Exploring the amazing New Zealand (Aotearoa)

Hello!

I hope that this post finds you well. I'm going to write this post and include things that I think will be useful to your on your trip. If you need more information or have any doubts about anything you can write to me in total confidence. I travelled New Zealand in a very short space of time, but I think that I arrived with enough knowledge of things and I also have good friends that actually work there. They helped us with more information if that's what you need.

To start, you have to know that the month of November is summer there so it's the perfect time of year to visit as it won't be too cold. But be careful: the summer here is like a normal day in Mexico City (it's hot, but not too hot, and the wind is a bit nippy).

The emblem of the country is a silver fern which is an actual plant that grows everywhere. In this country, there are about 10 times the amount of sheep than people, and although it's very close to Australian they have hardly any strange bugs or dangerous animals. Be very careful in this country, in fact the airport is a joke because they make you declare absolutely EVERYTHING and if they pat you down and find something they'll fine you 400 dollars. They have their own currency which is the New Zealand dollar, and around 15 Mexican pesos equals that of a NZ dollar, which is cheaper than the Europe. Well, I would recommend that you declare absolutely EVERYTHING. They opened all my bags because I came straight from Mexico, and for them we are a high risk country why is most probably the reason why they'll check you even more. In general the people are very friendly and SUPER calm, nothing like the typical super-demanding idiot gringo. Here the people are very relaxed and will always help you with whatever you need. The traditional bird is the Kiwi, it's cute and fluffy (but not once in all the time I spent there did I see one hahaha) but it's because of these animals that the fruit is called a kiwi because they look like one another. Also people from New Zealand are called Kiwis, well they refer to one another as Kiwis instead of saying New Zealanders.

I recommend going to the city of Auckland as it's from here that you can get to the other cities from in the easiest way. This is the most populated city in the country and it has around a million and a half citizens (which isn't really much hahaha) and on the whole island, I think there are around 4 million. There you can visit a lot of things such as the Sky Tower that is literally a "tall" tower that you can go up, and at the top you can pay to walk along the outside of the building, obviously with a harness, so you can see the whole city from there.

In front there's a hotel called Sky City and it has some great restaurants for all preferences. In fact there's one in front of the hotel called Bellota (it's Spanish but it's really, really good) and I always ate there hahaha. Afterwards you can go to the Auckland Museum that literally has all the history about the Maori people (which is what the natives are called). Their culture is incredible and it's really worth going to learn as much as you can about them. Another idea is to walk down the main street called Queen St. (there are loads of fancy shops there, but there's one that I loved that sold a brand of tea called T2, and they sell some beautiful mugs). I didn't go to the botanical garden but there are people who recommend it. Where I went to take a photo is the only mountain that there is in the city, and from there you have a very pretty panoramic view.

For dinner, you can go to the place where all the restaurants look like a shoreline. It's more or less right where the Maritime Museum is (you can ask in the hotel).

Okay, now I'm going to start with the things that you must do whilst you're here. (I always bought tickets for tours through a company called Peterpan's Travel because they had the best prices: https://peterpans.com/new-zealand/north-island/auckland/ ):

• 1. -Cape Reinga: this is the most northern point of the island and it's right next to the sea between Tasmania and the Pacific Ocean. There's a lighthouse and a tree that they call the spirits or something like that, but the views are very impressive. It's what I recommend doing the most.

To get there, you need to first go through the city of Paihia which belongs to the area called Bay of Islands. There is where you can stay, and there are many activities to do such as go by boat to the nearby islands where there are vineyards, you can swim with dolphins (this is an activity that I really recommend), among others. But this city is the only place where you can go on tours from to Cape Reinga.

The day you do the tour, walk down a beach called 90 Miles Beach and also you can stop in some sand dunes to do some sandboarding (something that you can never forget), also there are other stops in reserves and things like that, but that is by far the coolest.

This trip would take a minimum of three days from leaving to returning to Auckland.

• 2. -Hamilton: it's very close to Auckland, something like 45 minutes away, but there's nothing more to see than gardens. If you don't seen them, you won't miss out on anything special, but they are pretty because they are divided as if by country. What is there, is the rugby stadium.

