Our trip to New Zealand in 2023, in reverse chronological order. To start at the beginning, go to “A little background…” below.
One more stay at the M Social in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) for our final night in New Zealand, and another unforgettable dinner featuring local classics and some creative inspirations (wallaby tartare anyone?), courtesy of Ahi Restaurant. Our hotel room has a slightly better view this time, the weather is once again stunning, but after a casual day walking around town, it’s time to head home. Aotearoa, we will miss you – and will definitely be back. All in all, an amazing adventure!
Our tour to Milford Sound picked us up at 6:30am…and dropped us off at nearly 8pm. Now that was a long day – but so worth it! We found the fjords even more dramatic than what we’d seen in Norway. And the weather continued to surprise us – pleasantly! It was our last fully scheduled day.
Another gorgeous drive, this time from Lake Tekapo to Queenstown. Since weather and time were permitting, we managed stops at Mt. Cook lookouts, and lunch at a local winery. Once in Queenstown, we checked into our beautiful hotel before heading to a cruise in the TSS Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu for a dinner at Walter Peak station, which included a sheep-shearing demonstration, and sheep dogs at work.
We’re still ecstatic over our Dark Sky Project experience at the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory. We left rainy Christchurch behind for some simply glorious weather on our way to Lake Tekapo. The countryside was stunning as is the destination, which is a beautiful glacier lake. It turned out to be the perfect night for star gazing — absolutely clear weather, no moon whatsoever, and the incredibly informative and engaging staff made for an unforgettable experience. We saw the Aurora Australis, both Magellanic Clouds, the Southern Cross, a few familiar constellations but upside-down, plus (via telescope) the rings of Saturn, the bands of Jupiter, moons from both planets, the two visible stars making up Alpha Centauri, and lots more. Just…wow…
We finally had a completely free day for exploring Christchurch. Sadly, it was drizzling pretty much all day, but that didn’t stop us from getting to know this beautiful city, still being creatively reimagined after the devastating 2011 earthquake. Everyone is in on the recovery, as evidenced by our tapas lunch with English tea and local beer; whilst (a word we hear a lot) diners conversed in Japanese, Portuguese, and who knows what other languages. Underneath it all, everything seems quintessentially UK, including the weather. That said, we hardly noticed the rain as we toured the nearby Botanical Gardens, with its meandering Avon River, before a most memorable dinner at Fiddlesticks. We were pleasantly suprised to taste local winemakers’ efforts to correct California’s chardonnay mistakes, and look forward to trying more New Zealand whites at home.
We’ve officially passed over the hump…but man was this a long day! We left our Wellington hotel at 6:15 to catch the ferry to Picton for a lovely lunch and wine tastings in the scenic Marlborough region. That was followed by a 4+ hour drive to Christchurch, but with a couple beautiful stops along the way. Hotel check-in 13 hours later, wonderful dinner, and then to bed. Thank goodness tomorrow is a free day…whew!
We wish we had more time to explore the capital city of Wellington. Truly a gorgeous city with some of the most eclectic architecture. And our brief time in Te Papa Tongerewa Museum was not enough! But we ended the evening with the best meal so far, at the Logan-Brown Restaurant (in what was once a bank building) in the vibrant Cuba Steet area.
Traveling from Napier to Wellington made for a long day of driving, but the countryside continues to amaze. Stopped at the Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre, almost 1,000 hectares of forest maintained as a sanctuary for native birds, many of them rare and endangered. Here we viewed our only kiwi (the bird kind), and saw where they’re hatched for later release into the wild. Lunch and wine tasting at Poppies in Martinborough featured some lovely Pinot Noirs, then it was on to dinner at the Pravda Cafe in Wellington, after traversing miles of peaceful pastures, many populated by sheep like the ones we saw in the sanctuary parking lot.
