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New Zealand.
This is, without a doubt, the most naturally beautiful country I've ever been to. From the tropical island feel of the north to the steep mountains of the south, there is simply so much to see. I spent just under a month here, and I'm already excited for the next opportunity to come back to New Zealand and keep exploring.
As I've said before, when I was originally thinking about this gap year as a whole, my focus was always on Europe; New Zealand and Australia were kind of an afterthought. The ending of that Europe trip felt very final and fulfilling to me, because I created something - a story about an adventure - that felt finished. That being said, it feels wrong to be solo traveling again and not write about what I get up to. Since this second leg is split in half between New Zealand and Australia (and also shorter, time-wise, than the Europe trip), I've decided that I'll release two additional "bonus" blog entries. One for New Zealand. One for Australia. That means that this entry will cover quite some time, and it's going to be a long one. So sit back, relax, and prepare yourself, I suppose.
So far, this trip has felt pretty different to my time in Europe, for multiple reasons that I'll get into later. But first, a main difference is that it hasn't been entirely solo! For the first half of this month in New Zealand, I was joined by my family, who used my gap year as an excuse to tag along and take a vacation! This trip was basically an early celebration of my father's 50th birthday, and we spent two weeks exploring the country together.
The bags are ready again
I figure that I should list the highlights of everything we got up to. Like I said before, this country is full of incredible places, and there's so much more that I haven't done. Yet having spent almost a month here, I feel like I got a pretty good tour in. It all started with the brutal 29-hour transit from Boston. I'm not looking forward to doing that again, solo, on the way back.
After flying in to Auckland and hopping on a 30 minute ferry, we made it to Waiheke island. Full of wineries, giant ferns, and cerulean beaches, it was a perfect spot to get over the jet lag that comes from flying halfway across the globe. On our first hike on the island, we were taken aback by the prehistoric feel of the forests, with giant ferns that seemed like they were meant to feed dinosaurs. You see, New Zealand split off from the rest of the Gondwana supercontinent much earlier than other modern-day continents, and so its natural environment formed a sort of time capsule, with a very different evolutionary path from the rest of the world. With no native mammals, it developed a bunch of super interesting bird life, and of course the giant ferns make the forests here look unique to anywhere else I've traveled.
After a few laid back days on Waiheke, we quickly flew down to Nelson, a small city on the northern coast of the southern island. We wanted to spend the majority of the family trip exploring the south island, which had more of a reputation for beautiful landscapes.
Funnily enough, our Airbnb in Nelson quickly grew to feel like home. It was right across from a large park, with swimming holes and a massive disc golf course, and I could draw a lot of parallels to suburban Nelson with where we're from, outside of Boston.
We spent Christmas here, getting a Chinese dinner and watching the Great British Bake Off. It was my first time experiencing the holidays with summer weather, and it was quite a shock. Hearing Christmas carols playing on the beach, singing about snow and white Christmases, just felt wrong to me. But would I have rather been in the cold Boston winter? Absolutely not.
Massive palms + ferns
Auckland to Waiheke ferry
Onetangi beach
The reason for spending some time in Nelson was because of our next stop, the Abel Tasman national park, which features one of many of New Zealand's great walks. The country's network of multi-day trails shows how the importance of appreciating and experiencing nature is built into the culture.
We spent 3 days on a tour of the Abel Tasman park, which included a lot of ocean kayaking. Spending our days paddling through turquoise waters, stopping on secluded beaches for lunch, and getting quite sunburnt was an awesome experience. Some of the highlights included paddling around a large protected fur seal breeding island (they flop around quite comically on land), and walking across a massive estuary, which transformed from complete sand to complete water every 6 hours.
High tide
Low tide
Split apple rock
After our days in the park - and a night back in Nelson to recuperate - we rented a car and began roadtripping down route 6, the beautiful road which runs down the west coast of the south island. New Zealand is incredible because often, just 2 seconds from the main road, you can stumble upon all kinds of spectacular natural locations. We took advantage of the many scenic stops along the drive, which broke it up into a very manageable and pleasant journey.
Our first main stop was an Airbnb near Fox River. This house had a gorgeous view over the Pacific ocean, and was near the pancake rocks in Punakaiki, a park with some very cool rock formations by the sea. The thing I've loved about traveling with my family like this is that they basically did all the planning for us! For instance, Charleston, a town nearby, has a cave with the world's largest glow worm colony. I would've never found out about that, or even been out to this area of the country, without my family.
