New Zealand: On the Other Side of the World, But Right Next to My Heart

/

It took me two days to get there, but visiting New Zealand with James was well worth the trip.

James and I had been monitoring the border situation in New Zealand for months and as soon as we got word that they'd be allowing visitors back in, we booked my ticket. Sometimes I think back on that trip and can’t believe I was able to visit; talk about ticking a major bucket list location off my list! But, after the longest layovers, flights, and border control processes I've ever had, I was reunited with James at Auckland airport. We planned three weeks of adventures together, but since we both worked full time while I visited, we had to pack all of the fun into our nights and weekends.

For the sake of time, we kept our travels around the North Island, but we did manage to tick a LOT of things off my New Zealand list overall. The country is incredible and 100% worth a visit - I was truly saddened to leave when my time there was up. I tell everyone that it was like a very outdoorsy U.K., but with lots of weird birds and weird plants. I know it’s been a bit of time since I got home, but I’ve been doing a ton of traveling and I also caught COVID a few weeks back, so you could say I’ve been a bit preoccupied. But that said, I owe you all the lowdown on the trip, so here's what James and I got up to on my very first - of many - New Zealand adventures.

Week One:

Trying American Fast Food in New Zealand: Taco Bell, Domino’s, and McDonald’s

I, like many Americans, love trying American things that make it to other countries and fast food has always been my favorite. What I’ve found over the years is that some countries really do our cheap food justice - so much so that it can sometimes even be better due to the higher food standards and better ingredients. New Zealand is one of those places. James and I had Domino’s my first night there, but I was so utterly starved that I didn’t manage to get a picture of the food first. It was fantastic and so was the McDonald’s - their high-quality chicken makes for some great nuggets. My all-time favorite Taco Bell, however, I can’t say the same. It wasn’t as bad as U.K. Taco Bell, but they still changed many of the recipes and spices - even the hot sauces were slightly different. I could definitely eat it again, but I wouldn’t recommend the ground beef tacos - I was unpleasantly surprised by a disgusting beef juice drizzling out of the shell from the first bite. Yuck. I did love the sustainable packaging though, that was a cool touch.

Visiting the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

This place was utterly amazing and it had some of the coolest interactive art exhibits I’d seen in a long time. James and I had a really good time wandering around discovering all of the little surprise nuggets it had to offer, like this little hidden bunny chilling in the middle of the room. Such a nice mix of contemporary and older pieces and admission is free - making it for sure a must-see.

Taking in the Views at Muriwai Beach

When people think of New Zealand, it’s beaches like this that they think of - dark sparkly volcanic sand, gorgeous ocean, weird rock formations, and cool plants as far as the eye can see. Standing there taking this whole view in was the moment that it hit me that I was somewhere really special.

Getting Yet Another Tattoo

Yep, I got a commemorative tattoo in honor of my first visit. How adorable is this little Kiwi? Thanks to everyone at Two Hands Tattoo in Auckland for doing such a wonderful job and for making my first abroad tattoo experience so lovely!

Trying Kiwi Nando’s

OMFG I couldn’t even contain my excitement. As many of you know, Nando’s is my all-time favorite restaurant and before this, I’d tried it in five other countries. Now, it was time to tick yet another off the list and get myself one country closer to visiting Nando’s in every country that it exists in! P.S. Kiwi Nando’s absolutely does NOT disappoint, so much so that I dragged James back another two times and I went alone a fourth time before the trip was over. For all my fellow Nando’s enthusiasts out there - make sure you don’t miss out!

Wandering Around the Night Market in Botany

Okay, so this was the first thing that we did that wasn’t particularly impressive and that’s no shade on the night market folks, it just wasn’t anything to write home about, you know? But, it was still a fun way to kill an hour or so and I got to see some of the MOST MASSIVE Kiwi fruits I’ve ever seen in my life - the photo really doesn’t do them justice, trust me, these things were nearly baseball sized!

Enjoying a Date Night Dinner at Grangers Tap House and Kitchen on Half Moon Bay

James and I celebrated being back together with a little date night at a fun restaurant on the water and OMG was it a yummy night. That was probably my favorite non-Nando’s food of the entire trip. I mean, look how perfectly my steak was cooked. The food, service, and atmosphere of this place were absolutely top-notch. Please pay them a visit next time you’re on the North Island.

Taking a Ferry to Devonport for Breakfast and Short Visit

James asked me if I was down for a boat ride and I was immediately sold. This was really cool, both the super short, easy, and inexpensive ride over and the adorable little town itself. There’s not a lot going on in this sleepy little town, but it was quaint and worth a little walk around to take in the sights. Plus, I can always go for a full English!

