New Zealand is loaded with many interesting things to do!!! Allow me to show you some awesomeness of New Zealand in this post! :D I'll start by telling what I personally did and loved.
Here is my personal list of recommended Incredible New Zealand activities :
1. Sandboarding
This was actually done on a part of a tour which took us to the very northernmost tip of New Zealand. It's considered a sacred place and also where 2 seas meet.
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| Cape Reinga |
Along the way, we drove on the 90-mile beach, which is a huge beach and officially a public highway and also it is actually only 55 miles long.
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| 90 mile beach |
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| pic of me while sliding down |
2. Hobbiton
Many people know that Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand. That's one of the main things that I have strongly linked to my image of the country before even arriving and i'm sure many others do the same.
It's really nice to know that the next time I see scenes of the shire, I can point to the T.V. screen and proudly declare that I have visited that same location!
I was bummed at first that they don't just let people go on their own and that a tour is necessary. But afterwards I was really gateful for the tour. You learn a lot of cool information about the filming on this movie set.
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| This is Sam's House |
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| This is where the party scene was filmed. During the filming everyone got drunk off of placebo alcohol. |
The tour also included one free beer at the bar.
The tour cost me 75 NZD if I'm remembering correctly.
3.Geothermal activity
I really liked a town called Rotarua...
It was very common to see smoke and bubbling mud pits around town. Those things are nice to look at but they can also be really smelly.
And Rotorua also had a steaming lake..
What was great is that I could see all of that for free just by walking through a public park...
Ok, So now I will tell about a great secret spot I loved...
It's called kerosene creek. It is out in nature and free as nature should be and mostly only locals know about it.
Somewhere on the highway from Rotorua there is a small sign, I think it was wooden, and it reads Kerosene creek. After turning on that road and driving to the end. there is a walking trail that leads to it.
I'm not sure how far it is exactly or if walking to it from Rotorua is possible but I was luckily enough to be driven there. If you are in Rotorua and don't have a car, hitchhiking is might be possible.
The pic above is Kerosene Creek. The entire river is hot.
Well, that's all I'm going to say about it for now.
4. Zorbing
Also in Rotorua is zorbing. Zorbing is when you get in a giant bubble thing and roll down a hill! Sound Fun? It is!!! :D
You can choose dry or wet. I chose wet.
Also in Rotorua is zorbing. Zorbing is when you get in a giant bubble thing and roll down a hill! Sound Fun? It is!!! :D
You can choose dry or wet. I chose wet.
If you choose dry they require you stand and hold on to handles inside. But not if you choose wet for some reason. They also let you choose from different paths to roll down. I chose a path that had plenty of curves and a drop.
Zorbing costs 39 NZD. But additional rides 19NZD.
5. Hiking
I had to include this on the list. New Zealand is beautiful with lots of beautiful hiking spots.
6. Mount Doom
I actually wrote about this in my previous post and it includes a lot more info and pretty pictures than I will put here.
But to summarize here: the volcano that was used as Mount Doom while filming the Lord of the Rings movies. I climbed it. :)
I actually wrote about this in my previous post and it includes a lot more info and pretty pictures than I will put here.
But to summarize here: the volcano that was used as Mount Doom while filming the Lord of the Rings movies. I climbed it. :)
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| this is me exhausted. |
7. Ice Climbing
Speaking of climbing, I decided to try a type of climbing that I had no experience at.
The Ice type.
Since I didn't have any equipment or experience or a vehicle to get to the glacier from the town, or any ice climbing friends, I went on a tour. an expensive tour. 300 NZD
but it was worth it and professional and it was All day.
Speaking of climbing, I decided to try a type of climbing that I had no experience at.
The Ice type.
Since I didn't have any equipment or experience or a vehicle to get to the glacier from the town, or any ice climbing friends, I went on a tour. an expensive tour. 300 NZD
but it was worth it and professional and it was All day.
It was a fun, long, tiring day and It was on Fox Glacier.
