We spent in New Zealand a little less than we intended, but still managed to see and experience lots of things. We had time to visit both islands and appreciate their differences. It was one of our “must see” countries and it didn’t fall short of our expectations. 

Nature. New Zealand does not lack drama when it comes to landscapes. Especially southern island is filled with fantastic mountains, starry skies (less people = less light pollution) and fiords. Most of the northern island we saw looks like Hobbiton with its super green rolling hills, although it has also the biggest trees, one of the world’s top alpine pass day hikes and enchanted forests.

Fauna. We learned on a cave tour that New Zealand has only two native land mammal species and both of them are bats. There are seals and dolphins, but other mammals are invasive species and have caused a lot of trouble. E.g. Brits had this great idea of introducing rabbits to have something to shoot in spare time. Of course, without any natural predators, cute little bunnies became a real pest. Same problem goes with possums that have come from Australia.

Most animals you see in New Zealand are not wild. Sheep are omnipresent, but still there are much less sheep than before. Nowadays dairy is the big thing, so cows have also taken over the countryside.

What is native to these islands are the weird birds. Of course they have kiwis (which we heard once but never saw), but also inquisitive mountain parrots aka keas, different penguins and flightless parrots called kakapos (they are really rare since they got mostly eaten by maoris).

Cities and Towns. On both islands towns had a lot to offer. Each one had its own peculiarity. In the south we found towns like Wanaka and Oamaru where we could have stayed longer. Wanaka felt really down to earth local town and had a lot of personality having a locally owned movie theatre, ice cream shop and a recycling centre, for example. It was also next to a beautiful lake and close to a bunch of nice day walks. Oamaru made an impression with its friendly people and style. Its Victorian buildings, world’s smallest penguins and the attitude of people living there made it a very welcoming little town.

In the north island Auckland had many charming areas like Mt. Eden and Devonport. Auckland seemed like a big cosmopolitan city but in reality there is only approx 1.3 million people living there. And when they get tired of city life, they flee to a small town on the lake Taupo, where you can do kayaking and bathe in hotsprings.

People. Kiwis are very friendly folk. Especially in small towns they are easy going and nice to talk to. In bigger cities (=Auckland) we didn’t even find that many locals since hoards of Asians come here to work. Also elsewhere there were people who came for work, since at the moment there’s more work than people in this growing economy. 

Maori culture was present everywhere with statues, tattoos and also all the street signs where written in English and in Maori. There were even radio shows in Maori language. 

One quirky thing we noticed ( we were pointed out) about Kiwis is that they don’t wear shoes. On street and in the shops people were walking barefoot. They have really adopted the lifestyle of Hobbits.

Food. Fish and chips is probably the main dish in the country and can be found anywhere. Before leaving Finland we heard that food in New Zealand is awful and lamb tastes like wool. As a positive surprise we found out that food there was great when you find the right places to eat in. We also cooked a lot with lamb and it was delicious (especially in Wanaka where our hostel had fresh home-grown rosemary to go with it).

When shopping we went mostly to bigger supermarkets called Pak’n’Save, since food prices are pretty high (similar to Finland except they grow the fruits themselves and don’t bring them from Spain). Here we just had to buy every time this new fruit to us – a yummy golden kiwi. Just like the green one, except yellow inside and much sweeter. 

When shopping for food we noticed that Kiwis want to get rid of plastic bags. If you want one, you have to pay, but you can get recycled cardboard boxes for free. And those were really handy to keep in the back of the car.

Traffic. We rented a car, since that way we had most freedom. Driving on the left side was no longer an issue after Australia. However, the roads are pretty different than in Australia – instead of infinitely long straight stretches the roads were constantly winding. They still had a 100km limit, but driving that fast would have been suicidal. Additionally there were heaps of road works.

Destinations. We visited so many different places that it is difficult to highlight only few. Our favourite treks were probably Tongariro alpine crossing and Mangorei track at Taranaki in the north and the summit of Ben Lemond in the south. We also missed many treks, e.g. all the Great Walks, so there are definitely things to come back to.