We started with a walk around Napier to admire the gorgeous Art Deco architecture (a popular style when the city was rebuilding after the 1931 earthquake), then exploring the Hawkes Bay region, including wine tasting and a Napa-style lunch at Black Barn winery. Highlights were a sneak peek into both the Napier Municipal Theatre and the Hastings Opera House, plus a drive up to the Te Mata Peak, with its glorious vistas.
Mostly a driving day through quiet hills, with stops at Huka Falls, Lake Taupo (largest in New Zealand), and lunch and wine tasting at New Zealand’s oldest winery, Mission Estate. After seeing so much logging acreage and landscaping with introduced species, it was refreshing to see stretches of native trees.
Yeah, yeah, a boat trip through the Glowworm Grotto and an afternoon at Hobbiton might sound like cheesy tourist traps, but we were pleased with both. The Waitomo Glowworm Cave is unique to New Zealand, and that alone would make it interesting, but the experience itself was indescribable. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos inside, so insert frowny face here.
We were prepared to be underwhelmed at the underhill homes, but we really weren’t. They’ve done a great job with establishing and maintaining the rustic charm and visual delights of Hobbiton, pointing out the original sets had been allowed to languish after the Lord of the Rings movies, but were rebuilt for the Hobbit series, with an eye to maintaining them for fans (like us).
We kicked off our trip by exploring Auckland, starting with a guided tour of the Auckland Museum (aka the Auckland War Memorial Museum) and lunch at the Orbit Restaurant – Sky City. Much was learned about New Zealand history and culture, including why many locals prefer to refer to it by the original Māori name, Aotearoa.
Along with Bill (Andrew’s brother) and his wife, Gwen, we’d been planning to visit either Australia or New Zealand or both since around 2018. However…
Andrew was selected to be the new general director of Hawai’i Opera Theatre, starting in April of 2019, so that was the first delay. Then…
COVID happened, and travel restrictions continued into 2021. Getting Hawai’i Opera in shape post-COVID took up way too much of 2022, but by 2023, the schedule was looking better. Andrew managed to find a couple of flexible weeks straddling the end of October and beginning of November, so we decided to finally make it happen. Given the two-week span, it made more sense to focus on one of our two possible destinations, and narrowed it down to New Zealand.
Next, we hammered out the details, picked a travel agency to help us get around, and we were on our way!
| How they say it: | How we say it: | Example: |
| Lift | Elevator | “Take the lift to your room.” |
| Ground Floor | First Floor | “Take the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor.” |
| (no equivalent) | Coffee | Coffee drinks all use espresso instead of drip coffee. |
| Slim | Non-Fat or Skim | “Do you want full or slim milk?“ |
| Americano | (Espresso with Hot Water) | An Americano is as close as you get to black coffee. |
| Flat White | (Espresso, Steamed Milk, No Foam) | If you’re not sure, just ask for a Flat White. |
| Long Black | (Espresso, Hot Water, Foam) | “I’m lactose intolerant, so just a long black, please.“ |
| Trainers | Sneakers | “That restaurant doesn’t allow trainers.” |
| Wee | Small, Tiny | “Look at the wee lamb!“ |
| Boot | Trunk | “I’ll put your bags in the boot.“ |
| Way Out | Exit | Way out ⇨ (road sign) |
| Give Way | Yield | Give way to oncoming traffic (road sign) |
| Chips | Fries | “Did you want tomato sauce on your chips?“ |
| Tomato Sauce | Ketchup | “Did you want tomato sauce on your chips?“ |
| Capsicum | Bell Pepper | (On menus) |
| Aubergine | Eggplant | “What’s with all those aubergine emojis?“ |
| Courgette | Zucchini | “Courgettes, like everything else, grow well here.” |
| Freisian | Holstein | “Those are Freisian dairy cows.“ |
| Lucerne | Alfalfa | “I think that field is lucerne.“ |
| Tāne (Māori) | Kāne (Hawaiian) | (On men’s restroom doors) |
| Wahine (Māori) | Wahine (Hawaiian) | (On women’s restroom doors) |
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