The nearby Franz Josef glacier was more popular and advertised, At least that's the impression I got, and the tours there are about 100 NZD more expensive because it is melting and they were required to fly people on a helicopter to get people safely further up on the ice of Franz Josef. At least that's how it was at the time I was there but I don't expect it to get better any time soon.
Which is why decided to go to Fox Glacier instead. Also the Fox glacier is Bigger.
8. Wanaka Puzzling World
This is interesting, somewhat wacky, place filled with neat things and optical illusions.
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| outside is the leaning tower of Wanaka |
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It was a fun place with many cool things to see. In the lobby they had puzzles you could do if you wish and outside they had a maze that made me feel like a dumb ass.
9. Shotover Canyon Swing
Queenstown was a place I really enjoyed and it sometimes called the adventure capitol of the world.
I did the World's highest cliff jump, the Shotover Canyon Swing.
I like that they give you many different jumping styles to choose from. I chose backwards but someday I would like to return there and try different ones.
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| if you want to read it, click to enlarge |
It costs 200 NZD and includes transportation and a free shirt. If you want a video, it costs extra. The staff was very friendly and they gave me tape so I could tape my Gopro to my hand. At the end, I decided to get their video too so I could have a video from 2 points of view.
10. Nevis Bungy
Another Queenstown activity to strengthen the claim of the adventure capitol of the world. This was the most intense thing I did.
Commercial Bungy Jumping first started in New Zealand and this company is owned by the same original operator, AJ Hackett.
The Nevis Bungy, at 134 meters is the 3rd highest Bungy Jump in the world but what really makes it special is that the jump is done from a platform suspend by cables in between two cliffs!
Which also means that you can feel it sway when windy and that we took a cable car to get to it.
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| Shit, already this is getting exciting. |
By the way, I did this right after the shotover canyon swing and on the same day.
It was a good day.
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| Standing on the edge about to jump. |
After you jump, the thrill is not over. You still get pulled all the way back up.
My Gopro was also taped to my hand on this one. If I remember correctly, The Nevis costed 260 NZD and also includes transportation and a free shirt. And of course if you get their video, it costs extra. Which I once again got in order to have both points of view.. which you can see in this post.
11. ETC...
So I did a lot of cool stuff while in New Zealand. But there is still more that I wanted to do.. So I must someday return!
One more thing that I did that I didn't included on this list is the beautiful glowworm caves. Glowworms are actually cannibalistic maggot things with glowing asses that beautifully light up cave walls like stars. Pictures were not allowed. Of course that didn't stop me but I wasn't able to get a good picture in that cave lighting.
Ok, So In conclusion I will give a few examples of things I didn't do..
Another Queenstown activity I wish to do is the world's highest swing. but I had spent enough $$$ there. O.o
I didn't go to Abel Tasman National Park which I heard was beautiful..
As well as Milford and Doubtful sound which are popular for tourists.
Hot Water Beach in the coromandel was something I was interested in. It's a beach where
at certain tides and times if you dig in the sand you can find hot water underneath and dig your own little hot tub basically. I tried to go but shit got in the way and I didn't make it in time.
Skydiving is popular in New Zealand, but I have been skydiving 2 times before in my life and in New Zealand it was a lot more expensive.
Also I flew out from Dunedin, where New Zealand's only castle is and also the world's steepest street. But I wasn't in that city long enough to go to those things.
Well, those are a few examples to give you an idea of what New Zealand has to offer. There so much in life I wish to do!!!
One downside that I must mention is that it is an expensive country. You may have realized that while reading that the activities can be pricey. Accommodation and food is too. Hitchhiking is also fairly common there, so that's another way to save a little more that one might consider.
Although I saved money by camping out most nights (by "camping" I really mean sleeping on the ground in a tarp burrito), I still spent a ton of money because of all the fun, adrenaline filled activities that I could not resist signing up for!
"It's once in a lifetime" is the normal justification for spending tons of hard earned cash on these adventurous thrills but I hope and I'm sure that at least some will be more frequent than just once in a lifetime.
Of course, there are fun, inexpensive activities and I include some on the list too!
Hope you enjoyed reading. So far this post has more pictures than any other and I have to say, I think it's been a good one.