Experiencing My First All Blacks Game at Eden Park

This was truly iconic - I felt like a real New Zealander. We were close enough to the players to nearly touch them and we even won! I loved the energy in the stadium, hearing the anthems, watching the Haka, and even hearing the rowdy Irish folks seated next to us screaming for their lives. It was such a fun evening and probably one of the coolest sporting events I’ve ever been to. Tickets were pricy, but I’d happily buy them ten times over to enjoy James’ favorite team with him all over again. Shout out to the random Australians sitting behind us (featured in the last photo) heckling both teams equally - they made the experience even more authentic. LOL

Week Two:

Driving Down and Through the Countryside to Visit James’ Family in Gisborne

James wanted to introduce me to some of his Kiwi family, so we made the trip down to Gisborne and my oh my was the scenery on the way down truly mesmerizing. It was like I had been transported to Jurassic Park or something. We made a quick stop so I could try out the famous Patrick’s Pies in Tauranga which were even better than the hype suggested and then kept traveling onward. We spent the night in Gisborne and got some nice snaps of the sunrise over the city. It was so nice getting to see so much of the country and where James grew up. It was a really special day.

Soaking in the Hells Gate Sulfur Pools in Rotorua

Do this once in your life; I cannot stress that enough. Sure, the entire place smells like hot farts, but getting the chance to sit in those naturally warm pools with healing mud is one of the coolest and most unique experiences you could have anywhere in the world. James and I had such a good time covering each other in the mud and relaxing in the warm spa pools. Plus seeing all of that geothermal activity in person was incredible. It really reminds you how amazing our planet truly is.

Walking Through the Redwoods Treewalk in the Whakarewarewa Forest

This was sick. This is how James and Jami do date night. Seeing the forest all lit up like that was one of the most beautiful and amazing things I’ve ever seen. I absolutely LOVED this entire experience. It was every child's tree house dreams come to life. The pictures absolutely do not do this place justice; I could have stayed up in those giant trees staring at the lights forever. Afterward, we had an amazing dinner and drinks at a little local restaurant still absolutely reeking of sulfur, but we were too happy to care.

Visiting Napier

And then we visited the City of Napier, which has a wonderful garden and some super cool Art Deco buildings with gorgeous murals sprinkled about, but, admittedly in it’s off-season, that’s about all we found of note to see - you can’t win them all, right? We did, however, try another American Classic while we were there: KFC, and I have to say that of all the U.S. chains we tried, KFC takes the crown. Let’s just say there’s justification for the lines around the building each time you pass one of these places - if you’re ever in NZ, you absolutely should give it a try.

Another Nando’s Visit and Shopping in Auckland at Commercial Bay

James agreed to have another dinner at Nando’s with me and while he worked the next day, I took the train into Auckland and did a little shopping at the shopping center at Commercial Bay. Honestly, Auckland surprised me over and over again with how much I loved it. It has everything I could ever need to live there happily forever.

Flying Down to Wellington for the Day

Now, before I get into what we got up to in Wellington and what I thought of the city, I need to tell a brief storytime about our travels to and from. See, James had never really spent any time in the city and I was keen to see it as it was the city I was planning to move to years and years ago, so I sprung for us to fly down just for the day and do a little sightseeing. We flew Jetstar out of Auckland and I must say that right off the bat, we ran into issues that should have been a warning of things to come. We took a bus to the airport and thought we would have plenty of time before our flight to relax at the airport, so we went very ill-prepared with neither of us having any coffee or breakfast. We got to Auckland airport and discovered that the security line was extremely long and fearing they wouldn’t allow us to bring our food and drinks through security, we ditched the refreshments idea and got in line. Annoyingly, once we finally made it through the line, we discovered some folks had managed to bring their snacks with them, and at this point, we were pretty annoyed, but in the few minutes we had left we found a little shop to grab a pastry and a coffee and in higher spirits, we boarded our flight down.

We spent the day wandering the city and really enjoying our time there overall, but at some point in the early evening my feet were killing me from all the walking, so I took a seat to rest and check my phone and it’s a damn good thing I did… No sooner than I got on the wifi did I receive an email informing me that our returning flight had been straight-up canceled with no explanation and no efforts being made to accommodate us in any way. Nice one, Jetstar. So, in a mad panic, we rushed to the airport thinking that if anyone was to help us get home, it would be the customer service folks there. The joke was definitely on us at this point - the woman informed us that there were no flights back to Auckland with Jetstar that evening and we would have to wait until tomorrow morning with no promise of putting us up in a hotel until then. We then asked if we could purchase a ticket with any other airline or to any other airport closer to home to which she informed us that since so many people were in our same position because Jetstar had canceled every single one of their flights out of Wellington that evening, we were literally shit out of luck. And to add salt to the already painful wound, we had missed the last Air New Zealand flight with seats out by about thirty minutes.

Livid, James and I reconvened and decided that hotels in Wellington for the night were just too obscenely expensive to justify, so we began calling every rental car company in the country hoping that someone would have a car available to us on such short notice. Even though it was going to be an eight-hour drive straight through the night, the cost justified the suffering - especially since Jetstar let us know they wouldn’t be refunding a dime of our trip since we hadn’t paid for the optional travel insurance… FML

So, finally, we found a car, but it wouldn’t be ready for a few hours, so we hung around the airport and enjoyed some absolutely delicious ramen for dinner while we waited and James went on the hunt for a phone charger because at this point, both of our phones were nearly dead and we needed the GPS to help us get home!

