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New Zealand with Adventures Abroad

Dale Dunlop The Maritime Explorer

129

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025

Alison and I just returned from five weeks in New Zealand and we both agree that it may very well be the nicest country we have ever had the privilege of setting foot in. The combination of the fantastic scenery, the genuinely friendly people including the Maori culture, the unique wildlife, the great food and drink and perhaps most of all, the absolute sense of safety and serenity this nation exudes, all add up to a place that must be on every traveller’s bucket list. Frankly, Alison and I both agree that if we had discovered New Zealand thirty or forty years ago, we might be living there now.

While New Zealand is a country most people should be able to navigate on their own, there are real benefits from taking an organized tour, particularly if you are interested in some of the more difficult things to do on your own, such as getting to remote Doubtful Sound, taking a plane ride over Mount Cook or getting past the haka at a Maori village. Readers of this website and the Adventures Abroad blog will know that I love travelling with this Canadian based company for many reasons, many of which I will explore in this post. One of the main reasons is the spontaneity of AA tours that allows for a lot of freelancing when the time is right. The schedule is almost never fixed in stone and on this trip our local guide on South Island, Ian Hodgkinson took us to places most tourists would never get to see or experience. He was also able to reorganize scheduled events to coincide with the best weather and in the case of Mount Cook it made the difference between not getting in the air at all, to having a flight that was the highlight of the tour for most of us. So without further ado, let me tell you more about New Zealand with Adventures Abroad.

The New Zealand Palette

Ask any artist and they’ll tell you that the secret to a great painting is starting with a great palette. In the case of New Zealand that palette is overflowing with combinations of colours that make the landscape one of the most diverse on the planet. There is a reason that Peter Jackson chose to shoot the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies in his native country – somewhere on the North or South Island he was going to find the perfect backdrop for any of the many landscapes described by the imaginative mind of J.R.R.Tolkien. Whether it be Mount Tongariro doubling as the formidable Mount Doom.

Or the view from Larnach Castle near Dunedin doubling as the gentle pastoral landscape of The Shire.

Here is a gallery of photos taken just on the AA portion of our visit to New Zealand which gives just an inkling of the variety of scenery you will encounter on this trip. Double click to open one and double click again to enlarge.

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Your first impression of New Zealand will be the vibrant city of Auckland which is home to about a third of all Kiwis. Walking its streets you will find it a smaller version of Sydney, Melbourne or maybe even Toronto. Home to over 1.7 million people, Auckland is as diverse as any of those larger cities and you might jump to the conclusion that this is representative of New Zealand as a whole. It is not. If one third of the population lives in what is admittedly a genuinely progressive and thoroughly enjoyable urban and urbane setting, the other two thirds live in much smaller cities and towns decidedly different from Auckland.

Alison and I arrived in Auckland a week before the AA trip was scheduled to begin and spent a day walking the city’s wonderful waterfront which has more pleasure boats per capita than any city I’ve ever seen. The one thing this city has in common with all other places in New Zealand that have a waterfront, is that they are simply nuts about sailing. Whether it’s to view the super yachts, the America’s Cup winning entries or the tall ships, be sure to set aside some time to explore the Auckland waterfront.

Your AA trip will include a tour of some of the best places to get a view of Auckland including the extinct volcano Maungawhau aka Mount Eden. BTW, you will quickly learn that New Zealanders have learned to compromise on the names given to prominent landmarks in the country, using both the Maori and the English names almost interchangeably.

This is also a great spot to get your photo taken by your guide. In this case Chris, about whom much more later, got all three of us.

How the Other Two Thirds Live

Once you leave Auckland, the pace of life slows down dramatically, even in cities such as Wellington and Dunedin. When I say slow down, I mean that literally and figuratively. During you two week + stay in New Zealand with Adventures Abroad you will pass through town after town where, unlike North America, the core has not been hollowed out by the presence of WalMart, Costco and Home Depot. I first encountered this almost throw back phenomenon in rural South Australia years ago, where local businesses still thrive and people walk the streets and say hello to each other. It is alive and well in New Zealand and there is a palpable sense that this is what small town life should be, not a frantic rush to to save a few dollars by driving to a giant parking lot to go into a giant store where someone will be waiting at the exit to make sure you haven’t stolen something.

We had most of our lunches in these small towns and it was a genuine pleasure exploring them, as they all had some type of commemoration of the town’s founding, its most illustrious residents or maybe just some piece of nostalgia like this display in the town of Geraldine.

The other thing that you will find in every town and city in New Zealand are monuments to those who fought and died in both world wars. Unlike Canada’s baptism of fire at the successful taking of Vimy Ridge in 1917, for New Zealanders it was the failure of the almost year long campaign at Gallipoli in 1915-16 that marked their brutal awakening to the horrors of modern war. The numbers of Kiwis killed in Gallipoli from every city, town, hamlet and Maori community, is truly astounding and it is clear that their sacrifice has not been forgotten.