So of course, the next day we took a tour of the Te Ananui cave system. After suiting up in ridiculous caving wetsuit gear, we hiked down past large stalactites and stalagmites to an underground lake, where we floated under a canopy of little blue lights. The glow worms formed a starry night sky above us, which went on and on, mesmerizing, for a long time. We emerged from the cave, met a large freshwater eel, and rode our tubes down the river rapids all the way back to the beginning. Such a magical experience, though practically impossible to photograph.
Tubing through the Te Ananui cave system
Casual roadside stop at the Hokitika gorge
Pancake rocks
View from the Airbnb
In my opinion, the most epic stop on our road trip was the little town of Franz Josef. We got here just in time for New Year's eve, where we supplemented fireworks with a walk through a special patch of forest which housed many glow worms in nooks and crannies in trees and the underbrush. We even had a lovely siren cut through the night (we guessed it was a warning against lighting personal fireworks), adding to the pseudo-firework nature of the glow worms!
The next day, to kickstart 2026, we embarked on the Roberts Point track, a 12.5km out-and-back hiking trail that takes you up to the famous namesake of this town, the Franz Josef glacier. This hike was beautiful, taking us through lush old growth forests, over narrow swinging bridges above river basins with misted mountains in the distance, and up to a lookout spot over the glacier itself, where we had lunch. In principle, one can take a helicopter tour to get you actually ON the glacier, but then you'd miss out on all the beauty of this hike! Plus it's much more expensive, and obviously a bit of a tourist trap.
The aftermath of the Roberts Point track
Leaving Franz Josef, we decided to stop at a kiwi sanctuary. Kiwi are incredibly endangered, due to them not liking much of anything (reproducing, daylight, other kiwis), and so we realized our hopes of seeing one in the wild were slim. You can't leave New Zealand without seeing one, though, so this indoor wildlife center was our chance. They were pretty cute, and larger than I imagined, but you'll have to take my word for it because they didn't allow photos in the enclosure.
Anyways, our roadtrip finished in the town of Wanaka, where we relaxed and explored, visiting the famous Wanaka tree (which was dinkier than we'd imagined), and all in all reflecting on a great 2-week trip across New Zealand.
The next day, we drove from Wanaka to the Queenstown airport, which surprisingly ended up being the most beautiful driving leg of them all! The purple lupine flowers transformed the already-beautiful grassy hills into something fantastical.
In Queenstown, my family and I parted ways, and the solo traveling began. It all felt a bit abrupt, honestly, to suddenly be alone in a hostel again! But it didn't take long before I was back in the swing of hostel life again, and it felt good to be back.
Among the lupines
Goodbye - in Queenstown
The first thing I did, on my first full day in Queenstown, was rent a mountain bike. Queenstown is the adventure hub of New Zealand, and the gateway to a lot of the truly epic landscapes that make up the fjordlands of the south west. Adventure sports shops and tour companies have buildings on literally every block. Luckily, the hostel I was staying in (Nomads) made it super easy to book any activities - like bike rentals - at the desk, and with some pretty sweet discounts. Convenient.
So I embarked on the Queenstown Around the Basin loop, going for the maximum distance possible, which ended up being right around 35 miles all told. It was a beautiful ride taking me out to the old mining town of Arrowtown, where I grabbed lunch, and back along the Wharehuanui trail, which took me through rolling green fields and pastures filled with sheep. Along with good views of the mountains, the ride felt like I was among those mountains, constantly climbing up and down. My legs were loudly protesting for the final 10 miles or so, but it was worth it.
Somewhere in the countryside around Queenstown
The next day, a guy at the hostel managed to convince me to sign up for the Shotover canyon swing. It's not quite a bungee jump, but it has you freefalling quite a ways, and was the first real adrenaline-junkie activity I've ever done. You can choose from a bunch of different drop styles, and since I only got one jump, I figured I'd go with the one where you hang suspended upside down, before they drop you.
The image and sensation of the ground rushing towards me will forever be burned in my brain.
Fun fact, the "wait wait wait, let me tell you something" meme is from this exact canyon swing, and it's also had some pretty famous celebrities jump off of it in its time! It was pretty pricy though, so much so that I don't think the jump was worth the money. Still cool though! Money comes back, opportunities like this do not.
