When I moved out here, I felt like I knew nothing about New Zealand. I kept reading blogs and guidebooks, and watching videos, but nothing stuck. I felt like I couldn’t understand the culture or determine if there even was one. So there’s this island near Australia and it’s really pretty. Britain colonized it in …
Recently, some friends and I decided to hike the Routeburn in 2 days and 1 night. New Zealand’s Great Walks are truly epic. Especially the Routeburn. “I want to do the Routeburn,” “I want to too,” my friends would chirp up when we discussed trip plans for 2021. With one of the entrances to the …
I woke up in a rainstorm, in my sweaty car, with sandflies buzzing inside my ears wondering how the queens of #vanlife Instagram pages sell the image and the lifestyle. The #vanlife babes and bros are a free-spirited ideology. On one hand, the hippy campers seem like a distant dream. On the other, they’re quite …
I can never find the words to describe living in a new place/city/country. I always freeze up. Rather than saying living in NZ is “good and I’m having a great time!” to everyone who asks and wants to hear more, I have crafted a few specific and relevant bullet points that explain the aspects of …
Wellington is an upbeat, young and hip city. After spending time in Auckland, which was more globally-minded and posh, Wellington was a breath of fresh air. From diverse food and street art to sweeping city views and terraced landscaping, Wellington had character. On our way down, we stopped at Lake Taupo for coffee and saw …
Certain places have a distinct and lingering smell: New York notoriously smells like garbage, Fez, Morocco smells like leather tanneries (dead animals), and Rotorua, New Zealand smells like sulfur. At first, I could barely smell the sulfuric odor, but the closer we got to the hot pools the more pungent the odor. As Nick and …