Planes and Boats and Trains

You might not remember the Burt Bacharach song of that name first sung by the great Dionne Warwick, but Adventures Abroad has not. The one thing I can guarantee about any AA trip you sign up for, there will be a great variety of transportation methods to get you around. In the past this has included camels, donkeys, tuktuks, rickshaws, canoes, helicopters and even balloons. The New Zealand itinerary has no less than four on the water excursions so let’s start with those, beginning with the Cook Strait ferry from the North to the South Island. This is the Interislander ferry entering Queen Charlotte sound on the way to the town of Picton.

Next was a first for us on an Adventures Abroad tour, a jet boat ride up the Haast River with Haast River Safari which concluded with the skipper Lindsay doing 360° donuts at breakneck speed and yes, if you’ve never been on a jet boat, it’s pretty damn exciting.

We were accompanied on the jet boat trip by the first mate Lofty, who provided piloting service from the prow.

The third boat excursion was a full day affair that took us to remote Doubtful Sound via Lake Manapouri.

And then on a bus over a high pass where we could look down at Deep Cove at the end of Doubtful Sound.

And finally a three hour cruise from Deep Cove to the open ocean at the entrance to Doubtful Sound. Trust me, this was a highlight of the trip and I can’t wait to do a full post on it.

One more thing about this Doubtful Sound trip. No doubt (pun intended) most readers have heard of Milford Sound, reputed to be a must visit destination on every New Zealand itinerary and for 99% of visitors to Fiordland that’s where they go. While Milford Sound is unquestionably beautiful, it is jam packed with tour operators of every stripe, from huge boats taking multiple busloads to kayakers trying not to get swamped by the wake from the big boats. It’s a four hour drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound and the cruises only last 1-2 hours so you’re spending 80% of your time getting there and back.

The other 1% go to Doubtful Sound.

OK, the train.

Adventures Abroad has a soft spot for trains and the New Zealand itinerary includes a very pleasant trip on the TranzAlpine line from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass. It’s not up there with Doubtful Sound or what’s coming next, but I’ll never pass up a chance to ride the rails. If it were not for the spectacular scenery of Fiordland or Mount Cook, this would definitely be a highlight of any itinerary.

Last and definitely not least was the Grand Traverse of New Zealand’s highest peak Mount Cook/Aoraki with Air Safaris. This too was a first for Alison and I with Adventures Abroad and with tickets priced at $470.00 NZD was a pretty significant inclusion in the cost of the trip. The Cessna 208B Turbo Prop accommodated a dozen passengers with clear views from every seat.  You’ll have to wait for my full post on this excursion to see the photos from this amazing flight.

About the Wildlife

There’s not much cuter than a dewy eyed fur seal pup that thinks you’re his mother, unless it is a little penguin, the smallest of the species, staring at you from a few feet away.

New Zealand, separated as it has been from any other landmass for over 80 million years, has a unique biosphere that has produced some pretty amazing creatures. Unfortunately the most famous of these, the giant moa, was hunted to extinction by the first settlers, the Maoris by about 1400, but you will still see evidence of moas everywhere in New Zealand.

While the moas, along with dozens of other New Zealand species have gone extinct since mankind and its insidious sidekicks, the rat, cat, dog and many other introduced species first set foot on the islands, there are still many native species that have survived, albeit barely in some cases. Unless you are super lucky, you will not see a kiwi bird in the wild, you will get a chance to see one at Te Puia in Rotorua where you will also get to see the world famous geothermal pools.

For birders, New Zealand offers a world of opportunity for life listers. On our final boat trip on this itinerary aboard the Albatross Express, which I deliberately did not mention above, we got to see one of the most majestic birds in the world, the Northern Royal Albatross off Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula.

Other notable sightings included New Zealand’s famous parrot, the kea.

Much smaller, but equally famous, are New Zealand’s Waitomo glow worms which we viewed from a small boat. They are pretty amazing, but no photos are allowed so you’ll have to take my word on it or go see them in person.

Maori Culture

The relationship between the original settlers of New Zealand, the Maoris and the subsequent arrivals, mostly Europeans, is both complex and ever developing, mostly I sensed, for the better. In the week before Alison and I joined the AA tour in Auckland, we visited Waitangi in the Northland where the treaty which defines all matters between both groups going forward was signed in 1840. In a future post I will delve more deeply into the history between Maori and Pākehā as non-Polynesians are referred to, even by themselves in many cases. For the purposes of the AA itinerary the Maori are the owners of the Waitomo glow worm caves and the Te Puia geothermal site and run both using almost exclusively Maori employees.

In addition to these Maori operated experiences, we spent an enchanting evening at the Te Pā Tū cultural centre just outside Rotorua which I will describe in more detail in an upcoming post. The photo above is our designated chief, Chris, offering a fern as a symbol that we came in peace and upon its acceptance we were ushered into the village. If Chris had screwed this up, who knows what the result might have been.

New Zealand Food & Drink

Chances are the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about New Zealand food is lamb and when thinking about drink, Sauvignon Blanc wine from the Marlborough region. Well neither is inaccurate or remotely close to the whole picture.