We finally set off on one of the longest and hardest drives of our lives through pitch darkness, pouring rain, and howling wind most of the way there. We stopped a few times for caffeine and snacks, but mostly just powered through for hours upon hours stopping only once on the side of the road for a short nap to keep us going. I cannot express in words how thankful or proud of James I am for getting us home safely. He literally was a lifesaver that night and by the wee hours of the morning, we ended up dropping off the car and getting a few pathetic hours of shut-eye before we needed to set off on our next trip. What a complete headache, but we survived it together and now it’s just a funny story to retell. But, Jetstar can do one, that’s for sure.

Gawking at ALL the WEIRD PLANTS at Wellington Botanical Gardens

I’ve said it to nearly every person that’s asked me about my trip - New Zealand is just filled to the brim with weird and wonderful plants! I have always been a plant lover, so this country is a total paradise for me. Everywhere you look you’re surrounded by the most gorgeous greenery you’ve ever seen. I’m so glad we took the time to see these gardens - the plant parent in me was screaming.

Taking a Ride on the Wellington Cable Car

This was a quick little way to experience some history and see the city in a really beautiful way. I especially loved how they decorated and lit up the tunnels going up and down - so many pretty things to see!

Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand

The Museum of New Zealand was really cool, I must say. I'm not much for the history and I don't tend to spend a lot of time at each exhibit learning the intended information, but as a very visual person who enjoys walking through places like this to see the cool things on show, I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish! And this place was absolutely massive; one of the biggest museums I've ever set foot in! Definitely, a place you need to plan an entire afternoon to see and wear comfortable shoes when you do, but completely worth the visit to see so many interesting pieces of New Zealand's past. And the walk through the city, down by the water, to get there was pretty amazing, too.

Week Three:

Driving Down to New Plymouth and Visting the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park and Mount Taranaki

New Plymouth was boring and not my favorite place in the country - it definitely had weird Trumpy energy and I could have skipped the Kiwi place, too. I didn't even get a see a Kiwi while there because it was too dark and that was one of my MAIN GOALS when going to NZ! Even our breakfast the next morning was mediocre and our attempted visit to Mount Taranaki was thwarted by the fog. My pie for dinner was absolutely amazing, but other than that, I think James and I both agree that we would could have sat this entire trip out - especially with us being as tired as we were from the fiasco the night before. LOL We now know why James’ Kiwi dad is completely uninterested in visiting the West Coast of the North Island. Haha

Walking Through the Waitomo Caves

This is the kind of thing you come to New Zealand for! This was utterly breath taking from start to finish. I wasn't able to get a good picture of the glow worms because it was so dark, but I did manage to snap dozens of incredible pictures of the mineral formations! Please don’t miss this, friends. I can’t even describe the beauty and do it justice. As a former rock-collecting child turned crystal-loving adult, I was totally in my element.

A Final Nandos Visit and Trying Some Food Trucks at the Auckland Botanical Gardens

I am by no means a “foodie,” but so much of what I loved about New Zealand was food-related. About this time in the trip, it was only days before I was headed back home, so we made one last pilgrimage to Nando’s and on the next night, James took me to try some very yummy food trucks at the Auckland Botanical Gardens. I tried some of the best “New York hot dogs” I’ve ever had and I even had my first pork dumplings, which were absolutely to-die-for.

Enjoying a Fancy Three-Course Dinner at the Sky Tower and Seeing Auckland at Night

As a person with a love for the finer things, this was pretty epic. James took me out for a really amazing meal in the Sky Tower on our last night together and it was such a romantic and special excuse to get all dressed up and spend a wonderful evening together enjoying some incredible views and even more incredible food.

Saying Goodbye to New Zealand with Brunch at Urban Soul Manukau and a Trip to the Auckland Zoo

My flight wasn’t until late evening, so James and I made the most of our last few hours together by enjoying some time outside in the wonderful weather and fresh air before I was about to spend twelve hours in a metal can and another two days in airports and planes. I had the most incredible BLT sandwich at Urban Soul and saw the most adorable animals at, in my opinion, the nicest Zoo I’ve ever been to. It was at this Zoo that I FINALLY managed to see a KIWI! After one previous failed attempt and weeks of waiting, the excitement overtook my entire body and I literally started sobbing right there in the dark surrounded by half of Auckland’s school children. Embarrassing, yes, but I don’t care; that really was one of the most wonderful moments of the trip. I can’t tell you how long it’s been a dream of mine to see one of those adorable birds in person and I finally got to! What a special, albeit funny, memory to hold on to forever. I didn’t take a ton of pictures because I was trying to stay as present in the moment as possible, but it was a wonderful way to round off a near-perfect trip with the best travel partner on Earth.

From the moment I landed, I just knew I was going to love New Zealand and I truly did. It far, far surpassed my expectations and turned out to be one of the coolest adventures I’ve ever been on. I am so glad to have a partner who is so willing to share his home country with me and so lucky to have him be from such a badass place! I promised James we would be back time and time again and I can promise you all that that’s true. I can’t wait to see the rest of the things I didn’t get a chance to this time around. New Zealand might be on the other side of the world from me, but it will live forever right next to my heart.