• 3. -Hobbiton Movie Set: this is found in the city of Matamata and truly, if you like these films, and the Lord of the Rings and things like that, it's a must. The most interesting thing is the tour that starts in Auckland and takes you here for just one day. It also takes you to the Waitomo Caves.

• 4. -The Waitomo Glowworm Cave: surely you've seen photos of these caves on the internet, where you turn your head to the ceiling and it looks like there's a sky full of stars, when it's actually just glowworms producing their own light. Here there is an event called black water rafting which is really cool because you do it in an inflatable plastic donut which then passes through all the tunnels in the caves. (it obviously doesn't look like it does in my photos but the experience of just being there inside the caves and doing the rafting is the best). http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting/Pages/default.aspx
• 5.- Cathedral Cove: this place is in the region of Coromandel and it's where they filmed the movie the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It's an enormous rock with a beach and pretty views. The whole region of Coromandel is full of beaches with hot water (this is referring to if you dig up the sand at certain points of the day, very hot water comes out). This is very typical of the area as it's a geothermic zone. There are also tours that take you in a boat to all the prettiest places so you can take photos.

• 6. - Mount Maunganui: it's a little mountain in the city of Tauranga and when you arrive at the highest part of it, you'll see a view of the whole city, and it's really pretty. (honestly, it's tiring to climb up and I don't think it was really worth it).

• 7. - OTUMUHEKE STREAM SPA PARK: it's like a lake with a little waterfall in it, but the joke is that the water is hot. It's all natural, and I would recommend that you go early because if you don't, it will be full of people and children. But truthfully, it was one of the places I enjoyed the most out of the whole country. There are other places with thermal waters but they are private pools so it's not the same. Whereas here, you're literally in the middle of nothing, and you can see some amazing views. This is all near the city of Taupo.

• 8. - Huka Falls: this is also in the city of Taupo, and the water is an incredible shade of blue, the same kind of blue as the sea on Playa del Carmen in Mexico, or even more clear. In fact, there's a McDonald's very close to here that has a gigantic plane where people take pictures, but it's nothing out of this world.

• 9. - Maori Rock Carving: it's an enormous rock that the Maoris carved, and you can get here on a boat or kayak tour from the city of Taupo. The truth is you can only take a photo of it, and that's it. Hahaha!

ROTORUA. - my favourite city.

• 10. - Te Puia: this is a place where you can see two things: how the most famous geyser in the world erupts, and the typical wooden sculptures made by the Maoris. There is a souvenir shop here that you're going to love.

• 11. - Tamaki Maori Village: this is the best experience that you're going to be able to have about the Maori culture. This is a tour which takes you through a mini Maori village, and they explain everything about them to you. Here is where you're going to see the hakas (they're like rituals and in fact the rugby players do it before every game to scare their opponents) and their traditional tattoos.

(When you get in the van that takes you to the village, they choose a volunteer to represent the whole team. I recommend that you volunteer because you'll have more benefits, and you would be a part of the Maori ritual that they do at the beginning. You'll also be at the front the whole time). It's really worth a trip.

• 13. -Wai-O-Tapu Thermal: you can see the different scenarios caused by the subsoil that has a lot of geothermic activity. There are mud pools and different mini different-coloured lakes here. It's a place where you can walk and take photos because you obviously wouldn't dive into any of these places because you'd burn yourself hahaha.

• 14. - Tongariro National Park: it's like an enormous mountain that I'm sure would be snowy and deathly cold at the top, and this is another reason why I went in the summer hahaha. But, the landscape is beautiful and there's also a waterfall there. By the way, New Zealand is the country with the most recorded waterfalls in the world, so they're everywhere. Look, the truth is that if you're not going to climb up the mountain, I wouldn't recommend losing time in going just to take a photo. I think there are other things that are a lot more worth it.

• 15. - An All-Blacks Game: it's the most important rugby team in the world, they're the best according to this. If you've seen the film Forever Strong it'll give you an idea about what this sport means to them.

