Following our desire to travel to places we have not visited before, we decided to explore New Zealand.
Summary
New Zealand summary after a month and a half (most of the time in the South Island).
In my elementary school class there was one girl, not very bright, but dressed well, her notebooks are always neat and decorated, her homework is done and on time, and she is always ready to help everyone. Of course she was the favorite of the teachers (and chairwoman of the decoration committee). That’s how New Zealand is for us, everything is great but lacks excitement.
New Zealand is a large country that is sparsely populated, there are not many tourists so it is not crowded and there is enough for everyone. Nature is great, everything is accessible and maintained at a high level. There was never a single time that we were surprised, the descriptions always correspond to reality (although a little over rated). The campsites are of good quality, well maintained and clean, in the southern island a little more than in the northern. In general, the North Island, in our opinion, can be skipped, although the scenery is softer and greener, but it didn’t present anything new or special (perhaps because it rained for a large part) except maybe for the thermal area (on the North Island) where everything raises steam and sitting in a natural pool boiling in nature is great even when it’s raining (maybe even more fun). Speaking of weather. It is unpredictable at the level of hours, not only for us, the forecasts for the next day and even for today, always a miss. We were lucky and the vast majority of days were clear.
We spent most of our time walking in nature. The number of routes is endless and we really enjoyed going on most of them. Some of us love water and every puddle on the way this ‘part’ jumps into it, cold or hot, the color of the water is blue or brown – it really doesn’t matter. Indeed there is no lack of water here, rivers, lakes, beaches and in all of them we swam (the ‘part’ that does). We met a local girl who told us that she is afraid that when the Chinese run out of water they will conquer New Zealand.
On our trips we love meeting local people and learn from them about the place, the culture, the customs, the politics… Unfortunately, we were not able to talk to many, maybe because we haven’t come across many (most of the service providers are not local). Also, New Zealanders do not express interest, do not ask questions and do not volunteer information. I must mention that they are very kind, always smile but do not strive for contact. For example, in most of the world everyone will immediately ask you where you are from, what you are doing here… and from there a conversation will develop, in New Zealand the people who asked us were Chinese, Filipinos, French, Danes… but not New Zealanders, maybe it is considered impolite to ask, or maybe it has to do with communication – the quality of communication infrastructure here is quite low, there are still public phones on every street corner, you pay at the hotel for wifi, and the reception quality in general is low. Go figure.
It is interesting to note that we have heard comparisons between New Zealand and Israel, and nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, it is a very homogeneous country in terms of demographics, the Maori minority (less than 10%) poor and almost without influence, the people have a very high level of discipline, reminiscent of Switzerland (if for example you park incorrectly – someone will always come up to you and warn you, wait for you to fix it and if you don’t do it, they will report you). That’s why everything is so clean, orderly and disciplined. Very unlike Israel. Speaking of Israel, we have heard several times that they hear about Israel in the news on a daily basis, from Hamas to Bibi (… every day!). If we talk about politics, in Israel the New Zealand prime minister is really adored (female power, etc.), everyone we talked to here really dislikes her and her way of handling Corona and in general (she has resigned in the meantime).
So why did everyone whom we told about our trip claim that New Zealand is the best place in the world? Here I and Ira have different theories. Ira claims that most Israelis traveled here after the army and it remains a dream, while I claim that the more effort you put into getting to a place, the more you glorify it (bloody 35 hours on the way!), or maybe both of us just don’t understand anything about life. In short, we think that the cultural diversity and history in Europe, or the diversity in nature in North America are better and much more accessible.
Sorry we ruined it. We are on our way to Fiji…
Queenstown, Manapouri
January, 2023
We went on some short trips in the southern part of New Zealand. Nature is of course very beautiful, and this is not a surprise. But something here reminds me of Iceland for some reason… simple people, very basic hotels, churches so simple you don’t even see them in the landscape, the weather that you can’t count on (sun, hot, wind, cold, rain… all that in a single day) and low sky. Maybe the proximity to the pole (even if it’s south and not north) does that, I don’t know. This is of course only my first impression.
So far it seems that the best way to travel in New Zealand is on foot or in a motorhome or a combination of them (there aren’t many hotels and they are quite expensive). So we booked a small motorhome and are impatiently waiting to receive it and start the real trip. Meanwhile we are walking around the south of the southern island.