For a carnivore New Zealand will not disappoint – lamb is ubiquitous whether as in shanks, ribs, roasted or braised and in every case done perfectly i.e. not overcooked like in Chile. Also ubiquitous is beef, with ribeye being on offer almost every night.

For a pescatarian New Zealand will also not disappoint with the fish of the day also on offer at pretty well every restaurant we went to on this trip. While snapper is the most common offering, at least five other varieties were featured at different places. Once again, the Kiwis know how to cook fish.

Oysters, mussels, prawns, calamari and other seafood types are also readily available.

Chris made sure we had a variety of restaurants on this tour including a great Italian feast at Etruscan in Dunedin, Indian on two occasions with vegetarian and vegan options at every place.

But is there a truly signature dish that is unique to New Zealand? Yes, the beautiful hand pies. Wait, don’t they make these everywhere? Not like the New Zealand varieties which feature a typical pie crust, but topped with phyllo pastry. There are up to twenty different varieties you can find and in comparison to anything else you can buy, they are ridiculously cheap. I never paid more than $8 NZD for one and most were round $6NZD.

In Chile, Chris got me to embrace empanadas, but in New Zealand I needed no coaxing to get hooked on their pies and you won’t either.

Kiwis love desserts and in fact invented the pavlova. Those with a sweet tooth will not go unrequited.

Ok, that’s the food, what about the drink? Surprisingly to many, tap water is served at every meal and is the natural substitute for bottled water. Many in our group were quite content to stick with just that. For beer drinkers, of whom there were a few, New Zealand has a national beer Steinlager, which is pretty bland, but otherwise there are tons of good craft beers available. For wine drinkers, New Zealand is almost heaven. While most think first of New Zealand’s sauvignon blancs, which incidentally I think are an awful abomination of this grape, which can produce the wonderful French Sancerre, there are, thank god, many better choices. For whites, the pinot gris and chardonnays are excellent and very affordable. For reds, it’s pinot noir I went for, but there are many other varieties to choose from. One winery we went to in Hawkes Bay after the tour was growing seventeen types of grapes.

Lastly, Kiwis are tea drinkers and only cottoned on to coffee quite recently. Unfortunately they chose to ally themselves with the Italians and French, so everything comes out of those horrible espresso machines that make a lot of noise, take forever to brew and taste as bad as the sauvignon blanc. If you are used to Tim Horton’s or other drip brewed coffee, New Zealand will leave you unsatisfied. Australia has the flat white, New Zealand has the long black. Nuff said.

The New Zealand Accomodations

I don’t have a single photo of the exterior of any of the hotels we stayed in on this trip. That’s not because I forgot to take any, but more because while all were very good or better, this trip was not about the places we were staying. On some AA trips, especially in Asia or Africa the accommodations are so different or exceptional that they become part of the experience. That is not really the case with New Zealand with the possible exception of the Hermitage Hotel from where I took the photo above. Some like the Scenic Hotel in Franz Josef or the Distinction Te Anau were more notable for their location and what you could see walking around in the area.

Trust me, you will not be disappointed with your hotels, they just won’t be the stars of the trip.

Chris, Patrick & Ian

I come now to the X factor that is the reason Alison and I love travelling with Adventures Abroad. Over the past twenty five years we have developed real friendships with many of the guides we have travelled with, especially Victor Romagnoli, Martin Charlton and most recently Chris Tripodi. We first travelled with Chris on our tour to Chile and were so impressed with his demeanour and the way he effortlessly handles any small or large problems that might arise, that we deliberately chose this trip because Chris was leading it.

I don’t want to embarrass Chris with obsequious flattery, but he really is one of the great guides working anywhere for any anyone.

We said goodbye to him on St. Patrick’s Day under this appropriately green mantle. And no, Chris is not a vampire.

Almost as important as the AA guide are the drivers who must navigate the often treacherous roads of some of the countries we have visited. In the case of New Zealand the roads are not treacherous per se, but in many places they are very narrow, winding and there are an incredible number of one lane bridges, even on major routes, like this one over the Haast River.

Our driver for the four days we were on the North Island was Patrick Lee Lo, a soft spoken man of partially Samoan lineage who was also a chef and cookbook author. How often do you get that combination?

On the South Island our driver was Ian Hodgkinson who I can truly describe as ‘a wild and crazy guy’.

Former pilot, motorcycle racer and scion of a leading New Zealand auto dealership family, Ian drove the bus up the steepest street in the world in Dunedin, just for laughs. His devil may care attitude immediately struck a rapport with our group, along with his many stories and observations about life in New Zealand. When we passed a farm where sheep were being sheared he drove up the drive way and asked the Maori crew if we could watch, which they were happy to oblige.

When Ian saw that the weather for our scheduled Mount Cook flight was not looking good, he got it moved up a day ahead. He knew the best places for pies in every small town we visited. In short, Ian was far, far more than just a bus driver and I sincerely hope that AA continues to take advantage of his many talents on future trips.

Well I’ve gone on too long about the many reasons for visiting New Zealand with Adventures Abroad, so I’ll sign off now and go into more detail in future posts.