The main thing I wanted to do while in Queenstown was to take a hike up a mountain in the fjordlands. Yet, I quickly realized that to truly experience the nature of the far southwest, you probably need a car, a guide, and more money than I have.
However, I found that you can hike the Ben Lomond trail, a 15.5km out and back climb, straight from Queenstown! It's a testament to how rugged the south island is, that just outside of a relatively-major city, you can quickly be up among the mountains, not a building or human development in site.
While not quite the most rugged hike you can do (that'll have to be saved for when I return here later in life), this trek was still pretty insane. Now, you can actually skip part of this hike by riding the Skyline gondola up to the viewing platform, and going from there. The ticket for that was surprisingly pricy, so I first had to hike up the steep Tiki Trail to even get to the base of the Ben Lomond trail. It took about 3 hours to finally reach the start of the summit push, and the whole time I felt like I was walking through Middle Earth. The steep final section involved some scrambling, but the view - and the snacks - at the summit were very much worth it. It was about 1700m of elevation gain all told, and has made me appreciate hiking even more than I already do. This country spoils you, it really does.
Ben Lomond mountain
On the topic of Middle Earth, the last thing I did during my stay in Queenstown was joining a Lord of the Rings tour I'd found on GetYourGuide.
Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings movies, is a kiwi. He chose to film the movies exclusively here in New Zealand, with many of the iconic mountainous adventure shots being filmed around Queenstown. His attention to detail and use of real-world locations is why the movies still hold up so well today. The tour took us through a town called Glenorchy, past a smaller town called Paradise and into the beginnings of the Mount Aspiring national park, stopping along the way at various filming locations. A tour like this is really the only way to access some of these locations, and now that I've literally been to the same spots, I should really rewatch the movies.
So, after a solid time in Queenstown, I hopped on a flight up to Auckland, which was supposed to be a pretty quick affair. Naturally, it ended up getting canceled due to an engineering issue, and after waiting in a long line, a stroke of luck and a perk of traveling solo meant that they were able to squeak me onto the later flight, arriving in Auckland quite late at night. After taking a long series of buses to the city center, it started pouring rain, and I had to sprint the last couple blocks through the downpour, finally arriving at the Lylo hostel soaking wet and exhausted.
Auckland itself is a nice enough city, though people I've met have said that it's not worth spending much time there. I agree it's not the most interesting place, but it does have its cool spots, like the war memorial museum and surrounding park and botanical gardens. And it's impossible to miss the sky tower looming over everything.
Honestly, I kept it very chill for the first couple days here, spending my time reading and hanging out in the hostel. There were some cool folks in my room to grab drinks with occasionally, but mostly I was alone, exploring the city a bit and taking it easy. I didn't do much street photography here, even though I felt like maybe I should. More on that later.
Yum
The way my plans worked out, I ended up with about a week in Auckland before my flight to Sydney, and so I decided to break this up by spending 4 days up in the bay of islands. The Intercity buses are super reliable and an easy way to get around New Zealand, and after a pleasant 3 hour journey, I ended up at the beachside town of Paihia. The weather was beautiful and the turquoise ocean was refreshing; I spent my days reading and hanging out by the beach, and eating a lot of seafood. This area was an interesting contrast to the rugged mountains of the south island.
Just outside of Paihia are the Waitangi treaty grounds, the location where the controversial Waitangi treaty was signed in the mid 1800s. I learned - from the Auckland museum - that this treaty, between the British crown and Māori chiefs, was printed in both languages, with discrepancies in translation causing controversy and ongoing debates about the fairness and rights it gave to the Māori people. It's regarded as one of the most important locations and events in New Zealand's history.
Spending my time around Paihia was pretty idyllic, but I would be doing a disservice to the bay of islands if I came here and didn't visit an island. So one day, I decided to take a day trip via public ferry to the island of Urupukapuka (try saying that 5 times fast).
I wasn't sure what to expect, but it ended up being absolutely incredible. Full of steep cliff formations and secluded coves, I spent the day hiking around the island, dodging sheep and looking out at the gorgeous bay. Eventually, I emerged from a forest trail and found myself in a completely secluded beach cove, where I took a swim and then dozed off. I woke up, noticed I'd gotten a bit sunburnt, and then realized that I was close to missing the return ferry back to Paihia! I had to run the rest of the way, and managed to save myself from getting stranded for the night. That would've been less than ideal.