Fiordland National Park
January, 2023
Several people have asked me recently whether our senses are dulled by too many trips around the world. Having been to amazing places like Alaska, Scandinavia and Iceland; we drove through the Rockies, the Andes, and the Caucasus; we have traveled through the impressive landscapes of England and Scotland – are we still impressed by the beauty of nature? I don’t have a good answer. There is no doubt that the impression of the first time is stronger and startling, but there is still the wow effect every time you see another amazing corner of nature. It’s like roller coasters – we’ve already been on the highest in the world and it’s still exciting.
And here is another interesting insight. A tourist in Thailand gets up at 11:00, puts flip flops on, shorts, shirt (optional), pops in for a coffee, a massage, a swim in the sea and the day is over. A tourist in New Zealand gets up at 07:00 (or so we think because when we got up at nine there was not a soul in the hotel), wears long pants, hiking boots and a patterned backpack and starts hiking, walking, running in the mountains and waterfalls. I wonder if these are the same tourists who adapt to the place or does the place sort them out?
Dunedin
January, 2023
We don’t particularly like birds… not at all… However, the albatross is the bird with the largest wingspan in the world, and it is a rare bird, and it lives in the sea and comes to land once every two years to lay eggs and raise one offspring, and this land is usually on remote islands… perhaps now you will understand why when we heard that there was an Albatross Center right next to us and now it is the spawning season, we immediately gathered ourselves and got to see an albatross with our own eyes. However, no one told us that an albatross is actually a very large seagull, nor did they tell us that during the nesting season the bird sits in the nest and incubates, nor did they tell us that the closest bird for observation is at a distance that requires a wide-open lens. So you must understand our excitement when after an hour of looking out for a bird without blinking, suddenly a full-sized albatross appeared in front of us in the sky! So we did a book on it that wouldn’t put a model photographer to shame.
Lake Pukaki
January, 2023
For the past few days we have been traveling in a motorhome, this time not a bus size, but definitely enough to sleep and cook comfortably – our home for the next month. This means that we sleep in campsites, in nature, away from cities and towns and this is undoubtedly our favorite way of traveling. In New Zealand it is allowed to park with a motorhome anywhere, but in the meantime we indulge ourselves in parking lots with running water and an electricity connection (we need charging for computers and also a heater during the New Zealand summer nights). Campsites all over the world are characterized by a different tourist crowd – something very calm and quiet in the atmosphere. There is no feeling of racing to the next attraction, or of the need to get as much done as possible in a short time. Most of the tourists are local, from a group of young people in tents, through families with children to pensioners like us.
And here is today’s highlight: in the middle of nowhere appears a bright purple field! Of course we stopped – it is a field of alpine lavender and next to it an ice cream stand and a shop that sells lavender products. Nothing special about it… but the strong color attracts all the passersby. The ice cream has a long queue and all the tourists take pictures inside the purple color (even though the entrance to the field is for a fee) – I don’t know who thought of it, but the idea is genius!
Lake Hawea
January, 2023
Is there a limit for taking pictures of lakes and rivers against the background of high mountains? Even we, Israelis, who get excited by it, have our boundaries. So it turns out that is no limit. Much thanks to the fact that the color of the water is amazing and different every time – from bright azure and deep blue to strong turquoise and light green. It is also very nice that next to every lake/river/river, there are countless parking lots, lookouts, rest areas, campsites and just lovely corners. Even though it is the peak of the season here, the sites are usually not crowded and it is really pleasant to spend time there.
Trails...
January, 2023
From the 9th to the 12th grade in every school report I had between 4 and 9 Fails which is a nice achievement compared to the fact that we only studied 10-12 subjects including sports and practical work (in which I always excelled). Over time, my mother got used to the grades and stopped crying about my poor fate, with the exception of the grade D in ‘neatness and tidiness’ (out of four options, A, B, C, and D). I wonder how messy and dirty I was to get a neat and tidy D. Only that we didn’t want to talk about me but about New Zealand. They have a strong A++ for sure in cleanliness. The grass on the sides of the roads is cut to a uniform height, the signs on the routes would give great pride to any army sergeant, hiking trails are maintained without a single unruly branch or root, picnic areas by the edge of every lake and stream as if they came out of a journal, the public toilets (it doesn’t matter where) are shining and smell good, and although there are no public trash cans, you won’t see even a straw or a bag.
Well… they don’t have our problems on their heads and are free to take care of order and cleanliness.
