized creation; wine. Their mountains are high and their waters are some of the bluest in the world. If this isn’t making you want to visit, then I don’t know what will. The New Zealand greeting to everyone, whether English or Māori is “Kia Ora,” which translates to “to live”. If it’s one thing Kiwis know how to do, it’s live.

This will be the last big trip I do for a while, as my back, feet and bank account need some time to recover. But rest assured, I do have some trips in the works - Washington D.C. this summer and fall (both my best friend and brother are moving there, so I’ll be going to the Capitol often now), Hawaii with the parents in July 2020 and hopefully Australia in 2020 as well - do I have any takers for that trip?

If it’s one thing that this adventure has taught me, is to take risks. Nothing in life just comes to you, YOU have to make it and take it.

We live in our own small worlds, filled with routine and safety. We take for granted just about everything and for a lot of us, we think it’s our world and every one else is just living in it. But getting out and seeing another part of this magnificent Earth is truly humbling and helps you understand how insignificant our lives can be.

In the last 10 days, I made friends with an Irish girl from Vancouver, a whole group of rambunctious Aussie women, two Irish blokes looking for a good time and many others who helped me (or didn’t) along the way.

I encourage every one of you to take a leap of faith and go where you want. Make traveling a priority and don’t rely on others to make your dreams come true. If your significant other or friend or family member can’t go with you to a place you’re dying to go, then just go by yourself! You’ll experience what you’ve been longing for and learn a lot about yourself along the way. You are stronger and more independent than you ever imagined.

Who knows where life will take you. The road is long, but in the end, the journey is the destination.

new zealand.

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