Urupukapuka
Then it was back to Auckland for a final few days, where I managed to catch an Ed Sheeran concert at the Go Media stadium. Maybe you'll remember from my travels in Europe that I saw him perform in Düsseldorf, Germany. He had happened to be performing exactly on my route and exactly at the time I was traveling. Well, it seems that any time I solo travel, he decides to meet me exactly on my route and exactly at the right time, because that's how it happened again here! It's becoming sort of a tradition, and I'll say, I enjoyed this one even more than the previous show. I accredit that to the New Zealand affect: where would you rather be, a random city in Germany, or touring New Zealand?
On my final day in Aotearoa, I had booked a day trip tour of the Hobbiton movie set. As I said before, I learned that the reason why the Lord of the Rings films hold up so well is because of Peter Jackson's attention to detail and use of real-world locations, staying away from CGI as much as possible. Walking through this preserved set was a prime example of his genius, and it really made me feel like I was in the movies themselves.
The movie set is in the town of Matamata, which is decently far south of Auckland, making it a long day. The tour made this easy though, and was far cheaper than if I had tried to arrange transport and tickets myself. It also included a visit inside of one of the hobbit holes, as well as a large festive lunch at the Green Dragon tavern (the best food I've eaten in New Zealand so far, by the way). Over lunch, I met some Aussies who gave me heaps of recommendations about what to do when I get to their country. Including, apparently, to try eating kangaroo. You'll have to read my next entry to see if I accomplish that.
All in all, this was a great way to end my time here in New Zealand, and further reinforced that I need to go rewatch those movies.
Now, I want to talk about how I've been feeling, for a bit.
My time here in New Zealand has felt a bit different to my time in Europe in the fall. As I've said, back when I was planning and looking forward to my gap year, I was always focused on Europe, this second leg was always kind of an afterthought.
My time in Europe ended up being everything I could've hoped for, and more. It was grounded by the passion of writing this blog, working to tell the story of my travels over the 3 months, and also by street photography, with the goal of a final portfolio in mind. I'm the type of person who gets SUPER invested in something, giving everything I have, and then feeling a bit lost once I'm done with it. With my large passion projects all done, I haven't had the same level of motivation while I've been here. That means that some days I doubt myself, and think I'm wasting this opportunity.
Also, I've been feeling a bit more alone here than I did in Europe. I haven't had too many social nights out or connections with people, which were a bit more common in Europe. Maybe it's due to me being nervous; it's the high season here, after all, whereas before I was traveling in the off season. It might seem counterintuitive, but these hostels are packed to the brim with people, and I find it a little bit overwhelming compared to the slightly more tight-knit communities I found back in European hostels. I don't know. There have definitely been some cool people I've met, but again, it's easy to focus on the lack of something, rather than what you already have.
Even though my day-to-day feels a bit different to Europe, I realize now that that's not such a bad thing. It's simply different.
I've found myself really falling in love with nature and the outdoors, something that wasn't as present when I was hopping between different European cities. I've also been gravitating towards landscape photography, and have recently been really inspired by trees; their forms and shapes make for some beautiful artistic images. I've gotten back into reading, spending a lot of my time on that as well.
It's been good, getting back into the swing of solo traveling, and adapting to the changes from how I felt in Europe. I'm excited to carry this momentum into Australia.
Lastly, I thought I'd mention some things that ended up on my "things I've learned" list from the past month:
Sand bees are introverted, with no queen or hive
American Samoa and independent Samoa are split by the international date line
The Charleston glow worm cave has the largest colony in the world
“Day for it”
Kiwis don’t use bike locks (the country is that safe)
New Zealand has incredible automatic public toilets
A trough is a U (glacial formed), a valley is a V
Boromir is ned stark (the actor loves dying)
1 in 10 kiwis at the time of filming were involved in Lord of the Rings
Glenorchy is the gateway to Paradise
Queen Victoria was the first goth
September 22 is international hobbit day
So yeah, this has ended up being a pretty long entry. I write these for myself, because it feels rewarding to record everything I've done and be able to look back on it later. I'd be surprised if anyone actually managed to read everything in here. But if you did, thanks a lot! I hope it was interesting.
Anyways, I'm now in Sydney, Australia, and I've got another 3 weeks left on this trip to explore. I really don't have much of a plan as of yet, so my next order of business will be figuring out what I’m actually doing.
That's it for now!
Mark
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