Lake Matheson
January, 2023
We’ve been to New Zealand’s most photographed Lake Matheson…twice, and we didn’t take a single picture. The lake with dark brown water is supposed to reflect Mt. Cook that hangs above it, like a mirror, and it is worth a photo – equipped with a good camera and two phones we set out on the path around the lake full of hope. As big as the promise, so big is the disappointment… It turns out that a little wind is enough to turn the surface of the water into a completely normal lake, without any distinction. We did not give up and came back the next day… still a little windy. True, the trail is still nice, but there are plenty of nice trails here!
In the photos Mt. Cook as seen without reflection, and a few more from the road on the west coast.
Westport
January, 2023
There are no mosquitoes in New Zealand… at all. You would think this is heaven! Not so fast… there are sandflies here, they are small and black, you can’t hear them and you only discover them when they sting. Even their sting is not that painful, but after a few hours it itches like crazy, and continues to itch for about two or three days. They are mostly found in the rain forest areas, which is the entire west coast where we have been for a few days now. Of course we equipped ourselves with the most effective repellents that were offered to us, only unfortunately the flies were not updated on the effectiveness of the repellents and continued to sting… So now we are in a constant dilemma – how long and how close can we sit on the pastoral shore of a lovely lake before we are chased away by the little flies without a real fight.
Collingwood
January, 2023
I have another idea for improving Google Maps (specifically in New Zealand) – to add an indication of the amount of sandflies on the different beaches. The reason is that we failed to understand the algorithm – on the shores of the lakes, and also on the shores of the sea, sometimes there are a lot of flies and sometimes there are none at all…
So after a failed attempt to spend a relaxing day on the shore of a lovely lake, when we found ourselves running from the flies into the nearest village hiding in a local restaurant, we found a lovely place at the end of the world by the sea with not a single fly in it, and spent a day of blessed idleness observing the tides and learning to appreciate anew the beautiful life 😊 .
Napier
January, 2023
What can you do in New Zealand? Walk along rivers, mountains and around lakes. There are innumerable walking paths here, more precisely we have not yet seen a place where there are no paths of different types and for different levels of walkers. Every trail starts in the parking lot (and there are always cars there), in the parking lot there is a neat map of the trail and markings where to go, how long it takes and what the level of difficulty is. The path itself will always be super neat and marked along its entire length, and if there is a river, creek or stream that needs to be crossed, so that you don’t get your feet wet, there will be a bridge there. If you have walked a long distance, look for a toilet in the middle of nature (which of course is marked on the map), and the toilet is always clean and polished as if the cleaner had just left. And most amazing of all, all this goodness is free all over the country.
This post was written after we walked the path yesterday (after a rainy night) and there was mud on the path and we felt that there was a serious deterioration in the service 
.
Huka Falls
February, 2023
Let’s say you’re reading a book and the author goes into a poetic description of an enchanted forest and says something like “The noise of the cicadas is deafening…”, and you think, “Oh really! Cicadas? Deafening? Doesn’t make sense…”. So it turns out that it does! In the rain forests of New Zealand, a noise reminiscent of a high voltage electricity pole but hundreds of them together… it should be noted that it definitely adds to the magical atmosphere 😊.
Hot Water beach
February, 2023
In the center of the North Island in New Zealand there is an area with springs of hot water… a lot… there is a lake of hot water here, we dipped in hot streams and steaming pools, but hot sand is interesting. On the beach, right where the waves break, people stand with shovels and dig a hole in the sand, but a few seconds later the waves (like the waves would usually do) come and cover the hole, just like building a snowman in the summer. I tried, the water in the hole I dug is indeed warm but the waves are cold.
And of course there will always be someone around who will rent me a shovel.
Trails...
February, 2023
The New Zealanders we have met so far talk about only two topics: nature hiking (called tramping here), and possums. Since we have no opinion on possums, and have nothing against them or for them, we stayed with nature walks.
There are thousands of routes from a three-minute walk to several weeks hiking in the field, designed for wheelchairs or walkers, combined with a racing boat and the helicopter or with a backpack. Just say what you want. Of course all the routes are in high quality, clearly marked, well maintained and free.
Almost every day (except on rainy days), we do at least one walking route. We use the AllTrails app (which we use all over the world) with the following parameters: a route about 10 km long (about two and a half hours of walking), an elevation gain of up to 300 meters (about 100 floors) and a good rating. In addition, a circular route is preferred, and that at the end there is a point of interest such as a waterfall, a lake or a special lookout and, if possible, a dip in a pool along the way, a lake or river is better (at least for some of us).
After a month and a half and dozens of tracks, the overall score is OK. Maybe because the adventure has disappeared due to order and cleanliness, maybe because a little WOW is missing, and maybe because our expectations were too high…
HE 