This country is totally suitable for travelling by motor-home. The truth is that it's an experience that I would really recommend doing, because there are so few countries where you can do this and it's actually really comfortable. If you would like, I'll send you videos of the van that we rented and I swear it was luxurious and totally equipped (it even had wifi! ). You can also rent bikes to travel through the cities with, and bring them onto the motor-home. The best company to do this with is called Wilderness. I'll leave you the link to check it out if you like: http://wilderness.co.nz/

In terms of mobile data, they give you SIM cards from a company literally called “2°” and they have different packets depending on what you what you recharge. I paid around $40 for unlimited internet and I was there for more or less a month.

• 16. - Wellington. - It's the capital of the country and there's another good attraction here. From Mount Victoria is where you can have a great view of the city. There is the traditional cable car but it does nothing more than take you to the top so you can walk around, walk down Cuba St., and I don't know what else you can do because I only had a short space of time there.

If you want to go to the South Island, I would recommend Queenstown and Christchurch.

They have an airport and in fact you can fly from Queenstown to Melbourne, and I think that this works out cheaper.

• Queenstown is a very small city but it's very, very pretty. There are like 8 streets hahaha but it has my favourite shop in the whole WORLD, called Cookie Muncher (it has the best icecreams, milkshakes and baked cookies I have ever tried I swear).

This city has some great activities that you can do.

1. I would recommend the tour of the Dart Stables because you pass through where they filmed the Lord of the Rings and some takes of Narnia, and they tell you how they did the filming and so on. The landscapes are incredible and the tour is nothing too expensive. http://www.dartstables.com/
2. Also, it's super typical to book tickets to go to the Onsen Hot Pools: which is a spa, but there is an amazing view from the jacuzzi. I would recommend that you buy a ticket beforehand so that you can choose a time to go when you can go in during the day, the landscape is spectacular. http://www.onsen.co.nz/
3. Another activity that I liked a lot was going rafting because although the water is cold, you put on some wetsuits that help with the cold, and after a while you'll have forgotten! It's an incredible experience.
4. From here you can take a tour to Milford Sound which is part of the New Zealand Fjords, and from there you can go on a cruise which I would really recommend. You have two ways of getting there. One is buying a bus tour that takes you there which already includes the cruise. The other is paying for a small plane that takes you really close to the snowy mountains and leaves you in Milford Sound, so you can join the cruise which then takes you back. Both experiences are absolutely amazing. http://www.milford-sound.co.nz/

If you take the bus tour from Queenstown to Milford Sound you can stop at the Mirror Lakes that are spectacular, among other landscapes that you can't miss out on!

Additionally, on the outskirts of the city is the place where they invented bungee-jumping so it's a perfect option for adventure or if you prefer you can go parachuting. The views from whatever activity you choose are incredible.

Also around the outskirts are various vineyards with very nice wines. The majority of them have grapes that make Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc among others. My favourite was the Moscato white wine, which surprised me. http://www.nzwine.com/wine-styles/ (on this page you can check the types of grape they have in different vineyards in the region). For being a small country, New Zealand had to set very high quality standards to be able to compete at a worldwide level, which is why I would recommend that you live this experience yourself.

In Christchurch there aren't many things to see, but the people who go there a lot usually go to ski. On the way there is Mount Cook which has a spectacular view.

The best way to do this trip in my opinion is: get to Auckland in the morning to get to know the city (one day is enough), and the following day go on the tour to Cape Reinga which takes 2 days, and on the third day you go back to Auckland in the afternoon so you can see if there's anything you missed. The next day, you should go on the complete day tour of Waitomo and Hobbiton.

From there I would then travel to Coromandel really early in the morning, and stop at Rotorua because the most important part of that trip is the Maori Village (you have to book your ticket beforehand to make sure you have a place). From there, then catch a flight to the South Island, to Queenstown, so that you can see the different types of scenery the country offers. Then take a tour of Milford Sound, and from Queenstown I would then fly to Australia.

Now, if you like adventure and doing weird things, you can go to the place that has the longest name in the world! But there's nothing around it, it's literally only there so you can take a photo.